GedkThon wrote...
Personally, I am totally on board with VO as long as there are multiple voice options in male and female (shoot Jennifer Hale could do about ten different voice options and you'd never tell until the credits). Too many times I needed to hear my DA:O char lash out with rage, or coolly drop a quick line to Morrigan etc etc
I'm sorry to say this, because more than one voice option per gender would be nice, but the more I think about it, I have to say I'm seeing a vast probability that there will be one voice per gender and just one. Due to disk space, programming necessity, and cost considerations, I think it's either a gender choice OR two options, and we already know Hawke can be either gender. Unless technology for voice files significantly improved in some way between the first and second games--unlikely--I don't think we'll be seeing that happen. (I wouldn't count on Morrigan, either. It might even be a letdown if you did see her.) It would be awesome, I'd love to have a surprise on that count, but I don't expect it.
I think the best we can hope for on voice is that they pick actors who are mid-ranged and not terribly distinctive except for their acting ability. A single good actor can, fortunately, pull off many different attitudes. Shy, outspoken, brash, gentle... if the male and female actors they pick have range, then Hawke could be a very nuanced character each time you play him or her just depending on which avenue you take. The voice might be technically the same, but the character will feel different.
Personally, if it comes to giving us two actors per gender vs. giving us twice the dialogue options, I am
all for having a single actor--as long as that actor is good and their voice isn't super-high or super-low. I mean, think about it--if they get an actor of Jennifer Hale's quality (although, preferably NOT Jennifer Hale this time, because we've all heard her do so many roles already--especially Shepard--that I think it would be distracting, not to mention she's Canadian) instead of an actor of the standard BG voice set quality, I don't think anyone will complain or get tired of the sound for LadyHawke.
I also hope they get REAL Brits to do the British accents for humans this time. Some people had a serious case of
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping in the first game. Even as few voice sets as there were, it was very noticeable for me. Some people can do very well, but a real British actor can just focus on the acting instead of worrying about acting AND sounding authentically British.
Ismelda wrote...
I hate to play humans in Medieval
Fantastic games. I never managed to play them in Dragon Age Origin past
the introduction (to get the achievement). Humans are boring. I know
that, I'm one.
I really feel that way, too. But think about the possibilities... it may be that they did this partially for either or both of these reasons:
1.
Racial drama. In DA, they couldn't determine whether the player was human vs. elf vs. dwarf when doing the romances for anything more than a few lines. Like asking Alistair if he minded that you're a dwarf, for instance. In DA2, since they KNOW the player is a human, they can
assume that him or her falling in love with an elf will be dramatic and then write the
entire relationship about that fact. All kinds of unresolved romantic tension can result. Since the story takes place over 10 years, falling in love with that elf and pursuing them every time your paths cross again could be really rewarding; watching their resistance break down piece by piece until they finally decide they can't resist you, or that they've come to understand you're not who you thought they were. A little bit like the elf-human relationship in the "Calling" novel.
2.
Political possibilities. Dragon Age: Origins left 5 out of 6 female players
no possibility whatsoever of the happiest ending possible, and 5 out of 6 male players no possibility of the most politically satisfying ending. Everyone who ditched the Human Noble origin was screwed for the fairy tale stuff and screwed for ambition. All the player did was innocently choose what interested them, and yet they were prevented from seeing some interesting content; from having the full range of choice the writers intended. For DAO, that was partially the point--but not for DA2. So this time, what if Hawke manages to unite the Free Marches and become their leader? Would that be possible for an elf or a dwarf, to unite a human land? I would doubt it. But this way, they offer
all players to do what suits their vision of Hawke based on who that person's Hawke is, without any stealth screw-overs.
Shavon wrote...
I won't go as far as calling them jerks or
refusing to buy future games . . . but I am sad that they are
deviating from what they near perfected.
That's exactly why I want them to change--they've nearly perfected this style already. Rather than stagnate, how about they try to perfect something else? Maybe Mass Effect was still a lot more specific than they want to be, and maybe they will take great pains to let us shape our Hawke and put our mark on her (or him.) I would expect so. I doubt Bioware made all these decisions without anybody ever asking the question, "Gosh, but will our audience be happy if we do all this?" and someone else saying, "Well, we will compensate by doing this, and we will help give the player X feeling in this way as opposed to the way we did it in the first game." Sure, things have changed--but that doesn't mean they're not thinking about what
really made people love DAO in the first place.
AmyBA wrote...
Skyplant wrote...
I agree
that the main character needs voicing, I always felt that the real story
was about Alistair in DA:O, and you were just some, silent bodyguard
that stood around and killed archdemons.
I agree 100%. I
felt like my character was just a side character. It felt like it was
way more about Alistair the whole time. It was really creepy during
conversations to have him making all these great, witty comments making
me laugh, or having Wynne giving all this insightful guidance, and then
it shows my characters face just staring blankly and zombie like for a
response...
Glad to see I'm not the only one.
That was one of the most disappointing and off-putting aspects of the first game. I love that they realized it and took steps to rectify it. I'm kind of shocked that so many people seem to be horrified with the idea of Hawke not being a creepy zombie/statue hybrid who barely manages to curl a lip or drop a jaw, let alone anything else.
And honestly, when you work so hard to make the right face, pick the right coloring and hairstyle and what-have-you to make a face you like looking at, who expects to almost never see that face? This way Hawke, and the face we made for Hawke, will actually be seen in action! I am looking forward to that a lot.
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