Recently, Yuji Horii, the producer of Dragon Quest and known as the "father of DQ", and Katsura Hashino, the director of Persona 5, discussed the topic of modern RPG production.
Yuji Horii mentions: The challenge for the Dragon Quest series is how to make the main character design more detailed and expressive in today's more realistic graphics.
"The protagonists in Dragon Quest don't speak, which allows players to see themselves as the protagonists and better empathize with their own feelings. This choice was due to the technical limitations of the time. Yuji Horii joked, "But now, the graphics are much more realistic and detailed, and if your protagonist is just standing there, they'll look like idiots." ”
Of course, talking protagonists are hard to relate to players, "which is why the type of protagonist in Dragon Quest becomes more and more difficult to depict as the game becomes more realistic." ”
It is worth mentioning that voice dialogue will be added for some characters in the upcoming DQ3 Remastered, and Yuji Horii also hinted that the next title in the DQ series will likely have a "talking" protagonist.