Voiced PC in RPG's

[Novalis]

I see a lot of people asking for the PC to be voiced in RPG's (DAO for example). But can/should the PC be voiced in a RPG? A RPG in my opinion should not give the player's avatar a personality of it's own, instead should make him/her as much invisible as possible, so the player can role-play whatever he wants identifying the avatar as himself (not the other way around), in the given setting of course. And the VO definitely establishes a personality for the PC (even voice sets can give some color to the PC). I have seen in Mass Effect forums people referring to Shepard as he/she is someone that exist outside of the player, so how much of an role-play experience is there? I am wondering also if the Nameless One in PS: T wasn't voiced because it couldn't be afforded back then or was it a decision made for role-play reasons? What do you think about PC and VO in RPG's?

[Sannom]

I think the Nameless One wasn't voiced because there was no way to choose which lines would be voiced But since he had a very defined physical appearance, and we couldn't choose the voice that made his few lines "in gameplay", I think you can put him under the category "voiced protagonist"

 

In our days, the problem with a voiceless protagonist comes with the complex camera work developers tend to add in their game : it just makes the whole thing silly sometimes, and our protagonist often appear as completely stupid because he can never express his surprise or shock by even a little gasp or sigh. When the other characters are all voiced and have their gestures accompanied by their voice, your character really isn't at his advantage when he seems to be a complete mute!

[Tigranes]

*shrug* if it's a nameless protagonist a la ME / DA, of course not. If it's a set protagonist, why not?

[Pidesco]

The problem with voiced protagonists in RPGs is mainly one of resources. Voice work costs money, and if you decided to voice the PC, the tendency will be automatically to limit the different dialogue options and to shorten each response. Imagine if Fallout had a fully voiced prtagonist, for example.

[Bos_hybrid]

The problem with voiced protagonists in RPGs is mainly one of resources. Voice work costs money, and if you decided to voice the PC, the tendency will be automatically to limit the different dialogue options and to shorten each response. Imagine if Fallout had a fully voiced prtagonist, for example.

 

This, while I'm fine with it for ME( they're going for 'cinematic') I don't want to see it become standard across rpgs.

[Volourn]

Honestly, I used to think no need for a voiced PC. But, going between ME series/DA, the difference is jarring. I find ME gets a bonus for 'immersion' (man, I actually hate using that word 'cause is meaning is silly since it doesn't really mean anything tangible).

 

Anyways, you don't *need* a voiced PC in a RPG 9afterall, plenty of RPgs have been great without it); but it certainly adds to the experience.

 

Half the stuff Shepard says in the game are wtice as cool because they are voiced.

Edited February 19, 2010 by Volourn

[jaguars4ever]

Half the stuff Shepard says in the game are wtice as cool because they are voiced.

True, but the original stuff Shepard says is cool because Shepard is cool. Therefore, given that his cool-factor is doubled through voicing, his lines are cool-squared or cool

[Kaftan Barlast]

Having full VO for all characters including the PC is industry-standard. I thought it felt really weird in DA when my character just stood there quiet like a moron. The original "no voice for the PC" schtick was just a cost-cutting measure, I dont think it had anything to do with roleplaying immersion.

 

 

Though, the VO has to be top-notch for the PC, otherwise the game might be hillarious in the bad way (like german RPGs)

[Gorgon]

Also, bad voice acting is worse than no voice acting. Much, much worse.

[Volourn]

Nah. I disagree. Even bad voice acting can be entertaining in its own way. Plus, I've never heard voice acting so bad it would make me turn it off or get out of the game. *shrug* However, after playing ME1, and going back to no PC voice over in DA was really jarring and hurt the experience.

[Sannom]

Plus, I've never heard voice acting so bad it would make me turn it off or get out of the game.

 

French fans of Max Payne did. Man, that was horrible.

[Bos_hybrid]

However, after playing ME1, and going back to no PC voice over in DA was really jarring and hurt the experience.

 

Not for me. DA having PCVO would cut the content in half. Also having a Dwarf, Human and Elf all sound the same would be more jarring and hurt the experience even more. Voiced PC are fine where the character is set(Shep, MT, Geralt etc) but not so in a game like DA.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Plus, I've never heard voice acting so bad it would make me turn it off or get out of the game.

 

French fans of Max Payne did. Man, that was horrible.

 

 

With localized voice overs, what did you expect? They get like a 1000th of the budget for the main english VO's. The general rule is to play in the language it was made in, and only swithc for cheap laughs (the swedish voices for 'heavenly sword' are hillarious.. they used the same actors who dub disney cartoons)

[Sannom]

The people who dubs the disney movies are good in France. And Max Payne was one terrible case, they've gotten better since then.

[Purkake]

I, for one, wholeheartedly support more defined protagonists, including VO. I'm tired of main characters who end up referred to as "the wanderer" or "the exile" and are depicted as a blurry humanoid shape. Having an actual fleshed out character will make for a more consistent overall experience and also help with immersion.

 

And screw localized voice overs.

[RPGmasterBoo]

I'm for anything that makes sense within the plot. If you're playing Geralt you should have the voice, if you're playing a blank slate - you don't need one.

 

I want to see more defined protagonists as well, because they're so rare. In fact apart from Geralt, Shepard and in a way the Nameless one I can't remember any others. Though Shepard is really just another blank slate with almost no pre-defined characteristics apart from his name and general profession.

[Purkake]

There are a few games that balance the customization and a defined protagonist pretty well, on the more defined side you have The Nameless One and JC Denton, on the less defined side you have Shepard. What I don't like is the completely blank slate like NWN or KOTOR II.

 

It might help some players connect better with their character, but it does the exact opposite for me. I feel more like a floating camera than an actual character.

[mr insomniac]

I dunno, first time I play a game, I prefer the PC VO to be there. After playing a game once or twice I tend to spacebar through the majority of the dialogue anyway. Depends on who's talking. If the resources can be better spent elsewhere, then go for that instead.

[BicycleOfDeath]

Nah. I disagree. Even bad voice acting can be entertaining in its own way. Plus, I've never heard voice acting so bad it would make me turn it off or get out of the game. *shrug* However, after playing ME1, and going back to no PC voice over in DA was really jarring and hurt the experience.

 

Resident Evil comes to mind. "I hope this isn't Chris' blood."

[Walsingham]

Also, bad voice acting is worse than no voice acting. Much, much worse.

 

Spellforce 1 has some of the craziest awful intonation and pacing in its voice acting. Like its being spoken by a computer, but without the clarity of purpose.

[Nathaniel Chapman]

One thing that I do really like about voiced PCs is that I think they make conversations flow a little more naturally, especially if you time out the conversation properly. This is something I noticed playing ME2 - because I could pick my option before the next line was up, the conversation just tended to have a nice flow where it felt like two people talking.

 

While I think that there's some benefit to having the character as a blank slate, I think that because you're essentially picking lines from a predefined pool in a dialog tree system, it doesn't harm things too much to have Player VO.

 

Obviously there's more practical concerns like VO cost, and whether or not that restricts the number of lines you can do, but in a perfect world I like player VO in the right kind of game.

[Magister Lajciak]

I dislike it when the PCs are voiced in CRPGs. To each their own, but for me it detracts from, rather than adding to the experience. I would only like it if they made a huge amount of voices available to allow for customization - similar in number to the choices we generally get in CRPGs for the appearance of the character. That may be possible one day, when voice generation technology advances sufficiently and becomes inexpensive, but for now it is necessary to rely on voice actors and that makes it simply not viable.