GenGAME: Why Zelda Should Embrace Voice Acting

Should the non-player characters (NPC) in the world of the Legend of Zelda have voice characterizations beyond the audible gibberish that’s been the norm for the past few iterations in the series? Alex from our sister site, GenGAME seems to think so, and he makes a pretty compelling argument as to how this would fit into a Zelda title.

Interested? Hit the jump for more!

The basic premise of the article is that many successful franchises are the way they are because they’ve stuck to their roots, or the basic philosophies that all of the games in the series are made around. Even though some major improvements have been made, such as the introduction to the 3D world in Zelda and Super Mario Bros., the real identity of the games haven’t changed.

This is where voice acting fits in. Alex’s article, Not Immersive Enough: Why Zelda Should Embrace Voice Acting, describes exactly that. He starts by stating that in the various Zelda games, interacting with NPCs have become increasingly more important, and the more surface parts of the game should evolve to match that. By only altering the surface, the basic elements that make a Zelda game a good game aren’t changed, so the overall uniform experience we expect in a Zelda game isn’t lost.

By adding voice acting, the game becomes “more immersive”. You are able to delve deeper into the stories of the characters both more easily and more efficiently. With the current text box system, the game is effectively paused every time you talk to a character, and your attention is brought to that moment. As video games become more advanced, multitasking might be the better route.

And lastly, Alex brings up the question about whether Link should have a voice or not, but if you’d like to see what he says, check out the full article on GenGAME.