Pokemon Fans Argue About Voice Acting In Gen 10
It's safe to say that Pokemon Scarlet & Violet haven't exactly been met with the rave reviews Game Freak were hoping for.
Although Gen 9 has lived up to its promise of (finally) delivering a truly open-world Pokemon game, it's fallen down in nearly every other department. Things are so bad, it's being refunded.
Glitches are the big issue here, and while we hope the devs will spend a little more time refining things in the inevitable Gen 10, fans have other suggestions for life after Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
Should Pokemon Gen 10 Feature Voice Acting?
The dust hasn't even settled on Paldea, but that hasn't stopped fans from looking ahead at the next generation of Pocket Monsters. It's clear something has to change but will introducing voice acting really appease those peeved players?
Posting on Twitter, one critic shared their concept for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet voice acting, and chances are, you'll either love it or loathe it. Remember those badly dubbed Studio Ghibli movies?
We're used to voice acting thanks to the popular Pokemon anime, while the games have always strayed away from this. It's hard to imagine Red or Blue blurting out lines, although we'll admit hearing Prof Oak talk might've added a friendlier dynamic.
Supporting the idea, one fan wrote, "Voice Acting can help convey emotion and atmosphere if handled properly. A lot of these scenes feel. Empty. Like something is missing, it feels almost haunting in a way."
Another wrote, "Voice acting has to be the next big leap Pokémon takes but with how cheap Game Freak is don't expect it anytime soon." Someone else concluded, "It could use voice acting for more cinematic cutscenes. But for every last piece of dialogue, I wouldn’t say it’s necessary."
Do The Pokemon Games Have Voice Acting?
While no mainline Pokemon title has featured voice acting, the Pokemon Masters EX game did. It was a divisive feature, with most agreeing the voices didn't really fit the characters.
This is one of the big complaints about potential voice acting in a Scarlet & Violet sequel. Also, it might seem a little odd to suddenly add voices after decades without them.
The more you think about it, the more it feels a little odd to have these supposedly emotive scenes play out with haunting melodies. Nintendo isn't exactly known for voice acting, with the likes of the Mario and Zelda games using it sparingly or only partially.
If Game Freak is going to reinvent the wheel, we say go down the Doom or GTA III route with a silent protagonist and let the world tell the story. It's no coincidence there are a tonne of mods that made Fallout 4's protagonist silent.
