Summary
- Yuji Horii believes silent protagonists in Dragon Quest may appear unrealistic as graphics evolve in new games.
- The tradition of silent protagonists in Dragon Quest is becoming challenging to maintain with realistic graphics.
- Despite no solution presented by Horii, upcoming releases like DQ12 may struggle to keep silent protagonists.
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii recently revealed that he believes silent protagonists such as the ones in the franchise often end up “looking like idiots” amid graphics becoming increasingly realistic in the industry. Dragon Quest is a very traditional RPG series, and it uses silent protagonists in all its mainline games, which prompted the famous creator to express this opinion during a recent interview.
Yuji Horii has worked as a game designer since 1983, creating the first Dragon Quest in 1986. Horii has worked on all mainline titles in the Dragon Quest series, including the upcoming Dragon Quest 12, which still does not have an official release date at the time of this writing.
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Now, Horii talked about the difficulties of dealing with increasingly realistic graphics in new games during an interview published by Denfaminicogamer (via Automaton Media). According to the Dragon Quest creator, the silent protagonist is one of the foundations of the franchise, as it enables the player to “become” the character and project their own emotions into scenes. However, as games started to present more realistically animated and voiced 3D characters, this tradition became challenging to maintain. Yuji Horii joked that “as game graphics evolve and grow increasingly realistic, if you make a protagonist who just stands there, they will look like an idiot.”
Dragon Quest Creator Believes Silent Protagonists Are Not Seen As Realistic By Players Anymore
As game graphics evolve and grow increasingly realistic, if you make a protagonist who just stands there, they will look like an idiot.
The last mainline game in the franchise was Dragon Quest 11, which featured a silent protagonist, but it was released in 2017, and it’s becoming increasingly harder for the devs to continue with the trend. Even with Dragon Quest 11 receiving mostly positive reviews, some people criticized the protagonist’s lack of voice.
Unfortunately, Horii did not present any solution to this problem. While the silent protagonist will still likely feel natural in the upcoming HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quest’s Erdrick Trilogy, for instance, it’s unlikely that all gamers will feel the same with DQ12.
Despite being announced back in 2021, Dragon Quest 12 still does not have an official release date. Horii has already commented a few times that development on the title is coming along, but some leaks have pointed out that DQ12 was likely to be delayed due to problems regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths of artists such as Akira Toriyama and Koichi Sugiyama, who worked on the project. It’s still possible that gamers will see Dragon Quest 12 in 2025, but it’s not confirmed whether it will have a silent protagonist or not.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
- Released
- September 4, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
A young man, about to participate in his village’s coming of age ceremony, travels to a sacred stone alongside his childhood friend. After a series of unexpected events, this intrepid adventurer learns he is the reincarnation of a legendary hero from a forgotten age.
The young hero sets forth into an unknown world on a journey to unravel the mystery of his past… but the welcome he receives is far from warm. Upon revealing his identity to the King, the hero is branded as “The Darkspawn” and hunted by a relentless army.
Fleeing from his pursuers, the hero assembles a band of endearing adventurers who believe he is actually The Luminary reborn. The Luminary and his newfound companions embark on a quest that will take them across continents and over vast oceans as they learn of an ominous threat facing the world.
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Franchise
- Dragon Quest
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
