MC Voices

[JesterLegacy]

As we have known, a lot of VNs don't voice their MC, whether it's during the entire game, or part of the game. However, there are also some that voice the MC. So, do you prefer reading with or without the MC's voice? Somebody tells me that without the voice of the MC, you'll be more immersed into the story, and I find that rather true. What about you guys?

[Widi]

As long as the story is good I personally dont really care bout the MC voice

[Eurobeatz]

I don't really care, but I like it when the MC has a voice. It means that the player isn't supposed to pretend that they are the MC, which is something that always annoyed me about some VNs.

[Guest]

i only started playing tsuki ni yorisou after they added the MC voice in a patch

Air is MC voiced as well, it makes a huge difference.

white album 2 is MC voiced and that game would just not be itself anymore without haruki's voice

aiyoku no eustia the same.

[Nayleen]

I think it works in both ways, depending on how much the creators want to immerse the player in the MC's mind, whether they'd rather want you to feel like you're playing him or being yourself. I'm fine with both, depending on story.

[shcboomer]

I really think it depends on the story, some games that I've really liked has a portion where the MC gets voiced. Having that can also contrast greatly with what you had been reading up until then.

[Novel21]

I like to play game so have MC voice In it, I think the game are more interesting when it have MC voice. So I'm going to enjoy play Air.

[garejei]

I prefer to have a voiced MC, it makes the experience feel more complete/natural when you actually hear the back and forth dialogue between hero and other characters. With a silent protagonist, things feel... very one-sided. Not sure how else to explain it.

[LordBlane]

Same for me, MC voiced is always better

[Wahfuu]

Sometimes it feels weirdly awkward. I feel there's alot more pressure involved in voicing the protag. Okabe from Steins;Gate is the only voice that I can think of (That is through 100% of the game) that really pulls it off.

[Steve]

The difference in voiced protagonist is as follows:

MC has a voice = 3rd person story about the MC

MC doesn't have a voice = first person, much more immersing experience

If I would compare it, I would same its the same difference as Mass Effect (3rd person story about Sheppard) and Dragon Age: Origins (first person story where you are the main character).

That said, I prefer VNs where MC doesn't have a voice, exactly for that reason - I, Steve, want to be the one who romances the girls xD

[sanahtlig]

Voiced MC is always better. Why? Because if you don't want voice, you can just disable it in the options. Many eroge these days let you disable voices on a character by character basis.

[Dizzyworld2]

I don't really care, but I like it when the MC has a voice. It means that the player isn't supposed to pretend that they are the MC, which is something that always annoyed me about some VNs.

Basically my thoughts.

Voices are what makes the characters "come to life". If the protag is voiced, I can appreciate his character better.

[Vladz0r]

The difference in voiced protagonist is as follows:

MC has a voice = 3rd person story about the MC

MC doesn't have a voice = first person, much more immersing experience

If I would compare it, I would same its the same difference as Mass Effect (3rd person story about Sheppard) and Dragon Age: Origins (first person story where you are the main character).

That said, I prefer VNs where MC doesn't have a voice, exactly for that reason - I, Steve, want to be the one who romances the girls xD

10/10, I agree for the most part.

I think F/SN pulls it off well, and in Steins;Gate, Okabe's chuunibyou delusions would be crap without him being voiced. They'd have to write the story some other way if they planned to keep him unvoiced. I think for the most part, the ones that are voiced and unvoiced have good planning and the type of writing to support that decision.

VNs with perspective shifts like Little Busters and Symphonic Rain that voice the MC only later on during the perspective shift can be kind of awkward for a bit, but they're well executed in those situations, mainly because the voices fit the mood of the story implied when you were playing as the MC unvoiced.

[Yeah Way]

In my opinion, a game should voice none or all of its characters.

Every voiced VN has the option to disable individual characters' voices, so those who prefer role-playing don't suffer whatsoever from an MC voice actor, whereas people who enjoy thinking of their MC's as individuals of their own like me lose out on the option not being there.

The only example I've experienced myself was "Rewrite"; the final act's giving Kotarou a voice was simply amazing, one of my favourite things about the entire game. Did it detract from the experience of those who had been role-playing as Kotarou? No, they could turn it off; meanwhile, in every other VN and game with non-voiced protags, I've had to imagine a voice for them, which is slightly awkward when I needn't do so for any other character.

Of course this isn't a problem in silent VN's or those silly 'Book' things, because rather than the most fundamental character with whom the reader spends most of his imaginary time being mysteriously mute and presumably speaking through telepathy or Sign Language to the rest of the cast, they're all reliant on the reader's imagination.

[zoom909]

If it's one of those ones where player character appears on the screen...it's ok to voice him

If not...don't, it's unnatural to have a disembodied voice

Heck, I voice the player character myself sometimes...good JP practice.

Somewhat related, I like the VNs where you can make the characters name up yourself

[Yeah Way]

If it's one of those ones where player character appears on the screen...it's ok to voice him

If not...don't, it's unnatural to have a disembodied voice

Heck, I voice the player character myself sometimes...good JP practice.

Somewhat related, I like the VNs where you can make the characters name up yourself

Depends: in the "Lucky Star" VN, you could do that, but the characters were voiced, so you'd get lines like "What about *SILENCE*?"

[zoom909]

Depends: in the "Lucky Star" VN, you could do that, but the characters were voiced, so you'd get lines like "What about *SILENCE*?"

Seems like the ones I've read just change something like "What are you doing, Ken-chan" (written) to just "What are you doing" (spoken), I hardly even notice

[Fox_DL]

If I'm gonna play a VN where the MC is voiced, I'd want it to be a classic first so I won't keep telling myself that "voiced MCs aren't really that good"

All of the VNs I've played do not have the MC voiced

[Jakeman77]

I quite like it when the MC is voiced, but to be honest it really doesn't bother either way. I thought it worked out very well in YU-NO.

[Darklord Rooke]

As we have known, a lot of VNs don't voice their MC, whether it's during the entire game, or part of the game. However, there are also some that voice the MC. So, do you prefer reading with or without the MC's voice? Somebody tells me that without the voice of the MC, you'll be more immersed into the story, and I find that rather true. What about you guys?

I don't pay attention to the voice acting, so I prefer a silent MC. I also don't like the consequences a fully voiced MC may deliver.

A fully voiced MC will make the game more expensive to develop. It may also mean fewer lines of text and fewer choices/branches in the game. The first consequence doesn't help an industry that's struggling at the moment, and the second consequence isn't ideal for consumers.

And concerning voice acting in general, imagine how much money companies would save if VNs used no voices at all? A LOT, is the answer. They could then channel that money back into the game and give us more choices, more branching, make the differences between routes greater etc etc.

[Wahfuu]

And concerning voice acting in general, imagine how much money companies would save if VNs used no voices at all? A LOT, is the answer. They could then channel that money back into the game and give us more choices, more branching, make the differences between routes greater etc etc.

They would also lose way more money then they could ever possibly save. Just because you don't care about the voices doesn't make it not a huge and obvious part of the draw.

[Daeyamati]

I prefer my MCs voiced, mostly because if I'm reading it in Japanese it's easier for me to understand ww. Also I don't imagine myself as the MC, but it doesn't bother me if they're not voiced.

[LordBlane]

Yeah, it's really the same thing for me too. MC voiced help me to understand more as well . I always see the MC as a third person and it's don't bother me.

[Xypers]

:|

Edited December 2, 2018 by Xypers