Voice Acting in Zelda Wii?

[Nociti]

I think part of what gives Zelda its feel, is the silence. Voice acting would hurt the series rather than help it, even if it was done properly.

 

[TheLastLink]

really, i would love voice acting if they did 2 things:

they got decent voice actors.
no voice acting for any fairy (assuming there is one in the game)

 

[Raven]

Even though it is mostly quiet in Zelda games when it comes to VA, the characters actions seem to convey the messages just as good as if not better than the scripting, which makes up for the total lack of real conversastion. They could have used still cut scenes heavy with voice acting but that has never been used before and i think we are past that point in terms of graphics and animation to be doing stills for a Zelda game. What I am trying to say is that Zelda has no VA background, to start one now would be difficult to say the least, but i don't doubt that at some point one or more main characters in the series will eventually get VA.

Like this mysterious girl from the concept art, I know this is a stretch but what if this character gets voice acting... (unlikely because she doesn't even look remotely human) it's a possibility though, right? i mean the wii mote or whatever you call it has a speaker in it right? I'm hoping she will be able to talk to us throughout the game in some fashion.

I don't think that Hylian can necessarily be understood by us humans, that's why the games rely on text, so that we will understand. At least that's the excuse I've made up for all the non-existent voices in Zelda. Maybe If Link were to travel away from Hyrule... to another land they might do voice acting for those characters since they may not even speak Hylian, but a language that more resembles our own. Just theories though.

Zelda herself may eventually get VA, but somehow I think that if that day ever does come that I'll miss the older games. I would really rather that It stays how it is. and that the self expression and actions of the characters tell the real story and let the voices depend on text. but I would like to hear more noises and sound effects from each character, it makes you feel a little more involved when you can "hear" the people you walk by (walking, talking, Doing stuff, etc)

Intro's and endings could always use a bit of voice acting.. imagine that if they pulled a fast one on us and at the end of Zelda Wii someone actually says something! man im not really sure how i would react to that.. it's a lot to think about, and I don't think Nintendo wants us to hurt ourselves thinking to hard about VA, so I'm gunna go out on a limb and say that the new game won't get a full cast of voice actors but they might nab 1 or 2 voice actors for sound effects and noises. or maybe they do all that digitally... im not sure.

 

[Caleb, Of Asui]

In the past, voice acting would have been a huge step for the Zelda series and would have created a huge philosophy issue over how legitimately Zelda-like it seems. I think now, however, it definitely seems like Zelda's ready for voice acting. Nintendo's not going to do a horrible job with it at this point. Voice acting similar to that of the cartoon series or, more particularly, the CDi games, is what I think is the greatest fear when it comes to voice acting. Those were in the 80's, though. The idea of Zelda back then was radically different from the way people think of Zelda today, and the way voices are done will naturally change with that.

I don't think dubbing is a huge issue when it comes to Zelda. If you look at some of Nintendo's other voice acted games - Super Mario Sunshine and Metroid Prime 3 in particular - those games have English voice acting even in the Japanese version! I would hardly call that dubbing. By all means, Nintendo could reasonably voice act Zelda Wii in English only, and it wouldn't even be an issue. They've never voice acted a game in just Japanese, though. From my experience, they usually have Japanese voices in the Japanese version and English voices in all other versions, so they're not going to bring the Japanese voices over here by a long shot for Zelda Wii. I think it's a good thing that they have voices in multiple languages, though. Dubbing never honestly looks that bad to me; people say it looks weird and choppy, but I don't see that. (As a side note, I think the first time Nintendo has used voice acting in languages other than English and Japanese was in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. I suspect that all their voice-acted games after that point will be in all different languages, starting with Metroid: Other M, which I know uses both English and Japanese voice acting (depending on which you speak, of course).)

 

[Dr3W21]

I personally couldn't agree more, voice acting would sort of ruin a lot of things. I'm fine with Link talking in the graphic novels, (such as OoT part 1&2, MM, MC, OoS, OoA, etc.) and it adds a bit of character to him, but in the games even if he talked without the voice acting, it just wouldn't feel right.

