What was your opinion on Byleth as an Avatar/Character?

[Landmaster]

1 hour ago, Book Bro said:

This is what I'm getting at. Is this type of character necessary? Is Path of Radiance any worse off because we can't choose the gender of Ike and name him Bobby and because it wasn't "my very own adventure"? 

IS want to have their cake and eat it too, but all it does is result in characters that don't reach the full potential of a player avatar nor of a fully realised protagonist.

Well, necessary...I would say no. This could have easily been a game where we play as the Lords. But would it have not still been the same "Adventure" if it was from their perspective or Byleth's (aside from the student-teacher aspect)? I think they introduce Avatar characters so we can learn more about other stories rather than just the main Lord's.

Generally, I see fans don't want the Avatar to be the "main character", rather, they want the Avatar more as an observer, which I think is fairly accurate of Byleth's implementation.

[Vierre]

I do wish, that they voiced those lines the player chooses when Byleth has to say something.
Other than that I really like that Byleth has no set character and does not show emotions that often. It makes those times more precious when Byleth does smile.

 

[redlight]

Incredibly meh. At least they don't say dumb shit. Some good moments with Jeralt and mysteries about Byleth, but IS has to make another game where your self-insert is a secret dragon god offspring (white text spoilers) or something. Lay off the self-importance. The avatar's supports didn't do Byleth any favors. It works for the setting because you uhhh... Have some kind of way of choosing one of the three houses to teach.

[Kiran_]

I really don't like silent protag's, so in that sense, I'm not a huge fan, but as far as silent protag's go in general, Byleth isn't the worst. I wish they had just voiced his options that you got to choose as that would have gone a long way into making him feel more like a character.

And because most of the options you got were the same thing (or you only got ONE option-why even let me click?), I don't think it would have been that difficult. I also wish we got 3-4 options per dialogue choice, with different sorta personality (i.e. dragon age). 

My other issue is, if it's supposed to be an avatar, I want them to be customizable. If they're just going to be their own character with no options of how to customize, I'd rather they just HAVE a personality and maybe the options you get are things they would actually say. Same issue with Joker in Persona, I would have enjoyed the game more if he was just his own character.

But overall, Byleth was 10000x better than Corrin, but not as fun as Robin was to me, because I actually enjoyed Robin's personality and dynamic with other characters.

[Sentinel07]

1 hour ago, Kiran_ said:

I really don't like silent protag's, so in that sense, I'm not a huge fan, but as far as silent protag's go in general, Byleth isn't the worst. I wish they had just voiced his options that you got to choose as that would have gone a long way into making him feel more like a character.

And because most of the options you got were the same thing (or you only got ONE option-why even let me click?), I don't think it would have been that difficult. I also wish we got 3-4 options per dialogue choice, with different sorta personality (i.e. dragon age). 

My other issue is, if it's supposed to be an avatar, I want them to be customizable. If they're just going to be their own character with no options of how to customize, I'd rather they just HAVE a personality and maybe the options you get are things they would actually say. Same issue with Joker in Persona, I would have enjoyed the game more if he was just his own character.

But overall, Byleth was 10000x better than Corrin, but not as fun as Robin was to me, because I actually enjoyed Robin's personality and dynamic with other characters.

What personality and dynamic? Robin is one of the most painfully generic characters in the entire franchise. A piece of cardboard has more personality than he does.

[Ottservia]

1 hour ago, Sentinel07 said:

What personality and dynamic? Robin is one of the most painfully generic characters in the entire franchise. A piece of cardboard has more personality than he does.

He’s got more personality than Alm. I’ll grant you that much. I will admit that Robin is a bit plain but his dynamic and relationship with Chrom and the rest of the  shepherds is really well done and one of the best aspects of the game writing wise. Robin basically acts as the logical and pragmatic support to Chrom’s hot headed and emotionally driven behavior while Chrom acts as a sort of light to ward away Grima’s darkness that rests within Robin. They are two halves of a greater whole in that sense. They complete each other. Robin in essence is the type of character that is static(kind of) and acts as that sort of positive reinforcement to help others grow out of their own troubles. That’s why a lot of Robin supports are written the way they are. A lot of them have Robin listening and helping the character work through their issues(there are a handful of exceptions and they have their place within the nuances of his character but this is not the thread for that). Which is very similar to how Byleth is written actually but the difference is Byleth is silent while Robin technically isn’t(he could be in the japanese version). 

[Kiran_]

22 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

What personality and dynamic? Robin is one of the most painfully generic characters in the entire franchise. A piece of cardboard has more personality than he does.

You should probably replay Awakening if you think that. I do think there is a sense of him being JUST generic enough to mesh well with any character you throw his way, which is part of the reason I think he's dynamic. Because the generic parts of him allow you to sorta interpret just HOW he means the things he's saying and project just enough of yourself on him, which in turn gives him more of a personality of what you put on him. Not to mention he has his own quirks and he's clearly a nerd, and I appreciate those traits because I can at least relate. Also he's always listening to others (something I also relate too) and generally pointing out people's mistakes or helping them with more dialogue than Byleth manages.

Corrin in a sense had too MUCH personality to be an avatar character, because he was so incredibly naive and sheltered. Which I think makes Corrin worse because there was no ability to project onto him because nobody would make so many damn mistakes. I think the more generic, but dynamic, quirky aspects of Robin allowed him to be a good avatar. Clearly not for everyone, and I think the way you view him comes down to what you like and don't like, but to call him a piece of cardboard seems a bit blind.