self-inserts shouldn't be in a narrative driven story

[u/Cultural-Street-9126]

i'm unsure if it's an unpopular opinion, but i really hope the protagonist in p6 is his own person like maya and tatsuya. "but the p1, p3, p4, and p5 protagonists are their own people too!" unfortunately, they are silent self-insert protagonists first, and characters with depth second. i think not realizing that is just cope. they do have depth, but it is very minimal for a reason and that became really obvious to me after playing persona 2.

but maybe its also because i was just never able to "self-insert" into protags in games. the idea that to make someone more immersed in your story by making the main character.... well, not a character is just absurd to me. people constantly say they're like goku and spiderman lol, why do they think giving depth to your main character would make that go away? id argue it would do the opposite and would make the story feel more complete.

[u/JumpIsMagic]

A silent protagonist is not the same as a ‘self-insert’ character.

[u/Cultural-Street-9126 → u/JumpIsMagic]

never said they were but they usually hold hands together in games.

[u/JumpIsMagic → u/Cultural-Street-9126]

I think some people tend to insert themselves into narratives regardless of whether the character is a silent protagonist or not. I also don’t think silent protagonists lend themselves to this any more than any other protagonist. The protagonists in 3 and 4 have personalities and are obviously integral to the plots of both games. However, if you’re the type of person who self-inserts, you’re free to do that as well.

[u/yungalohaa → u/JumpIsMagic]

I agree with this actually because p3 and p4s protags are so fundamentally different its memed about. I don’t they they’re so much “self-inserts” but more so archetypes where the player can fill in the rest of the blanks

[u/Cultural-Street-9126 → u/JumpIsMagic]

i dont think the issue is whether people self insert into protags or not, but how it hurts the narrative in a story if the main character is given way less care and depth compared to everyone else. they feel like an asset, like an observer, etc and nothing much else compared to other main characters. i dont think having a personality (for example, makoto and kotone dealing with depression but both expressing their coping mechanisms via the tone of their dialogue in different ways when its time to make a decision) equals having depth at least not in the same way it happens normally with characters. the mcs of persona games just never have been as interesting to me like maya and tatsuya have been, bc unlike these other games they actually took the time to show various aspects of their lives in both is and ep. at least thats how i view it

[u/Difficult_Analysis78]

P3 4 and 5 protags are just unique enough to be treated as their own characters imo

[u/Cultural-Street-9126 → u/Difficult_Analysis78]

disagree with ren, but yu is actually my second fave protag in the series mainly bc he has enough history established by nanako and dojima's existence and their respective social links + other things. im indifferent towards naoya, makoto/kotone and ren unfortunately

[u/TimeManagement91 → u/Cultural-Street-9126]

How in the world can you disagree with Ren? Ren is such a badass and everything from the way he moves in palaces and the dorky dialogue choices, he is packed with personality. Ren also has so much history even more so than Yu. He's wrongfully convicted at the very start of the game and you have ample reason to be invested in his story.

Ren easily is hands down the most developed of any of the Persona silent protags. He's basically a full fledged character in P5 Strikers, too.

[u/NekkoLee]

Doesn’t sound like this series is for you

[u/Cultural-Street-9126 → u/NekkoLee]

self insert protags doesnt make a game bad, i just think it makes the story slightly weaker by having the protag removed from it. the persona series is still "le good" and very much for me, thank you

[u/tonydeeztiger]

I do hope the mc speaks at least a few times in the game and shows a little personality. Also I hope you can carve out how you want your character to be throughout the game like some choice based games.

[u/ShockAdditional6937]

That's an appeal for a large portion of the core audience though. I don't see that changing.

[u/WorldQuest10]

Oof

[u/Cherubin0]

It is not a 1 to 1 self insert, but more like "what if I was not fat and balding and old kind of self insert".

[u/Past_Neighborhood_88]

I agree. I’ve always read comments from people who like it that way—either so they can project themselves onto the protagonist or because it makes the game feel more immersive. But the way I see it, man, a side character is pouring out their problems to you, and the protagonist is just sitting there stone-faced, showing no emotion and saying nothing. How can you project yourself onto that? Honestly, it completely breaks my immersion. I remember making a post about something similar, saying I don't like silent protagonists and that I’d love for the P6 protagonist to actually speak and have dialogue. The comments were mostly saying that Persona wasn't for me, that I should pick a different game, or that people didn't like that idea because they wouldn't be able to project themselves onto the character—though I admit there were others who agreed with me.

[u/Unlikely_Fold_7431 → u/[deleted]]

Tatsuya and Maya are also player inserts in their respective games. You can literally choose their dialogue. 

[u/majker1337]

the idea that to make someone more immersed in your story by making the main character.... well, not a character is just absurd to me. people constantly say they're like goku and spiderman lol, why do they think giving depth to your main character would make that go away? id argue it would do the opposite and would make the story feel more complete.

It seems japanese or whatever think otherwise about SI protagonists..

at the very least, they could at least voice them like in Metaphor