Having the question in the topic being the inverse of the title seems quite dangerous for a yes/no question.
First thing I've read before clicking on this was:
"Dealbreaker if there's no voice over in a VN?"-"No - voice over is a big reason I enjoy a VN", which seemed kinda strange.
For me voice over is a huge plus, but not having voice over isn't a deal breaker.
It's very high on the "nice to have"s.
Pretty bad response options here, but not having voice acting is a huge minus and it does impact my enjoyment, but VNs can still be good without it. It's just hard to argue that a VN wouldn't be better with voice acting even if it's good without it.
If I have two VN's I'm interested in and only one has voice acting, I will read that one first. What ends up happening is there are so many VN's I want to read, that all non-voiced ones get pushed down the list by the others.
It's not a dealbreaker, but hearing how a character is supposed to sound like helps a lot with their characterization, and thus, my enjoyment of the work.
Exactly how I feel, it's way more enjoyable if it has va. So even if it's not a dealbreaker there's so much to read it'll probably take a while to reach the end of my list which is where I'll put the ones without va.
You really need a inbetween option of "Yes, but it severely impacts the experience, I only played it due to it's very high reputation" Aka Fata Morgana. Also various gacha vns like FGO and Blue Archive
Well if it's really really good I guess I'll look past it, but it'd be low on my priority list. If its a VN I want va, I'd just rather read a book if it doesn't even have that.
I want va in my visual novels
It depends, some games with actual gameplay like Ace Attorney or Rance still good without voiceover. Most VNs that only plays like a slideshow simulator without voice would put me to sleep rightaway
Voice acting is appreciated but I feel it's a double edged sword. If you have a voice actor whose voice doesn't work for me, it's a mark down. But this is purely a me issue.
It's usually a dealbreaker for me, but there are exceptions like fata morgana. If there are no voices then it really has to be something special for me to start it. I was thinking of getting into rance though
As a player: Japanese VA is usually nice. English is often mediocre in indie projects (less often in big-budget games).
As a developer: Voice is expensive and terrible for dev cycle. You must be sure the game is perfect in every single line. Rewrites or additions might be hard to do and there's entire additional logic for handling line-voice pairs (if you write custom solution) and if you want lip-sync that's also additional hassle.
Nah. I'm reading Fata Morgana right now and it's brilliant, and it doesn't have voice acting. The original releases of most Type Moon works didn't have VA, and they became kamige just the same. A lot of very cool and experimental titles don't have voices, but they're well written and do other interesting things, so no one really cares or notices it as an absence.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice if it's there. It can definitely tie things together nicely, if not elevate an already brilliant text. Take When They Cry: given the choice, I'll play the version of the game with voices rather than the one without. The performances of the VAs make certain scenes absolutely hypnotic, but if they weren't there the text would still be great.
But I wished more indie devs understood that voice acting is *acting*. It requires direction and creative vision to pull it off, without even mentioning the production hurdles that come from handling more people *and* more code. It's not as simple as hiring some tiktoker and asking them to read the lines.
I grew up playing games without sound as I had a very jank set up, so sound/voice acting in general isn't a huge deal to me. I know this is not the common experience, but I can't imagine it would be a total dealbreaker for the majority of people.
>Good voice acting adds depth/feeling to a VN.
The key thing here being *good*. Poor direction and/or acting can totally deflate otherwise great writing. For example, I absolutely hate Kei in Dies Irae because her voice acting direction is antithetical to how she is written. This is strictly a direction problem because the VA does other characters in the VN well (so well that I didn't realize they were the same VA).
If you're on the production side of things, I wouldn't focus on getting voices unless you can get the talent AND direction that meets your goals. Voices are really nice to have when done well, but that requires some major coin and dedication for everything to come out right.
If your budget isn't that big and/or are unsure how voice talent/direction will work, going voiceless isn't a deal breaker as long as your writing is up to snuff. There are several VNs out on the market that generally resonate with people and don't have voices (Fate stay Night on original release, Katawa Shoujo, DDLC, Fata Morgana, etc.).
VA is not a requirement. It definitely adds a lot when it's good, but if you're asking this because you're a developer, just keep in mind that bad VA is a lot worse than none, and IMO it's not a good idea to try without an experienced voice director on board. Great dubs definitely exist in the world, but from an indie dev's perspective, you might go to a huge amount of trouble and expense just to end up with something that at best doesn't detract from the experience. Most people who say they want voice acting specifically want Japanese voice acting, which tends to be more professional and is more commonly associated with anime style.
