How should Pokemon cries sound?

[Phosphene]

There was a bit of discussion in the gen 9 predictions thread regarding changing the cries of either to sound like the anime, i.e. saying their names, or like actual animals. I was curious to see what people preferred: the (main series) anime cries, more realistic sounds a la Generations, or if they're okay with the current cries.

Edit: For the realistic sounds part, I forgot that a decent amount of Pokémon aren't necessarily animals. So imagine that option as "realistic sounds" rather than just "realistic animal sounds" (unfortunately I cannot edit the poll options nor delete the thread).

 

[swiftgallade46]

I prefer the anime cries, but I’d prefer them all to be dubbed which is definitely never happening lol.

 

[Emmy]

I greatly prefer the animal cries. I already tolerate the name-calling cries of the anime, it would drive me insane if they put it in the games as well. I couldn't see them moving the anime cries into the games as that would require dubbing into every language.

 

[Neyo]

If the anime cries were in the game, I would have to play on mute during battles. I tolerate Pikachu having his anime cry because he’s iconic, but it feels … strange when you think about it. We don’t call cows “moos”. It just weirds me out.

 

[prog rocker]

I always found it extremely silly how in the anime they just... say their names. I would rather have actual animal cries or do like Stadium, where they sounded kinda realistic but where based on their game cries.

 

[venusboi79]

Back in the early days of the game, I thought I would prefer the anime cries. But as time passes (and the audio quality has gone up), I think I prefer them to stick with the “natural” cries.

I feel like hearing the names repeated constantly would become grating, as well as pull me out of the game. Especially in areas where you run into the same 3 Pokémon every couple of steps.

I’m fine with the “name” cries in the anime, I just don’t want to be subjected to “STARAAAVIA” or “DITTO!!!” every time I go into battle.

 

[Poke Dragon]

In terms of how I feel about Pokemon saying their own names. They're kind of fine but at the same time, it just feels awkward to hear them say their own names. The reason why I say I'm fine is that many Pokemon in Smash Bros. also say their names, but since the focus is on fighting, I tend not to feel awkward there. I'm leaning more toward the in-game cries more than the anime ones because they sound more closely to animals, robots, whatever it is that doesn't include saying their own names. But my clear pick is Pokemon sounding like animals.

 

[Daenerys]

I think they should sound animalistic and abstract; I hate how the English Pokemon dub makes most Pokemon say their names in perfect English (not counting a few Japanese Pokemon voices that they don't bother dubbing).

At least in the Japanese version there are some mons that don't just say their names over and over.

 

[Johtoo]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSMQYDYBALY


The regicries in the anime are better than every single sprite cry combined. Also, I think most people here imagine the anime cry being a Pokemon repeating its name. You would be surprised with how varied the anime cries can be. I think it's time for the games to adopt the anime cries and have voice acting because sprite sounds ripped from a gameboy should not be used in 2021.

It wouldn't even be difficult to implement. TCPI has stock sound recordings of every Pokemon to date. In fact, TCPI borrowed most of 4 kids pokemon cry recordings during seasons 9-11 before they redubbed them.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

If they ever put anime cries in the games on a bigger scale, I'm done with the franchise. I hate it about the anime, I hate it about smash, and I hate that Pikachu and Eevee have adopted this horrible trait. It just doesn't make sense!! It's awful. Who even thought it would be a good idea!?

I know it would be cool if they made more realistic sounds, but I actually happen to like the digital cries they currently have. All the old ones were actually remastered in gen 6, and yeah they're not perfect, but I still like them. Iconic, really.

 

[MrMeowPuss]

For me I’m in the minority but I want the anime cries. I’ve always been a big fan of the anime and personally prefer those over the current ones they have in the games.

 

[Minya_Nouvelle]

I like the way they sound. There's too many pokemon based on animals that don't really have a cry. What would Buneary sound like if they changed it? Maybe I could be convinced otherwise, but I don't think they should overhaul pokemon cries.

but it feels … strange when you think about it. We don’t call cows “moos”. It just weirds me out.

