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Dragon Quest creator on keeping the protagonist silent, and what's next for the franchise
A portion of a Siliconera interview with Dragon Quest creator, Yuji Horii...
Siliconera: Dragon Quest games typically have a silent protagonist with other JRPGs have you step into a character. What makes a silent protagonist interesting?
Yuji Horii, designer and series creator: The connection is the main protagonist is essentially the player. If we create words for the protagonist to say then we feel there would be a disconnect since the silent protagonist is the player. The game is created in a way so players would imagine what the protagonist would say at any given moment. The main character doesn’t have much of a personality since he represents the player and the way I create party characters is to make them unique characters so that stand by themselves.
Siliconera: Where do you want to take the Dragon Quest series next?
Yuji Horii: Games are entertainment and when you define entertainment it is to enjoy a life that isn’t your own, something that is a different life. That is something I’ve been creating and something I will continue to create.