Poll: English vs Rest of the World: Do some games get worse/better with different audio

[Uriain]

The Question is this. Do you feel that having English Audio, or Japanese Audio etc can make a game better or worse AND, what is your preferred option when you have both to choose from.

I ask because I just finished watching the new Metal Gear trailer, and cringed the entire way through it. I have (personally) always found english voice actors in "non english" games. It just seems jarring and really breaks the immersion.

Games other then this new Metal Gear game would be Dynasty warriors, SoulCalibur, DoA. These games to me, should be in Japanese as I find that it just fits better with the story, and frankly, even the way the voice actors yell/grunt/shout.

So, does anyone else feel this way?

 

[Ordinaryundone]

I've always wanted a Chinese track for Dynasty Warriors, just for authenticity's sake.

As for Metal Gear, I honestly think Japanese in those games doesn't fit at all, seeing how most (read: nearly all) of the characters are non-Asian. Heck, the only character with any appreciable Asian heritage, Mei Ling, is both American and Chinese. The characters speaking Japanese just makes no sense at all.

Other than that, it mostly changes from game to game.

 

[TehCookie]

Having both can only make a game better since users can choose what they want to listen to. What language depends on what sounds better and my mood. If the dub is good I prefer it, but since most of the time it isn't I have no problem listening to Japanese. It could also just be how intently I'm playing the game. If I'm seriously playing it I'll play it in Japanese because the original is usually better, but if I'm playing it while cooking or playing with my pets I like English so I can just listen and not have to focus on it.

 

[krazykidd]

I'm not a big enough geek to want to listen to games in japanese , when i don't understand japanese . Not that i mind subtitles. For all i ( and most people ) know , the japanese voices could be terrible if you actually understood them .

 

[Cabisco]

To an extent I know what you mean, especially back in the 90s a lot of game developers cheaped out when it came to voice actors, luckily for the most part that's changed but you can still get the odd bit of audio so bad you want to hurt small cuddly creatures. Thinking about all this reminds me of this horror show:


So yes, sometimes it's better to have the original.

 

[DoPo]

Erm...which ones are the better VAs? I'd choose them. That was easy. I'd usually choose English, because 1. I understand it 2. it's good enough and/or the difference in VAs is negligible.

 

[TrevHead]

I would rather have English if it's good, the problem is that so many Japanese games especially JRPGs have badly and over acted English VOs.

The 360 version of Star Ocean 4 is one example, good battle system with a good JRPG story, except the childishly angsty & melodramatic acted protagonist just made me want to strangle him.

Maybe the game is just as melodramatic to Japanese speakers? But a listening to a language I can't understand and reading the text negates much of that as my mind fills in the blanks.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I voted yes, it absolutely does matter. I like being able to understand what's being said. And in games like Metal Gear Solid, any language other than English simply wouldn't make sense for the majority of the main cast. Naked Snake and Liquid Snake speaking with Japanese voices would just seem... wrong... to me, because of the context of the game.

However, there are exceptions. If it's explicitly stated that all the characters come from a country that doesn't speak English, then I don't really mind if they speak their own language and I get stuck with subtitles, because it'd make sense for those characters. To me it matters where the characters are from, not where the creators are from.

Some gaming examples of this would be "Metro 2033" and "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl." I can't see myself playing either game with the English voice acting, because it just feels very, very off. I have to play both with Russian audio and English subtitles.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

mehh it changes from game to game, some games/shows i don't mind/prefer the japanese VA as it is authentic and they tend to capture the moment more perfectly, but sometimes the english voice overs aren't too shabby and i can get into it more since i actually understand what is being said.

(i'm including tv shows in this)

example:

Dragon ball z = english VA. always.

Death note = Japanese.always.

 

[Karoshi]

I prefer most games in English, with the only exception being Gothic and the Risen series. The German voice actors are just iconic and pretty damn good.

 

[RadioBeats33]

I think any game, regardless of where it's released, should have a complete soundtrack.
Take Sonic CD on XBLA, for example.
I loved the ability to switch between Japan/US soundtracks.

 

[pilouuuu]

Well, KOTOR had cool alien voices. I'd never change those for English.

When I play something that's very dialogue intensive like an adventure game I prefer my native language instead, but I don't mind if it just has subtitles.

 

[Ickorus]

Generally I'm not bothered by it, that said, I've never particularly liked Japanese voice acting (Edgy!) because they tend to over-act and I dislike high pitched squealy voices in any language.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

well, in Metro2033 you can sometimes hear very clearly how some lines were meant to work differently in the "authentic" russian voices than they turned out in the english sound-track.

for example, at some point you get picked up by your comrades in a jeep, driving away one of em asks: "how about some music?", and the captain replies "sure, put it on.".

in russian, the first guy starts singing out loud after asking for music, only to be interrupted by his captain with: "sure, put it on.".

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

mehh it changes from game to game, some games/shows i don't mind/prefer the japanese VA as it is authentic and they tend to capture the moment more perfectly, but sometimes the english voice overs aren't too shabby and i can get into it more since i actually understand what is being said.

(i'm including tv shows in this)

example:

Dragon ball z = english VA. always.

Death note = Japanese.always.

Disclaimer: I loathe most English dubs.

I thought Death Note had a fantastic dub, with only a few hiccups here and there.

OT: The reason I want Japanese audio for Japanese games/anime, is because generally the English voice actors that they hire are shit. It has nothing to do with authenticity for me.

i watched it the first time in japanese, so perhaps i have a bias as that was what was in my head from the get go, but i thought the VA's captured the intentions/emotions of the characters a bit better.

authentic might have been a bad word choice..what i meant was, they were capturing the "authentic" experience the show was trying to deliver. (sometimes funny moments aren't quite portrayed as well in a different language, or vise versa..)

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Well, KOTOR had cool alien voices. I'd never change those for English.

very true, and i liked how some of the better mods would take those alien dubs and use them for characters in their mods.

sure, it doesn't line up perfectly and whatnot, but i thought it helped immersion a bit.

 

[Frostbyte666]

Depends game to game but I usually prefer English VA because then I can watch what is going on instead of having to read about it. However when the voice acting is so bad then I have to change language so I don't hear certain voices again. Examples where I have to change to non-english languages include:
Star Ocean 4 - The winged glasses wearing not all there in the head woman
Samurai Warriors - Can't remember the characters name but I know it took me a while to figure out whether the character was male or female because the voice was high pitched feminine male and the body was androgynous.
Devil Kings - That little girl thing. Where after hearing the English VA the only appropriate response was AHHH KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Have to agree with earlier poster about dbz though, English only. Other animes I prefer an English dub if I can get it because I want to watch the anime not read the subtitles and miss the action, but yes usually the Japanese sounds better.