Voice acting in computer role-playing games

[Kalin]

Redacted

 

[Infinitron]

"Partial voice acting" and "no voice acting" are functionally equivalent. In both cases, the developers have the flexibility and choice denied to them by full voice acting.

The only reason to oppose partial voice acting is if you find the idea of an NPC suddenly talking in an otherwise speechless game to be cheesy or incongruent.

 

[baronjohn]

Either no VA at all, or the way it was in Morrowind - only VA outside of dialogue like greetings, combat and special events like the daedric princes.

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

Either good VA for everything (with the writing quality to match) or none at all.
Considering the apparent lack of writers in the industry and the fact that good (NOT CELEBRITY FFS!!!) VAs are hard to come by and need to be paid, I'd rather have a good time with an unvoiced game than facepalm through a voiced one.

So, voted "intro/outro movies only", for the lack of a better option. Though, it isn't necessary, either.

PS: I bet my opinion will totally affect the upcoming RPGs.

 

[Angelo85]

In my perfect dream RPG of course everything is voiced by professional voice actors.

But in the harsh reality of life I prefer text only and imagine in my head how the chars sound like. Because let's face it, most VAs in RPGs aren't that mind blowing. Or take Skyrim for example where they got a handful of voice actors for hundreds of NPCs and you hear the same voice over and over again but from different faces.
It breaks the immersion more than it helps.

 

[SuicideBunny]

no voice acting. it's too limiting on creativity.

 

[zeitgeist]

Same answer as in the previous thread already linked by Multiple Sarcasm, JA2/Wiz8 partially voiced model where it's both possible to convey the characters' personalities and still have more than enough freedom for content additions, randomization, not spending half of the budget on some extra from Firefly etc. Not that I'd have anything against no voice acting either.

 

[Shadenuat]

Partially. Voice acting should be just another instrument of main designers artistic vision, which he should implement how in his opinion it would fit the game.

 

[Eyeball]

As recent years have shown, full voice acting only gets in the way of modding and adds to the budget and difficulty of making games considerably without adding that much. Are you really that interested in hearing Random Peasant # 23 speak?

PS: T, again, did this best - save the money on getting C- level actors reading thousands of lines in the same bored drone and hire the likes Tony Fucking Jay to do one or two voices instead. Every voiced NPC in that game was memorable and the lines delivered amazingly in most cases.

 

[Cosmo]

I prefer partial voice acting, but there's another way that is rarely discussed (or used for that matter) : if you happen to have a good actor, there's always the possibility of going for voiced narration, one that reads out loud descriptions and character's first lines.

Very efficient for setting a mood, and if done right you end up with something that is mysterious and convincing, pleasing both ear and imagination...

 

[Malakal]

Of course full voice acting is the best. But only if this doesnt mean limiting the number of dialogues. And since, lets be honest, it DOES mean limiting it then I prefer partial or none.

Good voice acting can be and is a great thing in games - deepens immersion, makes characters memorable - but not at the expense of actual content.

 

[felipepepe]

Baldur's gate II did it nicely, VA was only used to introduce characters or to highlight memorable quotes. It was cool to see Irenicus speaking some lines, but it's tottaly pointless to have VA in ALL of his dialog options.

 

[Menckenstein]

I don't care that much but I want the opposite of what Bethesda does.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

I'm fine with fully voiced as long as the developer hires a great goddamn cast and makes sure that they have a great goddamn director. Like Bloodlines. Quantity and quality.

 

[Toffeli]

MOTB wouldn't be the same withouth Kaelyn's voice. <3.

 

[Andyman Messiah]

As I wrote way back when MotB came out, Kaelyn's voice is orgasmic.

 

[Zomg]

It's like graphics, more and better is theoretically ideal but because of real world contingencies it is stultifying

 

[Satan]

Bloodline's voice acting was the best i have ever heard and i wish more games like that were released, so I vote for full dub

 

[Excidium]

I'm fine with fully voiced as long as the developer hires a great goddamn cast and makes sure that they have a great goddamn director. Like Bloodlines. Quantity and quality.

It's like graphics, more and better is theoretically ideal but because of real world contingencies it is stultifying

I'm with these two.

 

[RRRrrr]

Bloodlines was great, but even it seemed to have unrealized potential because of voice-acting limitations. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't have had voiced dialogues, just that people should have realized how great it was and not bitching and letting troika go bankrupt.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Bloodlines the closest RPGs got to mainstream market? The great graphics, the superb voice acting and the faces that look much better than all today's titles (in fact Bloodlines has the best looking faces in gaming, at least IMHO). And I say this from the perspective of a person who played and finished the game this year for the first time, so it can't be nostalgia. It's a shame how all of this turned out in the end, though...

 

[Achilles]

Partial is fine with me. This way you get to hear a character's voice once or twice so you can "listen" the rest of the lines in your head.

 

[Satan]

Bloodlines was great, but even it seemed to have unrealized potential because of voice-acting limitations. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't have had voiced dialogues, just that people should have realized how great it was and not bitching and letting troika go bankrupt.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Bloodlines the closest RPGs got to mainstream market? The great graphics, the superb voice acting and the faces that look much better than all today's titles (in fact Bloodlines has the best looking faces in gaming, at least IMHO). And I say this from the perspective of a person who played and finished the game this year for the first time, so it can't be nostalgia. It's a shame how all of this turned out in the end, though...

My guess is it was ahead of it's time and wasn't hyped enough. Today it's not really what the game is, but it's how much it is hyped. Copies sold depend mainly on the hype. I believe I do not have to give you examples.

 

[Shadenuat]

Bloodlines seemed just too damn short because of VO. Even if the cast was just excellent, I would gladly go around Lost Angeles kicking butts without any VO, if it looks so pretty and written so good.

 

[WhiteGamer]

Fully voiced. Just don't hire AAA actors that cost 100's of thousands of dollars, hire a bunch of war veterans and college actors to do the voices of the characters you so choose, for dirt cheap.

 

[deuxhero]

The only reason to oppose partial voice acting is if you find the idea of an NPC suddenly talking in an otherwise speechless game to be cheesy or incongruent.

Ah Dahn's laugh in Raidou Kuzunoha vs Really Long Titles 2. It's not that the laugh was badly done (though it was), but that it is the ONLY voice acting in the game.