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Post by Umbra on Dec 29, 2011 3:28:18 GMT -5
Do you generally like voice acting in video games, do you not like it, or does it depend on, say, how much the budget is for a company to hire a decent voice acting team?
For me, I've always liked voicing for characters, good to almost-decent quality. Especially in RPGs where the is a lot of character development, a voice identifies a character. Of course in a game without voices, there's no risk of totally destroying a character with horrible voice acting, but this can make a game dull (especially if there is a lot of generic script.)
Voicing makes it not like your reading a book, and I generally don't want to be reading a book while I'm playing a game.
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Post by Youngster Joey on Dec 29, 2011 4:05:04 GMT -5
Depends.
For a lot of RPGs, it's nice (but not necessary) to have because it can help flesh out characters and give them more characterization. There are some characters I've liked mainly because of their voices (ToS's Yuan, P3's Akihiko). I'm generally not very picky with voice acting, so I don't really worry about the voice acting ruining the characters much. At the same time, I don't have any problem playing silent RPGs.
On the other hands, there are some games that simply don't need it. I've heard more than a few people complain that Zelda still doesn't have voice acting, but the game would benefit absolutely nothing from this. The focus of the game is on gameplay, not the characters. Same goes for Pokemon. I don't care about the characters. It's not why I'm playing the game.
Generally, though, I don't really care. Voice acting is a nice perk for some games, but I don't think its absence detracts from games any.
(The lack of voice acting in Tales skits bothered me, but that was because they wouldn't let me skip to the next line when I was finished reading. At least if there was voice acting, I'd be able to listen to that instead of re-reading the same line over and over until the next one appeared. I can't stand being forced to read at speaking speed.)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 4:56:14 GMT -5
I prefer it like Tales of Vesperia... some events are voiced while others are not & all skits are voiced...
that in RPGs though I don't mind playing silent ones.
in other games.....well.....I don't care since I only care about RPGs
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Post by Hiro the Half-Elf on Dec 29, 2011 12:20:47 GMT -5
That's an awful stance to take. There's something of value in every genre. It shouldn't be a matter of "this doesn't interest me" but "what about this could interest me?" ...Oh, wait, this is a voice-acting thread. If a game has voices, it's very hard for me to play with the voices turned off, even if the voices ruin the game for me (Sup Baten Kaitos). It makes it feel hollow in a way that a similar game with no voices at all doesn't. As for the existence or lack thereof of voices, I pretty much don't care if it's a text-heavy RPG. The vast majority of RPGs I play are unvoiced and that's fine by me. There's a lot voice-acting can add to a game, though. The voiced quips in Orcs Must Die! give the game a great personality (on top of the great personality it already has!) that you just wouldn't get if the War Mage said those things in text bubbles. For me, voice acting is more important in an active game, where stopping the action to read would slow things down, than in an RPG. Of course, voice-acting doesn't need to be all dialogue. Zelda's got voice-acting, it's just all yells and stuff, and I think that's the perfect level of voicing for it. Link doesn't need a personality because, well, he's Link. He wouldn't really still be Link if you gave him characterization (On a similar note, see people's reaction to Metroid: Other M [though I think Fusion gave us a great talking Samus]). On the otherhand, actual lines of voiced dialogue can greatly distinguish characters- All the characters in Left 4 Dead might as well be the same, except they've got constant quips and banter going on in missions, and it's one of the best things about the game. Similarly, all the characters in Borderlands have their own personalities and reactions to things (also Brick's berserker screaming is amazingly hilarious and just wouldn't be the same without the yelling). Basically, to sum it up, I think voice-acting is more important in genres that would get bogged down by textual characterization, but in genres that are already slow-paced it's not so important. Oh, but it's always hilarious hearing your entire party grunt in pain when you run into walls in Eye of the Beholder. Still, not every game needs characterization, thus not every game needs voicing to provide character. Bangai-O Spirits and Gradius, for example, would benefit nothing from amusing quippery. (and besides, the proper way to give character to Gradius is Parodius, and not Otomedius)
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Post by Kise Ryota on May 2, 2012 20:26:41 GMT -5
Voice-acting is there for those who are too lazy to read. I really don't care either way since I read along with the text even if there's voices or not. (I do like to stretch my vocals and voice the characters during the no voice scenes though)
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Post by hikarihanazono on May 2, 2012 21:21:17 GMT -5
I prefer it like Tales of Vesperia... some events are voiced while others are not & all skits are voiced... that in RPGs though I don't mind playing silent ones. in other games.....well.....I don't care since I only care about RPGs This right here. Anyways; I DO indeed care about voice acting a lot, because...it brings out who they really are, I guess. And also, because at least I don't feel bored playing the game, I'll act out the scenes most of the time if the parts aren't voiced.
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Post by AokiShizuku on May 3, 2012 3:13:55 GMT -5
Same goes for Pokemon. I don't care about the characters. It's not why I'm playing the game Oddly enough I'm more interested in the back story of the human characters rather than the Pokemon themselves (Red, Green, Gold, N etc) but hey, the only Pokemon game I've really played is Pokemon Sapphire while the ones after I just watched online and read about. Voice acting gives so much to a game. Take a game like Disgaea 3. The voices in that game were absolutely wonderful. I loved the dub over the original JP voices and it gave the characters so much more life and made them more lovable. Fortunately for me I haven't come played a game with really bad voice acting whether it be English or Japanese.
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Post by Lord Yggdrasill on May 3, 2012 5:33:56 GMT -5
Well for Japanese video games, I actually believe voice acting shows how much they care about NA/EU market. If they spend money on great VA's, it means that they really want us to like their games.
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Post by supersonic1453 on May 3, 2012 21:31:57 GMT -5
Well for Japanese video games, I actually believe voice acting shows how much they care about NA/EU market. If they spend money on great VA's, it means that they really want us to like their games. What?
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Post by Umbra on May 3, 2012 23:04:15 GMT -5
Well for Japanese video games, I actually believe voice acting shows how much they care about NA/EU market. If they spend money on great VA's, it means that they really want us to like their games. and if they don't spend money on great voice actors?
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2012 9:59:44 GMT -5
^it'll end up like "Dawn of the New World" I guess....
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Post by Lord Yggdrasill on May 10, 2012 3:24:15 GMT -5
Well for Japanese video games, I actually believe voice acting shows how much they care about NA/EU market. If they spend money on great VA's, it means that they really want us to like their games. and if they don't spend money on great voice actors? Then it shows that they either are in financial trouble, or just dont care about NA/EU market as much as other companies like Square-Enix do.
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Post by Youngster Joey on May 10, 2012 3:48:14 GMT -5
Well, I don't really think many (any?) video games nowadays have truly bad voice acting, so I don't think it's even really an issue.
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Post by supersonic1453 on May 10, 2012 16:33:54 GMT -5
I still don't understand what he's talking about.
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