Do you think Game Freak will ever move on from Pokemon cries to actual voices?

[Poltergust]

It's not really a controversial opinion to believe that Pokemon games typically lack the kind of artistic polish that games of its caliber of success are usually known to have. Cutscene direction is very basic, animations are consistently stiff and are constantly recycled, lighting and texture work are kept maybe just a little too simple, and, finally, voice acting is completely nonexistent outside of Pikachu.

When it comes to overall presentation, Pokemon games haven't really evolved since Gen 1. Sure, the gameplay is constantly adding and taking away new stuff, the overworld design is steadily becoming more interesting, and the music of the series has been varied and stellar throughout, but what a player would actually feel when playing these games hasn't really changed in the past two decades. And considering the success of the series, it honestly feels kinda stifling to see how Game Freak is so artificially holding themselves back. They're pretending to still be making these small-scale Gameboy games when they have surpassed that a million times over, and as a result we're missing all these modern flourishes that should be expected from such a prominent RPG franchise.

For this thread, I want to hone in on voice acting. The funny thing is, we have so many Pokemon games developed outside of Game Freak that actually do use voice acting, and lots of it.

• The Smash Bros. series has given actual voices to every single Pokemon that has appeared since the first game on the N64. This includes playable Pokemon, Pokemon that show up in stages (not all, mostly just that ones that are stage hazards), and Pokemon that can emerge from Pokeballs.
• The Pokemon Snap games use voice acting, which also gives the Pokemon that appear in those games a much wider range of expression as opposed to a single cry. For instance, in the N64 game you can hear a Doduo sounding off as it runs around in the first level. If you hit it with a pester ball to make it fall over it makes a completely different sound. You can't do that with cries since only one of those was ever made per Pokemon, and no amount of sound mixing will make it sound totally different.
• Pokken Tournament is a big-budget fighting game and uses voice acting for all the Pokemon. Can you imagine playing this game if all Pokemon had were their cry and variations of that whenever they attacked or received damage? It would be extremely aggravating to listen to.

And to clarify, I'm not specifically talking about using their anime voices that make them say their names over and over (although I wouldn't be against that over what we currently have tbh). As far as I know, Pokken Tournament and New Pokemon Snap dial back that style of voice acting by quite a bit, instead opting to make the Pokemon sound more animal-like.

I just want the mainline Pokemon series to get a shot in the arm to make the games look and feel more ambitious, and the lack of proper voice acting is one particular aspect that is holding the series back from showing its true potential.

 

[grand]

Eww, no. Pokemon should have cries. Also, if they choose to move to the Pokemon names, it's an easy solution thanks to the anime. But they never will outside of Pokemon like Pikachu who retain their name internationally, because it would be a localization nightmare. Much easier to have Pokemon with generic cries than to localize every single one. There's a big difference between retaining Ikue Otani & Aoi Yabusaki's voice acting versus localizing every single Pokemon.

Humans will probably eventually get voice acting. The games are clearly designed & staged for it but Nintendo's lack of expertise outside of English & Japanese voice acting holds them back.

 

[L Thammy]

I kind of dread this thought since Pokemon having distinct cries is a direct line to its inspiration by kaijuu media, wherein several monsters are recognizable by distinctive sounds.

Godzilla Monster Sounds

About every godzilla monster roar

www.youtube.com

 

[Serebii]

No, if anything they're pulling back on this. Even Pokémon Legends: Arceus removed Pikachu saying Pikachu

The new Pokémon often have more animalistic cries. The new cries are all awesome and there are also different ones for different situations for each Pokémon. So their cry is different when they faint, when they're happy, when they appear etc.

It's just the older ones that seem out of place.

Here's some Gen 8 examples.




etc.

Though your post seems at odds with your main argument. Your title indicates you're talking about Pokémon while the post feels more like in general.

So, for my view

Pokémon - Absolutely bloody not
Humans - Only for key things like Breath of the Wild

Also it's not non-existent outside of Pikachu; Both Eevee and Gigantamax Meowth have voice actors

 

[Yuntu]

No because Pokemon are wild animals. A dog doesnt say dog. Or to stick with "wild animals" a lion doesnt say lion.

But at some point they will add VA for the humans, probably.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

human VA is more important

No because Pokemon are wild animals. A dog doesnt say dog.