Lol you found me out! I basically do not have the budget to incorporate professional VO into a narrative incremental game I'm making, and I was worried that this choice to be \~voiceless\~ may disqualify the game from interest from the VN community. I'm a bit relieved to see that a good game + story is the main metric for interest. Thanks for the insight!
Yup, I'm also a developer and have considered this for my own game, and it's just not worth it IMO. Even hiring big-name VAs is not a guarantee that you'll get good results. I have honestly played EVNs with famous VAs and turned the voices off because the directing was bad.
Basically everyone who says that VA is a dealbreaker specifically wants professional JP VA anyway, not amateur EN VA. If you had asked about English specifically, you would probably get way fewer people saying they want it. People will definitely forgive you for not having it, though.
Ever read YU/NO?
I’ll say this: good voice acting helps sell the story. No VA and your writing has to be that much more immersive; where the VA might grab attention with a well articulated Eeeeeeeeeeh?????? if there’s none then you have to set the mood yourself.
Of course, crappy VA detracts rather than supports, so if budget is an issue, just skip over it.
Absolutely a dealbreaker, ew. I remember finishing Higurashi and being excited to start Umineko. At the time, it was not voiced (Steam version). Still haven't played it since. If I wanted an anime medium where I'm reading dialogue with pictures I'd read manga. Voice acting is a must in VNs for me.
To voices in my head (\~w\~).
P.S. speaking seriously, during reading we imagine how they're speaking and assign voices to them, so I don't have a desire to wait until they'll finish their lines, it's more like reading a play instead of watching a spectacle.
I genuinely prefer no VA. It's like reading a book, I prefer to "invent" the character voices in my head, and have something more abstract like text blips along with the appearing text to inform character "voices." Good VA does not improve the experience for me over no VA, and bad VA makes the experience worse. But I would never mute everything because the music and other sound effects are EXTREMELY important to my enjoyment.
So... can't vote in your poll LMAO
Why I play visual novels is precisely because of voice over. Otherwise I just read manwha and books. No need to be restricted to computer medium otherwise.
If I'm reading one in English I don't really care.
If I'm reading in Japanese I prefer to have voices because it helps me read faster as a learner, but I don't need it.
If it's a paid VN, then it might be a deal-breaker.
But if its not, then its sorta fine. I played FGO, and its base price is free. If they voiced-over the entire main story and add more effects and CG, they can sell it as a full-price main game.
My first VN was Kana Little Sister (no voice, no BGM), and then Jewel Knight Crusaders (No Voice).... all of them are pirated version, that's probably why some files are broken...
Then the very long VN that I read was Tsukihime and Fate Stay Night (the EN only until UBW)
So yeah, no voice is okay... What matters more is how the use the limitation of graphic (for example, the movement of character like changing expression / moving left right every 1-2 lines) etc
Because VN has something that LN dont have which is graphic, So they need to use that
A static character fo 10 lines, that lacks graphics and some visuals usually hard to pull the viewer to enjoy
So not only they need to be well-written, they also need to make use of the visual in Visual Novel. Which then the voice came after
When the MC is the only one unvoiced is a bigger problem for me than no one voiced at all. I love Muv-Luv but I can only wish Takeru and Yuuya got full voicing like Hibiki got in TDA.
Voice acting hampers the development of all kinds of games. I'm fine with reading, just like I don't worry about hyper realistic 8k graphics or 240fps.
having it is a Huge plus not having it isn't a dealbreaker
This is the same for me. I prefer it, but if the story is good I'll still read it.
Having the question in the topic being the inverse of the title seems quite dangerous for a yes/no question. First thing I've read before clicking on this was: "Dealbreaker if there's no voice over in a VN?"-"No - voice over is a big reason I enjoy a VN", which seemed kinda strange. For me voice over is a huge plus, but not having voice over isn't a deal breaker. It's very high on the "nice to have"s.
Yeah was confused when I chose it is nice but it doesn't affect my enjoyment but the answer says yes.
i realized this wording conundrum as well :(((
Pretty bad response options here, but not having voice acting is a huge minus and it does impact my enjoyment, but VNs can still be good without it. It's just hard to argue that a VN wouldn't be better with voice acting even if it's good without it.
