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Topic: Silent heroes vs voice acting

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Cia

There are several video game fans who'd like to see voice acting added to all modern adventure games. I think that voice acting in a game like Metroid Other M is justifiable, since Samus has spoken before in games like Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. IF the game has any voice acting in it, then also the hero should be able to speak if he/her is a human being, otherwise he appears retarded. This was a problem in Metroid Prime 3... i hate to say it, but in that game and that game only, Samus seemed dim-witted, since she couldn't speak even in situations where others were having conversations with her.
Zelda series is a different thing, since there's no voice acting at all. Link may be silent in the world of mute people, and imagination works sometimes better than any voice acting. I also liked Final Fantasy series more before they had voice acting, although that's just because the games in that franchise were better before Ps2 era.
So, basically my opinion about this matter is that voice acting shouldn't be used just because most modern games has it, if it doesn't bring anything useful to the table. Metroid Other M could have been made with using just text and slabbing some ambient music in the backround.

Cia

Adam

The silent hero wasn't invented for video games. Japanese film makers particularly liked it, and may continue to use it -- I don't really watch a lot of new film anymore. The main character could be silent while surrounded by speaking characters, so why not in games?

I would love to see Zelda brought up to date with modern adventure games and yet maintain the silent Link. At the very least this should be done for cut scenes. Kind of ruins some of the drama they aim for to just have text scroll across the screen while the villain just stands there, face entirely motionless. It can be really interesting how certain characters react to silence.

Alternatively, have no dialog at all. Zelda could definitely do it, and I'd love to see that -- not like the dialog is ever particularly great, anyway. Shadow of the Colossus came closer to this than any adventure game I know, and it was certainly the better for it. The little dialog there was turned out to be the most boring part, actually. Would have suited the mood better to have that incomprehensible voice without the subtitles.

Edited on by Adam

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noname875

i like silent heroes in fps games, other then that i would prefer voice acting.

noname875

pikku

i agree with Faron Samus seemed in MP3 because she didn't talk when everyone was talking to her. and I agree with Adam that Having text to read instead of quality VO ruin the epic-ness of a game. examples are Zelda Twlight Princess and Mario Galaxy 2.

Edited on by theblackdragon

pikku

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FonistofCruxis

I like how Malon kept asking Link if he was listening because of his silence in Link's awakening.

Cia

pikmaniac02 wrote:

i agree with Faron Samus seemed in MP3 because she didn't talk when everyone was talking to her. and I agree with Adam that Having text to read instead of quality VO ruin the epic-ness of a game. examples are Zelda Twlight Princess and Mario Galaxy 2.

Twilight Princesse's problem may have been that it was too realistic to not have voice acting. Lip syncing without actual speech made it look like a mute movie at some parts. Problem didn't occur in Wind Waker, and hopefully it's not apparent in Skyward Sword.

Edited on by theblackdragon

Cia

Adam

Ocarina's goal was to be more cinematic, and every internally-developed Zelda since, other than Four Swords Adventure, has followed in its footsteps in some way. Voice acting is the natural next step. Even if a game is cartoony, cartoons have voice acting.

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theblackdragon

I do prefer silent heroes, mainly because it helps to put me more into the game. My own inner dialogue serves as a 'voice' for the hero, y'know? I like it when they say things the way I personally would say them, and that doesn't often happen in games with speaking heroes, lol.

if we're talking just about voice acting in general, I know it's all the rage nowadays, but I can live without it. the characters have voices when I read their text, and that's all I need, but when you've got a crappy actor grating on your nerves, it can really kill the experience. :/

Edited on by theblackdragon

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gaminguy

have voices and include an option to turn them off

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Punny

I prefer a silent hero. It allows the player to use his imagination (as said in previous comments) to give the hero a "voice." If a character can't talk well, he/she shouldn't talk at all.

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Noire

I cannot stand silent characters at all. They look like monkeys compared to the rest of the cast. If the voice acting is really annoying, I can turn the sound off. If the main character is dumb even in text, well, that's too bad. He'd still look dumber not being able to speak.

Edited on by Noire

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The_Fox

I'm usually all for voice acting in games. Can you imagine playing Arkham Asylum and having to read the text instead of hearing the voice actors? Or playing Portal without hearing the deadpan hilarity of GLADoS?

What I've always hated is the JRPG tradition of giving the hero absolutely no dialogue. How many ways can you interpret
"...." as an answer?

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