Quote Originally Posted by Fox View Post
the game giving you wonderful flavor text choices to really give identity to them like Persona, Mass Effect, and Suikoden
In what world does Mass Effect have a silent protagonist? xD
Conceptually, they are one. Shepard really never talks much without being prompted by the player, the fact their dialogue is spoken out loud doesn't change the fact that they are nothing more than a player surrogate like any other silent protagonist.

Quote Originally Posted by Fox
I actually felt like Shulk would have been more likable as one in Xenoblade itself because he's honestly the most boring member of the cast despite the twists that connect him to the plot
I shudder to think how the most boring member of the cast would have been if he had even less to say. And I definitely feel like his relationships with Reyn and Fiora in particular would have been severely compromised in that scenario. Also, I would suggest that having an 'unlikable' character is a good argument for a better character, not a silent one.
I honestly don't think people would notice since the majority of their scenes together have the other party actually doing most of the talking just like with a silent protagonist. Like a SP, the player is only aware of the nature of Shulk's relationship with others by reacting to what they say. Hell, the most poignant scenes are the Heart-to-Hearts which are mostly just the player reacting to the actual chatty party members like a normal SP prompt. So yeah, I really don't think Shulk is an improvement since he comes across incredibly dry and vanilla in personality. This is what I feel is the real problem with chatty main characters, they're personalities are often the most bland of the party because they have to be made as inoffensive as possible in order to be likable and not accidentally cause the player to stop playing. Even some of the most interesting protagonists are often softer around the edges than their supporting casts can be.