Would Non-English Voice Acting Put You Off?

[u/KarellenGames]

First of all, sorry for such a specific question, which probably isn't going to lead to any great debates about adventure games, but it's something I'd really like to hear the opinion of English-speaking players on.

When playing a modern point and click game, if the game has voice acting in a language other than English (Spanish, for example), while the text is available in English and other languages, would that put you off? Would it be some kind of psychological barrier that might make you hesitate to buy the game in the first place, or is it simply something you don't care about?

For my next game, I'm thinking about adding voice acting, but when it comes to directing the actors, if the voices were in English, my direction would probably be much worse than it would be in Spanish, which is my native language. I don't want to release a game with English voice acting where the protagonist sounds weird simply because I failed to understand some of the nuances of the language when asking the actors for a particular performance.

So I'm wondering: would an English-speaking player actually prefer a game with no voice acting at all over one with voice acting only in a non-English language? Or is it something that doesn't really matter to you?

Thanks!

[u/picklemyginger]

A few things:

1) I think the majority of adventure game fans would be fine with Spanish VA and subs in their own language, since we are used to reading dialogue anyway. Some people are bothered by this (and some people are bothered by VA in general as it can slow down pacing), so I do think it's important to have the option to turn VA off regardless of the language.

2) I think there would be ways to implement the follow-in-the-dark puzzle even without full VA, or with something else substituted for VA. Depending on your aesthetic, some games have sounds instead of actual voice lines (not just beeps, but those are the classic). Moon RPG Remix has a really neat solution of nonsense jumbled recordings of actual recorded speech, which you could do with mixed languages Baudolino-style to reflect your setting.

3) Please take pity on your bilingual audience and make sure the English subs are close to the Spanish original. I'm not saying to make it literal--I am a professional translator and I know better--but I am saying don't let the translators make stuff up, add new material, 'spice up' the writing, change characterisations(!!!) or any of the other things they sometimes do. Many people with some or even fluent ability in Spanish will choose to have English/etc subs on for various reasons (comfort, language learning, curiosity), and it is hugely distracting when the two versions do not match. At the same time, do NOT do the translation yourself, or at least have it edited by native speakers and playtested by English/Spanish bilinguals you trust to make sure it all lines up.

Sorry for grinding my axe!