Should the Zelda games use voice-acting?

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Should The Legend of Zelda have voice-acting?
Yes, we're living in 2013 11%  11%  [ 4 ]
No, for some reason it doesn't belong in a Zelda game 87%  87%  [ 33 ]
Not sure / just want to see the results 3%  3%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 38

Kurgan
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21 May 2013, 12:31 pm

Voice-acting in games today is about as common as power locks and cigarette lighters are in cars. Most games in the The Legend of Zelda series are timeless classics, but the lack of voice-acting is, in my honest opinion, a negative.

Sure, the CD-i games sucked and they had voice-acting. Arguing that voice-acting in Zelda games suck because of this, is a post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, ergo because of this) argument, though. There were many reasons why these games sucked and it doesn't mean that voice-acting doesn't have it's place in a Nintendo game.

In my honest opinion, the Zelda games should have Japanese voice-acting (and never dubbed into any other language), but with whatever language you want on the subtitles, like Shadow of the Colossus. Those who do not like voice-acting in games, should be able to turn it off.



seaturtleisland
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21 May 2013, 3:14 pm

If a Zelda game had voice acting and gave me the option to turn it off I would always keep it turned off. Period.



Andras
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21 May 2013, 3:39 pm

I wouldn't mind if the Zelda series got voice acting as long as Link remains the silent type. It would ruin Link as a character if he started talking.



Kurgan
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21 May 2013, 4:27 pm

Andras wrote:
I wouldn't mind if the Zelda series got voice acting as long as Link remains the silent type. It would ruin Link as a character if he started talking.


A voice-acting system similar to Bethesda's games could work, then.



Declension
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21 May 2013, 5:05 pm

The advantage of voice acting is that it gives you an insight into a character's personality / emotional state.

The advantage of text-based dialogue is that it prompts you to clearly focus on what is being said, and gives the game a more "literary" feeling.

Zelda already does both of these things, and thus gains both advantages. Important characters either speak non-stop gibberish or exclaim random syllables that give you insight into their personality / emotional state.

Making the characters literally sound out every line would harm the series, since it would remove the second advantage in order to "give us" the first advantage that we already have.



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22 May 2013, 10:37 am

Declension wrote:
The advantage of voice acting is that it gives you an insight into a character's personality / emotional state.

The advantage of text-based dialogue is that it prompts you to clearly focus on what is being said, and gives the game a more "literary" feeling.

Zelda already does both of these things, and thus gains both advantages. Important characters either speak non-stop gibberish or exclaim random syllables that give you insight into their personality / emotional state.

Making the characters literally sound out every line would harm the series, since it would remove the second advantage in order to "give us" the first advantage that we already have.


Clap.



Bataar
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23 May 2013, 1:02 am

They should definitely have voice acting to make them more immersive. The quality of other games are increased with good voice acting and the same would happen to Zelda games.



SabbraCadabra
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23 May 2013, 5:11 am

If the Zelda games had voice acting, it would need to be in Hylian, so you'd still have to learn to read.

Though one of the games had a small snippet of voice acting (Twilight Princess, I think?) and it sounded an awful lot like regular old Japanese to me...but I could be wrong.


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23 May 2013, 8:58 am

SabbraCadabra wrote:
If the Zelda games had voice acting, it would need to be in Hylian, so you'd still have to learn to read.


I like this idea.


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Kurgan
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23 May 2013, 1:29 pm

Bataar wrote:
They should definitely have voice acting to make them more immersive. The quality of other games are increased with good voice acting and the same would happen to Zelda games.


True. Good voice-acting never made a game any worse, and many games still have the option to turn off voice-acting altogether.



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23 May 2013, 1:36 pm

Kurgan wrote:
Bataar wrote:
They should definitely have voice acting to make them more immersive. The quality of other games are increased with good voice acting and the same would happen to Zelda games.


True. Good voice-acting never made a game any worse, and many games still have the option to turn off voice-acting altogether.


False.

It can.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/top10/2454.html

#7 on the list.


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23 May 2013, 1:37 pm

I've only played maybe a couple of games where the voice acting was anything more than decent. I really don't think it is worth the risk of having terrible voice acting ruin a large part of the game. Besides, I'd rather Zelda stick to being more fairy tale like. I'm fine with just the short grunts every so often.


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Kurgan
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23 May 2013, 2:12 pm

Zodai wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
Bataar wrote:
They should definitely have voice acting to make them more immersive. The quality of other games are increased with good voice acting and the same would happen to Zelda games.


True. Good voice-acting never made a game any worse, and many games still have the option to turn off voice-acting altogether.


False.

It can.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/top10/2454.html

#7 on the list.


The article makes it clear that we're not talking about good voice-acting. Uncharted, Broken Sword, Gabriel Knight and Mafia are all examples of games that would be worse without their voice-acting.



Dennis
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23 May 2013, 2:29 pm

I prefer the lack of voices in Zelda games, though I wouldn't mind if they tried it, but left Link silent. Also, the CDi games should never be used as an example of anything, and the voice acting was by far the best part of those games, since it was hilarious.



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23 May 2013, 7:12 pm

Kurgan wrote:
Good voice-acting never made a game any worse...


A lot of games, I dislike voice acting for the same reason I'd rather read a book than listen to an audiobook: it's a heck of a lot faster. I hated the voice acting in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. You couldn't turn it off (maybe it can be hacked out), and it just distracts from me trying to read...though probably 99% of the text wasn't necessary to begin with.


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Jaden
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23 May 2013, 8:30 pm

Kurgan wrote:
Voice-acting in games today is about as common as power locks and cigarette lighters are in cars. Most games in the The Legend of Zelda series are timeless classics, but the lack of voice-acting is, in my honest opinion, a negative.

Sure, the CD-i games sucked and they had voice-acting. Arguing that voice-acting in Zelda games suck because of this, is a post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, ergo because of this) argument, though. There were many reasons why these games sucked and it doesn't mean that voice-acting doesn't have it's place in a Nintendo game.

In my honest opinion, the Zelda games should have Japanese voice-acting (and never dubbed into any other language), but with whatever language you want on the subtitles, like Shadow of the Colossus. Those who do not like voice-acting in games, should be able to turn it off.


The CD-I games aren't even considered as canon by Zelda's creator, therefore they're simply a bad offshoot, a would-be fangame if you will.

I say no, because of many reasons, but mainly because I remember the voice acting from Metroid: Other M, and it was shall we say... more than lacking. I do not wish for bad acting to practically kill the game's glamour.


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