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You know like....Pokemon are aliens, robots, ghosts of dead humans etc, right? Even most of the "animal" ones are more alien than animal and express emotion more like people. The problem is more that the voice acting (esp the dub) is just not great at times.

 

[Thorn]

It'll be 2030 and Gen 1 pokemon will still have super bit crushed game boy calls. There will be no voice acting for humans either.

 

[Glio]

Pokemon saying their names is dumb, it was dumb and will be dumb

 

[Lord Vatek]

Pokemon saying their names has always been dumb.

I am for them remastering the older cries though.

 

[Serebii]

You also need to consider that with the Pokémon anime voices, they don't have one set voice actor for a species, at least in Japan.

In an episode with say 5 Onix, it'd have a separate voice actor for each Onix. It has always been the case

The dub is a bit more centralised but does seem to be shaking it up a bit more

Pokemon saying their names has always been dumb.

I am for them remastering the older cries though.

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They did in 2013 when the game first hit 3DS. I'd like for them to do it again for them though

 

[Dice]

I REALLY wish they'd remake some of the early gens cries. They're terrifying lol



The Game Boy/Advanced games I wished sounded more...organic. I don't care for the low bit-rate sounds.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

You also need to consider that with the Pokémon anime voices, they don't have one set voice actor for a species, at least in Japan.

In an episode with say 5 Onix, it'd have a separate voice actor for each Onix. It has always been the case

The dub is a bit more centralised but does seem to be shaking it up a bit more

They did in 2013 when the game first hit 3DS. I'd like for them to do it again for them though

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I don't think the dub voices seemed as much interested in the acting part of it. I don't think they need to "say their names" and some don't, but voice acting is absolutely the best way to convey emotion and I sure as hell don't want to play a game where you hear *dog yelping in pain.wav* when they're fighting some other kids creature.

They absolutely need to start giving the humans voice acting, at least partially.

 

[Poltergust]

The new cries are all awesome and there are also different ones for different situations for each Pokémon.

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This is not quite true. It's a bit hard to illustrate my point with Zacian since they did a better job hiding it, so here is Zamazenta:



While you hear two different sounds here, they are still the same cry. The second one you hear is still just the first one but with more filters applied to it to make it sound more mystical.

And that's the problem: by limiting Pokemon to their cries and variations thereof, you limit the range of expressions Pokemon can have themselves. You can apply all the filters and effects you want, but at the end of the day it simply doesn't beat out having a Pokemon properly emoting depending on the specific situation.

Though your post seems at odds with your main argument. Your title indicates you're talking about Pokémon while the post feels more like in general including the characters.

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I think Game Freak will eventually have their hand forced to give humans voice acting, if not by themselves then by Nintendo/TPC mandating them (I'm like more than 50% confident this is what happened to them in Gen 6 to make a 3D game finally).

It's the Pokemon being voiced acted that I'm still unsure of.

 

[Serebii]

Remember all, they have updated the older cries once before. Chances are they will again

I don't think the dub voices seemed as much interested in the acting part of it. I don't think they need to "say their names" and some don't, but voice acting is absolutely the best way to convey emotion and I sure as hell don't want to play a game where you hear *dog yelping in pain.wav* when they're fighting some other kids creature.

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Fun fact, even ones like Charizard and Onix, even though they just sound like roars, are in fact saying their names. Charizard is saying Lizardon and Onix is saying Iwark but it's done in a way that most won't notice

But I do agree

 

[Serebii]

This is not quite true. It's a bit hard to illustrate my point with Zacian since they did a better job hiding it, so here is Zamazenta:




While you hear two different sounds here, they are still the same cry. The second one you hear is still just the first one but with more filters applied to it to make it sound more mystical.

And that's the problem: by limiting Pokemon to their cries and variations thereof, you limit the range of expressions Pokemon can have themselves. You can apply all the filters and effects you want, but at the end of the day it simply doesn't beat out having a Pokemon properly emoting depending on the specific situation.

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You're misinterpreting that video. Those two cries are the cries of Zamazenta's two forms. The Hero of Many Battles form and the Crowned Shield Form.

There's not really any uploads but when a Pokémon faints or is happy, the cry is different.

 

[Poltergust]

You're misinterpreting that video. Those two cries are the cries of Zamazenta's two forms. The Hero of Many Battles form and the Crowned Shield Form.

