Breath of the Wild Time for voice acting

[Dio]

I personally do not want to see VA. Zelda has been a very good example to the world that games do NOT need VA to be fun, good, memorable and successful.

Take the $ they would need to put into full VA and focus it into game mechanics, story, dungeon designs and music.

The lack of voice acting has been complained about in reviews since Twilight princess in 06. They got away with it back then but now that cut scenes are even more high quality, such as in Skyward Sword and especially Hyrule Warriors. Having characters not speak whilst garbling like some kind of fish accompanied by the annoying tapping sound of text popping up in a box only draws even more attention to the fact that characters aren't actually speaking. It takes away from the immersion and looks dumb and cheap to those who aren't already fans of the series, even existing fans are coming to realise that its not the best way of doing things and that voice acting is the way forward.

Zelda usually prides itself on storytelling and immersion is a big part of that. I think voice acting will add to that and make the series better for this entry and for the future.

Nintendo are still very rich from their past profits and are getting good money from their handheld market. They don't need to cut corners by not including a particular thing and I can guarantee that if the rumour is true and voice acting is inn Zelda U, throwing extra money at other areas would not help as all efforts will have already been put into those things. Good music, gameplay and voice acting can all be implemented and not to the detriment of each other. Nothing needs to be left out.

 

[.X.]

The people complaining are the very people who eat up every new shiny item placed in front of them. Sort of like the stereotyped Iphone user who buys a phone every 6 months. Their opinions about games are like listening to the opinion of a person who can't stay in a relationship with 1 person for 24 hours trying to tell you how to stay in a marriage for 8 years or more. Their advice will be poor at best and unreasonable to place trust in. They only wanted it beacuse every other game has it. I watched all the videos and yes, almost everyone of them was wondering when are they going to add VA because in this day in age [insert the reason why every game should have VA because its 2020 and out of date to not have it]. Yes that was their only reasoning for wanting VA.

I really didn't have issues with their lips moving since my eyes were on the dialog and my mind was generating the voices like when I am reading a book, but I understand that some people can't do that.

The immersion issue goes both ways. When i am watching a movie I don't feel like I am immersed into the world. Usually I am figuring out the plot and character relationships and deaths 5 min in while the movie tosses exposition at me with a mix of flashy effects. I have never felt immersed in a movie I watched, or a game I played with VA. I always just feel like I am watching a movie when i should be playing a game. Reading for me makes things come to life as the reading encourages my mind to focus on the dialog and instead of wandering off about how everything is going to play out in the end. Likewise I do understand that some people are immersed better with VA. If they allowed me to turn off the vocals in the game that would be wonderful.

I am sick of playing movies. I'd like to play a game, so if they'd cut all the cut scenes because people didn't like it without VA, that would be wonderful. I know we live in a generation where people can't read, but its getting annoying that everything is VA and reading has become some sort of out of date shameful thing. Even our books are being read to us for crying out loud.

"Zelda usually prides itself on storytelling and immersion is a big part of that. I think voice acting will add to that and make the series better for this entry and for the future." That is a very narrow minded way of thinking. There are many ways to tell a story and many ways to immerse and captivate an audience. To say VA is the best way to go for the future as if its fact is shameful coming from someone as highly educated as yourself. That is like saying 3D games are the only way to go and we should never use sprites ever again because 3D is the best of the best. VA is popular, its not the best. Popular opinion does not make it the best. Like the popular girl in school, shes pretty, new and exciting, but she isn't the best.

Why is it so bad for Nintendo to line their pockets with the excesses $? Why can't they take that money and try to create a game with a legend for a female protagonist in the world of hyrule?It may fail, but at least hey, they only used the excess $ you say they have, so the hit should not hurt to much if it fails. Why can't they take that cash and set up a cafe for staff to eat 3 meals and stay healthy while they work as is done in some companies, or give their staff bonuses for all that overnight put into developing wonderful games. NOPE, it has to go to VA because this is 2016 and every game has to have VA.

I sure do hope the rumors are false, you have no idea how much I hope they are false.

 

[Dio]

The people complaining are the very people who eat up every new shiny item placed in front of them. Sort of like the stereotyped Iphone user who buys a phone every 6 months. Their opinions about games are like listening to the opinion of a person who can't stay in a relationship with 1 person for 24 hours trying to tell you how to stay in a marriage for 8 years or more. Their advice will be poor at best and unreasonable to place trust in. They only wanted it beacuse every other game has it. I watched all the videos and yes, almost everyone of them was wondering when are they going to add VA because in this day in age [insert the reason why every game should have VA because its 2020 and out of date to not have it]. Yes that was their only reasoning for wanting VA.

