The silent protagonist thing can work if the protagonist is a character you created, and who interacts with other people through multiple choice answers. So basically the western RPG approach.
It usually doesn't work with pre-made characters like Mario though. I am not able to project myself into a tiny overweight plumber who bounces off of walls, saves the same princess three times a week without getting even a little annoyed, and communicates in exclamations of "Yahoo!!!" and variations of that. There will always be a disconnect between me and the character, and I will always assume the role of a guiding observer, not that of Mario himself. So if they made him talk, I wouldn't care, because I've never projected my personality onto him in the first place.
Similar deal with Link, pretty much, though moreso in later Zeldas where the scenarios get more complex, and thus playing a silent potato becomes more and more jarring.