So I just finished playing Super Paper Mario. I gave it an 8/10, which is pretty good (unless you're one of those people who only buys 9.5s or higher). One of my biggest gripes with the game, however, was its glaring lack of voice acting. The constant barrage of text was exhausting, especially when characters started talking with difficult-to-read accents and overdosing on "thee" and "thou." Those words instantly put me to sleep. If you read reviews of Nintendo games on a regular basis, you're probably sick of all the complaints about voice acting. But this isn't just going to go away. This is a serious problem.
Paper Mario really is like a book
I have two nephews who are avid gamers (for better or worse). Unfortunately, the amount of reading required in games limits how much they can fully enjoy them. The younger nephew gets hopelessly confused when playing Paper Mario: TTYDby himself, because he can't read yet and isn't able to decipher all of the dialogue. He also accidentally erases a save file just about every other day, since there is no audio cue to warn him of what he's about to do. Even the older of the two--the one who can read--gets frustrated and bored with the games he's supposed to love, because he's only in third grade and only reads on a third-grade level. Animal Crossing may be rated E for Everyone, but good luck getting an eight-year old to put up with all that reading.
This isn't just about the kids, though. I don't like excessive reading in games, either. By the time I sit down in front of the Wii, I've already been through school and work and don't want to do anything more than push a few buttons. Having to read piles of text gives me a headache... if it doesn't put me to sleep. Seriously, there are times when I have to turn a game off, because I'm too tired to keep reading it. It's not like you can simply skip a dialogue sequence, either; you might miss important information or clues as to where to go next. In the case of the Paper Mario games, important information is always padded out with pointless chit-chat.
The voice work is bad, but at least Baten Kaitos has some.
This is a new generation, and voice acting isn't a novelty, anymore. In fact, bad voice acting is better than no voice acting. Baten Kaitos is a perfect example of that. Its voice recordings sounded hollow and echoy, and the acting itself failed to really achieve the level of drama present. Nonetheless, Baten Kaitos felt bigger and better with the voice acting there. I often jumped ahead of the voice acting, anyway, because I could read faster than the characters talked. But when I got tired, I just let the cutscenes play out. And that makes a huge difference.
Link can stay a mute, but his friends should talk.
The counter-argument to voice acting is that it ruins the magic of a game. Characters' voices may not meet your expectations or may feel out of place. I'm sure we all worry about what disasters await if/when The Legend of Zelda characters start talking. But Twilight Princess felt lifeless and dull without, and the only character in the game who had any personality was Midna. She actually sounded like she was saying something. Hearing Bowser's voice in Super Mario Sunshine, however, is no consolation that Nintendo will eventually get it right. But that's why you take the time to hire good voice actors and not just cajole the programmers and their families into doubling up on the weekend. Good voice acting can take a game a long way. It makes it more epic. It makes it more accessible. Even if it's bad, at the very least, it's still fun to make fun of (see: Star Fox Assault). There's really nothing to lose. And now that Nintendo's home console uses a bigger disc format, there's no reason why this extra audio shouldn't be on there. No reason.
Paper Mario really is like a book
I have two nephews who are avid gamers (for better or worse). Unfortunately, the amount of reading required in games limits how much they can fully enjoy them. The younger nephew gets hopelessly confused when playing Paper Mario: TTYDby himself, because he can't read yet and isn't able to decipher all of the dialogue. He also accidentally erases a save file just about every other day, since there is no audio cue to warn him of what he's about to do. Even the older of the two--the one who can read--gets frustrated and bored with the games he's supposed to love, because he's only in third grade and only reads on a third-grade level. Animal Crossing may be rated E for Everyone, but good luck getting an eight-year old to put up with all that reading.
This isn't just about the kids, though. I don't like excessive reading in games, either. By the time I sit down in front of the Wii, I've already been through school and work and don't want to do anything more than push a few buttons. Having to read piles of text gives me a headache... if it doesn't put me to sleep. Seriously, there are times when I have to turn a game off, because I'm too tired to keep reading it. It's not like you can simply skip a dialogue sequence, either; you might miss important information or clues as to where to go next. In the case of the Paper Mario games, important information is always padded out with pointless chit-chat.
The voice work is bad, but at least Baten Kaitos has some.
This is a new generation, and voice acting isn't a novelty, anymore. In fact, bad voice acting is better than no voice acting. Baten Kaitos is a perfect example of that. Its voice recordings sounded hollow and echoy, and the acting itself failed to really achieve the level of drama present. Nonetheless, Baten Kaitos felt bigger and better with the voice acting there. I often jumped ahead of the voice acting, anyway, because I could read faster than the characters talked. But when I got tired, I just let the cutscenes play out. And that makes a huge difference.
Link can stay a mute, but his friends should talk.
The counter-argument to voice acting is that it ruins the magic of a game. Characters' voices may not meet your expectations or may feel out of place. I'm sure we all worry about what disasters await if/when The Legend of Zelda characters start talking. But Twilight Princess felt lifeless and dull without, and the only character in the game who had any personality was Midna. She actually sounded like she was saying something. Hearing Bowser's voice in Super Mario Sunshine, however, is no consolation that Nintendo will eventually get it right. But that's why you take the time to hire good voice actors and not just cajole the programmers and their families into doubling up on the weekend. Good voice acting can take a game a long way. It makes it more epic. It makes it more accessible. Even if it's bad, at the very least, it's still fun to make fun of (see: Star Fox Assault). There's really nothing to lose. And now that Nintendo's home console uses a bigger disc format, there's no reason why this extra audio shouldn't be on there. No reason.
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