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Aonuma on Zelda Wii U: "I think well be able to make something new like OoT was."
- Thread starter BY2K
- Start date
redfox088
Banned
I would actually like them to do like Mario sunshine or persona where the protagonist remained silent but everyone else spoke..
TheLegendOfCap
Member
My only gripe with voice acting is how Treehouse is going to handle the translation voice acting.
Hell, I can't even decide if I would be happier with keeping Japanese VA in tact and using subtitles.
But then what would be the point of VA???
Hell, I can't even decide if I would be happier with keeping Japanese VA in tact and using subtitles.
But then what would be the point of VA???
Jonneh3003
Banned
Gold didn't come out in the UK, its no excuse though.
Well agree to disagree. Link has served as a great lead character for over 30 years now. I have no desire to be the character within the Zelda series, nor do I wish for Link to have more of a personality and role within the story than he does now. His in between depiction is a large part of why I love the series. It's something no other series really does.
This series has always been about simple fairy tale adventure stories to me. The main narrative force is the gameplay not the actual dialogue and cutscenes which more often serve only to highlight and punctuate certain gameplay elements and move the story forward letting the gameplay do much of the real heavy lifting. They tell simple stories about very broad emotions and themes, most notably growing up, and they tell that in very simple ways with minimal dialogue and cutscenes for the most part.
There is a very pure sort of charm to the way Link and the stories of Zelda games are presented. Few, if any, series really delivers an experience at all like Zelda. So I can't help but balk at any attempt that would try and change it be more like everyone else.
LegendofLex
Member
I think using text boxes only actually limits what they're able to do as far as integrating dialogue into the gameplay.
As of now, you have three options for interfacing with dialogue in Zelda games:
1) Full cutscene that isn't interlaced with gameplay in a meaningful way
2) Pauses in gameplay to focus on a piece of dialogue
3) Selecting a character manually to turn the camera on them and expose their dialogue
Voice acting opens up a range of other possibilities, such as wandering a market square and picking up interesting information as you walk through a crowd. As of now, this is impossible; to have a piece of dialogue stand out amongst general chatter, you need to have the game zero in on an NPC with something important to say, or you have to poke through their dialogue by talking to them (i.e. prompting their text boxes) one-by-one.
Or maybe you can listen to a character speak while walking with them in active gameplay, instead of having the same walk-and-talk conversation conveyed through a cutscene that's divorced from the gameplay.
One thing I've appreciated about Assassin's Creed, Skyrim, and the like is that I can pick up hints to chase down later just by walking through a town or even strolling through the countryside, without having to stop and talk to everyone I meet.
Neff
Member
The best thing they can do (and probably what they would do if Midna is any indication), is just have them talk Hylian gibberish. But would it really be worth it to them or us? Probably not.
I dislike these ideas for the same reasons I dislike eavesdropping NPCs in Final Fantasy XIII over prompting conversations myself, or the inclusion of Uncharted-esque banter in RE6 at the expense of readable files. The feeling of being in control of key information- how it's chanced upon, accessed, processed and acted upon- is important to me. I read much faster than people talk, and if I'm looking for an NPC to impart the secret location of a dungeon or a red-hot item, I'd prefer my interaction with them to be as concise, quick and ideally as free of fluff as possible. That doesn't mean dropping character or the sense of immersion, character is crucial to this stuff, but voice acting locks you into a relationship with the game where you're at the behest of voice actor/director's creativity and self-indulgence. It's harder to highlight important words and terms with inflection (unless you make subs mandatory, rather defeating the purpose of 'relying' on voice acting) than it is with straight up text. Of course if one might simply prefer to listen to a character than read what they have to say, I wouldn't debate against what is a format preference, but personally for me using voice acting to 'enhance' gameplay isn't the way to go.
Spidey got me too hyped. Sheik will return eventually
ok I do remember that
that was funny
Shit, I kinda just want this.
King Gilga
Member
I won't argue with you there. Mexican is some of the best.
I think this is the best way to go about it. Silent Link with everyone having quality voice acting.
wild wild rice
Member
But Zelda is like the last action adventure series to have puzzles.
