True polyglots deserve a "congratulations" said in every language they know, but there's not even a participation award for knowing your native language, no matter how thoroughly you may speak it. However, if the one-eyed man is king of the blind, then a character delivering even the most cringingly off-key voicework reigns supreme in the age of silent protagonists. Not all characters must be voiced, certainly; leads like Samus Aran and Sackboy are proof of that. With that said, there is a mountain of evidence showing how greatly voice actors can aid a project. Where would Cole of Infamous be without his trademark if noticeably gravelly quips? How else would you explain the personality delivered by PlayStation 2 icons Sly Cooper and Ratchet when compared to their mute colleague Jak? Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, Halo, Borderlandsthe prevailing majority of large-scale gaming ventures are at least carried by supporting voices if not led by a proper cast. Silent characters will always have a place in gaming, and indeed media in general, but as new software becomes available and easier to implement, any game telling a story it wants taken seriously should put a voice to their face whenever possibleotherwise we'll wind up with more pin-drop awkward characters like those seen in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Dragon's Dogma. At least Isaac Clarke found a voice-box in time for the rest of Dead Space.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
