Remember in Mario Sunshine, that though the story was on the light side, all cutscenes were fully voiced? This is a rarity for Nintendo, a company that still keeps to some age old traditions of game design. Despite having the technology to include features such as voice acting Nintendo has for the most part shied away from including it in many of its games. I'm sure many of you will be happy to never hear Bowser talk again, but there are those that would love to see Nintendo's most epic franchise, The Legend of Zelda get the fully voiced treatment. Then again there are also those who believe the series shouldn't have to move with the times in every regard and that there is nothing wrong with characters remaining mute. Here are the reasons for and against a fully voiced Legend of Zelda.

Zelda should be voiced:

Link doesn't have to talk

Link is not a mute, yet we never see a line of dialogue in his name. There is a simple reason for this, Link is the every man that the player transposes his or her thoughts and feelings onto. However, everyone responds to him as if he is at least reacting to what they say. So those worrying that Link will sound like poor old Sonic the Hedgehog did when they gave him a voice box needn't worry.

Zelda needs to move with the times

What big budget action adventures aren't voiced? Struggling? Exactly. Text based interaction back in the day was a necessity, audio files literally couldn't fit on game carts, that's why we also had the nostalgia inducing MIDI music as well. So now games are going on discs that can store gigabytes of data, that problem simply doesn't exist any more. There are no restrictions now so Zelda should hurry up and join every other game of it's likeness and include voice work.

Voiced characters can add new dimensions

Actors. Zelda has never had actors. In a rich interactive experience, shouldn't characters have the extra depth that a voice actor can bring? Zelda characters, even the small ones, in fact especially some of the small ones, have incredible design and personality. You want to talk to NPC's because they are so interesting, that's a lot more than can be said for a few other games. So voice work can give these characters even more personality. Imagine if the Happy Mask salesman had an equally creepy voice to him, perhaps he would give you even more nightmares.

                                                                                                            One creepy guy

Zelda shouldn't be voiced

Imagination...
I've just raised the example of the happy mask salesman, I'm sure you have an idea of what he sounds like if you've played Majora's Mask and I'm sure it's scary beyond reason. So if the game was voiced, yeah he might have a creepy tone, but would it match what's in your head? Not likely. It's like when films are based on books, everyone who read the book says, 'oh I didn't expect him to look like that, or sound like this'. Truth is, we all probably have the perfect voice for Zelda character's in our heads that is individual to us. This argument doesn't only work for old characters that we already have conceptions of either, our imagination is in a wonderful teamwork with what is presented to us visually so we can build some of the character ourselves. Nothing wrong with a bit of imagination.

Humphumum... Ha Ha... Hyyaaa!
No, I haven't just lost it. These are sounds that Zelda character's make, little inklings of information about their voice that give us a bit of extra character. Why not go the whole hog? Well, because that would screw about with my last argument wouldn't it? These little sound bites don't get in the way of your own interpretation of a character but can perhaps give you a bit of guidance as to what was intended with the character, just so we don't think Tingle has a Jamaican Accent for example.

Just because everyone else does it doesn't mean Zelda should
In direct contrast to what was said about moving with the times is the argument that art is art. That voice or no voice, neither is actually better than the other, just a different artistic choice. Zelda can stick to its guns if it wants, it doesn't make it archaic.

They could really screw it up
You know, everyone could be walking around with Ye Olde English accents. Or worse, this. Or even worse, THIS.


So what do you think? Voice or no voice? Personally I do like the quirky style that Zelda has and I think that too much tampering could ruin that. Then again I'm not opposed to change, I was even one of the few that actually liked the Wind Waker when it first came out. Perhaps with the Wii U we will see a big change in Zelda.

Tom ASB

No. Cause back then Im sure voice acting would have been shit and low quality. It adds to the charm of the game. 

No voice, the nostalgia factor is too great. Also, adding voice would make the series lose its individuality.

No.

I think voiced... with Link not speaking. The zelda franchise needs to more forward. 
 
They should spend the money  and do a zelda game that rivals Uncharted production values... gamers would respond... fiscally speaking. Nintendo is traditional, which is a good quality, but they are sometimes this way to the point of laziness 
 

Yea, I have to side with the "no voice" side. Remember how people were so pissed about Samus' voice? How is Link supposed to fare any better?

No Zelda shouldn't be voiced. 
 
Nintendo has yet to do 1 game in which the voice isn't utterly annoying, let alone enhanced the game. 
 