I really didn't have issues with their lips moving since my eyes were on the dialog and my mind was generating the voices like when I am reading a book, but I understand that some people can't do that.

The immersion issue goes both ways. When i am watching a movie I don't feel like I am immersed into the world. Usually I am figuring out the plot and character relationships and deaths 5 min in while the movie tosses exposition at me with a mix of flashy effects. I have never felt immersed in a movie I watched, or a game I played with VA. I always just feel like I am watching a movie when i should be playing a game. Reading for me makes things come to life as the reading encourages my mind to focus on the dialog and instead of wandering off about how everything is going to play out in the end. Likewise I do understand that some people are immersed better with VA. If they allowed me to turn off the vocals in the game that would be wonderful.

I am sick of playing movies. I'd like to play a game, so if they'd cut all the cut scenes because people didn't like it without VA, that would be wonderful. I know we live in a generation where people can't read, but its getting annoying that everything is VA and reading has become some sort of out of date shameful thing. Even our books are being read to us for crying out loud.

"Zelda usually prides itself on storytelling and immersion is a big part of that. I think voice acting will add to that and make the series better for this entry and for the future." That is a very narrow minded way of thinking. There are many ways to tell a story and many ways to immerse and captivate an audience. To say VA is the best way to go for the future as if its fact is shameful coming from someone as highly educated as yourself. That is like saying 3D games are the only way to go and we should never use sprites ever again because 3D is the best of the best. VA is popular, its not the best. Popular opinion does not make it the best. Like the popular girl in school, shes pretty, new and exciting, but she isn't the best.

Why is it so bad for Nintendo to line their pockets with the excesses $? Why can't they take that money and try to create a game with a legend for a female protagonist in the world of hyrule?It may fail, but at least hey, they only used the excess $ you say they have, so the hit should not hurt to much if it fails. Why can't they take that cash and set up a cafe for staff to eat 3 meals and stay healthy while they work as is done in some companies, or give their staff bonuses for all that overnight put into developing wonderful games. NOPE, it has to go to VA because this is 2016 and every game has to have VA.

I sure do hope the rumors are false, you have no idea how much I hope they are false.

No the people complaining are not those who gobble up every new thing in front of them. The people complaining are sick of a big game series in the modern day continuing to use an outdated speech delivery for its characters. Like those who are forced to crap in a hole in the ground outside in the cold whilst everyone else around them is using a a proper indoor toilet. There are still books out there if you like reading text, but for a big AAA game there really should be voice acting and it should be competing with modern standards and trying to have mass appeal. Nintendos money is coming from the 3DS and their past achievements not the Wii U that has sold poorly. Zelda needs to have mass appeal again or sink into obscurity like Metroid and Star Fox.

You are sick of playing 'movies' you mean games with proper stories to them and cutscenes? Go to the arcade would be my suggestion. Zelda is a storytelling series and voice acting would improve that. They have held off for far too long.

You want them to line their own pockets or build a cafe for their staff rather than improve their games with voice acting? They dont deserve the excess ¥. Their last 3D game SS was a big disappointment and the fans deserve a decent game this time around with the gameplay actually not being frustrating for players and of course better storytelling. And voice acting improves the flow of that.

 

[.X.]

No the people complaining are not those who gobble up every new thing in front of them. The people complaining are sick of a big game series in the modern day continuing to use an outdated speech delivery for its characters. Like those who are forced to crap in a hole in the ground outside in the cold whilst everyone else around them is using a a proper indoor toilet. There are still books out there if you like reading text, but for a big AAA game there really should be voice acting and it should be competing with modern standards and trying to have mass appeal. Nintendos money is coming from the 3DS and their past achievements not the Wii U that has sold poorly. Zelda needs to have mass appeal again or sink into obscurity like Metroid and Star Fox.

You are sick of playing 'movies' you mean games with proper stories to them and cutscenes? Go to the arcade would be my suggestion. Zelda is a storytelling series and voice acting would improve that. They have held off for far too long.

You want them to line their own pockets or build a cafe for their staff rather than improve their games with voice acting? They dont deserve the excess ¥. Their last 3D game SS was a big disappointment and the fans deserve a decent game this time around with the gameplay actually not being frustrating for players and of course better storytelling. And voice acting improves the flow of that.

