General Zelda Hylian Voices

[HyruleHistory10]

Here is a thought. I was just reading an article on another Zelda site and someone brought up the idea of voice acting... but differently from the rest. The person proposed that everyone in the game should talk except they should only speak Hylian like you hear Midna's voice or Fi's voice and have the text flow as normal.

I agree with this because we can hear the cool new language that they will come out with but it will not be a huge drastic change that will leave us saying "they chose that voice?!".

SO what are all of your thoughts...

Who knows maybe we will all be speaking hylian soon.

 

[Spirit]

That'd be a bit too much trouble for nintendo really, Midna and Fi etc all had a set amount of sound bites for their voices, making them speak wholesale as the subtitles barrel along would be nothing short of nintendo creating a whole new language so that the sound loops dont repeat for different words and get slammed for a lazy attempt. So its too much trouble than its worth for them all to speak Hylian since it doesn't fully exist.

 

[Justac00lguy]

Even though people really warm to the idea of Voice Acting I just think that Zelda is too far in now to actually incorporate voice acting...We have got used to the silence of the characters or the slight mumbles and for me I actually don't mind this, if anything it adds to the chram of the game.

Games like Majoras Mask, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess showed that voice acting doesn't need to be implemented to create a well done narrative as well to create emotional cut scenes Etc. The idea that Nintendo could actually add their own language (Hylian) is certainly intriguing but like Spirit said I think this would be too much work for Nintendo to do. For me I actually like and have got used to the silence and mumbles of some characters, I wouldn't like too much of a change

 

[Satsy]

Personally, I like the 'Animalese' approach as done in Wind Waker. A sound is applied to the characters, without locking them into dialects or quirks. I find that a far better option than full-on voice acting, which doesn't fit all games. You also run the risk of bad voice acting, which can really ruin an experience. While it can sometimes be funny (Starfox 64), this only really works if the game is short, and Zelda games aren't exactly known for that. Again on a personal front I typically shy away from games that feature a lot of voice acting. The amount of good titles I miss through that doesn't compare to the titles I catch that don't use it.

 

[Shadow Blade]

Yeah its too late for voice acting and it strays from what people expect to see in a Zelda title and I don't know if enough people want voice acting for them to apply it to a new zelda title and honestly I don't have any desire to see voice acting in the Zelda future.

 

[Imprisoned]

I like the idea. I really like that idea! It made me wonder: What would a Hyrulean accent sound like?

 

[JuicieJ]

Yeah its too late for voice acting and it strays from what people expect to see in a Zelda title

I don't see how this makes a difference. That's basically saying it's too late for anything new to be added in, which is a fallacy.

 

[Ventus]

I think it's a waste of time and effort. Hylian is already confirmed to basically be Japanese written with a different character set. Why waste time to make a new language when - assuming we do get voice acting - we could just use the already Japanese voice actors to do Japanese voice work? It's much easier to have Japanese voice work than to develop a language; the latter could take an upwards of 3 years even.

 

[JuicieJ]

I think it's a waste of time and effort. Hylian is already confirmed to basically be Japanese written with a different character set. Why waste time to make a new language when - assuming we do get voice acting - we could just use the already Japanese voice actors to do Japanese voice work? It's much easier to have Japanese voice work than to develop a language; the latter could take an upwards of 3 years even.

Because authenticity.

By the way, the language is already developed.

 

[Ventus]

Because authenticity.

By the way, the language is already developed.

Authenticity? I don't understand what you mean there.

The language is Japanese, written in a different character set. There's nothing to it other than that.

 

[JuicieJ]

Authenticity? I don't understand what you mean there.

It would aid in the sense of being in Hyrule by helping with the world building.

The language is Japanese, written in a different character set. There's nothing to it other than that.

...Meaning they know how it works.

 

[Ventus]

It would aid in the sense of being in Hyrule by helping with the world building.

Ah, gotcha.

...Meaning they know how it works.

No, what this means is that you'll be hearing Japanese voice work regardless; going the extra mile to transcode everything from Japanese/English to Hylian would largely be a waste of time and effort. To achieve true Hylian would mean to speak a mock language - it would not be Japanese voice work but mindless blabber a la Fi or Midna. Otherwise, you're speaking Japanese, but calling it Hylian.

 

[JuicieJ]

No, what this means is that you'll be hearing Japanese voice work regardless; going the extra mile to transcode everything from Japanese/English to Hylian would largely be a waste of time and effort. To achieve true Hylian would mean to speak a mock language - it would not be Japanese voice work but mindless blabber a la Fi or Midna. Otherwise, you're speaking Japanese, but calling it Hylian.

I don't see how it would be a waste of time and effort if it wound up helping the world building. It wouldn't be that hard to do, anyway. They could easily put a specific team to work on it so that it doesn't take extra time in the development process. They could also just use the Japanese voice actors for the entire world. Since it's Hylian, it wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

Yes to all of that OP. Having a spoken Hylian language would do wonders to make the Zelda universe even more unique, and it'll allow the series to catch up to modern times with voice acting without sacrificing the feel for the series. Other Nintendo games have crossed over into voice-acting just fine, just look at the Metroid Prime series for a perfect example. Plus, they'll only have to have one take of the lines, since they wouldn't need to worry about translating into English, French, German, etc.

Just hire good voice actors, and I'm all-in for this idea.

 

[Ventus]

Since it's Hylian, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Hmm...my point is that Hylian as it is currently is Japanese. I've no problem with THAT. The problem lies in that It would take time to make Hylian a language in its own right; what I mean is that it would be like the Elvish speak in the Tolkien books were it a true language. Developing a language takes serious effort, and this effort is not made in a span of two-three months. It takes years. I don't have a problem using the current Hylian language - it's Japanese regardless of what you call it - but making a true Hylian language would be insane development-time wise.

Just hire good voice actors, and I'm all-in for this idea.

We already got 'em.
Nobuyuki Hiyama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fujiko Takimoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Akira Sasanuma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Y
Takashi

Hell, if that isn't enough, let's bring in the cast from Kingdom Hearts, possibly including the JP Disney talents.