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Square Enix Explains Why Dragon Quest XI Doesnt Have Voice Acting
- Thread starter LordOfLore
- Start date
Vincent Grayson
Member
Fine with me. I'd rather have all or nothing on that front.
Silent protagonist with everyone else talking is just weird.
Silent protagonist with everyone else talking is just weird.
GregLombardi
Member
So in order to make games better, you actually have to plan to make games better, is their argument?
clay_ghost
Member
Huh. Wonder what is the online post game surprise .
isaacnukem
Member
I actually dug the voice acting in VIII.
Another question would be would XI have an orchestral soundtrack or would it be in MIDI?
Another question would be would XI have an orchestral soundtrack or would it be in MIDI?
Sammy Samusu
Member
Lol.
Whelp, not gonna bother with the import then. Hearing the audio makes looking up unknown words easier. Was the primary reason Tales(xillia) was easy to get into when I imported it years ago.
Also for these long kind of RPGs reading nothing but text and that annoying beep sound when text scrolls is going to do my head in.
Also for these long kind of RPGs reading nothing but text and that annoying beep sound when text scrolls is going to do my head in.
sotojuan
Member
Would be nice to also let us know when NA release is 
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The backlash against no voice acting has come almost exclusively from the West. As the quote explains, Japan as never had it in original releases. I understand why Western players may be weirded out by it, but I think we'll get voice acting in the NA release like we did with DQVIII.
As others have said, it doesn't bother me. Most of the great JRPGs don't have voice acting anyway.
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The backlash against no voice acting has come almost exclusively from the West. As the quote explains, Japan as never had it in original releases. I understand why Western players may be weirded out by it, but I think we'll get voice acting in the NA release like we did with DQVIII.
As others have said, it doesn't bother me. Most of the great JRPGs don't have voice acting anyway.
Sammy Samusu
Member
Likewise. ✌
RPGCrazied
Member
No excuse in 2017 to not have voice acting. It could have just been limited like Ni No Kuni, only for important scenes. If they wanted to use the whole nostalgia line, then the game should have reflected that. Be a 2.5D game or something.
This takes my day 1 purchase of this and downgrades it until this game is like $19.99.
This takes my day 1 purchase of this and downgrades it until this game is like $19.99.
sotojuan
Member
It would be interesting to get their thoughts on the game being big on the West. Dragon Quest games sell so little in the West compared to Japan that they may just not care what we think. That said, they cared enough to dub DQVIII back in 2005. I can see them taking their time with the NA release (sadly for us) because there's less hype for the game here.
Wait, does XI really still have MIDI music? Everything we've heard from the previews will be like that in the game?
Metroid, Zelda and Xenoblade have voice acting now. We're just waiting on Pokemon to make the jump.
No issues here. My favorite game experiences in the past were reading text and envisioning the characters to speak how I want them to, the old-fashioned way.
Here's the deal: Japan likes their Dragon Quest without voice, and the games don't sell enough to warrant a dub in the West (and probably mix that with speed of delivery).
Also, I wonder: are people averse to reading? It's not bad, lol. Not every game needs to be voiced, I think. Some can stay oldschool.
Here's the deal: Japan likes their Dragon Quest without voice, and the games don't sell enough to warrant a dub in the West (and probably mix that with speed of delivery).
Also, I wonder: are people averse to reading? It's not bad, lol. Not every game needs to be voiced, I think. Some can stay oldschool.
Yeah, they're using sequenced music in both versions of the game. That, I don't see changing with how stodgy Sugiyama has been in recent times.
Metroid and Zelda got much worse because of voice acting, i am super glad that DQXI doesn't have it and more developers should have the balls to ditch it.
Spiritwalker
Member
That's a shame. DQVIII had some great VA.
Rad Shadow
Banned
Cool. They can stuff more content in the game if they don't include voice acting.
I don't mind this at all.
I don't mind this at all.
I'll say it again: I am fine with SE paying racist arsehole less royalty.
sixteen-bit
Member
Co-signed.
Difference is that Zelda and Metroid aren't nearly as story-focused as DQ are. That's why games with a huge story focus like Xenoblade get always full voice acting.
Voice acting will be the selling point for the Switch release next year.
/s
lol...its not fine at all for every Nintendo game. The western market will expect voice acting for a big budget console JRPG.
/s
lol...its not fine at all for every Nintendo game. The western market will expect voice acting for a big budget console JRPG.
