Depends on the game. I think both can be awesome if done right.

Silent protagonists have worked very well for years in series such as Zelda, Dragon Quest and Pokemon. They are a staple of those series which not only work well, but show how you can make a game focused on one and make the players experience come out stronger for it.

Other games and series have had case by case experiences with the idea. A series like Chrono did it well, though both Protagonists didn't really need to stay silent and mostly did so due to the imput of the creators (Yuji Horii). While others, say your main character in Knights of the Old Republic, did so as a response to multiple questions and commands, and not so much because he was mute (he actually has a couple words of spoken dialogue in battle).

On the whole however, the view really is that the silent protagonist can enhance the experience and options of the player...but only if implemented properly.

I've never disliked a silent protagonist. I can't say the same for verbal protagonists (Way to ruin Sonic the Hedgehog)

When a lot of people play a game, they see the hero as themselves, which is a lot easier to do when they don't have a personality attached. As awesome as Nathan Drake was, his personality made me feel more like I was watching than I was involved. Silent protagonists may cause problems with narrative, but narrative isn't really what most people look for in a videogame.

I was happy with a mute Jak in the Precursor Legacy. It worked fine because Jak was the straight guy to Daxter's funny man, so he needed no voice. The way they re-booted the series for Jak 2 it would have been ridiculous for Jak to stay mute. But they also needed to give Jak a personality makeover.

Ah yes, Dead Space. Another one of those silent muppets, who only ranks above the Freeman and Jack because

a) his face is actually shown in the game (and it turns out he isn't a drooling retard with a dead stare in his eyes) and because he wears a mask for the most part (masking whether or not he is a drooling retard).

b) he actually breathes like you would expect him to, and makes noises when you would expect him to.

Why the hell would an engineer of his caliber, just sit back and take orders from two others without ever giving input. It's just "Go here, do this" and he's all "..." and does it. Even when his wife is involved, the man is stone cold.

Oh yes, the irony

Link is a silent protagonist. But he isn't a blank state. He has he own personality which is revealed through his actions and expressions.

I'd rather have a silent protagonist then one with bad voice acting.

Unless the voice acting is so bad that it's good like HoTD 2. Wait a minute... I retract my first statement.

Either way can be done well actually. I probably would n't like it if Link started talking.

Damnit all dude, this debate is slowly becoming very asinine, especially since you use circular logic in all your postings.  Stop begging the question when all you want to hear is the sultry sounds of Kratos's man-voice.  If you can't see what MOST people in your thread are telling you at this point, then fuck it; it's a lost cause and an extremely spent thread.

@ bolded: There is your problem, this has nothing to do with logic, only opinion. I'm simply fleshing out my opinion and trying to make others present their opinions on the subject. If you think that having a silent protagonist is the superior way of storytelling in gaming, then you are wrong. Not because I am right (because I'm not), but because it's all based on opinion, and as such, there will never be a defacto solution.