Starfield's player character was initially going to be voiced
Starfield’s launch is getting ever closer, and while you may be watching the clock waiting as you can already pre-load the game on Xbox, we’re getting just a few more teases about what the game has in store, as well as the process of its development. While getting an early hands-on session with the game, GQ’s Sam White had the chance to talk with Todd Howard about the game and got some very interesting tidbits.
One of the big appeals in Bethesda games is the roleplaying opportunity, and Starfield has many systems that lean into that. Alongside a tease of a unique twist on New Game+, White learned that the game’s player character was originally intended to be voiced, like in Fallout 4.
Bethesda
Fallout 4’s voiced player character was a controversial move. It made conversations and dialogue more engaging, but many players didn’t appreciate their identity being so heavily scripted, especially as there was only one voice option for each playable gender. Plus, Fallout 4’s vague dialogue tree often led the character to say things the player may not agree with.
The team behind Starfield originally hoped to iterate on this idea in Starfield and even got as far as recording some dialogue for the player character, but in the end, the decision was made to scrap it and have the character be mute. Now, much like in Skyrim and Fallout 3 before it, every reply you can give is written out in its entirety for you during conversations.
According to the team, this decision was made because, “having a preset voice and intonation took too much from roleplaying whoever you want to be.” The team is pushing for players to have more control over their character in Starfield, and this is just one of the ways that’s coming to fruition.
