Creating a world a player can truly find themselves get lost in can be a daunting task to take on. While breathtaking visuals, an engaging story, and a moving soundtrack can often do the trick, every now and then, adding ina cast of talented voice actors can be the final touchthat makes a game an immersive masterpiece.
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Of course, some games can be rather charming when theelement of voice acting is left out, but that isn’t always the case; in some cases, it could elevate the overall gaming experience. Here are a few popular titles that would have beeneven better with the addition of a full voice cast.
8Pokemon (Series)
ThePokemonseries has been a huge name in both the gaming scene and the anime scene. If the anime has been such a huge hit with audiences even outside the gaming space, why wouldn’t thegame series be just as successfulwith a similar voice cast?
The anime does a great job of giving all the trainers their own unique personalities that truly come out in their voices; whether it be an energetic newcomer or a grizzly longtime Pokemon master. While it was understandable to not have any voice acting for the earlier titles for the Gameboy back in the 90s, mainlinePokemontitles (such asScarlet and Violet) today still lack proper voice acting (aside from the Pokemon’s voices themselves).
7The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker
While theLegend ofZeldaseries has still had characters laugh, grunt, or hum a little tune, they weren’t given full voice acting untilBreath Of The Wild. While it did fit the overall atmosphere of the games in the past,Wind Wakeris an exception and would have benefited from having a fully-voiced cast.
This title wasn’t as well received until well after its release and is now often praised for itscute and unique cel-shaded stylethat was a breath of fresh air for theZeldaseries.Wind Wakerfeatured a very young and animated version of Link, his adorable baby sister Aryll, and the charismatic pirate Tetra. Adding voiced cutscenes would have gone well with the cartoony art style and given the game a vibrant tone, full of energy!
6Chrono Cross
It may have been a bit of a charming point for older JRPGs to stick to text boxes and dramatic soundtracks, but voice acting would have been the cherry on top forChrono Cross. As many JRPGs are,Chrono Crosshas a bit ofa complicated storyline, and having spoken dialogue in each cutscene may ease a lot of the heavy lifting the written text has on its shoulders.
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Protagonist Serge may not speak (outside chosen dialogue) but giving him the same characterization asThe Legend of Zelda’s Link for example (using grunts, sighs, and other small expressive noises) would have brought him to life rather than being a mere empty shell for the player. There are plenty of emotional and poignant moments in the game and being able to rely on the characters voicing their own feelings would have added much more of a sentimental mood to Serge’s long journey.
5Final Fantasy 8
Fans ofFinal Fantasy 7are lucky enough to not have this issue as theFF7 Remakehas revamped the 1997 game with amazing graphics and immersive voice acting for all the beloved cast. The graphics jump fromFF7toFF8was mind-blowing for gamers at the time; going from pixilated Lego-like chibi sprites to full-on character models that actually looked like the cover art. However, fans ofFF8aren’t as fortunate as the series didn’tincorporate a full voice cast untilFF10.
WhileFF8did have an amazing musical score to accompany its many cinematic cutscenes, it was void of any voice acting that could have given Squall and his party a deeper sense of personality. However,FF8fans did get a small consolation prize as Squall makes a fully-voiced cameo inKingdom Hearts 1and2!
4We Were Here
WhileWe Were Heredoes in fact focus on the players and their experience working with one another, giving the player characters (the explorers) would have made the twist ending much more impactful.We Were Hereis a puzzle game that relies on theteamwork of two players, giving their communication skills the spotlight. The player characters are quiet for the most part, allowing for easier communication when solving riddles.
However, adding quick cutscenes to give more story, life, and personality to these characters instead of allowing them to be an empty shell for each player to fill would have done wonders for the game’s heartbreaking ending.
3The Secret Of Monkey Island
Sometimes voice acting is just not possible due to budget or technological limitations of the time.The Secret ofMonkey Islandis aclassic point-and-click puzzle gamethat follows the goofy (yet lovable) Guybrush Threepwood and his journey to become a pirate and is full of hilarious quips and one-liners that would have hit much harder with voice acting instead of simple text bubbles.
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While it was a shame that the cult classic didn’t have the opportunity to give fans an idea of what Guybrush and friends' sounded like when delivering all their famous zingers, the series did receive a remake calledThe Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition, giving the 1990 game a 2009 makeover; complete with a full voice cast. At least fans can rest easy, knowing exactly how Guybrush’s confrontation against LeChuck sounds, beat for beat.
2Animal Crossing (Series)
Perhaps fans may already considerAnimal Crossingfully voice as is, but in the end, the language theAnimal Crossingcharacters speak isn’t exactly coherent (regardless of how adorable it sounds). TheAnimal Crossingseries has been famous for its special animal dialect that all the characters speak. While it did make sense for the original GameCube to not have full voice acting (as it fit well with the chibi aesthetic),New Horizonswould definitely give the series a refresh with all-new animal voices!
The villagers are allcategorized into specific personalitieswith pre-set dialogue. Having two jock or two snooty villagers can make them feel a little generic as their dialogue can become repetitive. Giving the villagers their own unique voice would help them all stand out from the crowd, giving even the least popular villagers another chance to be loved!
1Cuphead
The charming 1930s art style ofCupheadis enough to catch audiences' eyes but giving Cuphead and Mugman their own voices would have captured audiences' hearts as well! TheCupheadgame has a fantastic soundtrack but is void of any spoken dialogue (besides the narrator/announcer).
If any fans had doubts about giving the game a full voice cast, look no further than theCuphead Show!The Cuphead Show!did a fantastic job at giving Cuphead and friends their own unique energy, quirks, and personalities,breathing life into each character. Allowing Cuphead to have a voice would have perfectly complimented the cartoony 30s aesthetic that charmed its way into everyone’s hearts.