SS failure was not due to lack of VA. The Wii U really just didn't have any games. Also the Wii U games played fine on regular Wii as long as you didn't need the pad, so unless you were buying a game focusing on the pad, then there was literally no real reason to buy the system. Then they release WW on Wii U which again, if you still have a gamecube copy and you don't care about HD, then why spend all that $? Between the lack of interesting games, the lack of need for the pad, and the lack of interest in paying crazy $ for a game that you still had a decent copy of, Wii U really only set itself up to not make a lot of sales.

VA is in many games and it doesn't mean squat to there fame, and yes some have really good VA. I said that those people only wanted the VA because yes they gobble up anything new. You are saying its not true but then turn around and say the exact some thing I said they all gave as a reason for why zelda should have VA: "in the modern day continuing to use an outdated speech delivery" just a bunch of people lead by the gaming industry to believe that new and shiny is the only way of doing things. Its what everyone else is doing so zelda should do it too attitude. Zelda should do its own thing. If one day they decide to VA, then let it be because they wanted to use that method of story telling. Not because society said this is what is modem, so conform to the sheep like way of life and just quietly obey. Sheep are always the majority, but majority doesn't always = right. Some times sheep need to be slapped back into reality were companies prove that not everything has to be uniformed to survive. Being different and using different storytelling methods can work and should be the standard..

Yes I am sick of 70% of my gameplay being movies, 10% credits and basic combat instructions while I only get 20% of actual game play and a 12 hour long experience that felt like some one night stand I can't even remember. There are better ways to tell a story then forcing me to literally watch 10 hours of clip scenes. Since when did it become wrong to want to PLAY a game? I could swear games were meant to be played, but apparently nope, they are just mini movies that get triggered as I move my character around like a mouse on a computer clicking on different locations to activate the scenes. Don't get me wrong, I do like story, but not when it has so much that it takes over actual game play and content, and the creators forget that we are playing a game. VA being the better medium to tell a story is subjective. It works for some and not for others. I did say allowing players to turn off VA would be a nice meet in the middle. Also I've nothing against characters speaking hylian, thus saving on the cost of hiring international VA.

Science has proven time and time again that people work better when rested and fed, so yes, if making sure the staff is well rested and feed makes them work better and more creative, then by all means yes give them that cafe so i can get a better and innovative game. Don't be so entitled. Zelda making mistakes with its games was bound to happen. Ever company hits a rut or makes mistakes, what matters is not the mistake, but what they do in the future. Will they fix the issues that was found in SS? Only time will tell.

 

[Soul]

SS failure was not due to lack of VA. The Wii U really just didn't have any games. Also the Wii U games played fine on regular Wii as long as you didn't need the pad, so unless you were buying a game focusing on the pad, then there was literally no real reason to buy the system. Then they release WW on Wii U which again, if you still have a gamecube copy and you don't care about HD, then why spend all that $? Between the lack of interesting games, the lack of need for the pad, and the lack of interest in paying crazy $ for a game that you still had a decent copy of, Wii U really only set itself up to not make a lot of sales.

What, you can actually play Wii U games on the Wii? Are you sure about that?

 

[Dio]

SS failure was not due to lack of VA. The Wii U really just didn't have any games. Also the Wii U games played fine on regular Wii as long as you didn't need the pad, so unless you were buying a game focusing on the pad, then there was literally no real reason to buy the system. Then they release WW on Wii U which again, if you still have a gamecube copy and you don't care about HD, then why spend all that $? Between the lack of interesting games, the lack of need for the pad, and the lack of interest in paying crazy $ for a game that you still had a decent copy of, Wii U really only set itself up to not make a lot of sales.

VA is in many games and it doesn't mean squat to there fame, and yes some have really good VA. I said that those people only wanted the VA because yes they gobble up anything new. You are saying its not true but then turn around and say the exact some thing I said they all gave as a reason for why zelda should have VA: "in the modern day continuing to use an outdated speech delivery" just a bunch of people lead by the gaming industry to believe that new and shiny is the only way of doing things. Its what everyone else is doing so zelda should do it too attitude. Zelda should do its own thing. If one day they decide to VA, then let it be because they wanted to use that method of story telling. Not because society said this is what is modem, so conform to the sheep like way of life and just quietly obey. Sheep are always the majority, but majority doesn't always = right. Some times sheep need to be slapped back into reality were companies prove that not everything has to be uniformed to survive. Being different and using different storytelling methods can work and should be the standard..