Which is why it's important for it to not be like Super Mario Sunshine in that regard!
That game was a Gong Show of VA performances.
MrPhiliasfrog
Member
Honestly, I think this is a great idea. I would love to see it implemented in Zelda u.
The characters feel more alive with it.
He meant easy puzzles, though. And I agree. I'd much rather have significantly less puzzles if they're significantly more difficult or more original than the Zelda trope we've grown accustomed to (standing on switches, fire based, etc).
Im a fan of this disturbingly funny quest outcome:Spidey got me too hyped. Sheik will return eventually
ok I do remember that
that was funny
Gotta love bringing lovers together! Sweet dreams, Cawlin!
Also, telling the item check girl you love her results in Fi warning you to avoid mentioning it to Zelda.
Im a fan of this disturbingly funny quest outcome:
Also, telling the item check girl you love her results in Fi warning you to avoid mentioning it to Zelda.
Skyward Sword was pretty good
deletethis123
Banned
I think some inverted japanese, kind of like what they do for the team ICO games would fit nicely.
I agree with everything but the combat focused dungeons. Make the puzzles FUN, like Ancient Cistern, Stone Tower, Arbiters Grounds. But also keep some combat focused stuff, like in those dungeons.
Im a fan of this disturbingly funny quest outcome:
Gotta love bringing lovers together! Sweet dreams, Cawlin!
Also, telling the item check girl you love her results in Fi warning you to avoid mentioning it to Zelda.
Skyloft and all of its characters were so fantastic.
I'd want more than two. The ones in SS were fantastic.
DoctorFling
Member
Voice acting can get lost, Zelda's never needed it and I can't take the localisations taking any longer than they usually do.
Yeah, chatter is rather annoying. I like Xenoblade X a lot but having to seek out specific chatter bubbles to get new information and updating map data is not really good.
If they somehow could make the puzzles as fun as Portal I would totally agree that it could stay. The last few 3D Zelda the puzzles felt like the puzzles in The Last of Us. 1: See gap. 2: See plank. 3: Take plank. 4. Put plank over gap. rinse and repeat.
LegendofLex
Member
Having to stop and talk to every character individually to find the information you want offers literally none of those benefits and does what you're asking for much less efficiently, much less concisely and quickly, and with much more fluff in comparison to simply being able to pick up on dialogue of interest without actually prompting it from the character.
If you just want to blow through a character's lengthy dialogue, most games let you tap your way through while reading subtitles instead of listening to an entire VA performance.
This is what Neff is asking for, isn't it? Prompting Zelda-style text boxes actually literally involves having to seek out specific characters, with the caveat that you can't see what their text boxes are even going to say until you prompt them to go into their full shtick. You have to weed through lots of pointless chatter to find an NPC with something meaningful to say.
I thought SS had pretty great dungeons.
James Scott
Banned
Yeah. Some of the best in the series.
I'm honestly going to miss SS's "everything is a dungeon" design. Everything felt compact and well designed
Can't say I like either very much. Xenoblade X gave me areas on the map to look for those bubbles but it got dumb trying to find them.
KojiKnight
Member
I maintain that if Nintendo does use voice acting, they should invent a Hyrulian language. They have done it multiple times with written Hylian script, now just go full out. No reason to translate it, it can all be subtitled in every language, and it'd give the game a more timeless, Lord of the rings type of feel (see elvish)
I think a problem with this is the fact that we don't get a whole lot of time with many of the items and mechanics used in Zelda puzzles. Each dungeon normally has a very specific theme and item focus and so you get a handful of puzzles around that item/theme, but then that's really it. There's only so much depth to them. Games like Portal or the much more topical game right now The Witness take one very specific mechanic and build upon over dozens of puzzles. Even Nintendo's own Super Mario games rely on this as well. They're constantly able to reshape the same experience over and over again, building on it and subverting it in new ways.
Zelda will never achieve that because the game involves a lot more than just solving puzzles, but they can emulate it better. I think reducing the number of usable items to a core set that we get introduced to early on, and can be used in a variety of ways and are utilized more often would be great. Let us experiment with them, get to know what they can and cannot do and then test us on their application when in combat, when exploring and when solving puzzles.