There's not really any uploads but when a Pokémon faints or is happy, the cry is different.

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No, it's the same cry, just sped up/slowed down and pitched differently. It's operating off of the same sound sample as its source.

Zamazenta's cries in that video are of a similar nature, just done in a more complex manner. The Crowned Shield Form cry is not original.

 

[Cugel]

Stupid question: is it game canon that they can say theirs name? Or just an anime thing?

 

[Serebii]

No, it's the same cry, just sped up/slowed down and pitched differently. It's operating off of the same sound sample as its source.

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Yes, the cries when they're fainting/happy are modulated from the same source, but that's still a different sound to the general person

 

[Poltergust]

Stupid question: is it game canon that they can say theirs name? Or just an anime thing?

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I'm playing through Black 2 right now and some NPC Pokemon say their name (or part of it) when you talk to them while some just make general animal noises (or other weird noises if they don't fit in as an animal).

So... kinda?

Yes, the cries when they're fainting/happy are modulated from the same source, but that's still a different sound to the general person

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That's exactly my issue, though! It can be so much better to have actual differentiation in Pokemon sounds.

Like yeah, of course it'll increase the budget to do so, but Pokemon as a franchise can absolutely afford something like that if they can allocate the time and resources for it.

 

[Strings]

I will not rest until this is the modern reality of Pokemon games:

 

[MondoMega]

As the Gigaleaks revealed, they considered doing it for every Pokemon in Yellow Version, not just Pikachu. The results of trying to compress the voice clips for a Game Boy cartridge should not be listened to at high volumes; put that sound down.

Development:Pokémon Yellow - The Cutting Room Floor

tcrf.net

(I feel like the Pink Version discussed on this page has not reached common knowledge yet so that's an interesting fun fact to share too)

As for whether they should do it today? Nah, don't think so. Voice acting for human characters would be a more important evolution for the series. If anything they should remaster the earlier cries again to bring them closer to the recent generations (and include a toggle for pre and post XY cries because some people do prefer the originals).

 

[eraFROMAN]

Voices and voice actors are expensive
Languages for every audience in the world

the cries are staying lol

 

[Lord Vatek]

As the Gigaleaks revealed, they considered doing it for every Pokemon in Yellow Version, not just Pikachu. The results of trying to compress the voice clips for a Game Boy cartridge should not be listened to at high volumes; put that sound down.

Development:Pokémon Yellow - The Cutting Room Floor

tcrf.net

(I feel like the Pink Version discussed on this page has not reached common knowledge yet so that's an interesting fun fact to share too)

As for whether they should do it today? Nah, don't think so. Voice acting for human characters would be a more important evolution for the series. If anything they should remaster the earlier cries again to bring them closer to the recent generations (and include a toggle for pre and post XY cries because some people do prefer the originals).

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I know you warned about the volume but holy fuck I was still unprepared for that.

 

[Hero of Legend]

Just for the love of god give us these again, PLEASE:




Battle Revolution was going to, but then they were like "nope, we changed our mind". :'(

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

Just for the love of god give us these again, PLEASE:

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That's worse than the gameboy sounds. 90% sure its like stock sfx you'd hear in bargain bin PC games from the 90s.
At least the GB sounds have that nostalgic retro handmade sound. Instead of "o yea I remember squirtles cry from the Pokemon games" its "I think he sounded like elephant.wav or something"

 

[lexony]

Yeah sure. No one can say what will happen in 10-20 years. It's not impossible.

 

[Dark Ninja]

Nah they would never spend the money for it. Then they would have to spend it on every other language too or unify all the Pokémon names. Some executive just probably laughed at the idea of spending all that money.

In general the human characters need voice acting it's just another aspect that makes the games feel like they aren't moving forward.

 

[fourfourfun]

No because Pokemon are wild animals. A dog doesnt say dog. Or to stick with "wild animals" a lion doesnt say lion.

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I would love this world to exist.

DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG

 

[Poltergust]

For the people in the back...

And to clarify, I'm not specifically talking about using their anime voices that make them say their names over and over (although I wouldn't be against that over what we currently have tbh). As far as I know, Pokken Tournament and New Pokemon Snap dial back that style of voice acting by quite a bit, instead opting to make the Pokemon sound more animal-like.

