Are new games less immersive...

[Wolf Kanno]

I'm really split here... Basically because I'm in Cloud Strife777's predicament where I'm actually in agreement with a lot of the opinion stated so far.

No, I don't feel Voice work has added to gaming in an overwhelming meaningful way and its definetly not made RPGs better. I can agree that games need to get back into the "gaming part" but I also agree with Bolivar that a great story can trump having to sit through long dialogue segments or cutscenes, they're just obnoxious when the story is bad. I agree with Flying Arrow that one of the most irritating things about FFX is how much the plot interrupts the game for useless plot flub, Mi'hen Highroad and Mt. Gagazet being especially obnoxious, but this goes back to what Bolivar mentioned because Xenosaga pulls the same trout, and I never noticed because I was enraptured by the plot. I can agree with Vivi22 that voice work is not all bad and I feel it has made some games better and can be practical, but I also agree that some examples made in this thread are not what I would call crowning achievements. I mean seriously, no MGS1? Anyone? Its like the only PS1 game with good voice acting and dialogue and it's dialogue is bat-trout crazy to boot.

I'll discuss more later, when I've collected my thoughts.

[Del Murder]

WK is right. We failed to mention some of the older games where the voice acting certainly enhanced the experience a great deal, like MGS1 and the X-Men arcade game.

[Flying Arrow]

Games nowadays feel too much like they're trying to be movies. I've been playing the leaked version of Skyrim for eight days now, and it's really annoying. I mean, it's a great game, but it just can't hold my attention for some reason.

This is a peculiar opinion. Are you saying that Skyrim is annoying because it's trying to be a movie? In my experience, The Elder Scrolls games are one of the few major series left that hasn't jumped ship to cinematic mimicry. They're like the last bastion of WRPG games providing a genuinely deep gameplay experience (and a lot of its hardcore fans will even say the series has been dumbed down more and more per entry). Maybe you're just burnt out on modern games at the moment and you're just craving some simpler classics.

[Slothy]

I agree that voice acting was integral to games like MGS1. But when you're trying to make a point about dialogue and cutscenes saying what needs to be said and then getting out of the way, MGS isn't usually the best example. Even MGS1 has a lot of exposition by the standards of most games, though I don't think it crossed the line into being too much since most of it was very interesting.

[VeloZer0]

I think a lot of it would be helped if the writers/developers just had a stronger hand in the process to yell "no!" and hit them with a rolled up newspaper when they started drifting from exposition the player needed to exposition that indulges their need to add to the game.

[Wolf Kanno]

I agree that voice acting was integral to games like MGS1. But when you're trying to make a point about dialogue and cutscenes saying what needs to be said and then getting out of the way, MGS isn't usually the best example. Even MGS1 has a lot of exposition by the standards of most games, though I don't think it crossed the line into being too much since most of it was very interesting.

My point is that VA in MGS1 made the story more immersive because of its quality, I didn't mean to imply it makes the gameplay better because it doesn't. The problem is that very few games use dialogue to help the gameplay. I would argue your Uncharted example of following the blood trail itself is probably more of a "Gee, really game? Like I wasn't going to notice that?" than actually being helpful. Its definetly more appreciative than having a cutscene but depending how obvious it is, I still don't appreciate the game using it to give me hints.

[Bolivar]

^ That's definitely where Uncharted comes up a bit short. When it comes to the puzzles, it makes God of War look like Professor Layton, despite following that template so closely (God of War that is, not professor Layton). But it's also because the little comments here and there make it more obvious than it already is. But I do feel like the banter between the characters and random expressions is a part of what makes the storytelling so great and the game well paced.

You know what's weird? Even with the contradicting opinions, I agree almost completely with every post so far.

You're right. That is weird. You're actually kind of bugging me out right now. Especially with how much sense the rest of your post makes. I think we need to transfer you to EoFF's sick bay before I start losing it myself.

[Tigmafuzz]

MGS1 and the X-Men arcade game.

Nostalgic nerdgasm.

Games nowadays feel too much like they're trying to be movies. I've been playing the leaked version of Skyrim for eight days now, and it's really annoying. I mean, it's a great game, but it just can't hold my attention for some reason.

This is a peculiar opinion. Are you saying that Skyrim is annoying because it's trying to be a movie? In my experience, The Elder Scrolls games are one of the few major series left that hasn't jumped ship to cinematic mimicry. They're like the last bastion of WRPG games providing a genuinely deep gameplay experience (and a lot of its hardcore fans will even say the series has been dumbed down more and more per entry). Maybe you're just burnt out on modern games at the moment and you're just craving some simpler classics.

You may be right. I just played through Contra Hard Corps. Skyrim feels more re-approachable.

I think a lot of it would be helped if the writers/developers just had a stronger hand in the process to yell "no!" and hit them with a rolled up newspaper when they started drifting from exposition the player needed to exposition that indulges their need to add to the game.

Lulz at the mental image.

Sometimes voice acting works, when the story is cool enough - like in Xenosaga. Sometimes it's pretty good, and you probably wouldn't be able to come up with a better line-up for the characters yourself - as in FFXII, even though I hated Vaan's voice with a passion. Very rarely, it's awesome regardless of the story, and the story is pretty bad-ass too - as in MGS1. But for me, it's mostly just annoying and ridiculous, and I would prefer to just mash x or a until I get to the parts that are important. Skyrim works well in that aspect, as the in-game conversations are just like Fallout; you can go to the next piece of the conversation before someone is done talking, and there are few actual cut-scenes. But for some reason, it just bugs the hell out of me otherwise. Maybe I'm just impatient when it comes to people talking because I know I can read faster than they can speak.