Yes I am sick of 70% of my gameplay being movies, 10% credits and basic combat instructions while I only get 20% of actual game play and a 12 hour long experience that felt like some one night stand I can't even remember. There are better ways to tell a story then forcing me to literally watch 10 hours of clip scenes. Since when did it become wrong to want to PLAY a game? I could swear games were meant to be played, but apparently nope, they are just mini movies that get triggered as I move my character around like a mouse on a computer clicking on different locations to activate the scenes. Don't get me wrong, I do like story, but not when it has so much that it takes over actual game play and content, and the creators forget that we are playing a game. VA being the better medium to tell a story is subjective. It works for some and not for others. I did say allowing players to turn off VA would be a nice meet in the middle. Also I've nothing against characters speaking hylian, thus saving on the cost of hiring international VA.

Science has proven time and time again that people work better when rested and fed, so yes, if making sure the staff is well rested and feed makes them work better and more creative, then by all means yes give them that cafe so i can get a better and innovative game. Don't be so entitled. Zelda making mistakes with its games was bound to happen. Ever company hits a rut or makes mistakes, what matters is not the mistake, but what they do in the future. Will they fix the issues that was found in SS? Only time will tell.

SS is not on the Wii U. Its on the Wii and was released when there was a user base far larger than when TP was released. It however received less than half the sales of TP. For many reasons. It was not what the fans wanted in terms of visual style or theme. TP was what the fans wanted and Nintendo did not give more, it went in a direction that was not to the majority's tastes. Also it was motion based and required a wii motion plus. Lack of voice acting would have put some off who weren't already Zelda fans but its not a massive thing here. 8 million enjoyed TP without it. The other reasons were much more of a push away for half those people.


SS has 100 minutes of cutscenes and its a 20 hour game which is 1200 minutes so its less than 10% cut scenes. Like I suggested arcade games might be the games for you if that still bothers you.

Zelda should not do its own thing with voice acting. It should keep up with modern standards like all the other AAA developers are doing. Text boxes are an archaic delivery system for speech. It looks outdated and cheap especially as graphics improve. In 2D games it is acceptable but in 3D games with good graphics and high quality cut scenes it looks bad

 

[.X.]

No the people complaining are not those who gobble up every new thing in front of them. The people complaining are sick of a big game series in the modern day continuing to use an outdated speech delivery for its characters. Like those who are forced to crap in a hole in the ground outside in the cold whilst everyone else around them is using a a proper indoor toilet. There are still books out there if you like reading text, but for a big AAA game there really should be voice acting and it should be competing with modern standards and trying to have mass appeal. Nintendos money is coming from the 3DS and their past achievements not the Wii U that has sold poorly. Zelda needs to have mass appeal again or sink into obscurity like Metroid and Star Fox.

You are sick of playing 'movies' you mean games with proper stories to them and cutscenes? Go to the arcade would be my suggestion. Zelda is a storytelling series and voice acting would improve that. They have held off for far too long.

You want them to line their own pockets or build a cafe for their staff rather than improve their games with voice acting? They dont deserve the excess ¥. Their last 3D game SS was a big disappointment and the fans deserve a decent game this time around with the gameplay actually not being frustrating for players and of course better storytelling. And voice acting improves the flow of that.

What, you can actually play Wii U games on the Wii? Are you sure about that?

The ones I got were Wii games that said I could use it on the Wii U, but I never got a game just for Wii U and tried it on the Wii. So that i would not be able to confirm without seeking someone who tried it out.

 

[Dio]

What, you can actually play Wii U games on the Wii? Are you sure about that?

No you cant. Wii U games are HD and Wii is SD. It couldn't run them.

 

[.X.]

SS is not on the Wii U. Its on the Wii and was released when there was a user base far larger than when TP was released. It however received less than half the sales of TP. For many reasons. It was not what the fans wanted in terms of visual style or theme. TP was what the fans wanted and Nintendo did not give more, it went in a direction that was not to the majority's tastes. Also it was motion based and required a wii motion plus. Lack of voice acting would have put some off who weren't already Zelda fans but its not a massive thing here. 8 million enjoyed TP without it. The other reasons were much more of a push away for half those people.


SS has 100 minutes of cutscenes and its a 20 hour game which is 1200 minutes so its less than 10% cut scenes. Like I suggested arcade games might be the games for you if that still bothers you.