Neff
Member
Not really, because I can accurately discern which character I'm talking to, which characters I've already spoken to if I get sidetracked, or make a judgement call regarding which character is going to be worth talking to over another versus sauntering aimlessly through crowds fishing for info or walking alongside someone while they relay their life story. For me, the traditional implementation of NPC interrogation is simply more engaging and interactive than the alternatives we've mentioned.
And best of all, I can press a button quickly to make their text scroll faster.
Alex_Mexico
Member
I wouldn't want to see the same stupid shitshow for a NoA localization of Zelda U that we saw for FE:F...
I think I have a bias toward combat so you should take what I say with a grain of salt. But I only remember the puzzles that took you back in time which were all great.
The smartest puzzle that I remember in the game (in the ship dungeon) was spoiled by that awful sidekick before I could figure it out.
I guess since I played so many 3D Zeldas and the formula in the dungeons never changed they have started to feel stale and like busy work.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
Hopefully Zelda would be better written than the travesty that is FE:F
Theanine3D
Member
Count me in favor of Hylian/gibberish voice acting.
It's one of the reasons Banjo Kazooie is such a timeless game. It would work well in Zelda.
It's one of the reasons Banjo Kazooie is such a timeless game. It would work well in Zelda.
More recently, Pikmin 3 had it and it was fantastic.
I concur! However, since Nintendo do not want to alienate younger audience I think that they will never create really hard and interesting puzzles. Because of this I wish they could just remove them or make them optional.
I don't know. They could do it. If they focus on a core set of items and properly increase the difficulty of the puzzles, familiarizing players with the various mechanics we could see some more complex and difficult puzzles. Kids are smart, often times more flexible than adults with that kind of stuff.
I hope you are right if they indeed will continue with puzzle focused dungeons.
Dungeons changed completely with SS.
From chamber to chamber towards open spaces. Instead of pull lever X to unlock Y, it's discover the dungeon's trick and progress.
SS and ALBW shook the formula tree. Now let's see if it falls.
dampflokfreund
Banned
They were indeed great, but the dungeons were too linear, small and easy.
These dungeons had a great fresh level design and clever puzzles. If they could combine that with TP dungeons' length and complexity, these would be the ultimate dungeons
pinkurocket
Member
Give everyone in Hyrule British accents. Get the Xenoblade Chronicles team on this voice-acting.
I'm not a 100% serious but I wouldn't mind either.. honestly.
I'm not a 100% serious but I wouldn't mind either.. honestly.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Pewech
HYDE
Banned
Came to say this also.
Nor Ocarina of Time Master Quest for GC...for shame.
I want a Link's awakening influence in NX, let's get a Roc's cape/feather Link or a Pegasus Epona.
We already stole the mirror shield from Kid Icarus and many other things, just keep stealing the good ideas and god abilities.
LegendofLex
Member
Yeah, that's all fair.
I guess I just wouldn't mind having other layers of interaction in addition to the traditional ones we've come to expect. There's certainly nothing stopping the game from letting you do exactly what you've described - even letting you rush through text with a button press (most voice acted games do this!) - and then also having voiced dialogue in real time if that's a good prompt for you.
SS dungeons were great and bad at the same time. I think for me the greatest failure of them was that while they were good to great dungeon wise, the fact that they tried to have them be both the game world and dungeon backfired.
I've wanted the dungeons to be more seamless with the world itself, but the way SS handled it was a bit too restrictive and artificial feeling. Instead of feeling like I was in the world with puzzles and dungeons a part of it I just felt like I was in slight larger dungeons.
Zelda U excited me a great deal because it's a real open world with the opportunity of having dungeons just be a part of the world. It's large enough that it won't feel like these "little" artificial zones.
I've wanted the dungeons to be more seamless with the world itself, but the way SS handled it was a bit too restrictive and artificial feeling. Instead of feeling like I was in the world with puzzles and dungeons a part of it I just felt like I was in slight larger dungeons.
Zelda U excited me a great deal because it's a real open world with the opportunity of having dungeons just be a part of the world. It's large enough that it won't feel like these "little" artificial zones.