video game spoken languages..

[KFCrispy]

i prefer to hear video game characters, and sometimes songs, speak in a language i can't (fully) understand, such as japanese, chinese, or just plain gibberish, over english (since i'm fluent in English only). why? because games generally lack the quality of dialogue that movies and real life have. movies generally have natural, flowing dialogue, and of course, real life dialogue .. is realistic.

i'm fine hearing "HADOKEN" over and over again but i have a problem with "Take that! It's over!" and "IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE"!!! these sound bits just sound silly because the characters are actually bothering to talk and sometimes even insult the enemy as they fight. when i hear "hadoken" or "shinpuken" or whatever, it just sounds like a cool noise that comes with the action.

for music, sometimes the lyrics just plain suck, and i am tortored that i understand every word that is mouthed, but the chain of words don't make any sense or are not something i agree with, and can be embarrassing to sing along to! if they were in a language i can't understand, instead of speaking, i only hear singing and sounds that go with the music. i often enjoy a song better than way...

i'm not saying i'd like to see all video games in foreign languages only, but they should really allow to players to change the spoken language considering the unrealistically unwordy dialogue scenes.. i think Dynasty Warriors 3 was the only game i've played that allows for this option >_<

hm... this also applies to anime...

[Mikalakatov]

Woohoo! Someone who agrees that English voice acting in anime and games genrally 99% of the time sucks! I agree with you! I hate most of everything I've heard in English, anime and game wise, because most of the time, to me, it seems as if those actors were not putting their heart's into their work. And with every chance I get, I switch the languages to Japanese instead of English. I too, am VERY picky when it comes to English voice actors because I speak English and since I do, I sort of expect great results like Disney when it comes to voice acting.

[KFCrispy]

i hope for japanese voices in the next Suikoden.. you can see some or all japanese clips of SV on youtube

[Mikalakatov]

I really wished that they could have done that for IV, Tactics and V! I mean, Konami lets you decide in their CV games, but not Suikoden? That made me sad.

[Kirkis]

Suikoden does a pretty decent job with their voice acting, and english voice acting as DEFINITELY been improving over the years. However, I agree, I enjoy playing games with Japanese Voice Acting and Subtitles, like Onimusha, and a handful of others who have offered this feature, just because mouth movements of characters have usually been modeled for Japanese Dialect, and so when the mouth is making movements to say something in japanese, and instead english comes out, it just looks really really bad.

[son_michael]

Every game should have the option to hear japanese voices or dub voices, I dont know why they dont just do that....

[Feldoon]

Personally, I dislike foreign languages spoken over my games. Makes me feel idiotic and inadequate.

[dragonmasterx]

Every game should have the option to hear japanese voices or dub voices, I dont know why they dont just do that....

While many have the capacity to do so, not "every game" can do so. A DVD holds 4.7GB, if the game already takes up 4.7GB, Japanese voices can't fit.

Most Japanese versions of Nippon1 games are originally on CD/700MB. So putting that on a DVD easily gives tons of space to provide dual voice tracks.

for music, sometimes the lyrics just plain suck, and i am tortored that i understand every word that is mouthed, but the chain of words don't make any sense or are not something i agree with, and can be embarrassing to sing along to! if they were in a language i can't understand, instead of speaking, i only hear singing and sounds that go with the music. i often enjoy a song better than way...

I understand Chinese and Japanese and feel no shame in singing along(as long as I have the lyrics in front of me) at the top of my lungs in those languages. However, I feel very embarrassed when singing along in English, I do not know why.

[KoyuRedd]

I understand Chinese and Japanese and feel no shame in singing along(as long as I have the lyrics in front of me) at the top of my lungs in those languages. However, I feel very embarrassed when singing along in English, I do not know why.

The feeling is mutual, however, I already know why.

When the songs are translated to English, they're usually so poetic that people can't stand them. The Suikoden Vocal Collection's English songs are so horrible (when it comes to lyrics) that I can't bear listening to them, let alone sing along.

[Mikalakatov]

The Suikoden Vocal Collection's English songs are so horrible (when it comes to lyrics) that I can't bear listening to them, let alone sing along.

but... T.T Rain Grass..... I love that one..... v.v and Withered Earth.... those are like the only two songs of the vocal collections that I really like.

[Waylander]

This started off as a non Suikoden exclusive topic, so turning back to that road...

I think English is the appropriate language for some games, even some Japanese RPG's although I'm trying to get away from that. I would never want to play Metal Gear and hear solid snake speaking in Japanese as he is obviously a Westerner, or a Mario game for that matter. (Should he ever start speaking...)

An extreme example would be Resident Evil 4, where multiple languages are used to a great effect. Leon is an American agent, I don't know how the game worked outside North America but I would hope it was in English with subtitles. That game could further be ruined since the player is being constantly cussed out in Spanish, and having creepy Spanish monks chant in Latin at you. Outstanding audio of that game aside, the langue helped create atmosphere in my opinion. If you don't understand Latin and Spanish then it's just downright scary, if you do the effect is even stronger.

I wouldn't mind the option as some have mention, but some games are meant to be in English as far as I'm concerned.

[Occam Arkitect]

I find japanese voice actors to be the most emotional of all, however, nothing beats english's versatility IMO.

[KFCrispy]

i agree V's voice acting was pretty good. they also found voices extremely similar in (sound?) to the japanese counterparts.

i think this phenomenon happens in a lot of places, which is why Square is able to rerelease an "international" version (in japan, only..?) of almost all its games, using the English voicing and maybe adding a new challenge into the game.

[Raww Le Klueze]

I find V's voice-acting to be annoying. Especially Lyon who talks all the time. Actually I find English voice-acting inferior regardless the medium. Give me Japanese with subtitles any day.

Another nuisance with Suikoden is that they reuse the same actors and since most of them have like no range at all lot's of characters sound exactly the same as others.

[Auragaea]

Most people who speak Japanese say that the Japanese Vas overreact to the point that they sound like William Shatner. I personally prefer English over Japanese because I can understand the language.