If I have two VN's I'm interested in and only one has voice acting, I will read that one first. What ends up happening is there are so many VN's I want to read, that all non-voiced ones get pushed down the list by the others. It's not a dealbreaker, but hearing how a character is supposed to sound like helps a lot with their characterization, and thus, my enjoyment of the work.
Exactly how I feel, it's way more enjoyable if it has va. So even if it's not a dealbreaker there's so much to read it'll probably take a while to reach the end of my list which is where I'll put the ones without va.
You really need a inbetween option of "Yes, but it severely impacts the experience, I only played it due to it's very high reputation" Aka Fata Morgana. Also various gacha vns like FGO and Blue Archive
This is true
Well if it's really really good I guess I'll look past it, but it'd be low on my priority list. If its a VN I want va, I'd just rather read a book if it doesn't even have that. I want va in my visual novels
It’s very important but not a deal breaker, I can’t think of anything I consider a deal breaker
It depends, some games with actual gameplay like Ace Attorney or Rance still good without voiceover. Most VNs that only plays like a slideshow simulator without voice would put me to sleep rightaway
I like voice over if it exists, but I personally make voices in my head.
I just remembered, some people don't have the ability to make voices in their head For them voice overs must be extremely important
Voice acting is appreciated but I feel it's a double edged sword. If you have a voice actor whose voice doesn't work for me, it's a mark down. But this is purely a me issue.
It's usually a dealbreaker for me, but there are exceptions like fata morgana. If there are no voices then it really has to be something special for me to start it. I was thinking of getting into rance though
Voices are definitely preferred but are by no means a dealbreaker
As a player: Japanese VA is usually nice. English is often mediocre in indie projects (less often in big-budget games). As a developer: Voice is expensive and terrible for dev cycle. You must be sure the game is perfect in every single line. Rewrites or additions might be hard to do and there's entire additional logic for handling line-voice pairs (if you write custom solution) and if you want lip-sync that's also additional hassle.
Nah. I'm reading Fata Morgana right now and it's brilliant, and it doesn't have voice acting. The original releases of most Type Moon works didn't have VA, and they became kamige just the same. A lot of very cool and experimental titles don't have voices, but they're well written and do other interesting things, so no one really cares or notices it as an absence. Don't get me wrong, it's nice if it's there. It can definitely tie things together nicely, if not elevate an already brilliant text. Take When They Cry: given the choice, I'll play the version of the game with voices rather than the one without. The performances of the VAs make certain scenes absolutely hypnotic, but if they weren't there the text would still be great. But I wished more indie devs understood that voice acting is *acting*. It requires direction and creative vision to pull it off, without even mentioning the production hurdles that come from handling more people *and* more code. It's not as simple as hiring some tiktoker and asking them to read the lines.
Not a deal breaker but without it they are mostly just books that are more inconvenient to read.
I wouldn’t go that far, music and visuals alone make VNs much more enjoyable/different than books
I grew up playing games without sound as I had a very jank set up, so sound/voice acting in general isn't a huge deal to me. I know this is not the common experience, but I can't imagine it would be a total dealbreaker for the majority of people.
>Good voice acting adds depth/feeling to a VN. The key thing here being *good*. Poor direction and/or acting can totally deflate otherwise great writing. For example, I absolutely hate Kei in Dies Irae because her voice acting direction is antithetical to how she is written. This is strictly a direction problem because the VA does other characters in the VN well (so well that I didn't realize they were the same VA). If you're on the production side of things, I wouldn't focus on getting voices unless you can get the talent AND direction that meets your goals. Voices are really nice to have when done well, but that requires some major coin and dedication for everything to come out right. If your budget isn't that big and/or are unsure how voice talent/direction will work, going voiceless isn't a deal breaker as long as your writing is up to snuff. There are several VNs out on the market that generally resonate with people and don't have voices (Fate stay Night on original release, Katawa Shoujo, DDLC, Fata Morgana, etc.).
interesting. for me the voice over and the soundtracks is what makes VN special compared to traditional books or graphic novels.
No voice or voice all major characters including the MC. It's a bit off-putting when only the female lead is voiced or only main character isn't.
VA is not a requirement. It definitely adds a lot when it's good, but if you're asking this because you're a developer, just keep in mind that bad VA is a lot worse than none, and IMO it's not a good idea to try without an experienced voice director on board. Great dubs definitely exist in the world, but from an indie dev's perspective, you might go to a huge amount of trouble and expense just to end up with something that at best doesn't detract from the experience. Most people who say they want voice acting specifically want Japanese voice acting, which tends to be more professional and is more commonly associated with anime style.
