Voice Acting in RPG's

[gennss]

What do you guys think about voice acting in rpg's? Is it necessary to tell the story or just an added bonus? I've seen good voice acting make a game easier to submerge into but bad voice acting drive me nuts.

opinions comments examples?

[black flag nc]

I hate anime voice acting in RPGs or any other game. Whiny effeminate "heroes" make it impossible for me to get into most newer RPGs.

[MrPopo]

To me, voice acting is great when you can get it, but it doesn't hurt any when you don't (with one exception I've found). Of course, the actual quality of the voice acting does make a difference. Shining Force III had horrendous voice acting (though it was so bad that it wrapped around to awesome again). Persona 3 had awesome voice acting. Dragon Quest VIII had some of my favorite voice acting in a game, and it really added to the experience.

The instance where lack of voice acting hurt is in Devil Summoner: Raidou blah blah vs. the Souless Army (too lazy to look up the title). In that game, the mouthes moved during closeup scenes, but there was no voice acting. I found that to be pretty jarring.

[glynnahab]

I am usually against voice acting in most games, not just RPGs. It's a lot more annoying when NPCs run out of new things to say with voice acting than without. This is going to happen in even the deepest of games.

Not to mention that sometimes adding a voice to an already established character can ruin him. Look at Tails (or the entire Sonic cast). And Slippy in Starfox was annoying enough in the original SNES game. Then they gave him a voice, and look what happened.

But, if voice acting can add to the overall experience, I have nothing against it. In my opinion, it's usually a detriment, however.

[MrPopo]

I am usually against voice acting in most games, not just RPGs. It's a lot more annoying when NPCs run out of new things to say with voice acting than without. This is going to happen in even the deepest of games.

I think Oblivion is the greatest example of a game that got hosed by voice acting, as it really hurt the immersion when the NPCs would talk to themselves, except there was a small list of things they'd say, and only a few voice actors.

I think in a game like Final Fantasy XII or Persona 3 the voice acting can really improve the game experience, as they use the voice to add depth to characters in cinematics, while leaving the standard text for NPC interactions.

[Ack]

Heheh, Oblivion had like...what, five voice actors for 99% of the NPCs in that game or some ridiculously low number like that? It had to have been single digits...

I don't mind voice acting. I thought when it's done well, the game benefits tremendously. Take the first two Star Ocean games. I thought the voice acting in those was great! But then again, it only came in short bursts during combat. Tales of Phantasia was the same way. But when it gets to hearing their voices constantly...generally it's like watching a dubbed anime if they're speaking in English. Which means I turn it off if I can. I hate games that don't come with their Japanese language track.

[ott0bot]

I don't mind voice acting. I thought when it's done well, the game benefits tremendously. Take the first two Star Ocean games. I thought the voice acting in those was great!

UGH!!! What??!! I hope you're not referring to Star Ocean on ps2, I had to take that out of my PS2 after 20 minutes because the voice "acting" (if you can call it that) was soooo bad I couldn't stand it. I hear it's a fun game...but I just couldn't stand it. Dark Cloud 2 and Dragon Quest 8 were on the verge of annoying. Suikoden Tactics was ruined by not only a teriible plot, but horridly stiff voice acting. Rouge Galaxy was annoying. I'd say 90% of the time it's annoying unless it's during a cinema.

Tales of the Abyss was decent, here and there it was a bit too emo, but for the most part it was pretty stellar.

But when it gets to hearing their voices constantly...generally it's like watching a dubbed anime if they're speaking in English. Which means I turn it off if I can. I hate games that don't come with their Japanese language track.

I couldn't agree more. I loved that feature on Odin Sphere. The english voice acting was kind of annoying, but japanese with subtitles was a-o-k!

[Hatta]

IMHO, Quest for Glory 4 has some of the best voice acting of any game I've ever played. They really got some talented actors on board for that one. John Rhys-Davies as the narrator! I have to admit that some of the russian accents are a little strained still.

I'm glad though, that they didn't give a voice to the Hero. That always tends to break the feeling that you *are* the person in the game, instead of just controlling a character. KOTOR was the same way, and it worked really well there too.

[Ack]

I don't mind voice acting. I thought when it's done well, the game benefits tremendously. Take the first two Star Ocean games. I thought the voice acting in those was great!

UGH!!! What??!! I hope you're not referring to Star Ocean on ps2, I had to take that out of my PS2 after 20 minutes because the voice "acting" (if you can call it that) was soooo bad I couldn't stand it.

Actually, by the first two I meant Star Ocean on the SNES and Star Ocean: Second Story on the PS1. Most of the voices were limited to combat, mainly performing spells or special moves or when taking damage. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time had atrocious voice acting, though in general I thought everything about that game was atrocious. An entire cast, and I only liked one character...Cliff. Bringing him into a fight was like sending a battleship to fight alongside two speedboats with flare guns.

[gennss]

I loved Grandia 2 but most of the voice acting was absolutely terrible. Were there any rpg's with voice acting pre-ps1?