Subtitles - On or Off

PostSubtitles - On or Off by **Cuttooth** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:55 am

Inspired by the Cyberpunk thread discussion, do you keep subtitles on or off when playing a game, outside of requiring them to make the game more accessible?

Personally I used to always turn them off for "immersion" but lately I've tended to use them to read dialogue rather than listening to all of it. This has I think also coincided with watching a lot of TV with subs on later at night so as to not disturb the neighbours (Drummy pls).

It does I suppose also depend on the type of game, keeping them on with strategy games in case I miss something crucial, and whether I'm really liking the voice acting overall in cutscenes.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Jenuall** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:56 am

Default position is to have them off for me as that usually offers the best combination of immersion and enjoyment for the type of games I play, but there are occassions where I will turn them on

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Ploiper** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:59 am

i tend to have them on even if I don't read them most of the time, just like having them there

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by KK » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:03 pm

I tend to leave them on if they're on via default (such as Sackboy currently - platformers basically) but normally off. I will put them on if I can't understand what's being said though...which is normally COD. Hard to get the sound balance right in certain titles because of music and sound effects. The realism of war, eh...

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Zilnad** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:04 pm

Off!

My wife uses them and I think they're ugly. They completely crap up the UI and destroy my immersion. It's also impossible to not read ahead with subtitles so, a lot of the time, they ruin the impact of big moments or twists.

I used to use them back in the day but I think that was because characters' faces were impossible to read. Nowadays, video game characters have such incredible lip-syncing and facial animation that there's not that disconnect so much.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Xeno** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:04 pm

On, like with some movies there can be background noises or explosions that drown out the speech.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Jenuall** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:04 pm

Yeah some games do have gooseberry fool mixing which practically necessitates leaving them on to be fair.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Drumstick** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:17 pm

I tend to have them off because I find I often focus on reading them as opposed to watching everything else going on.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Frank** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:18 pm

Always on. I'm still amazed there are big budget games that have such gooseberry fool options for subtitles (Rockstar games forcing you to watch the opening cutscene before even giving you the option to turn subtitles on, for a start. Not sure if RDR2 did it but the first one definitely did. Shambolic). The Halo games completely neglecting to include subtitles for any mid-level conversations was ridiculous too.

And the size of them in some games :lol:

developers simply assuming that everyone sits a foot in front of their screen.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Jenuall** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:19 pm

It should be an OS/system level setting in all honesty - players shouldn't need to be digging around in game specific settings for this.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Cuttooth** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:22 pm

Frank wrote:Always on. I'm still amazed there are big budget games that have such gooseberry fool options for subtitles (Rockstar games forcing you to watch the opening cutscene before even giving you the option to turn subtitles on, for a start. Not sure if RDR2 did it but the first one definitely did. Shambolic). The Halo games completely neglecting to include subtitles for any mid-level conversations was ridiculous too.

And the size of them in some games developers simply assuming that everyone sits a foot in front of their screen.

It's definitely got a lot better than it used to be but yeah, there are still instances of games that use terrible fonts or tiny text.

Here is a good GameMaker's Toolkit on designing accessibility options for those who are deaf or hard of hearing:

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Zilnad** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:23 pm

Jenuall wrote:It should be an OS/system level setting in all honesty - players shouldn't need to be digging around in game specific settings for this.

You know the PS5 has a universal setting for subtitles, I assume?

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **RichardUK** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:23 pm

I have them whatever the default setting is in the game, I did notice however when playing watchdogs yesterday I was reading them rather than actually listening to it so I may turn them off

On, i find it hard to follow spoken dialogue when interacting with a game world. Also, i think it would have taken me 40+ hours to work out who was who in Arthur Morgans crew without them.

Playing TLOU2 at the moment, and if you go off to search an area whilst an NPC is chatting to you the volume level drops right off. Having subs means i can still follow the story without that horrible sensation you get in a free movement dialogue heavy scene where you feel compelled to just stand there and spin the camera.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Imrahil** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:37 pm

As mentioned in the other thread, sound mixing in games isn't great at the best of times - dialogue often gets muffled due to overbearing soundtrack, plus a lot of game voice acting falls below top standards. Good to have the subtitles there in case you need them.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Spindash** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:43 pm

Always on. It's a habit.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Jenuall** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:45 pm

Zilnad wrote:
Jenuall wrote:It should be an OS/system level setting in all honesty - players shouldn't need to be digging around in game specific settings for this.

You know the PS5 has a universal setting for subtitles, I assume?

I was not aware of this! That's a good move and it should be adopted by all platforms IMO

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Balladeer** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:55 pm

Imrahil wrote:As mentioned in the other thread, sound mixing in games isn't great at the best of times - dialogue often gets muffled due to overbearing soundtrack, plus a lot of game voice acting falls below top standards. Good to have the subtitles there in case you need them.

Somebody say Xenoblade 2? Sorry, must have been me.

I’m normally an off person for immersion, but it varies depending on the game. Also there are some games where I’ll play with Japanese voices, necessitating subs.

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Jenuall** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 12:57 pm

"I (don't) like your attitude!"

Nothing wrong with XC2's voice acting. :capnscotty:

PostRe: Subtitles - On or Off by **Victor Mildew** » Wed Dec 09, 2020 1:00 pm

For immersion if the acting is really good (see RDR2 and TLOUP2) I'd prefer the subtitles off as I find I end up reading them rather than just watching the scenes play out. However as has been said above, in general gameplay a character may walk off or be far away and you miss little bits of dialogue if you don't have the subtitles on.

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