Voice Acting

[SeanWheeler]

Do you think Sun and Moon should have voice acting? If so, how will they do custom names like the player's name or Pokémon nicknames?

 

[pokestar93]

If there is voice acting and you could customize your character's name, I could see them do something similar to Final Fantasy X, in that game, you could name the main character whatever you want but they never actually say the player's name in voices, referring to the main protagonist by using pronouns. For example: The game would say "How is Tidus doing?" but the voice that comes out says "How is he doing?" And that's if they decide to do voices, which I doubt.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I honestly would only want to see it from the Pokemon, just like Pikachu gets. Its true though that we have 9 different languages to work with, but if it was possible, I would have loved to see all Pokemon have a voice, not just Pikachu.

 

[PinkIceFox]

Pokemon really doesn't need them, in my opinion. Though if they took away character customization, calling it Kalos only, they may as well just make the male/female lead character a character on their own with a name we can't change and make everything voiced. Since it's obvious we're playing as them and not ourselves.

And opposing Lion-Cub, I wish that pikachu would get its proper cry back instead of its name. It's annoying that it's the only pokemon that says its name now like in the anime.

 

[Snowy]

Do you think Sun and Moon should have voice acting? If so, how will they do custom names like the player's name or Pokémon nicknames?

I hope every single pokemon is voice acted, personally...

BUT that would probably set the game's release back and would make it larger as not a lot of pokemon have the same name in English and Japanese.

 

[Kirby4ever]

I hope every single pokemon is voice acted, personally...

BUT that would probably set the game's release back and would make it larger as not a lot of pokemon have the same name in English and Japanese.

Continuing what Eevee said, many Pokemon in different languages have different names from their original Japanese name, so having voice acting for all of those Pokemon would be a ton of work that the release date will be pushed so far that it's not really worth it since that they have to program all of those voices in the games. Lets take a look at some Pokemon.

Driftloon's original Japanese name is フワンテ(Fuwante). Names in other languages are Baudrive (French), Driftlon (German), 흔들풍손 Hundlpungson (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Cyndaquil's original Japanese name is ヒノアラシ (Hinoarashi). Names in other languages are Héricendre (French), Feurigel (German), 브케인 Beukein (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Spiritomb's original Japanese name is ミカルゲ(Mikaruge). The names in other languages are Kryppuk (German), 화강돌 Hwagangdol (Korean), the name in French, Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Malamar's original Japanese name is カラマネロ (Calamanero). The name in French is Sepiatroce. The name in German and Korean is the same as the Japaneses name while the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Joltik's original Japanese name is バチュル (Bachuru). The name in other languages are Statitik (French), Wattzapf (German), 파쪼옥 Pazzouok (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Charizard original Japanese names リザードン (Lizardon). The name in other languages are Dracaufeu (French), Glurak (German), 리자몽 Rizamon (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.

Now imagine adding voice acting to more then 723+ Pokemon in the future generations in 9 languages, and many of those Pokemon don't really need voice acting and just need a call or a roar, so voice acting isn't really be too much of a point. Pikachu keeping it's voice acting is perfectly fine since it's the same in every language, plus we hear Pikachu saying "Pika!" in Pokemon Yellow.

 

[Esserise]

I have actually thought about this quite a bit before. I am actually kind of surprised that they haven't already tried it out at some point. But personally, I don't want it. I don't have any elaborate reasoning behind that, I guess it's just personal taste. But I don't think I would refuse to buy the game or anything if they did decide to include voices.

I definitely don't want the Pokémon saying their names, though, and I do have a reason for that. The cries make them seem more animalistic, which I prefer as it feels more natural. Animals speaking in puns-that-also-happen-to-be-the-name-of-their-species is really weird. I *tolerate* Pikachu as an exception because it's the mascot and I'm probably never going to be using a Pikachu anyway, but that's as far as I go. Plus, some of the official pronunciations are just dumb. Looking at you, Skid-doo.

