No voice acting in future Zelda titles?!

jaykhunter

From ZU.net

Last week we posted about a list of facts that were rumored to appear in the September issue of Nintendo Power regarding Skyward Sword. We can now, after having seen it with our own eyes, confirm those to be true – and more!

Chief amongst that list is voice acting and the fact that not only will Link not be speaking in the game, but we will hear none of the other characters speak as well. And based on what producer Eiji Aonuma had to say to Nintendo Power, it is likely we will never hear voice acting in a Zelda game.

When asked about voice acting, Eiji Aonuma had this to say:

“Personally, I don’t want to have Link speak in the game. We haven’t had him talk at all up to this point. It’s part of the series’ history. It would just, to me, break the image of Link to have him speak.”

So that’s certainly a “no” on Link then. Under Aonuma’s guard, Link will never speak. He goes on to explain why we will likely never hear any other characters speak in any Zelda game:

“In terms of other characters, if Link never talks and everyone else in the game is chatting and whatnot, I also think that’s sort of an off mixture, so it’s not something that, to be honest, I’ve really thought I want to be superactive about or I’ve really pressed for. It just hasn’t come up to me personally.”

Voice acting aside, the new major item of news is that the Skyward Sword itself will be used as a treasure finder. Mr. Aonuma said to Nintendo Power: “The sword itself has a treasure-seeking ability [...] I’d like people to look forward to imagining how we’re going to use the sword to do that.” That is certainly food for thought!
He also mentions that as this is a Legend of Zelda game, we will certainly see the Princess herself. As for Ganon: “We don’t want to make any comments on that as of yet.” I personally think it’s safe to take that as a “yes.”
Also, Skyward Sword definitely takes place before Ocarina of Time. Curiously, Mr. Aonuma refers to Ocarina as having been first in the timeline prior to Skyward Sword. “We’ve talked with the media about Ocarina of Time being the oldest story in the Zelda timeline,” he explained to Nintendo Power. Many of us had assumed The Minish Cap to be first with the declaration from Eiji that the Four Swords tales were the “oldest legends” in Hyrule. . . which would place The Minish Cap at the beginning. Either this contradicts that fact, or Mr. Aonuma is ignoring the whole Four Swords cycle placement as non-essential when discussing the Master Sword.

So lads, what do you think? Are you happy with the current 'emoting noises' and reams of text, or would you rather cut-scenes akin to Gears, MGS etc in Zelda?

KaiserGunner

I dont know what it is but id rather the text to read and the emoting noises as opposed to voice acting. Its probably because thats what I was used to when I was growing up. I just think that for detailed storytelling, that text is the way to go.

Retr0gamer

Reading text boxes never bothered me. I like reading.

krudler

I never, ever, ever want to hear Link speak, aside from his "hiyaaaa!" when hes attacking people and the grunts he makes when getting hit. thats. it.

DeaPGalaxy

Well I wouldn't mind unimportent NPCs and the like to speak to add a bit of character, but importent characters like Zelda, Ganondorf (Or whatever main villian is in the game) or especially Link should remain silent aside from Hiyaaas and the like :pac:

Though really I don't care, I think Nintendo know what they're doing with voice acting and even if futures games stay silent so be it; we don't want a repeat of Zelda CDi! (Look it up on youtube for some of the worst voice acting [and dialogue] ever! :P)

looking_around

ugh..no .. Link cannot have a voice ... that would just be too weird.
If somethings not broken, don't fix it. ...I'd rather the lines of text...I enjoy reading ...

me-skywalker

I enjoying letting that mystery evolve in my head! Giving him my own voice and character.

Plus I think it would also take away from the soundtrack and background music which draws me future into the game.

Sandvich

I think it's kind of stupid traditionalism and appealing to the fanboys who for example blame the failings on the new Sonic games on the wrong things.

It would be awesome to have a really epic game where Link was actually a character. It wouldn't cheapen or harm the "The Hero is YOU!" aspect of the earlier games which will still be there and could make for a more immersive experience. I think the "Let your imagination" decide aspect is over-rated since you aren't really given any building blocks to work with. If Link was actually a character, I might imagine what he gets up to on his days off. Since he's just a sprite, I don't really. That's why I don't buy that line of argument - while it lets you make your own character out of him, it isn't less imaginative for the player to make him a character, even though you're removing the "Character is YOU" aspect you're also inspiring people an awful lot more.

Why do you think there's more Sonic fanfiction than Mario? Granted it's all ****, but that's mostly due to the nature of video game fandoms.

I get tired of how autistic Nintendo games are sometimes. It's especially dumb since most people have seen a Mario cartoon or similar so we know how he's "Supposed" to speak. I don't mind so much about voice acting, but at least let Nintendo characters have some "character" for once. They're mostly just memorable character designs with no personality otherwise and are thus inferior to EVERY SINGLE TOUHOU.

Star Lord

I really couldn't disagree with you more Sandvich.

I think that Link tends to be characterised better and better in each Zelda game (The main console one at least) through his actions and reactions. What he says is put together in your own head based on what the NPCs say to you/about you. This works fantastically well, as filling in for the character does make you feel more like the character.

I don't want Link to be someone that I identify with or want to be like (or not, depending on the acting)

I want to BE Link.

Sandvich

I don't think it works that well at all, I think it's an illusion upheld by people who want things to be the same as it always was. I can understand why people like it, but not why people are so vehemently opposed to trying the alternative. The Zelda games set up a very epic atmosphere and have generally very good character designs. It seems a waste to never do a proper full on story where you really give a **** about the characters. It's not even just Link, but character interaction in general tends to be minimal.

For games where you want to BE the main character, games like the Elder Scrolls make more sense. And there's a lot more character interaction in that, and you can really imagine a personality for yourself. Zelda, not so much. If you want to BE a main character instead of one you make yourself, wouldn't it make sense for that character to have more than just a general appearance? You want to be a kid who dresses up like a green fairy. That's mostly it. There are games which are good at having a definite main character but actually make you feel like you're in their shoes(Hotel Dusk comes to mind).

A Zelda type game where you do actually get to make your own character would be cool. An Elder Scrolls style game with Zelda mythos would be amazing, but it'd never be done since the fanboys here would cause too much of a fuss. Similarly, a more Linear game where Link is a character you finally give a **** about and NPCs are more than just SNES throwbacks would be amazing too.

I think a lot of games can benefit from a "split" like this. It's one thing they did RIGHT with the Sonic games, having 3D games and 2D games on the portables, it just went quite horribly wrong since DIMPS don't really know how to design a good level. As it is the Zelda games are floating somewhere in between which is something a lot of games have done for a long time now, so it's nothing exciting and new.

I don't like change for change's sake either, but I think people draw false conclusions by looking at games series that have remained more static in presentation and been better than ones that have changed quite a bit(Mario vs. Sonic pretty much). In reality there are a lot of game series that have had changes to them and have still remained very good(Metroid being a good example, going from a Platformer to a First Person Shooter, but still retaining a lot of what made it Metroid).

Jazzkamiden

KaiserGunner wrote: »

I dont know what it is but id rather the text to read and the emoting noises as opposed to voice acting. Its probably because thats what I was used to when I was growing up. I just think that for detailed storytelling, that text is the way to go.

This. I think it adds a good armoshpere to it. Especially when Midna talked in TP. The sounds she made made it feel eerie. *shivers*