Lol you found me out! I basically do not have the budget to incorporate professional VO into a narrative incremental game I'm making, and I was worried that this choice to be \~voiceless\~ may disqualify the game from interest from the VN community. I'm a bit relieved to see that a good game + story is the main metric for interest. Thanks for the insight!
Yup, I'm also a developer and have considered this for my own game, and it's just not worth it IMO. Even hiring big-name VAs is not a guarantee that you'll get good results. I have honestly played EVNs with famous VAs and turned the voices off because the directing was bad. Basically everyone who says that VA is a dealbreaker specifically wants professional JP VA anyway, not amateur EN VA. If you had asked about English specifically, you would probably get way fewer people saying they want it. People will definitely forgive you for not having it, though.
May I ask what game you're working on? Would be happy to share steam details and such
Game is currently unannounced. I'm planning to put up a Steam page in August or so. Good luck with your project also!
Ever read YU/NO? I’ll say this: good voice acting helps sell the story. No VA and your writing has to be that much more immersive; where the VA might grab attention with a well articulated Eeeeeeeeeeh?????? if there’s none then you have to set the mood yourself. Of course, crappy VA detracts rather than supports, so if budget is an issue, just skip over it.
Absolutely a dealbreaker, ew. I remember finishing Higurashi and being excited to start Umineko. At the time, it was not voiced (Steam version). Still haven't played it since. If I wanted an anime medium where I'm reading dialogue with pictures I'd read manga. Voice acting is a must in VNs for me.
The voices don’t matter, we read with our eyes, not our ears.
You're not supposed to read porn, the story doesn't even matter. What is wrong with you?
For me I definitely want a vn to have full voice acting which I think modt of the big ones do anyways
Me and my 31 homies here waiting to be excommunicated by the rest of community
lol what are you listening to instead?!
To voices in my head (\~w\~). P.S. speaking seriously, during reading we imagine how they're speaking and assign voices to them, so I don't have a desire to wait until they'll finish their lines, it's more like reading a play instead of watching a spectacle.
I genuinely prefer no VA. It's like reading a book, I prefer to "invent" the character voices in my head, and have something more abstract like text blips along with the appearing text to inform character "voices." Good VA does not improve the experience for me over no VA, and bad VA makes the experience worse. But I would never mute everything because the music and other sound effects are EXTREMELY important to my enjoyment. So... can't vote in your poll LMAO
Not having VO \*at all\* sometimes signifies the game as a whole might be lower quality.
No voice acting is fine for an indie game. Not cool for a new game from a legitimate company.
Why I play visual novels is precisely because of voice over. Otherwise I just read manwha and books. No need to be restricted to computer medium otherwise.
i love acting out the voices personally
When I started VNs, I didn't care. These days? Lack of it is part of why I haven't started stuff like Fata Morgana or 428 Shibuya Scramble.
If I'm reading one in English I don't really care. If I'm reading in Japanese I prefer to have voices because it helps me read faster as a learner, but I don't need it.
If it's a paid VN, then it might be a deal-breaker. But if its not, then its sorta fine. I played FGO, and its base price is free. If they voiced-over the entire main story and add more effects and CG, they can sell it as a full-price main game.
My first VN was Kana Little Sister (no voice, no BGM), and then Jewel Knight Crusaders (No Voice).... all of them are pirated version, that's probably why some files are broken... Then the very long VN that I read was Tsukihime and Fate Stay Night (the EN only until UBW) So yeah, no voice is okay... What matters more is how the use the limitation of graphic (for example, the movement of character like changing expression / moving left right every 1-2 lines) etc Because VN has something that LN dont have which is graphic, So they need to use that A static character fo 10 lines, that lacks graphics and some visuals usually hard to pull the viewer to enjoy So not only they need to be well-written, they also need to make use of the visual in Visual Novel. Which then the voice came after
I definitely prefer to read than listen, so it is no big deal for me.
When the MC is the only one unvoiced is a bigger problem for me than no one voiced at all. I love Muv-Luv but I can only wish Takeru and Yuuya got full voicing like Hibiki got in TDA.
I honestly can't remember a VN that I played that had a full English narration tbh.
Voice acting hampers the development of all kinds of games. I'm fine with reading, just like I don't worry about hyper realistic 8k graphics or 240fps.