Narration and voice acting idea, would this immerse you?

[QuiteGoneJin]

I have for a while thought that a game such as poe/bg etc would do well with ONE voice actor. Ok, here me out, not exactly just one. 

 

Imagine there's voice work for the party quips like Eder and Segani etc, but the only voice acting done for plot dialogue is by one story telling powerhouse who voices the in-between descriptions ONLY.

 

You read what everyone says, the voice in your head puts a voice to them for you specifically. I always find that better for immersion anyway, but an omniscient narrator reads exceedingly descriptive narration to you based on actions and decisions.

 

For example, you meet a person in need, and instead of clicking the dialogue box that says "don't worry, I'll help you [benevolent]" and move on, you click it and the narrator says "you gently and reassuringly touch her shoulders, you can see the fear in her eyes slightly fade as you offer to help" etc etc. 

 

I am not sure if I am explaining myself well, and I know this would force a writing team to be REALLY good and not lazy, but hot damn it's an RP's wet dream. Different narrations based on what personality type you decide to play.

 

/Swoon. 

[Tigranes]

It could be cool if the story suited it, e.g. Bastion where the visuals, storytelling, etc. all dovetail together with the omniscient narrator. It's also more sensible, since games spend a stupid amount of money on voice acting that constrains word count and editing, and most of it ends up being crap or average. The narration idea, as if it's the dungeon master, I quite like.

[Messier-31]

But imagine the amount of different types of narration needed to sustain the whole bunch of reactions for a lot of characters. Or the opposite, like the annoying recurrence of overused ones.

 

I'd prefer to spend the dev-time on something more important.

 

 

 

***

 

PS. Zoinks, Scoob. It's like the 1000th post.

[Sedrefilos]

tbh, I don't much like the descriptions between dialogues. Many times they feel cheesy.

[Elric Galad]

That would be great.

 

But we have to keep in mind that this is a mid-budget game. It's probably too expensive (and probably won't be translated as a further limitation).

[Karkarov]

Let me sum up my feelings on this in one word.

No.
 

Okay, two words.

HELL no.

This is not an isometric view action game with light story, like the game you played that is probably inspiring you to make this post.  The script for this stuff is always too heavy handed, cheesy, and over the top.  It is also gets really old, really fast.

[Elric Galad]

PS. Zoinks, Scoob. It's like the 1000th post.

Gratulacje !

[QuiteGoneJin]

 like the game you played that is probably inspiring you to make this post.

Incorrect.  Not my muse nor the vision I have. Toss that idea out and think of how immersive a good story tellers descriptions can be. But I respect your opinion. 

Edited December 28, 2016 by QuiteGoneJin

[Yonjuro]

I have for a while thought that a game such as poe/bg etc would do well with ONE voice actor. Ok, here me out, not exactly just one. 

 

Imagine there's voice work for the party quips like Eder and Segani etc, but the only voice acting done for plot dialogue is by one story telling powerhouse who voices the in-between descriptions ONLY.

 

You read what everyone says, the voice in your head puts a voice to them for you specifically. I always find that better for immersion anyway, but an omniscient narrator reads exceedingly descriptive narration to you based on actions and decisions.

 

For example, you meet a person in need, and instead of clicking the dialogue box that says "don't worry, I'll help you [benevolent]" and move on, you click it and the narrator says "you gently and reassuringly touch her shoulders, you can see the fear in her eyes slightly fade as you offer to help" etc etc. 

 

I am not sure if I am explaining myself well, and I know this would force a writing team to be REALLY good and not lazy, but hot damn it's an RP's wet dream. Different narrations based on what personality type you decide to play.

 

/Swoon. 

 

 

 I see where you're coming from but I prefer to have the option to read the lines and skip over any voice acting. This gets more true the more times I have played a game. Listening just takes a lot longer than reading.

 

 Voice acting is also expensive in a bad way (that is, it costs money that doesn't go to full time development staff) - a major issue for a game like PoE that has to be completed on a tight budget to turn a profit.

[tinysalamander]

Never liked narrators in games. I really don’t like to be reminded that I’m not actually in charge.