Who is still opposed to Voice Acting?

Originally Posted by Double A

However, I don't support it yet. What I am, is neutral, because, while I'm willing to give VA a chance, I realize that the Time, Money and Disk Space that would be required to hire and integrate good voice acting could actually be used to better the gameplay. A small increase in the quality of gameplay easily contributes more to a good Zelda game than the best voice acting anyday.

Putting Voice Acting into a Zelda game puts far more focus onto the storyline as opposed to exploration and the gameplay.

Voice Acting during spoken dialogue actually contributes nothing to gameplay.

Originally Posted by L176

Of course VA would add more depth to Zelda storyline, but it's not mandatory for the next game to succeed.

This is one of the more intelligent posts on this thread. It sums up my views nicely.

Originally Posted by Double A

I'm being serious here. Until a while ago, I was seriously against Voice Acting.





LINK. WILL. NEVER. TALK. That is out of the question, VA or not.



This person has to be one of the most open-minded and intelligent people on this thread. He shares my viewpoint.

So you assume that hes the most intelligent person out of the whole lot of us on the grounds that he shares your viewpoint? Something must be wrong with that...

Basically you just put me off posting here, but I'll make a contribution anyway.

The next Zelda needs VA simply because it will make the cutscenes more dramatic. When I played TP and I read the text I would imagine voices in my head. The text would also take away from the awesomeness of the cutscenes because you had to focus on the text and not the actual scenes. VA for all the cutscenes, but I would like the game to have the traditional text and grunts everywhere else.

Your anger confuses me...

Anyhoo.. VA would also help me get into the game more. Get more connected, you know?
But i still don't wan't Link to talk.

I used to be completely against the idea of voice acting but now i dont really mind. It wouldnt hurt to try something new...

As long as Link has no voice, he has my voice. I prefer he be mute. The other characters I don't care so much about, but I think it ruins the illusion of a far away land if they speak English. I liked that Midna spoke not in English.

I think it might not be a bad idea, but as some other people said, Link should never talk.

I would probably want voices only in cut scenes, and dialogue boxes in actual game play.

Either way I don't think it would greatly change the game.

Originally Posted by Ganon the King

So you assume that hes the most intelligent person out of the whole lot of us on the grounds that he shares your viewpoint? Something must be wrong with that...

No, I'm just pissed off that everyone thinks that ZWii needs voice acting in order to become a "modern" game.

Well, for a game like Zelda, voice acting ought to be commonplace by now.

Originally Posted by Milliontown

Well, for a game like Zelda, voice acting ought to be commonplace by now.

This is exactly what I mean. It's this attitude that turns me off VA.

I am fine with it, just as long as Link isn't voiced.

I think they should experiment. Use voice acting for a SMALL, and UNPIVOTING Zelda game, that way it's not seen as a failure of the Zelda series in general. Such as PH, i wouldn't have cared if that game sucked because i don't consider it important to the Zelda series on a grand scale....

Voice acting would be great for Zelda. it would add a new level of realism to the game. I only want VA for the NPCs though. They should keep Link as he is without talking. Actual talking characters with personalities and backstories with different quests for you (like MM) would be some ingredients for a great game.

Originally Posted by Double A

Putting Voice Acting into a Zelda game puts far more focus onto the storyline as opposed to exploration and the gameplay.

Name me one game, in which the voice acting detracts from the gameplay in anyway shape or form.

I want voice acting in the next Zeldas, i would love to hear how certain characters sound like, example: how are the voices like of...the Mask Salesman, Ganondorf, Tingle, Skull kid and even Zelda.
Link could be allowed to talk ONLY the answers you choose for him, example: My name is Link, yes no ect,
no more than the basics.

Originally Posted by HypeCyber

Name me one game, in which the voice acting detracts from the gameplay in anyway shape or form.

Okay, I worded it wrong.

What I meant was that VA in a Zelda game would force too much focus onto the storyline, which is bad for a Zelda game, which is gameplay-centric as opposed to story-centric.

Also, the Time, Money and Disk Space required for good voice acting would be better used for a minor increase in the quality of gameplay. In Zelda, a small increase in the quality of the gameplay is tonnes better than the best voice acting.

You could say that about any element really.

I mean, why should Nintendo even bother improving the 3D graphics and add nicer textures when they clearly don't contribute to the gameplay? Or take orchestrated music, which we both think should be in Zelda Wii; How does that contribute to the gameplay? High pitched violins won't help me slay that monster!

So, here's the thing: Zelda is no longer a small and relatively unknown series that only needs good gameplay to survive. There are newer fans that expect a lot more from the game such as the story and as good graphics as possible. Now there are some fans (me included) who think it's time to introduce VA, and it's not for the heck of having VA or just because everyone else is doing it. It is because it does help tell the story quite a bit.

Heck, I'm playing Call of Duty 4 right now and they talk all the time in that game. All the freaking time. But there are no cutscenes to speak about, all they say is relevant to the story and actually helps you understand what the heck is going on. It is much more immersive hearing the characters speak than having to read their dialogue. On top of that, if you somehow don't understand what they're saying, it is nicely subtitled at the bottom of the screen.

There some things (ingredients or elements) that just need to be in a game nowadays if you want to attract more people than the core fans. Let's face it. the core fans alone won't help Nintendo make money, they need to attract all those other gamers as well or even non-gamers who also look for good graphics, music and story. It does feel like Nintendo is making a serious attempt to revamp the gameplay and focus on it. Even though the gameplay is vital for any game, it is just not enough for an adventure game. You need all the other stuff as well.

Look at Mario. Super Mario Galaxy has excellent graphics and awesome orchestrated music, but does it need those things to be a good game? No, absolutely not. But it does need those things to attract more people. And they need to attract those people so they can make more money. If they make more money, then they can make more Zelda and more Zelda makes me happy.

My concern about voice acting is this: how exactly will the other characters refer to you, the player, when you can choose your own custom name?

That's not really a problem. They could just say "Hi, how are you?" instead of "Hi <name>, how are you?"

Or maybe but they could simply say "Hi Link, how are you?".

There doesn't really seem to be a point to having a personalized name then, if none of the NPCs can refer to you by name (unless they simply call you Link). I'm not sure I like that.

My personal preference is incomplete voice acting - that is, the babble that accompanies text in games like Banjo-Kazooie. It was cute and made the characters seem livelier, without being annoying.

Originally Posted by Astarael

There doesn't really seem to be a point to having a personalized name then

No, not really. But they could still keep the names so you know which profile is yours, that's how it's done in other games.