Not only this, the average person can read MUCH MUCH faster than a voice actor speaks. I hate voice acting in games becuse it makes a game take 2 times as long to play. And how many people who play games like Mass Effect only listen to the first few minutes of dialog and then turn read the subtitles and skip the voice overs? Most people I know. 

No.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

No.

Link should be voiced by Nolan North.

In other words, no.

Nope

Link in his current incarnation is so connected to that old way of making games that unless they reboot the franchise in a Frank Miller-esque way then it doesn't make any sense to shove that in. I also don't care about Link as a character, he's just dude in green tunic with sword allowing me to do shit in that cool game.

I fucking hate games that have unvoiced dialogue. I don't mind silent protags, but if they talk, they should have a voice. Period, end of story. Anyone who says no to this question is the reason why Nintendo is slipping away.

I read something from one of the creators of Zelda I think that they don't want Link to be voiced so that the player can identify with him more as a character. Filling in the blanks, as it were. YOU ARE LINK!

Don't quote me on that, can't find a proper source...

Personally I find that I want voice work in the games I play. It feels like something is missing otherwise and it takes away from the immersion for me.

No.

yes it's stupid that twilight princess didn't have any.

Yes! BUT only if it was done well, and Nintendo hasn't really given me much confidence that they'll be able to pull it off in that department.

As someone who has spent quite a lot of time listening to Japanese, a language I enjoy listening to, especially cartoonish voices, despite understanding very little without subtitles, I wouldn't mind if they made up some kind of fake language for the cutscenes and NPC interactions, ICO/Shadow of the Colossus style!, if it was pleasant enough to listen to. However I could easily see myself being in the minority here.

And while we're speaking of sound design, orchestrated music for the series would be nice too.

If they did it would be too different, and Nintendo would learn to never do it again.  
In a way I kind of want them to do it, to get it over with and see the reaction from Zelda fans.

It's bothersome that the reasoning the large majority of people here have on not having Link talk, is strictly based on the assumed poor quality the voice acting would be.
 
I don't mean that as an insult, or a negative downplaying of that opinion. In-fact, I agree with it: I just don't have faith Nintendo could pull it off. It's depressing regarding the fallout concerning how they handled Samus in Other M, I was really excited to hear her speak. If there was something that actually bothered me during the later Metroid Prime games was her lack of voice. 
 
I find unvoiced main-characters to be an antiquated concept. I just don't get it anymore. Unless your writing is strong enough to perhaps invoke a feeble connection to said character, (Bioware) I doesn't make sense. There are exceptions to perhaps certain deliberate characters, Gordon's lack of voice is iconic in nature. But I don't think Link qualifies, and I know that the rest of Hyrule is not immune. 
 
Yes, I would love to hear an protagonist in a long running action adventure game series speak more than grunts. I believe it is completely possible to have Link speak, and to have a good majority of us enjoy it. 
 
Do I think Nintendo can currently pull that off?
No. 
In the mean time, I think it's perfectly acceptable to ask for NPC's to be voiced.

I think voice with Link not saying a word. Think about how much creepier Majora's Mask could have been with voices. I'm not talking Other M quality voice acting but true voice talent.

As a Nintendo fan, I am fiercely against change or evolution in any of my favourite nostalgia fuelled franchises.

I dont want to see voices in a Zelda game...ever.

No. How else will I be able to be sure that he sounds exactly like me?

Link is me. I am Link. My body is his and my body is ready.

No. I would like scrambled voice samples like those in Okami, but if it's between full-on talking and silence, I choose silence for sure.

Technically they should, but after seeing what happened with Metroid Other M I'm gonna say no. But more importantly, it's time they get a real orchestra to do the music.

What was my response to the 10 other threads like this...

Yes, but not for Link

I think they should just leave it alone.

Link shouldn't speak, but every character should not only have a voice, but have a GOOD voice. It is ridiculous that a big budget, flagship 2011 title doesn't have full VO, especially considering how much voice acting say, a BioWare game has. However, Nintendo is notorious for its horrible VO, and I doubt they could do a good job of it.

I don't see why not, as long as they can do it well enough.

Link can still be silent.

No. But Im willing to let nintendo try it. 

I'd love to hear the NPC's in Zelda talk, especially Zelda and Ganondorf.
 
