Voice acting?

[💎 Andy 💎]

The game looks beautiful. I love turn based, RPG's, and story driven adventure games.
I was a little concerned about the "on rails" comments I have read. But that wouldn't put me off.

The thing that most concerned me was when I saw that there is no voice acting, at all.
I realize that some of the indie dev companies are on a budget.

But when we see modders making expansive mods with full voice acting. Skyrim - Vilja or Freespace 2 - Blue planet, to name only two.
So even 2nd tier acting would have been better than nothing at all.
Added to this, the Norse accents would have hidden a lot of it not being Hollywood standard. I refer back to Vilja, which is one of the best Mods I have even seen. And is loved buy the community, as it is simply amazing.

Having said all that, am I wrong? Is there voice acting now in game?
As, reading endless dialogue just doesn't seem right in today's market.
Especially for a game that is pitched at an almost AAA price point.

[Quartex]

There is a little bit of voice acting in the game - during the few animations and occasionally some spoken commentary by the head of your caravan as you travel. You can hear a sample of the voice acting if you download and play "The Banner Saga: Factions" (also in the Banner Saga release trailer). But it's safe to say that 90% of the dialogue won't be voiced.

There 2 reasons for this:
1. Stoic has said it is too expensive to do voiceovers for all the dialogue
2. Once you do voiceovers it difficulty and expensive to change dialogue. Stoic has said that not having to worry about voiceovers has allowed them a lot more freedom to tweak and change the dialogue in the game. So we're getting a much better written game.

[Jack Dandy]

"even 2nd tier acting would have been better than nothing at all."

Not really
I'd rather imagine the characters' voices instead of having some ♥♥♥♥♥♥ actors that make them sound ridiculous and cost the devs more money.

[British Superman]

Play Game of Thrones: The Game, a professional product around a major licence, and understand why it's sometimes sensible NOT to go with voice acting.

[Aleonymous]

As Quartex said, the amount of text & dialogue in the game makes this undertaking unreasonable. Also, doing VO on some characters/dialogues only (i.e. not all) always feels a little cheesy & inconsistent. So, they limited VO to some important cut-scenes. I don't mind that; I actually prefer it, especially over sub-optimal VO.

[Gloomseeker]

It's much better to have a little voice acting that is well done and sets the mood than to have every line in the game done with mediocre talent.

Furthermore sometimes the absence of voice acting can be much more immersive. When reading a book you're free to imagine a character's voice without being irritated by some fake accent which can be contrived and incredibly irritating after a while.

[Bold Brendan]

From the developer's Reddit the other day:

"Hey guys, really looking forward to the game! Back when you put up the PAX demo, you said that the cost of fully voicing the dialogue would've been astronomical, but in Factions, the initial cutscene is fully voiced. I'm wondering how much of the game is fully voiced, whether you've saved that bit of your budget for certain cutscenes or if you've just done minimal work for the most part in this area. I really hope this game does well, and I'm sure it's going to be epic to play!

Alex: We decided that recording some narration would really help fill out the world. When you're traveling you'll hear a short line or two from the leader of that party. If we had tried to record every line of dialogue in the game it would have been nearly insurmountable. We took a little more "Bastion" approach to it, and I think it's really helped the overall experience."

[Richon]

Originally posted by Jack Dandy:

"even 2nd tier acting would have been better than nothing at all."

Not really
I'd rather imagine the characters' voices instead of having some ♥♥♥♥♥♥ actors that make them sound ridiculous and cost the devs more money.

Yeah, Ultima comes to mind. I don't think they ever got good voice actors for that series.

If you can get good ones, go for it. But since good ones cost a lot of money, I understand when a small indie company like Stoic cannot afford the good ones. And if the choice is between 'pay 2nd tier voice actors and make our game sound like the Stygian Abyss' or 'Put our money to better use' I would prefer they go with the second option.

[💎 Andy 💎]

My fellow adventures, RPG'ers and Steamers.

As I said in the original post. I love the visual look of the Banner Saga. and at some
point I know that I will buy it. probably on sale now.
It has a lovely hand drawn look, and the Norse theme is refreshing. I also love TB games.

So, my comments are in no way trying to be derogatory for the sake of it.
I am merely expressing an opinion. That I truly believe about both The Banner Saga,
and Role playing games of this generation, that are prices over a certain point.

I am honestly happy for all you guys who don't mind reading a war and peace
narrative in a game.
And as far as second tier acting goes, by that I really meant 2nd tier.
As in, actors who can..y'know, act, but are not big TV or movie stars.
Not some bloke from down the pub, trying to read Hamlet.

In response to some of the comments here.

One post said, I quote.
Stoic has said that
"If we had tried to record every line of dialogue in the game it would have been nearly insurmountable"
A- Hmm, insurmountable.. really? More expensive certainly, out of budget OK,
but insurmountable. it kinda brings the old saying to mind. "Iv told you fifty Billion times, never exaggerate"
After all most as in 95% of games over say, fifteen quid are fully voiced.

Another post quoted.
Stoic again said...
Not having to worry about voice-overs has allowed them a lot more freedom to tweak and change the dialogue in the game"
A- Well, Stoic certainly gets a 10 out of 10 for a creative way of justifying not voicing their game.

And yet another said.
"When reading a book you're free to imagine a character's voice"
A- I wholeheartedly agree, when I am reading a book, of which I love doing.
However, when I am watching a Movie, I dont turn the sound off and read the subs.
Similarly when I am playing a game in 2013 I enjoy relaxing and hearing my characters voices.
Lets be honest, the days of "You are on a path, there is an old man by a door holding a rock, what do you do" are a thing of the past.