 

[Serenia]

I think that Link shouldn't speak much as a character anyway, to get that strong, silent , actions are more than words guy. But if he spoke a little it would be ok, I think. And as for the whole VA thing ,I think there should be an option at a menu. For those who like the traditional Zelda "voice acting OFF", and for those who want it "voice acting ON"

I agree.
I am way to much of a traditionalist. I have enjoyed the small sounds or recurring sounds that the characters in Zelda games make/are responsible for. I am also, all for Link not speaking. THis is as personal preference. I think that fact that he doesn't speak make for an interesting dynamic. The introduction of voice acting would take this away from the character of Link that I have established in my head and have come to love. Now, I understand that not everyone would share that stance with me, but that is my solid truth.

Though if voice acting was introduced, I would not be overly unhappy if Link spoke, But It would have to be very little, or to a small extent. I do think characters Link Sheik, Malon, Ruto, Ilia, and Skull kid would have been interesting to have voice acting for. I agree also with the fact that it would need to be well done, not simply thrown in.

 

[yotam]

NO NO NO! It I think that the fact that there is no voice acting in the zelda games makes the game even more special, I always thought that its fun to imagined the voices. if they will put voice acting it would change the faces of characters from the other zelda games, I mean, link was in different ages in almost every game and the characters looks different in every game.

 

[Zenox]

Although I'm not against voice acting, I'm not for it either. Confused? Let me explain.

Voice acting is good in a game where there's a lot of it. Either the game is dominated by it or there isn't any of it. In all the games I've seen with voice acting in it I see the characters talking to themselves/others or stuff like that. I'm not sure the Wii can handle that amount of data. If they've got all of the game, plus every word the characters said voiced over, and the things they don't say to the player, they will either have a very short game, a very un-depth-y game, or they just won't do it, it just simply can't be done. Zelda is known for it's side-questy style. Although it's been corrupt recently, they will only be able to fit the main story into the game, and a small one with that.

Although Midna had 'voice acting' it was fine, because it would've been weird if she said the words to us. Mostly because no one else did either. There are some smaller similar things like that for example, Wind Waker when Sturgeon calls to Link when he talks to him and says "Oy!" During the speech bubble or whatever. Small things like that are fine in my book, and I like them, but I would just feel uncomfortable with the game if everyone was talking to me. It wouldn't feel as Adventure/Action to me and more RPG, and I don't really want that from Zelda. Although I am one of the few that think it is an RPG, it is sort of a merge, loosely based off of the RPG Genre, so it's got qualities of other genres mixed inside. I don't want the RPG aspect dominating it. The other genres in Zelda need to shine.

Yeah, I think the minimal grunts and "Oy!" and stuff like that are fine, but no domination with words. Even Midna 'talking' disturbed me. I felt 'out of the zelda' when talking to her.

 

[Ikana]

Zelda wouldn't fell the same if they added voice acting.I clearly don't like the idea and hope they never add that.

 

[Icetomeetyou]

I would say yes it would be amazing and awsome. But it might be terrible voice acting and I also think that they would have to dub it for all the countries that get it. Think of how much work that would take.
And I do agree with a choice to turn the voice acting on and off.

 

[blubb]

I really don't see any urge for that. if they chose to do it, they'd have to do it for many languages, and that'd probably cause them to delay the European release date even more than they usually did with the past games (up to almost 2 years compared to the JP release, in the case of the original LoZ!). I don't want to wait like an extra year or so just to have it translated into all those languages, it's just not worth it. Even though English isn't my mother tongue, I'd personally be totally fine with it if they made it only in Japanese and English, but as the game will mainly be aimed at younger audiences with a knowledge of English even worse than mine, they most probably won't do that.

 

[zeldatwilight]

I think it would make the game a heck of a lot more realistic. This feature could add even better emotions, and you get a better feel of how the character responds to situations.

 

[Midna666]

I think that Zelda having voice acting is a bad idea. Link, Zelda, and Ganon are such legendly characters, that I can't think of any voice actor who could do the characters justice.
Also Link is meant to be a avatar for the player. So giving him a voice would ruin that.

 

[MiloulovesZelda]

Don't like the idea at all! It wouldn't be Zelda anymore...

 

[jlemon9721]

It would be cool, but it's not needed. Silence is just Link's thing i guess.