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Is no voice acting better than mediocre/poor voice acting?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 16908
  • Start date

Is no voice acting better than mediocre/poor voice acting?

  • Yes

    Votes: 576 81.7%

  • No

    Votes: 129 18.3%
  • Total voters
    705

Deleted member 16908

Oct 27, 2017
9,377
Nothing takes me out of a game like lackluster voice work. I tried Tomb Raider 2013 for the first time the other day and I lost interest in the story so quickly because Lara's voice just wasn't doing it for me. I know the writing is nothing special but the voice work made it so much worse. She says everything she's thinking in this wearily affectatious voice and it makes her incredibly difficult to take seriously.

Do you prefer games with no voice acting over games with bad voice acting? Obviously a cinematic Uncharted-style game like TR wouldn't really work without voice acting, but I think many other genres work just fine without it.
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
92,571
here
yes

but if it's really really really really really really really really really really really really really really bad voice acting, no
 
Flandy

Flandy

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,445
I can just mute the voice acting if I don't like (assuming they include the option) so I say poor voice acting is better. Who knows maybe it'll be so bad it's good?
 
Xenosaga

Xenosaga

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,976
I would almost always prefer mediocre to bad voice acting over no voice acting at all. There are few rare exceptions of course but most of the time I still would prefer having one.
 
Saturday

Saturday

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,322
We gotta define mediocre.

Because bad voice acting can outright ruin games.
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

Member
Nov 8, 2017
15,608
Yes, and I'd also say it's better than average or okay voice acting. Exceptional voice acting is all that can ever really elevate a game, otherwise I usually just prefer raw text. I don't mean this at the expense of voice actors and actresses, a lot of them are great at what they do, but I can't say their work is usually a reason that motivates me to play a video game (an anime or a cartoon can be a different story though). Most often I just really like the "voices inside my head".
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
Depends on the game and how it's approaching it.

EG Deadly Premonition has absolutely terrible voice acting .. but without that voice acting, the game would lose it's identity.
 
Sheng Long

Sheng Long

Moderator
Oct 27, 2017
7,590
Earth
I would say I'd rather not have bad voice acting.

But then again, it worked for OG Resident Evil and was perfect at the time lol.
 
Mory Dunz

Mory Dunz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
36,359
Mediocre?
no, never better. Not even a question.
Most VA in games is relatively mediocre. 75% of JRPGS VA is mediorce.


Bad?
Depends.
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,639
Ashhong said:
Is this why Nintendo just adds squeaks and calls it a day?
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Animalese isn't just adding sqeaks, nor was the language certain characters use ie. Midna in Twilight Princess. It was an approximation of real language, with changes in tone depending on character and mood.
Made up gibberish language > mediocre voice acting.
 
NediarPT88

NediarPT88

Member
Oct 29, 2017
15,079
Yeah for sure, for example I turned off the voices in Dragon Quest XI after a few hours (Gemma was straight up annoying at the start of the game and Erik voice actor didn't fit the character at all imo).
 
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,060
It completely depends on the tone of the game. Devil May Cry would be better with bad VA than no VA. Zelda would be better with no VA than good VA.
 
Yang Xiao Long

Yang Xiao Long

Member
Oct 27, 2017
456
I understand the concept of "so bad it's good" like the original Resident Evil on PS1, but then you have something like Arc Rise Fantasia on Wii...

I'd rather have no voice acting.
 

Ashhong

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,593
lvl 99 Pixel said:
Animalese isn't just adding sqeaks, nor was the language certain characters use ie. Midna in Twilight Princess. It was an approximation of real language, with changes in tone depending on character and mood.
Made up gibberish language > mediocre voice acting.
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Fine, is this why Nintendo just adds "animalese"? What a lame solution. Add good voice acting
 
lvl 99 Pixel

lvl 99 Pixel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,639
Ashhong said:
Fine, is this why Nintendo just adds "animalese"? What a lame solution. Add good voice acting
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Nah. Its part of the charm of the game. Same with the made up languages and sounds in Ori, Hollow Knight, Spiritfarer etc.
If you're making a realistic cinematic game then yeah, you probably want some voice acting.
 
bluexy

bluexy

Comics Enabler & Freelance Games Journalist
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
14,510
I'm not a fan of voice acting except in the very best of circumstances, but I don't begrudge any game for adding it. It makes your game much more appealing to general audiences.
 
