Support NeoGAF

[J2 Cool]

Not really. At least not in Zelda. As long as the decision fits the game. Like Ico/SotC's decision in voice acting is great. Hopefully though, one day they do change something about Zelda. I'd love to see a full orchestra and well voice acted Zelda game. Something like a Pixar quality as far as production value. Personally I'd like to see them do something severly different at some point. They have the ability to now. But I'm not going to complain about the game they decided to make. I think a game should be reviewed for what it is instead.

 

[Kevtones]

I also prefer Japanese voices with subtitles 99% of the time. That way I can't discern if its shitty VA most of the time.

 

[cvxfreak]

I wish the upcoming Pokemon Battle Revolution had at least the Pokemon's voices in them. It looks pretty but the lack of proper voices bogs down the overall value of the game's presentation.

 

[Warm Machine]

I think the Zelda games are beyond the point where Link can no longer have a voice. He has become a character unto himself and no longer the player's avatar.

It is a tricky decision though finding the voice and it has to be handled properly. I can not imagine Duke Nukem without the voice nor would Gears be as good without it.

 

[pancakesandsex]

that's because talking blocks would be just plain retarded

Tetris worlds says hi

 

[Whimsical Phil]

So are "talkies" going to fade out just like they did in film?

My point is that, available technology or not, you can tell good stories without spoken dialogue. I'd rather watch Safety Last than most modern "talkie" comedies.

Regardless, I've never understood the complaing that something that furthers presentation or gameplay just doesn't "belong" in a game. It's silly.

Some filmmakers are still making silent films today. They feel that having no speech does further the presentation. You may prefer to have voice acting in all your games, but that doesn't mean that the creators feel that it's necessary or beneficial.

 

[Frenck]

I think their lack of full orchestration for music stems from the idea that they won't be able to change it dynamically as well as they can now.

It would be harder to do with a fully orchestrated soundtrack but certainly not impossible. If Nintendo wants to push the limits of what is currently possible in terms of storytelling and atmosphere it would be a easy decision to make.

I want to be honest, I haven't heard a single tune of TP's music yet and I didn't play it, so I won't judge it. But according to the reviews the quality of the music doesn't match the quality of the gameplay and the graphics. It always helps if the entire game is on one consistent level quality wise, completely seamless.

Maybe it isn't as bad as the reviewers make it sound - and they don't even make it sound that bad - it's just nitpicking, small complaints about a game that is otherwise the best that gaming has to offer. But Nintendo should invest more into their next Zelda, they have shitloads of money at their hands so they should go balls out and do a 20 million dollar Zelda that blows everyone away with it's production values.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Even with the option to turn it off?

Regardless, I've never understood the complaing that something that furthers presentation or gameplay just doesn't "belong" in a game. It's silly.

Not everyone agrees it furthers presentation in a Zelda Title. Obviously the creators don't. Zelda is pretty popular and sales are very good for the series so I don't think it not being there is hampering the series. I don't want to hear some horrible voice actor speaking the words like 99% of videogames out there. For me it would break the immersion rather than increase it. I trust Nintendo to do what they do best and create the Zelda game they want to make.

 

[Frenck]

The problem is that Zelda has a lot of dialogue, almost on a RPG level as far as I know. There is no reason why that dialogue shouldn't be told by voice actors, there aren't any special circumstances that make Zeldas storytelling that much different than any other game.

As I said bad voice acting could ruin a game and good voice acting could make it a million times better (KotOR, Splinter Cell). There is no reason why that rule couldn't apply to Zelda too.

Maybe someone can explain it to me, why is Zeldas storytelling so special and so different compared to other games that voice acting would hurt it?

 

[Doogington]

I am happy to see that Metroid Prime 3 will have voice acting. Except Samus, which really doesn't make any sense.

 

[watership]

Good voice acting adds realism and draws you in. Bad voice acting, however, will KILL a game. It all depends on the game. Okami was perfect with it's odd noise/voice effects. Oblivion was greatly enhanced by it's voice work after reading most of Morrowind.

 

[bhytre]

The problem is that Zelda has a lot of dialogue, almost on a RPG level as far as I know. There is no reason why that dialogue shouldn't be told by voice actors, there aren't any special circumstances that make Zeldas storytelling that much different than any other game.

As I said bad voice acting could ruin a game and good voice acting could make it a million times better (KotOR, Splinter Cell). There is no reason why that rule couldn't apply to Zelda too.

Maybe someone can explain it to me, why is Zeldas storytelling so special and so different compared to other games that voice acting would hurt it?

Well for one there really is a lot of silly dialogue going on mostly with NPCs, i don't think it would translate very well if the voice acting isn't done properly.
As for telling the main story i guess there would be no problem.

