I understand what you're saying, but part of playing a video game is assuming the role of a character.  If you feel verbal or nonverbal dialogue is the definitive characteristic of your protagonist, then it's your preference.  Just know, that as soon as a character opens his mouth, he has the potential of alienating the player.  I think part of the allure of gaming with a mute hero is filling that so called "shell" with your own imaginative qualities.

If games are to ever be considered as art, then this is the quality they have to exploit the most. Immersion, immersion , immersion. Protagonists who talk break it the moment they open their mouths.

Yeah I like silent protagonists. I feel I get more immersed into the story and atmosphere.

Dead Space was one step better where you couldn't even see the protagonists face!

I liked KZ2 because of the fact that Rico did most of the talking.

Dragon Age: Origins is also great if you want to make yourself the hero.



The problem with characters as opposed to playing your own character is that not everyone might like them. The problem I've had with other RPGs and even Final Fantasy is the main character can be really annoying.

I will take a silent protagonist over an annoying one.

in my imagination i am able to talk and answer questions and in general carry a dialog. 

That's it exactly. Empty shells upon which to project your own personality/motivations. I think that's a good element of game design that should only be diverged from when a strong justification is there.

well Persona does a good job of doing it so I don't mind!

Exactly. If you have a character who speaks and is annoying, it means that said character is so because he/she is designed to be or because the character is poorly designed, and wasn't meant to be annoying.

When playing HL2, I don't sit and reply what I think Gordon would say, I think about what a retard he is for being unable to have a normal conversation. As kitler says, I can't connect to someone, much less project myself into a character that is unable to show any kind of emotion, much less even say a god damn word. Valve have proven that they can do characters with personality, not to mention characters with great voiceacting. Left 4 Dead has them and Alex is such a character.

I don't think the Freeman will ever have a voice, because it wouldn't be Half-Life if he did. Had he had from the beginning though, the game would have been much more engrossing to me.

EDIT: Valkyria Chronicles is a great example of doing it right. Every character has a personality, and a voice. Some are annoying and some aren't. One of my favorite characters is an engineer, who is extremely lazy, so I kept making him do things, and thought to myself "Get to it your lazy bastard!". In the end, I really cared for the people I had chosen to put in my squad, and everybody having a voice was great for the storytelling as well. It was just so much easier to connect to the myriad of characters that I controlled.

link is a mute protagonist.

mmm, Link.

says it all :)

No it doesn't