 

[BigBadButterfree]

I have actually thought about this quite a bit before. I am actually kind of surprised that they haven't already tried it out at some point. But personally, I don't want it. I don't have any elaborate reasoning behind that, I guess it's just personal taste. But I don't think I would refuse to buy the game or anything if they did decide to include voices.

I definitely don't want the Pokémon saying their names, though, and I do have a reason for that. The cries make them seem more animalistic, which I prefer as it feels more natural. Animals speaking in puns-that-also-happen-to-be-the-name-of-their-species is really weird. I *tolerate* Pikachu as an exception because it's the mascot and I'm probably never going to be using a Pikachu anyway, but that's as far as I go. Plus, some of the official pronunciations are just dumb. Looking at you, Skid-doo.

I mostly agree with this post. Except unlike you, it would really bother me if they did include it. Probably not to the point of refusing to purchase, but it would just make the games less enjoyable for me.

I always hated that the anime did that with their names. It doesn't make sense. In fact, in gen 1 the only Pokemon I liked in the anime were the ones that didn't say their name, like starmie or the amazing victreebel screech. I will admit, some anime cries are iconic. I often copy Wynaut's call when the situation arises.

Anyway, Pokemon voice acting is a big no-no. Humans, on the other hand, that could work. COULD. If done correctly. Cutscenes like N summoning the dragon and such could work out. But again, issues come up like how to deal with the protagonist. And honestly, I don't want it to turn into a dubbed anime. I swear, voice acting in anything that used to be Japanese is just painful. It just doesn't sound like natural speech inflection. Now, I don't know how that translates to other languages, but I guess this paragraph of text that I wrote has just convinced me to be 100% against any voice acting.

 

[firepanda]

Pokemon voice-acting has been discussed. It's cute in the anime when they're animated, but it'll be kinda ridiculous in the games.

As for human voice acting, I don't think the cinematics are quite to level where they can pull voice acting off. Not to mention that dialogue in Pokemon tends to be very heavy in exposition and explanation, which almost everyone will want to skip.

 

[Soki]

I would absolutely love the have voice acting during cutscenes! Though it should only be done during cutscenes and times when you actually see the speaking character's face (like in BW when people would call you on the C-Gear and during some of N's speeches to you). It would make the cutscenes seem more like actual cutscenes. And I think there are more games with voice acting where you can name the protagonist, they simply just never call you by name.

I don't think Pokémon should say their own names. I wouldn't mind it that much, but that would just take way too much time to localize.

 

[Karamazov]

I'd like Pokemon to say their names. But I agree that it's an unnecessary and daunting endeavor.

Adding voices to humans in cut scenes would be so great. A voice could add more inflection or emotion to a scene, and a it can help portray a character better. And I think that extra dimension would really add a lot more weight, especially with a series like this. Buuut they'd have to get some seriously good voice acting to pull it off.

 

[EmpoleonProd]

Continuing what Eevee said, many Pokemon in different languages have different names from their original Japanese name, so having voice acting for all of those Pokemon would be a ton of work that the release date will be pushed so far that it's not really worth it since that they have to program all of those voices in the games. Lets take a look at some Pokemon.

Driftloon's original Japanese name is フワンテ(Fuwante). Names in other languages are Baudrive (French), Driftlon (German), 흔들풍손 Hundlpungson (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Cyndaquil's original Japanese name is ヒノアラシ (Hinoarashi). Names in other languages are Héricendre (French), Feurigel (German), 브케인 Beukein (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Spiritomb's original Japanese name is ミカルゲ(Mikaruge). The names in other languages are Kryppuk (German), 화강돌 Hwagangdol (Korean), the name in French, Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Malamar's original Japanese name is カラマネロ (Calamanero). The name in French is Sepiatroce. The name in German and Korean is the same as the Japaneses name while the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Joltik's original Japanese name is バチュル (Bachuru). The name in other languages are Statitik (French), Wattzapf (German), 파쪼옥 Pazzouok (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.
Charizard original Japanese names リザードン (Lizardon). The name in other languages are Dracaufeu (French), Glurak (German), 리자몽 Rizamon (Korean), the name in Spanish and Italian is the same as the English name.

