There's been a lot of wide speculation about the main character in Dragon Age 2 being fully voiced instead of having the voices heard outside of dialogue like in Origins, threads are popping about how voicework makes the game more immersive and interesting. While I won't counter these points, they are personal opinions after all and I cannot disprove them, voice acting has too many flaws for it to just be thrown around as a good idea.
Many people are making a direct reference to how successful and amazing Mass Effect is, while I've personally enjoyed both games of the series heavily - they are by no means the same game. Commander Shepard is of the Normandy and is you're thrown into his life, you're railroaded on a single goal but you can decide how he handles each situation. Dragon Age on the other hand offers more variety to these, I'll explain later.
What's my opinion on the matter? If it wasn't obvious already, I disapprove of voice work because it'll ruin a lot of the roleplaying elements in the game. I'll be bashed for this, yet voice work makes the character feel less like myself and more like another character that I'm just playing. Playing Commander Shepard to me isn't as different as playing Chris Redfield in Resident Evil, his dialogue choices are obviously pre-chosen and you're just limited to how he'll react in the situation.
Voice Acting: Gameplay / Roleplaying.
Hypothetical scenario: You're walking past a beggar, he's begging for money.
Mass Effect
Mass Effect, with voice work, will be limited to a few lines of dialogue that will not be fully revealed to the player until it's chosen. The meaning of what you've chosen could be completely different than what you've assumed it would've been.
You're usually given three choices on how to respond, imagine these are the dialogue options:
Here you go.
What?
No.
It gives you a basic summary of what you should expect from the dialogue, the problem is with this is you'll never know what will happen in these scenarios. That simple "No" could lead you to punching the guy in the face and call him worthless, you're far too limited in your knowledge of the choice. You don't even know in what way that Shepard will respond , he might be snide or aggressive without you even wanting to do so.
Now for the Dragon Age version..
Dragon Age
I'm not saying that the Dragon Age system is perfect, many people will find themselves incapable of getting into their character without some sort of voice work involved. The difference is, those who can are given a lot more options and can easily roleplay more.
You're frequently given more than a handful of options, for this we're going to take 4 dialogue choices - barely more than the Mass Effect scenario:
You're going to have to try harder if you want my gold.
I'm a beggar like you, I just borrowed these clothes.
You'd walk away from me if you know what's good for you.
Here you go, sir.
You're given the option of picking multiple answers, none of them are hidden by limitations and you're clearly aware how you'll react to each one of the lines. You won't pull a punch out of thin air or threaten the man unless you chose that dialogue branch, you're moving into what you pick and there's no surprises from your end.
How does this help roleplaying? One might decide to play a sarcastic rogue who would pick the "I'm a beggar like you" choice, or they'd play an aggressive soldier who picks "You'd walk away from me" line. You're not forced into a mold where you either answer positively or negatively (or the 'middle' option that nobody takes), you created a personality for your character and can live it.
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The dialogue required for the main character will end up costing very much for the company, ending up in less funds for content. One common complaint in Mass Effect 2 was that companions were lacking in dialogue, how much extra dialogue would they have had if the money from funding Meer and Hale went to them and you could talk to the characters in a 'real' conversation instead of relying on three simplifications of what'd you say?
The game, in my opinion, would easily be a lot more replayable if instead of listening to your main character say a line you just chosen - the companions would react to more instead, those extra lines of unvoiced dialogue can open a lot of possibilities with characters and allow you to explore more into their psych.
I'd continue on more, but I'm getting rather sick of typing. I might continue on this later.
Modifié par Dave of Canada, 08 juillet 2010 - 10:36 .
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