Meanwhile, a whippoorwill cries in a corner.

 

[RileyXY1]

I think that including the anime cries would just drive away older fans. They would just make Pokemon look more childish than it already is.

 

[Neyo]

Meanwhile, a whippoorwill cries in a corner.

And a myna bird laughs.

 

[Ghost girl]

Anime cries. I'm used to anime cries and sometimes they are much cuter.

 

[SlowGinFizzzz]

Everything is better than those awful anime cries (maybe with the exception of Pikachu simply because of how well-known it is). I'm not a fan of the early game cries (gen. 1 and to a lesser degree gen. 2) because most of them don't sound like noises that any living being should make, but since gen. 3 and especially 4, I think they've become much better and more realistic. In that sense, I'd like them to either keep them as they are or move even more into the realistic/animal shouts direction.

 

[Kallyle]

To be honest, I think it depends on the Pokémon in question whether the Pokémon should have an anime-esque cry or more animalistic/realistic cries. For example, certain intelligent Pokémon like Alakazam, Slowking, and Chatot, could realisticallly get away with saying their own names if not outright speaking a language of some sort. Other Pokémon such as Miltank, Tauros, and most Bug-type Pokémon feel more animalistic and would better benefit for animalistic-sounding cries. As for the more inorganic/object-based Pokémon, they can keep their cries as-is since they aren't really 'animals' in the first place.

What I'm trying to say is that the type of cries I'd like for each Pokémon varies on a case-by-case basis. However, the one thing I can say for certain is that not all Pokémon need to have Anime-esque cries in the games, mostly due to the fact that they have different names across different real-world languages.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

I'm so ready to watch this fight, I delight in strong opinions about minor details

Put me down in a fourth camp for "we should touch up Pokemon cries, but they shouldn't try for realism or saying their names, just fun video game creature noises".

The difference between anime cries and game cries makes sense from a development perspective:
For games, if you were to make Pokemon say their name as a cry, you're almost certainly going to be hiring voice actors, which is an added cost compared to just having the programmers you already hired use their skills to make digital cries. Also, you're probably going to want these to make sense in whatever language the player is playing, which means that your work multiplies by however many languages a Pokemon's name changes in.

From an anime perspective, just writing down "make an animalistic noise, but sound sad/happy/talkative about it" is hard to work with. Letting actors use syllables that sound like talking while not actually meaning anything probably makes it a lot easier to work with tone and inflection.

So to me it's just logical that things are the way they are, and of course I like having it this way, too.

Also, not quite a point in any direction, but does anyone else feel like Charizard and Ditto come just shy of saying their name in their cries?

 

[prog rocker]

Also, not quite a point in any direction, but does anyone else feel like Charizard and Ditto come just shy of saying their name in their cries?

I can't unheard that now, and that was a pure accident.

 

[Johtoo]

I'm so ready to watch this fight, I delight in strong opinions about minor details

Put me down in a fourth camp for "we should touch up Pokemon cries, but they shouldn't try for realism or saying their names, just fun video game creature noises".

The difference between anime cries and game cries makes sense from a development perspective:
For games, if you were to make Pokemon say their name as a cry, you're almost certainly going to be hiring voice actors, which is an added cost compared to just having the programmers you already hired use their skills to make digital cries. Also, you're probably going to want these to make sense in whatever language the player is playing, which means that your work multiplies by however many languages a Pokemon's name changes in.

From an anime perspective, just writing down "make an animalistic noise, but sound sad/happy/talkative about it" is hard to work with. Letting actors use syllables that sound like talking while not actually meaning anything probably makes it a lot easier to work with tone and inflection.

So to me it's just logical that things are the way they are, and of course I like having it this way, too.

Also, not quite a point in any direction, but does anyone else feel like Charizard and Ditto come just shy of saying their name in their cries?

You wouldn't have to hire anyone to make the game cries more like the anime. The dubbing companies already have stock sounds of every Pokemon to date. You would only have to use that recording like you would with the pre-existing game cries. There would be little, if no additional costs to this.