Zelda should not do its own thing with voice acting. It should keep up with modern standards like all the other AAA developers are doing. Text boxes are an archaic delivery system for speech. It looks outdated and cheap especially as graphics improve. In 2D games it is acceptable but in 3D games with good graphics and high quality cut scenes it looks bad

Yeah I don't know why I typed SS was on Wii U when after I read your comment about bad controls I clearly thought back to the Wii. Thank you for correcting me.

Today's American generation is interested in more violence and realism. While TP didn't really come off as overly violent to me (that is good for me though), many did like the darker feel and overall graphics. I believe it drew a lot more people not particularly interested in the fantasy RPG genre, but more so realistic darker looking graphics. Sort of how Americans feel that anything animated can't be emotionally engaging or deep, yet Japan shows that even the cutest looking characters can be dark and deep (madoka). America is extremely judgemental of the covers of books(things) despite the saying don't judge a book by its cover. So yes i do agree that the overall SS artwork caused many to prejudge before playing.

When i was giving the numbers of how long the cut scenes are i wasn't being literal. I should have placed a notation though because I forgot that often it is had to tell when a person is not being literal in text format. My problem with SS was it sort of removed exploration for me, yes there was a few floating isles to go see and characters to interact with, but the whole thing felt like a themepark MMO because it was so busy focusing on the story and the cut scenes that it forgot about me the player wanting to play the game. Again, I don't mind story. In fact I was tickled pink about the plot. But they lost the PLAY the game part of the game. Even Majora's mask which didn't allow for a whole lot of exploring, focused more on your exploring the characters in the game so to speak. It had cut scenes, but not to the point that it felt like FF put the hand control down and grab some popcorn because you not going to be playing anything. It might of had more cut scenes then SS, don't know, but it was all presented in a not so YOU ARE NO LONGER PLAYING A GAME BUT WATCHING A MOVE format.

I do play arcade games, I can appreciate different mediums of entertainment. Its not like I'm some sort of fad hater who refuses to appreciate what technology today has to offer. I believe VA can do wonders, but I also believe other mediums of storytelling can be successful. I don't think that EVERY single AAA game must look exactly alike. Experimenting with different styles and pushing forward to find different ways to tell stories is a good idea. Why avoid VA, because the minute you implement it you are trapped and pretty much forced to continue using it instead of exploring different options. Have fun trying to get out of it and trying something innovative. It will be like proposing to some Yandere, and then trying to get out of the marriage b.c you realize shes crazy and that there was a better, less insane lover that you should be committing to. It won't end very well.

 

[AncientPoe]

I have to say I am resenting a lot of what you're saying, X.

For starters, "it's outdated" is far from the only reason to start doing voice acting. Just look at Hyrule Warriors. It's been stated to death how much effort and time was put into making visually impressive cutscenes. I loved them, I thought they were gorgeous and it was nice to see Link and Friends in HD. Which made it all the more jarring when it came time for talking, and these gorgeously rendered characters started blankly flapping their faces with vague "gwuah"s coming out and speech boxes at the bottom. Despite all the work put into making those scenes look good, when mashed up against the lack of voices it made them much worse overall. It didn't appear outdated so much as just plain wrong. It's immersion breaking.

And what's all this "Americans" garbage? Check the sales charts. The UK is buying up samey violent garbage like COD, Battlefield and Destiny just as much as us Yanks. Don't try to shunt an industry-wide trend just onto us. Companies based all over the globe aim for 1 million+ units sold for a AAA title, and no one country is doing that on their own. I mean come on, we're all nerds here. Leave that weeaboo "Americans are uncultured trash, everywhere else is superior" mindset at the door.

 

[.X.]

I have to say I am resenting a lot of what you're saying, X.

For starters, "it's outdated" is far from the only reason to start doing voice acting. Just look at Hyrule Warriors. It's been stated to death how much effort and time was put into making visually impressive cutscenes. I loved them, I thought they were gorgeous and it was nice to see Link and Friends in HD. Which made it all the more jarring when it came time for talking, and these gorgeously rendered characters started blankly flapping their faces with vague "gwuah"s coming out and speech boxes at the bottom. Despite all the work put into making those scenes look good, when mashed up against the lack of voices it made them much worse overall. It didn't appear outdated so much as just plain wrong. It's immersion breaking.

