Friday, 21 May 2021 21:57

Days Gone Actor Discusses Finding the Right Tone for Deacon St. John

Written by Amari Giles
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Sam Witwer, the actor for Days Gone protagonist Deacon St. John, reveals the process he used when finding the right tone for the character.

The post-apocalyptic zombie game Days Gone has several gameplay elements that help it stand out among the many other zombie games. One of these elements is its cast of characters who inhabit the setting alongside Days Gone's hordes of zombies.

Among Days Gone's cast of characters, players should be most familiar with the protagonist Deacon St. John, a character who tends to talk to himself at times throughout the game. Recently the actor who performed the character, Sam Witwer, revealed the process behind how he found the right tone for Deacon St. John.

RELATED: Days Gone's PC Port Won't Add Certain High-End PC Features

Witwer is a voice actor also known for his roles as Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and the Sith Lord Darth Maul in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon series. On the Subreddit for Days Gone, Witwer responded to a user asking about his performance as Deacon St. John in Days Gone.

Reddit user 2th asked Witwer about the idea behind Deacon St. John talking to himself, and why the game deviated from traditional semi-silent protagonists in such games. Witwer mentioned that since he's a gamer, he's familiar with most game protagonists usually talking to themselves. This is particularly the case when they speak out loud after completing actions, like when a character finds a coin, questions where a tunnel might lead, or wonders if they need to be careful of a man holding a chainsaw.

Writer John Garvin was writing a lot of dialogue for Deacon, so Witwer ran with the idea that the character regularly talks to himself. He added that since Days Gone's setting endured a terrible apocalypse, it made sense that someone like Deacon St. John would talk to himself. He pointed out that in a world where most people are dead or dying, people talking to themselves would fit right in.

The main idea was that the game would just play it straight that Deacon is actually talking to himself and the player is hearing what he says. Witwer said his line of thinking was, "Let's play these lines like this guy is actually saying this stuff. The player just happens to overhear."

Plenty of the commenters on the Subreddit responded positively to Sam Witwer's answer. Some people said they liked this direction for Deacon St. John, because it feels believable in a post-apocalyptic setting. Others felt having the character regularly talk to himself was a nice change of pace for post-apocalyptic game protagonists.

Days Gone is available now on PC and PS4.

MORE: Days Gone: 7 Tips For Farming Credits Quickly

Source: Reddit

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