Click to shrink...

 

[Bishop89]

Waste of money, resources.
They have bigger problems to tackle first which have plagued their games for generations

 

[Yuntu]

human VA is more important



You know like....Pokemon are aliens, robots, ghosts of dead humans etc, right? Even most of the "animal" ones are more alien than animal and express emotion more like people. The problem is more that the voice acting (esp the dub) is just not great at times.

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I still dont want them to say their names. Thats dumb as shit and I hate it in the show as well.

 

[Yuntu]

For the people in the back...

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Then I must say they are already doing that.

 

[Greywaren]

I hope they update the old ones so they don't sound like an old, dying fax machine, but I never want them to say their names. I'd be fine with voice acting for cutscenes and grunts for human characters, though.

 

[Efejota]

I can (and hope) to see them evolving the monster cry angle to give each creature a wider range of emotion than what they currently have.

Human voice acting? Yeah, I don't see why it couldn't be expected. They already had it in Detective Pikachu and the n64 games. Even if not every NPC has it, surely they could do the BotW apporach and voice important cutscenes.

Edit: those cries from Stadium are nice. They have some excess echo but they don't feel like they are restricted by a desire to emulate the original hardware's sound.

 

[Serebii]

I still feel like people are ignoring the last two generations of cries when saying how they are, and ignore that they did get updated once before and probably will again one day

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

I still dont want them to say their names. Thats dumb as shit and I hate it in the show as well.

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Fair enough. Pokemon is so cartoony/goofy it works better than "animal sounds" for me though. I feel like some of the complaints want it to be something it isn't, and remind me of people who ask things like "why do the bugs in Hollow Knight sound like people and not insects?"

Smash bros/Pokken > JP anime > dub.

 

[RocknRola]

Eh, wouldn't want voices.

I'd be fine with them going further down the line of more varied/realistic growls/cries/etc. Animal sounds, basically.

 

[ASTROID2]

I hope not. I prefer the original cries.

 

[Ravelle]

I don't like voices in the show either, it's weird and grating.

The games still don't even have human voice acting let alone doing it for all the pokemon, moving on from the midi sound screaches would be nice though, high quality animal noices would be welcome, or at least give them some nice sounding sound effects with them.

 

[brinstar]

I don't know why this discussion always has to frame this like some sort of budget thing and never consider that the devs might just… like the idea of the Pokémon sounding that way.

I can hear any Pokémon cry and instantly know what it is. I like that. I liked running through the worlds in Sw/Sh and Legends and being able to tell what mons were spawning by ear.

 

[mopinks]

god i hope not

 

[Oswen]

Voice acting for humans (and maybe a few telepathic Pokémon?) may eventually appear for important sections, like in many RPGs these days.

Pokémon should keep their own original cries, they already brought many of them to more modern standards and will probably do it again if needed.
Glad Pikachu went back to its original cry in PLA, the anime-like one always felt jarring and out of place and would be best reserved to "promo" Pokémon like the ones with the various hats or Let's Go partners.

 

[W17LY]

Make them do actual growls and not the current cheap "midi sounds". Making them say their own names is silly though.

 

[Hours Left]

I don't want them to have voices.

 

[Rafavert]

If they do that, they better give us the option to disable them as well! God, I hate the voiced cries. I wish we had the option to remove that crap in Pokémon Unite. It's annoying as hell playing near a Pikachu.

 

[Serebii]

Make them do actual growls and not the current cheap "midi sounds". Making them say their own names is silly though.

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Have you heard latest games?

 

[W17LY]

Have you heard latest games?

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Of course, and sound cheap as hell to me.

 

[mclem]

This is not quite true. It's a bit hard to illustrate my point with Zacian since they did a better job hiding it, so here is Zamazenta:



While you hear two different sounds here, they are still the same cry. The second one you hear is still just the first one but with more filters applied to it to make it sound more mystical.

Click to shrink...

That first one sounds like an 80s Doctor Who sound effect. I could see that sound crashing into the end credits for a cliffhanger...

 

[SanTheSly]

God I really, really hope not

 

[Viale]

Remember all, they have updated the older cries once before. Chances are they will again

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Holy shit, those are grating (both the original and gen 8 variants).

I'd want a lot more than just remastering at this point personally.