And what's all this "Americans" garbage? Check the sales charts. The UK is buying up samey violent garbage like COD, Battlefield and Destiny just as much as us Yanks. Don't try to shunt an industry-wide trend just onto us. Companies based all over the globe aim for 1 million+ units sold for a AAA title, and no one country is doing that on their own. I mean come on, we're all nerds here. Leave that weeaboo "Americans are uncultured trash, everywhere else is superior" mindset at the door.

That is fine, I am a minority and minorities are often resented for not being a part of the pack, so that is fine. I wasn't really expecting anyone to particularly be on board with what I was saying.

I already stated that VA being immersive or not is subjective and that a society lead to expect VA with their games are automatically going to find the lack of VA as an issue b/c they are sheep lead to believe so. I am not going to repeat the stuff explaining this as there really is no point. Furthermore, I am not saying being a sheep is a bad thing. I am saying that sheep need to stop forcing EVERYTHING into a single mold and should encourage different mediums of story telling. Perhaps Zelda should stop making characters flap their gums and try something innovative with their scenes. Who knows. Many popular ideas were unpopular until someone proved to the sheep otherwise. As Deus said, they have the $. So if they have the money why not take some risk & test new waters instead of condemning themselves to only 1 pathway? Trial and error is how mankind progressed so far anyway.

I am not talking about the UK so I don't have to mention it. I didn't say ONLY Americans so please stop looking for an excuse to be offended when nobody was even trying to insult, in no way did I say any of the stuff you are insinuating. That is like whining because I said: "The Swartzs family hated the DBZ movie" and you jump up beating me over the head for excluding the other millions of people who hated that movie. I was not talking about those people so I am under no obligation to mention them.

 

[Vaati101]

To be honest, I'm part of the minority too. I think Zelda had it's best chance to incorprate voice acting way back when Ocarina of Time was in the works. To include it now would be out of reluctance on Nintendo's part.

IIRC, not alot of people liked the voice acting in Super Mario Sunshine (mainly because of Bowser's Voice), and since then Nintendo never used it again in future Super Mario titles. If voice acting didn't work in Nintendo's signature franchise, I don't believe they will even try it with Zelda, otherwise voice acting would of been used by now.

Ocarina of Time would of been the ideal time to include voice acting for obvious reasons. The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword would of been golden opportunities to include voice acting further on as their cutscenes were becoming more proper.

I personally have mixed views on voice acting, but if a franchise works without it I'd rather it stay that way then simply including it just to shut the fans up.

 

[Deleted member 81859]

After the trainwreck that was FE:Fates, I would prefer to not have voice acting as it could poteintialy not be that great.
A spoken and translatable Hylian language would be cool, but I like no voices in my Zelda's. It's a part of the charm.

 

[Lozjam]

I think there are legitamate drawbacks to voice acting as well.
Namely, it slogs down the gameplay. Instead of just reading text, you have to sit down and listen to whatever an insignificant NPC says for a quest. You could probably shave off 30 hours off of Skyrim just by taking away the voice acting. It makes basic quests extremely long winded for something you may or may not care about. Now, for cutscenes, voice acting works. However, there are tons of legitamate drawbacks to having the entire game voice acted.

This is why having characters speak Hylian, like Midna or Fi is the best option. You get a sense of what a character is saying, you don't have to sacrifice tons of time for it, you get to add a mystical unknown element in Hyrule, and you don't have to pay for ****ty English soundalikes as well. I think Hylian is a good compromise between the two.

 

[DJ Twitch]

I think there are legitamate drawbacks to voice acting as well.
Namely, it slogs down the gameplay. Instead of just reading text, you have to sit down and listen to whatever an insignificant NPC says for a quest. You could probably shave off 30 hours off of Skyrim just by taking away the voice acting. It makes basic quests extremely long winded for something you may or may not care about. Now, for cutscenes, voice acting works. However, there are tons of legitamate drawbacks to having the entire game voice acted.

This is why having characters speak Hylian, like Midna or Fi is the best option. You get a sense of what a character is saying, you don't have to sacrifice tons of time for it, you get to add a mystical unknown element in Hyrule, and you don't have to pay for ****ty English soundalikes as well. I think Hylian is a good compromise between the two.

I don't understand why waiting a few extra seconds for somebody to finish they're saying is so bad. Sitting through half hour cutscenes in the older Zelda games clearly didn't bother too many people, so I don't see why stopping to listen to an NPC for 10 seconds would.