17th April 2005, 1:39 PM
(This post was last modified: 17th April 2005, 6:00 PM by Dark Jaguar.)
...I guess? I think you are taking it too seriously OB1. It doesn't matter really. I can see going for "realism" or whatever, but um, they sort of threw that out the window with the entire premise. Mood, yeah I suppose, but it's fine without it. English or not, it's not a problem. The only way they could have done away with all the seriousness as you put it is by making everyone speak like... Spanish or something...
And, it's not as though this isn't some new thing. Metal Gear, in it's original Japanese, has Japanese voice actors. Star Wars, well, the idea that the entire galaxy would speak "galactic basic", a language surprisingly similar to English, isn't exactly the most logical thing (but hey, that applies to pretty much every single fictional world that, by all rights, has a VERY low chance of speaking your language at all, something like in the googilians). However, it's fine, because that's the language the writers know best and it's the one they have to work with. Sure, they could hire translators, but how accurate could it be? The job the English voice actors did seems fine to me. Don't get me wrong, mood is nice. For the sake of mood, a totally new language in Star Wars, or for the Japanese, using english voice actors, is a great thing. However, hearing the language you speak instead of having to read along has it's own advantages. I wouldn't really say anything if the game was made in China or by Chinese writers. For example, I wouldn't mind it if the Shenmu series kept the Japanese voice acting (odd that everyone the main character in that game meets speaks his own language don't you think?), as that was the originally intended way to go throug it. But, english speaking isn't just for stupid people. There's a good reason, a psychological thing, to want to hear people speak in your own native tongue. So, when a game is made by English speaking people, I think it's fully understandable that, even though in the sense of the place, it doesn't really "make sense" that they are speaking English, you can pretty much put that aside and just think "they are speaking Chinese here, this is just me like "knowing" their language". I really don't see the problem. It may not make sense, but it just seems the natural choice to do this. Apparently they agreed.
Truly, I really don't see this as a problem at all. This is done all the time. It's nothing new. It's standard fare in fictional worlds to just make them all speak the language of the writers. Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, pretty much every RPG I've ever played... There is no real reason to make an exception just because this is based on Chinese legend, set in mythical China.
And, it's not as though this isn't some new thing. Metal Gear, in it's original Japanese, has Japanese voice actors. Star Wars, well, the idea that the entire galaxy would speak "galactic basic", a language surprisingly similar to English, isn't exactly the most logical thing (but hey, that applies to pretty much every single fictional world that, by all rights, has a VERY low chance of speaking your language at all, something like in the googilians). However, it's fine, because that's the language the writers know best and it's the one they have to work with. Sure, they could hire translators, but how accurate could it be? The job the English voice actors did seems fine to me. Don't get me wrong, mood is nice. For the sake of mood, a totally new language in Star Wars, or for the Japanese, using english voice actors, is a great thing. However, hearing the language you speak instead of having to read along has it's own advantages. I wouldn't really say anything if the game was made in China or by Chinese writers. For example, I wouldn't mind it if the Shenmu series kept the Japanese voice acting (odd that everyone the main character in that game meets speaks his own language don't you think?), as that was the originally intended way to go throug it. But, english speaking isn't just for stupid people. There's a good reason, a psychological thing, to want to hear people speak in your own native tongue. So, when a game is made by English speaking people, I think it's fully understandable that, even though in the sense of the place, it doesn't really "make sense" that they are speaking English, you can pretty much put that aside and just think "they are speaking Chinese here, this is just me like "knowing" their language". I really don't see the problem. It may not make sense, but it just seems the natural choice to do this. Apparently they agreed.
Truly, I really don't see this as a problem at all. This is done all the time. It's nothing new. It's standard fare in fictional worlds to just make them all speak the language of the writers. Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, pretty much every RPG I've ever played... There is no real reason to make an exception just because this is based on Chinese legend, set in mythical China.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)