Voice acting in video games has become a trend and has modernized the stories games tell. Many feel that Zelda was outdated, as it did not contain voice acting in its installments for 31 years. This, however, is a misnomer. Skyward Sword HD has proven that Zelda doesn’t need voice acting. Now, this means no disrespect to the voice actors involved in Breath of the Wild — they did a fine job with the material they were given. But they were voicing a sub-par game. The reason Zelda doesn’t need voice acting, and why Skyward Sword HD proves this, is because the characters are so expressive. Link is the most expressive he’s been in the entire series. Zelda shows a range of emotions. These are things that voice acting cannot convey, and although voice acting can supplement it, Zelda simply doesn’t need it.
The special thing about Skyward Sword HD is not only the fact that the characters are so expressive and show a range of emotions, like Link, but that the music is so excellent. It makes the game like a silent film, which gives it a classic feel. Voices only get in the way of that dichotomy. The only reason why voice acting worked, even in a limited capacity, in Breath of the Wild is because the characters weren’t expressive. Link showed absolutely no emotion, except for when he was eating. Facial expressions were everything in the 3D Zelda games and gave them character and charm, but voice acting changed that. It was a huge mistake. Skyward Sword HD shows that Zelda doesn’t need voice acting because the technology today could make Link, Zelda, and the rest of the characters in any given Zelda game even more character. Instead, we got the blandness that was Breath of the Wild, which was unfortunate.
Link first became incredibly expressive in The Wind Waker. This was something Miyamoto was very proud of, and although some of it didn’t come off as being natural, it did add charm to the game. There was no charm in the Zelda installments with voice acting, which is disappointing. Once again, Link in Skyward Sword is the most expressive Link, and this adds a charm and a mystique to the game. Link isn’t the only one either. Zelda shows more emotion than she ever has, especially compared with her Twilight Princess predecessor. The story gives way to this moreso than Twilight Princess, although to be fair, Zelda didn’t have much to do in that game. Characters like Groose and Impa show a range of emotions as well. This isn’t just one character — it’s an entire game. It makes voice acting irrelevant because the characters are speaking for themselves. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is superior to voice acting in many respects.
Skyward Sword HD also has some of, if not the best, music in the franchise. This makes it like a silent film of sorts. Voice acting would ruin this. Skyward Sword HD shows that the Zelda series doesn’t need voice acting, and further voice acting in the franchise would be a huge mistake. Instead, Nintendo should focus on the character expressions and excellent music, the way Skyward Sword did. Though Breath of the Wild 2 will, without a doubt, have voice acting, one would hope that they at least improve on the range of emotions the characters show, which is almost nothing in Breath of the Wild. Zelda is such a fantastic franchise and deserves better than what it got in its latest installment. Let’s hope that after the feedback from Skyward Sword HD, they finally realize that voice acting is not the way to go. They need to focus on character animations and facial animations if they’re going to make Zelda great again.
At this point, they need to. Link’s range of emotions in Skyward Sword HD puts Breath of the Wild to absolute shame.