Hate

Hate

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,730
Voice acting limits dialogue especially in a large rpg.

Fallout 4 for instance has vastly reduced dialogue compared to Fallout 3 and New Vegas simply because they can't have the voice actor voice so many lines.
 
Zippedpinhead

Zippedpinhead

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,719
No,

In my opinion removing an accessibility function, in this case removing voice acting in exchange for reading/subtitles only, takes away the ability of some people to be able to enjoy the game.

Now should it always be an option to turn off voices? Yes, but letting some who can't read still enjoy a game because the characters are talking only sells more units/opens up the medium to others.
 
Sanka

Sanka

Banned
Feb 17, 2019
5,778
If it's actually atrocious to the point of bordering on a parody than yea. But otherwise any voice acting is generally better than none. Mediocre is just fine with me. Even these voice actors tried their best when portraying these characters.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,494
Hate said:
Voice acting limits dialogue especially in a large rpg.

Fallout 4 for instance has vastly reduced dialogue compared to Fallout 3 and New Vegas simply because they can't have the voice actor voice so many lines.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yep, that's why I don't care about the lack of VA at all.
 
ZeroX

ZeroX

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,266
Speed Force
No voice acting is often better, the problem is that if you just mute voice acting the text boxes/lip syncing still make it a slow process.

I feel like a lot of older games just have better pacing on account of getting through text twice as fast.
 
mrmickfran

mrmickfran

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
26,706
Gongaga
Yes yes a thousand times yes.

Mega Man ZX Advent is probably the best example of this.

The original Mega Man ZX had no voice acting, just text. Though the Japanese version had full VA so most just assumed it was Capcom of America trying to cut costs. There's barely that much text so it was w/e.

Then Advent comes in with full on voice acting and it is awful. Like, to the point where it lowers the quality of the game. It would've been better for them to not have voice acting if this was going to be their best effort.

Like it legit ruins the game sometimes
 
Hibiki

Hibiki

The Wise Ones
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,105
I feel like it depends on the game, but having the option to turn off voice acting is clearly the best. So assuming most games have the option, then I would go with bad voice acting because it might not be THAT bad.
 
Cantaim

Cantaim

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,316
The Stussining
If it is an RPG that offers player choice I prefer to have little voice acting. Makes adding every new line of dialog much more expensive otherwise.
 
Necromanti

Necromanti

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,546
bluexy said:
I'm not a fan of voice acting except in the very best of circumstances, but I don't begrudge any game for adding it.
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I think the issue is that the writing really needs to be tailored or at least adapted to something that would make for good dialogue if it's going to be voiced. My suspension of disbelief is lower when the pacing and delivery of the words is out of my control. Inorganic, lengthy dialogue sticks out a lot more. That issue was especially prevalent when they would also have to localize a script from another language.
 
bluexy

bluexy

Comics Enabler & Freelance Games Journalist
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
14,510
Necromanti said:
I think the issue is that the writing really needs to be tailored or at least adapted to something that would make for good dialogue if it's going to be voiced. My suspension of disbelief is lower when the pacing and delivery of the words is out of my control. Inorganic dialogue sticks out a lot more. That issue was especially prevalent when they would also have to localize a script from another language.
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I very much agree.
 

Ashhong

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,593
lvl 99 Pixel said:
"they just add sqeaks"
"that's not what it is"
"well its lame!"

ok

Even if they could get decent voice actors for Animal Crossing, there are literally hundreds of different villagers.
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Me saying squeaks was a simplification. Yes I can hear the different inflections in the "animalese", so you aren't telling me anything new here. Doesn't make it any less lame. Also I never mentioned Animal Crossing. As I said, agree to disagree. Using squeaks just doesn't cut it for me.
 
LazyLain

LazyLain

Member
Jan 17, 2019
6,486
Bad voice acting is only worse if you can't turn the voice acting down/off if it's not to your liking, and voice volume *should* be a standard feature so... no, no voice acting is virtually never preferable to having voice acting.
 
Aeana

Aeana

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,923


Arc Rise Fantasia is a pretty decent game with extremely bad English voice acting that is better played with the voices off.
 
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