 

[Jiggy]

Quick test: Out of all games I've played, looking at the ones scoring 9+ by IGN user average, here's the breakdown on voice acting:

No voice acting: 50
Minimal voice acting (such as grunts, a racing announcer, etc.): 21
Minimal voice acting plus songs: 2
Voice acting: 10

(Of the ten, two are Smackdown games and two are GTA.)


Looks to me like in fact the market favors no voice acting, so in that respect, no, I don't think it's a legitimate complaint--at least when the complaint comes from a professional reviewer.

The problem is that Zelda has a lot of dialogue, almost on a RPG level as far as I know. There is no reason why that dialogue shouldn't be told by voice actors

It would kill replay value unless you could turn it off. Valkyrie Profile was an awesome experience to me, once, but I'd never touch it again--in fact I gave it away to a friend because I was so sure that I'd never want to sit through its two dozen or so unskippable 30-minute dialogue scenes again, no matter how cool the real gameplay was.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Maybe someone can explain it to me, why is Zeldas storytelling so special and so different compared to other games that voice acting would hurt it?

Not speaking on the current Zelda but the past ones are far more fairy tale. Simply having shots of characters facial expressions and actions gives me far more hooks into the story than Haley Joel Osmont sputtering some badly written dialogue. Zelda is about the large themes rather than specifics for me and with that I don't need to hear these points elicudated through dialogue. Zelda has always been much better at showing than telling imo which makes the spoken dialogue unncesscary for the most part. I'm sure you disagree and that's valid. My take is still I prefer for them to do it whatever way they want. If they feel voice acting adds something I'm sure they will add it. For me adding it brings nothing to the table however. I'd rather have them focus on telling a story through visual means rather than slowing down things for dialogue.

 

[watership]

I am happy to see that Metroid Prime 3 will have voice acting. Except Samus, which really doesn't make any sense.

Giving such a popular character a voice sometimes comes with a backlash. I remember people complaining about Mario's voice from Mario 64 ad nauseam.

 

[Stoney Mason]

Giving such a popular character a voice sometimes comes with a backlash. I remember people complaining about Mario's voice from Mario 64 ad nauseam.

There's an example where voice use is alright to me because it's iconic and symbolic. I don't need Mario telling me implictly in a speech why he needs to save the princess. The voice samples they use there are mostly for punction marks.

The last Mario and Luigi adventure for the DS use sound in a wonder manner. It felt bold and classy because Mario and Luigi were emoting and using their sound samples without speeches. That fits the Mario world perfectly. I'm guessing it wouldn't work in Zelda to the same effect. In the same way I don't Zelda to run around saying he's mad at somebody. The facial expression and animatios and camera angles cover that for me.

 

[Frenck]

Not speaking on the current Zelda but the past ones are far more fairy tale. Simply having shots of characters facial expressions and actions gives me far more hooks into the story than Haley Joel Osmont sputtering some badly written dialogue. Zelda is about the large themes rather than specifics for me and with that I don't need to hear these points elicudated through dialogue. Zelda has always been much better at showing than telling imo which makes the spoken dialogue unncesscary for the most part. I'm sure you disagree and that's valid. My take is still I prefer for them to do it whatever way they want. If they feel voice acting adds something I'm sure they will add it. For me adding it brings nothing to the table however. I'd rather have them focus on telling a story through visual means rather than slowing down things for dialogue.

First off I want you to know that I don't just disagree by default.

So because Zelda is more like a fairy tale it should be presented by the visuals in combination with text based dialogue?

So it's sort of like Fable and that mosaic picture in the cathedral that tells the story of the hero and acts like some some sort of guide through the life of the main character. Fable still has voice acting and cutscenes, but it also has that special kind of storytelling to enhance the fairy tale aspect of the game.

I know it isn't the best comparison, but I think I understand what you mean.

Fable had unpolished cutscenes and very repetitive voice acting which hurt the game in the end, but the mosaic stone and the narrative worked really well.

I need to play the game before I can comment any further on this.

But this thread isn't about Zelda, it's about games in general. And there are games which I can't imagine to not have voice acting like KotOR, where the voice acting made a brilliant game a classic or Halo where the voice acting added so much to the experience that the sequel included about 15,000 lines of dynamic dialogue (!!!). Splinter Cell has in my opinion the best use of voice acting in gaming right now, it adds a whole new layer of atmosphere and humor to the game, the quality of the voice acting is top notch, the writing is clever (brilliant nod to Brazil in Chaos Theory) and the humor never feels out of place.

Some games simply require great voice acting and all my favourite games belong to that special group. But as I said, I can understand if someone doesn't care about voice acting.