Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – it’s great until they talk (pic: Nintendo)
A reader praises Tears Of The Kingdom for being near perfect, except for the voiceovers in cut scenes… especially Princess Zelda.
I’ve seen a few people try to pretend that Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom isn’t an instant classic but, let’s face it, they’re wrong. It’s a fantastic game and while nothing’s perfect the few flaws it has, such as the slightly underwhelming dungeons, are meaningless when judged against the rest of the game. Except for one thing… the voiceovers.
I get that Nintendo doesn’t have much experience with voice-acting (although they are incredibly rich and could easily hire someone that does) but the voice-acting in Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is absolutely atrocious. Not in an internet-fan-exaggerating kind of a way but a properly embarrassing and amateurish effort that I cannot believe is sharing the same storage space with one of the best games ever made.
I’ve heard that part of the problem is that Nintendo only uses non-union members, and so ends up getting lower tier actors who will work for less money. I have no way of knowing if that’s true but that’s certainly what it sounds like. Zelda is obviously the worst, but they’re all awful and it’s genuinely cringey hearing them speak.
Of course, the big debate with the Zelda games as a whole is whether they should have voices at all or if they should carry on using just text, which gives the game its own distinctive atmosphere and helps you put your own spin on the game yourself – as you decide how the characters sound and act yourself.
The most famous aspect of this debate is whether Link should talk or not and I’m very much in the camp that says he shouldn’t. Like GC, I’m also upset that you can’t rename him in the last two games, which I think is because they speak his name in cut scenes. Link isn’t a character, he’s you. He’s your link to the game and not some pre-determined character with his own personality and set of witty one-liners.
The voice-acting makes Zelda sound like an ineffectual wimp, when really most fans prefer to think of her as a strong leader and adventurer, but that is absolutely not how she comes across in the games with voice-acting.
Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – thank goodness Link doesn’t speak (pic: Nintendo)
She probably wasn’t much better when you examine the dialogue in the previous games but the fact that you were only reading it, and so adding your own spin as to what she was like, in your own head, makes all the difference. Maybe she was always wuss but it’s only with Breath Of The Wild and its sequel that it’s been proven that she is.
I thought this point of view was prevalent (although it’s hard to tell on the internet) and that Nintendo might take note of the problem in the sequel but if anything Zelda is even worse in Tears Of The Kingdom. The other voice actors seem worse to me too, with all the new characters, and if there’s one simple way to describe it would be amateurish – in complete contrast to the rest of the game.
I don’t know if this will ever be addressed but one way it might be is if there is a Zelda movie. This always seemed likely as soon as Super Mario Bros. was a hit but now there seem to be rumours of them actually planning it and I don’t think Hollywood will want to copy anything about the acting in Tears Of The Kingdom.
They’ll also probably do something about Zelda’s personality, which is somehow now more ineffectual than Princess Peach, in both the games and movie. If Hollywood can work some magic, and the movie is a success, then hopefully Nintendo will take note of all this in the next game.
Then we might get a game where the voice-acting and dialogue is on par with the rest of the game, and finally there might be an actually perfect Zelda game.
By reader Denton
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A reader praises Tears Of The Kingdom for being near perfect, except for the voiceovers in cut scenes… especially Princess Zelda.