Mark Hamill (The Joker/Fire Lord Ozai) for Ganondorf please. Ozai's voice would absolutely fit, it's the voice I hear from Ganondorf after hearing all of his grunts and little laughs in Twilight Princess.
Furthermore, I like all narrative games, sometimes voice acting isn't needed, like when you're reading journal entries found in the environment. But 3D Zelda games have always had RPG-like stories and RPGs have evolved to include voice acting, especially during the main quest, if they can afford it (and Nintendo can, guys).
You're comparing Zelda to the wrong type of games. Zelda isn't an RPG, or even "like" an RPG. They're action-adventure games with a very small focus on narrative. It's silly to suggest that a Zelda story resembles a typical JRPG in any way. If you want to trace a line back, 3D Zelda is built on the mechanics and presentation in Super Mario 64. Looking at the RPGs that were influential before Zelda, you're looking at things like Wizardry, Ultima, and Dragon Quest, none of which share any structural similarity with Zelda beyond "use a sword to kill bad guys." The CRPGs that were popular in the 90s and WRPGs that are popular today share almost no common ancestry or influence with Zelda at all.
Video games in general have been moving towards a more cinematic approach since last gen, but it's a sort of presentation that may not be appropriate for Zelda. Zelda isn't like a movie. It's like a picture book. Yeah, it's not for everyone, but there's a certain formula that deserves to be respected. I've always found the expressions and grunts and even the gibberish of Midna to be charming and distinctly part of the Zelda experience.
And that's really what it all comes down to is feel and experience. There's nothing inherently wrong with voice acting or a cinematic approach to games. It's just not a big brush you can take and say it applies to everything, and anything that doesn't fall in line isn't a "modern AAA" game.
That said though, Ocarina of Time is an interesting case. It's not very focused on narrative, but its storytelling methods were highly influential in modern games. It had plenty of cutscenes, most of which were done in engine and rendered in real time, just like modern games like Assassin's Creed, The Last of Us, etc (though that probably owes more to the granddaddy of all modern cinematic games, Metal Gear Solid). JRPGs of the time went a different route, opting for FMV cutscenes and pre-rendered art. That's the sort of presentation that you almost never see in games anymore.
Theses 'rumours' are nothing more than a simple list of broad things that will likely be in Zelda U. It's much like a phoney psychic working their cold-reading on a gullible sod.
Most of these 'leaks' follow this template; such as the Gametsu Smash Bros roster, where the hoaxer got lucky with some of their guesses - much like a game of Fighter Bingo. Also the same thing with the annual Nintendo 'E3 leaks'; generalised software/hardware announcements that sound halfway true. What annoys me is that most major sites continue to report these idiotic stories.
And yes, I AM aware that some rumours often turn out to be true (like 'Project Cafe'), but these are in the minority of cases.
Furthermore, I like all narrative games, sometimes voice acting isn't needed, like when you're reading journal entries found in the environment. But 3D Zelda games have always had RPG-like stories and RPGs have evolved to include voice acting, especially during the main quest, if they can afford it (and Nintendo can, guys).
You're comparing Zelda to the wrong type of games. Zelda isn't an RPG, or even "like" an RPG. They're action-adventure games with a very small focus on narrative. It's silly to suggest that a Zelda story resembles a typical JRPG in any way. If you want to trace a line back, 3D Zelda is built on the mechanics and presentation in Super Mario 64. Looking at the RPGs that were influential before Zelda, you're looking at things like Wizardry, Ultima, and Dragon Quest, none of which share any structural similarity with Zelda beyond "use a sword to kill bad guys." The CRPGs that were popular in the 90s and WRPGs that are popular today share almost no common ancestry or influence with Zelda at all.
Video games in general have been moving towards a more cinematic approach since last gen, but it's a sort of presentation that may not be appropriate for Zelda. Zelda isn't like a movie. It's like a picture book. Yeah, it's not for everyone, but there's a certain formula that deserves to be respected. I've always found the expressions and grunts and even the gibberish of Midna to be charming and distinctly part of the Zelda experience.
And that's really what it all comes down to is feel and experience. There's nothing inherently wrong with voice acting or a cinematic approach to games. It's just not a big brush you can take and say it applies to everything, and anything that doesn't fall in line isn't a "modern AAA" game.
That said though, Ocarina of Time is an interesting case. It's not very focused on narrative, but its storytelling methods were highly influential in modern games. It had plenty of cutscenes, most of which were done in engine and rendered in real time, just like modern games like Assassin's Creed, The Last of Us, etc (though that probably owes more to the granddaddy of all modern cinematic games, Metal Gear Solid). JRPGs of the time went a different route, opting for FMV cutscenes and pre-rendered art. That's the sort of presentation that you almost never see in games anymore.
1: I'm not talking about VO anymore.
2: This thread is about Zelda U, so we're talking about the 5 released 3D Zelda games, Zelda U, and 2D Zelda only as it reflects upon its 3D counterpart. Let's not assume unalike things are alike.
Video games are pretty unspeakable from their medium; video. Therefore if they stop to show a scene that can't be portrayed as effectively in gameplay it's going to resemble a movie or game of thrones moreso than a comic (unless you literally show a video of a comic book, like Infamous or Gravity Rush). Let's stop using 'cinematic' as a buzz word; it doesn't really convey much.
I liked Midna's story, but I don't see her scenes being like a picture book (WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT VO). This scene looks pretty 'cinematic' / cutscene-like to me (ignore the tangential creepiness);
Remember how Paper Mario begins with a literal book opening and is divided into chapters? That too.
Anyway, Zelda has a story like plenty of RPGs, namely it's structured like a 'Tales of' game with a more expansive and interconnected, and typically less populated overworld . It has a linear main story told via cutscenes (few of them animated), a collection of open-ish areas that one can come back to at any time wherein one accepts quests, and dungeons where the combat and some of the questing takes place.
Zelda is a lot different from older isometric W and JRPGs, though I imagine Zelda U's overworld will resemble Skyrim, Dragon Age Inquisition, or the Witcher 3 with different gameplay.
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Topic: Somewhat-Credible Zelda U Rumors
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