Zelda overall needs a little update, I love the series to bits, got a freaking Triforce on my shoulderblade but its about time they get with the times.
Voiced NPC's will only draw you in so much more, its almost a proven fact.

Simply put: Hell yeah, of course the game should be voiced, they should have been fully voiced three games ago already. Its completely ridiculous to not do so, especially when there is absolutely no reason to not do it.  See the cutscenes of the Zelda:TP below. Some of the things one will quickly notice: 

• most of  the characters are already voiced, including Link, it's just that their voice is extremely limited (i.e. "Hey", "Listen" or other one-word phrases), so fully voicing them wouldn't really change anything, it would just drastically improve what is already there
  
• the cutscenes look fucking stupid with the scrolling text, there are certainly simple 2D games where text output isn't much of a problem, Zelda hasn't been one of those for over a decade, you can't have motion captured cutscenes and text boxes at the same time, it pulls you out of the experience, destroys immersion, clutters the screen and just looks stupid

Remember Super Mario Sunshine?

  Not only this, the average person can read MUCH MUCH faster than a voice actor speaks. I hate voice acting in games becuse it makes a game take 2 times as long to play. And how many people who play games like Mass Effect only listen to the first few minutes of dialog and then turn read the subtitles and skip the voice overs? Most people I know. 

Not only this, the average person can read MUCH MUCH faster than a voice actor speaks. I hate voice acting in games becuse it makes a game take 2 times as long to play. And how many people who play games like Mass Effect only listen to the first few minutes of dialog and then turn read the subtitles and skip the voice overs? Most people I know. 

Yes it should have voice acting, but Link should be a silent protagonist. Will that ever happen? No. Because this is Nintendo we're talking about.

It can be voiced... if they can find the perfect voice actors to portray the characters.

For what? So you can bitch and moan that they changed your favorite game? yeah, no.

They should make their own fucked up gibberish laungage, like Shadow of the Colossus and have that subtitled (no text boxes!). If someone (besides Patrick Stewart) started spewing out the horrible Zelda dialog in plain English, I wouldn't be able to take it seriously.

Half-Life and Fallout 3/New Vegas did good-great with a silent protagonist and a fully voiced world, all you really need is a creative writing staff and I would think nintendo has at least ONE person who can write decent dialogue and hire good voice actors.

Zelda is probably my favorite game franchise, and I would love to hear some actual voice acting in it. The writing would have to be stepped up a bit, though. 
 
Of course, I'd also like the to shake up the "get 3 nature things, get a sword, collect 7 more things, fight ganon" structure that has been around forever. 
 
Also, I agree that none of this will probably ever happen.

I've always believed that Mass Effect showed us to have a fully voiced main character that still felt like your avatar into the world. Ever since that game I have had a hard time going back to silent protagonists. Heck, i dived into Dragon Age: Origins after ME:2 and it felt so hollow when the character didn't say the things I had picked. Zelda is tough because there is so much expectation but I am for the idea of them trying as we've seen it done in other games before and done well. Jeff said it best, Zelda needs to change and I think this is one of the many things that needs to change about it. So put me in the camp for Voice Acting, it's the future and voice is part of that!

Yes, it's 2011 now. For a game series as big as Zelda, I definitely think it should have voice acting.

I also agree that the Zelda games need to get voiced. It's starting to feel wierd when the move their mouths and all you get is text in a box. Link is also not a mute. Something we all know since Nintendo has problem making him scream, grunt and moan. It's just wierd that he does not talk. It could work for him to be silent and everyone around him talked but it could also make things even more wierd.

Why are so many afraid of change? I loved Twilight Princess but it's bloddy time to make some changes. Skyward Sword will surely be a good game but it feel a bit outdated and not just because of the graphics. I feel that Zelda games would finally feel more dramatic if they were voiced. To treat a game the same way 25 years later in a far different world is not progress. I think have can win a lot by doing it BUT that means that the result has to be good of course and as some of you pointed out Nintendo really don't have a good track record for voice acting in their games. But have they actually really really tried? Put some real budget money in the whole sound aspect of the game since Zelda have had midi sound way to long now.

If they made a bloody dark version, then yes. 
 
 
If not, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yes, keep Link silent if you have to but add some fucking voice work.

@SeriouslyNow said:

No. How else will I be able to be sure that he sounds exactly like me?

Link is me. I am Link. My body is his and my body is ready.

That problem is easily solved by having Link be a silent protagonist.