Now imagine adding voice acting to more then 723+ Pokemon in the future generations in 9 languages, and many of those Pokemon don't really need voice acting and just need a call or a roar, so voice acting isn't really be too much of a point. Pikachu keeping it's voice acting is perfectly fine since it's the same in every language, plus we hear Pikachu saying "Pika!" in Pokemon Yellow.

Then again, it's not like every Pokemon says their name. Most Legendaries don't. For one, Mewtwo speaks english. Deoxys makes noises in a computer generated-type alien voice. Rayquaza roars. Arceus speaks. I can't think of any others off the top of my head as I haven't kept up to the anime in a long, long while aside from getting back into the XY&Z series, so my knowledge of Pokemon sounds is essentially limited to some of the movies I can remember. Celebi says it's name, and Diancie speaks, that's about all I can remember right now.

 

[Esserise]

Then again, it's not like every Pokemon says their name. Most Legendaries don't. For one, Mewtwo speaks english. Deoxys makes noises in a computer generated-type alien voice. Rayquaza roars. Arceus speaks. I can't think of any others off the top of my head as I haven't kept up to the anime in a long, long while aside from getting back into the XY&Z series, so my knowledge of Pokemon sounds is essentially limited to some of the movies I can remember. Celebi says it's name, and Diancie speaks, that's about all I can remember right now.

True, but then it's horribly inconsistent.

 

[Falconwing]

The pokespeak thing was originally just a strange anime idea and one that the games only really acknowledged in XY. I can't imagine them going full pokespeak in the games and getting rid of the animalistic cries.

Frankly, I don't think Pokemon needs human voice acting. I'm sure a lot of pokemon streamers feel the same way. It's an unnecessary expense for these games because it's really never about the people.

 

[Tuoko]

I wouldn't mind if the games had voice acting tbh, especially if they did something like XD/Colosseum again.

For the player's name they could have us pronounce the name and the game records it.

I honestly would only want to see it from the Pokemon, just like Pikachu gets. Its true though that we have 9 different languages to work with, but if it was possible, I would have loved to see all Pokemon have a voice, not just Pikachu.

And opposing Lion-Cub, I wish that pikachu would get its proper cry back instead of its name. It's annoying that it's the only pokemon that says its name now like in the anime.

I'd say having an option would be nice, but for all 800+ that's unrealistic.

For consistency's sake, they should keep all 800+ as in-game cries... Or for Pikachu allow us to switch between cries.

 

[Kirby4ever]

Having voice acting for humans might not be a good idea since those who are deaf and those who are playing the game with no volume aren't going to know what's going on since they can't hear the character and the scene will be less impactful. The Pokémon franchise laser over 20 years with the text boxes of what the characters are saying and now that we have 3D, we can see them showing their emotions.

 

[EmpoleonProd]

I'd like Pokemon to say their names. But I agree that it's an unnecessary and daunting endeavor.

Adding voices to humans in cut scenes would be so great. A voice could add more inflection or emotion to a scene, and a it can help portray a character better. And I think that extra dimension would really add a lot more weight, especially with a series like this. Buuut they'd have to get some seriously good voice acting to pull it off.

As long as they all use their anime voice actors, I'm okay with that. Like rivals/champions/villain leaders, it annoys me when games and animes have different voice actors for the same character.

 

[Soki]

Having voice acting for humans might not be a good idea since those who are deaf and those who are playing the game with no volume aren't going to know what's going on since they can't hear the character and the scene will be less impactful.

Most games with voice acting have (optional) subs, so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Pyrax]

Humans only, the cries are fine as they are. And as mentioned above, implementing several types of voice files for 721+ Pokémon would create plenty of unnecessary work. Maybe some inbattle voice clips can also be added like "Hang in there [x]!" for when a boss heals one of their party members, for example.

Though this begs the question of whether the main series games are even plot-heavy enough to warrant voice acting.

 

[Falconwing]

As long as they all use their anime voice actors, I'm okay with that. Like rivals/champions/villain leaders, it annoys me when games and animes have different voice actors for the same character.

Contracts and payment and scheduling are a fickle business