We all know whats its like fellow Steamer's. This game is out today, so its all new and shiny, and we want to justify all the good points. And also, are hoping it will be as good as it really does look. And I am sure the game-play will be laudable.
But after hours and hours of reading endless text, I wonder how many will
honestly think "I wish I could turn the voices on"

Here's hoping it is a big hit, with outstanding game-play. As I look forward to buying,
and playing it, after a nice juicy sale.
Hope you all have a great day.

A. :o)

[Gloomseeker]

Originally posted by Andy:

My fellow adventures, RPG'ers and Steamers.

As I said in the original post. I love the visual look of the Banner Saga. and at some
point I know that I will buy it. probably on sale now.
It has a lovely hand drawn look, and the Norse theme is refreshing. I also love TB games.

So, my comments are in no way trying to be derogatory for the sake of it.
I am merely expressing an opinion. That I truly believe about both The Banner Saga,
and Role playing games of this generation, that are prices over a certain point.

I am honestly happy for all you guys who don't mind reading a war and peace
narrative in a game.
And as far as second tier acting goes, by that I really meant 2nd tier.
As in, actors who can..y'know, act, but are not big TV or movie stars.
Not some bloke from down the pub, trying to read Hamlet.

In response to some of the comments here.

One post said, I quote.
Stoic has said that
"If we had tried to record every line of dialogue in the game it would have been nearly insurmountable"
A- Hmm, insurmountable.. really? More expensive certainly, out of budget OK,
but insurmountable. it kinda brings the old saying to mind. "Iv told you fifty Billion times, never exaggerate"
After all most as in 95% of games over say, fifteen quid are fully voiced.

Another post quoted.
Stoic again said...
Not having to worry about voice-overs has allowed them a lot more freedom to tweak and change the dialogue in the game"
A- Well, Stoic certainly gets a 10 out of 10 for a creative way of justifying not voicing their game.

And yet another said.
"When reading a book you're free to imagine a character's voice"
A- I wholeheartedly agree, when I am reading a book, of which I love doing.
However, when I am watching a Movie, I dont turn the sound off and read the subs.
Similarly when I am playing a game in 2013 I enjoy relaxing and hearing my characters voices.
Lets be honest, the days of "You are on a path, there is an old man by a door holding a rock, what do you do" are a thing of the past.

We all know whats its like fellow Steamer's. This game is out today, so its all new and shiny, and we want to justify all the good points. And also, are hoping it will be as good as it really does look. And I am sure the game-play will be laudable.
But after hours and hours of reading endless text, I wonder how many will
honestly think "I wish I could turn the voices on"

Here's hoping it is a big hit, with outstanding game-play. As I look forward to buying,
and playing it, after a nice juicy sale.
Hope you all have a great day.

A. :o)

Well I can understand people liking voice overs but some people like old school games (some of my favourite games have very little voicing and for me it was never a big turn off) and games in which you can read things (notes, stories, entries).

On this subject I've read people criticizing Shadowrun Returns for the lack of voice overs but IMHO it's definitely not a problem (provided of course that you don't mind reading in the first place).

Games are not books that's true and you've got a point but they're not movies either (and there is nothing wrong with watching a movie with subtitles by the way, I understand that it's not for everyone but I once played the first Witcher with Polish voices and English subtitles and it felt rather immersive -at least less distracting than Geralt's American accent in the English version).

As for being all new and shiny I guess you're right. Hopefully once the bloom is over the game will still manage to hold our attention.

[Shyhalu]

Originally posted by Quartex:

There 2 reasons for this:
1. Stoic has said it is too expensive to do voiceovers for all the dialogue
2. Once you do voiceovers it difficulty and expensive to change dialogue. Stoic has said that not having to worry about voiceovers has allowed them a lot more freedom to tweak and change the dialogue in the game. So we're getting a much better written game.

I disagree with their reasoning.

1. They made a lot more money than intended.
2. There are plenty of people who would have done it for cheap to help pad their resume.
3. Why are they changing dialogue that late in the game? Thats incompetence and mismanagement. You do all the tweaks and etc before the voice acting.
4. What is the point of a well written game if there is so much of it I skim past the dialogue?
5. Lack of voice acting just cost them a customer. It doesn't need to be great acting, just modest would have sold me on the game.

If you are that worried about bad voice "2nd tier" acting just add an option to turn it off.

I personally don't see the price as justified without it. If they had that much trouble with all the dialogue, they could have made the game episodic, I have no issues with that kind of format.

Anyone trying to make excuses for the lack voice acting are irrational. you are the kind of fanboys that keep games in the dump.

[Shyhalu]

Originally posted by TheTingler:

Play Game of Thrones: The Game, a professional product around a major licence, and understand why it's sometimes sensible NOT to go with voice acting.

I loved every second of the voice acting in that game. The combat sucked, but the lore, environment, acting, story, decision making, etc made up for it. I would jump to buy a sequel or another GOT game from them. Lack of voiceovers in GOT would have me demanding my money back.

[Blink]

Lets be honest, the days of "You are on a path, there is an old man by a door holding a rock, what do you do" are a thing of the past.

Crap.. Guess this means I should scrap my plans for a Text Based RPG

./sarcasm

[dq_177]

Voice acting is fluff, its okay if done well but if badly done it actually makes the game worse, if anything it can be better not to have it.

Saying an adventure game NEEDS voice acting to be good is flat-out stupid.

[strange_carrots]

There's only very limited VO in the game :).

Unfortunately this was more for being practical (and financially reasonable) than anything else.

Check out the release trailer that just went up. It would have been nice to have good VO, I think that we can all agree on. Making that happen isn't at all easy though :)

[RexJayden]

I too wish there was more voice acting. Reading the text when the characters speak makes the game seem too "quiet" and breaks the immersion for me a bit. Overall though, I am VERY glad I finally picked this game up in the latest STEAM sale.