KainXVIII
Member
What?
The composer is a racist asshole?
yes
Honestly insane. Even more insane is the fact how bad the MIDI itself sounds as well.
DarknessTear
Banned
I guess I'll probably get it when it's on sale or something. I don't have much interest in paying full price for a modern RPG with bad music and no voice acting.
Crankshaft
Member
I'm totally fine without voice acting. I'm amazed the game is even coming to the PS4 in the first place. It seems like at least Japanese developers have at least found a way to lower production costs in this AAA bloat world.
Metroid got worse because Other M was a flawed product. We'll see how Prime 4 goes. Meanwhile BOTW might just be the best game in the entire Zelda series.
The point was though that most Nintendo adventure games and rpgs on consoles have VA now. This really isn't "Like all Nintendo games" at all.
purseowner
Member
Nanking denier, I believe.
If I remember right he thinks the Japanese atrocities in WW2 were made up as well.
Yep and has spent money on pushing that agenda.
themagicalkitsune
Member
Do they have any excuses for the music too, or is it 'conventionalism is good, straying from conventions is scary and requires effort' again?
Dragon Quest VIII had really good voice acting, and even recently we've had World of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy XII TZA which were great efforts as well, so I'm a little disappointed.
Also, I already know a popular variety streamer who plays all the new releases including JRPGs that probably wont play this because there's a lot of lines that need to be read out loud. A lot of people have the sentinement that no voice acting is unacceptable in this day and age because it just means you've put in less effort.
I hope they reconsider for the west
Also, I already know a popular variety streamer who plays all the new releases including JRPGs that probably wont play this because there's a lot of lines that need to be read out loud. A lot of people have the sentinement that no voice acting is unacceptable in this day and age because it just means you've put in less effort.
I hope they reconsider for the west
Earthpainting
Member
I don't mind a lack of voice acting if there's at least a voiced grunt every now and then. A total lack of any level of VO just feels weird when the animations convey body-language and complex facial expressions.
The explanation is basically amounts to "this way it saves us time and money", which is fair, but cutting corners probably goes a little bit against the entire point of having a fancy HD version in the first place. My simplistic armchair-publisher solution (that probably doesn't take all sorts of external factors into account) would just be to release the 3DS version first, and push the PS4 one back a bit. The release date's pressure would be alleviated and allow them to go all-out in terms of audio-visual presentation (like getting an orchestral score too), recup some of the development cost already, and entice people to double-dip more easily with the releases spread out. Might as well line it up with the Switch version if it still exists, and market those at the same time.
The explanation is basically amounts to "this way it saves us time and money", which is fair, but cutting corners probably goes a little bit against the entire point of having a fancy HD version in the first place. My simplistic armchair-publisher solution (that probably doesn't take all sorts of external factors into account) would just be to release the 3DS version first, and push the PS4 one back a bit. The release date's pressure would be alleviated and allow them to go all-out in terms of audio-visual presentation (like getting an orchestral score too), recup some of the development cost already, and entice people to double-dip more easily with the releases spread out. Might as well line it up with the Switch version if it still exists, and market those at the same time.
Tbh, it's only a disappointment in the sense that the Dragon Quest material that does get voiced is typically pretty ace.
Outside of this and midi, the game looks just about perfect, and I can't wait for it to release on Saturday.
EDIT: I honestly don't buy the money argument. This is a project that built 3 versions simultaneously, and exists in a premiere franchise. Obviously they're not going to throw away money, but they definitely could have added VO if they wanted to.
Outside of this and midi, the game looks just about perfect, and I can't wait for it to release on Saturday.
Also, I'm 90% certain they'll end up voicing the international version anyway.
EDIT: I honestly don't buy the money argument. This is a project that built 3 versions simultaneously, and exists in a premiere franchise. Obviously they're not going to throw away money, but they definitely could have added VO if they wanted to.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Metroid got worse but I prefer Zelda with voice acting. I can't remember the last console RPG I played with no voice acting for at least cutscenes. They are doing it to save money.
sotojuan
Member
Since they're going to take their sweet time with the NA release, I have a feeling it'll have voice acting and maybe, maybe orchestral music.
Original JP DQVIII release (last traditional home console release) had no voice acting and sequenced music. The NA one had the voice acting and orchestral music.
Original JP DQVIII release (last traditional home console release) had no voice acting and sequenced music. The NA one had the voice acting and orchestral music.