RPGs and PS2 Voice Acting

Mid-week I'll be writing a less formal post.  Just some random thoughts on game-related things, current events in the industry, or perhaps an occasional review, rather than a structured article about specifically narrative-related principles.

In the void before L.A. Noire releases (I know it did the day before this post, but I'll only be picking it up today due to a busy schedule) I've been catching up on some games I own but have yet to play.  The first of this is Rogue Galaxy, a Japanese RPG on the PS2 developed by Level 5.  It's a stylish little game, with awesome cel-shading and a cool space pirate theme going on, similar to Skies of Arcadia or Treasure Planet.  It really does look fantastic, especially for a PS2 game.  I had started it way back when I got it, many years ago, but got stuck on a difficult part and got more games.  You know how it is.

Now that I've played more RPGs I can definitely see some of the more derivative aspects of Rogue Galaxy's plot, though it's not so typical as to be boring.  It's a pretty cool story, and the characters are quite interesting as long as you can appreciate the Japanese storytelling/writing style.  Being a huge JRPG and anime fan myself, I'm definitely enjoying it.

One thing I find interesting about the PS2 though is how many games have that awkward voice acting.  Many of you probably know what I'm talking about; it's not necessarily anything about the voice acting itself, but that unnatural pause during the in-engine cutscenes.  I'm not sure exactly what causes it; it's probably something to do with the game engine and its ability to load character motions and dialogue or something, I suppose, though it doesn't happen in all PS2 in-engine cutscenes.  It's heavily present in Rogue Galaxy at times.  It's also responsible for most of the complaints about the voice acting in Final Fantasy X, in my opinion; the voice acting itself wasn't bad (well, for the most part), but that awkward pause between so many lines of dialogue just made the pacing of conversations seem off.

If anything, it's an interesting example of how game technology has affected the medium's ability to tell stories.  Not that it couldn't tell stories well before voice acting could be perfected; some of gaming's best stories were told before voice acting was even within reach of the medium.  But it is one of many ways video games have developed in a kind of backwards manner.  The medium gravitated immediately to the action-packed, effects-heavy kinds of stories that film had to technologically advance to first.  This is largely because of the Narrative/Gameplay Paradigm, I would say, but also because technology allowed us to tell those types of stories right from the get-go, so we skipped the acting, writing, and even technological development to skip straight to the 'splodies.  Nothing wrong with 'splodies, but I think that explains a lot of the narrative deficits present in the medium.

Anyway, food for thought.  Perhaps I'll review L.A. Noire next week if I finish it in time.