Lack of time or funds or even laziness. They could had turned Veronica into an Adult permanently during act 3 for example but they din't because they din't wanted to make 2 sets of each costume for her. That ring should had done this permanent change but no... It's only for 1 Pep Up Power...

So maybe that's because there was not much tough on making the protagonist to be expressive at all for a similar reason.

I came just to ask if it's an franchise standard because why does he even exist lol. He's only there as a vessel for the player afaik. Though I'm only at desert horse race place so maybe he gets bettett lmao.

Also jesus christ japanese people really like homosexual (or presenting) French dudes

exactly and YOU ARE THE MAIN CHARACTER don't cut it anymore it is cringe trend.

Yeah.. I think the Silent protagonist is the standard on the whole series. Some of them bother enough to give you at least a minimal character's creator.

Series like The Legend of Zelda and Ys as they progress, the silent protagonist works less and less with each development.

I'm used to it thought so it does not bother me much.

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

I came just to ask if it's an franchise standard because why does he even exist lol. He's only there as a vessel for the player afaik. Though I'm only at desert horse race place so maybe he gets bettett lmao.

Also jesus christ japanese people really like homosexual (or presenting) French dudes

no at all, my favourite DQ protagonist is 8 for example

they are silent too, but so expressive with so much personality
11 is really a terrible example of silent protagonists...

In DQ games with a single main character (some DQ games are more of an ensemble of main characters), that main character is often a stand-in for the player. They're mute so they don't impose a predefined personality or emotion onto the player.

If you want more of an "ensemble" kind of thing you'd want to check out DQ 4 and maybe 6? I vaguely remembering the Hero of that game having more input than usual, been a while.

I don' consider it a con for DQ11, even though it's a "modern game". The rest of the DQ11 cast is more than lively and talkative to make up for a mute protagonist

Talking about DQ VIII , it's also possible that Level 5 is better at making expressions. The engine that they used on DQ8 was probably the same one used in other Level 5 games like Dark Cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle) and Rogue Galaxy.

Hey, at least the Yuusha was pretty expressive when he was a kid.

mmm id say its like the typical oldschool game character which doesnt say anything. Kind of like Link of TLO Zelda

Dragon Quest came from an era of silent protagonists. Erik really is the one that carries the dialogue in the game.

He is supposed to be a self insert kind of character. Some games does it better than others but that's the reason for most silent protaganists. And its a staple for this series of games. Love it or hate it.

I honestly thought it was fine. This is actually an excellent idea and mutes are some of my favorite characters because they're basically blank slates that let you build your own personality into them and interpret them freely. That's one reason Link always appealed to everyone, he would essentially be whomever the player wanted him to be allowing him to appeal to more people.

Jak from Jak and Daxter was the same way, well, until he stopped being mute in the second game. But it also helps players slip into the roll and imagine themselves as the main character. Without a dedicated personality, there are few things to cause people to dislike or not relate with among the silent character's personality. It just works, it does have to be done right though, it can be screwed up. DQ XI did fumble it in a few areas, especially Act 3. But Act 1 and 2 they did a really good job.

BTW the main point of the OP is that the hero of DQXI is less expressive as a silent protagonist than the hero in DQVIII. By this he's talking about less angry faces, stares or expressions of surprise on his face as he don't even react to some events.