Subtitles in video games: yes or no? Do players use them?
gearsrealm.com
Throughout my gaming journey, I've encountered numerous instances where subtitles, an essential feature for understanding game narratives, have been poorly

For instance, Assassin’s Creed Origins had subtitles turned off by default and 60% of players turned them on.

  • @ajoebyanyothername
    3•1 year ago

    I tend to watch everything I can with subtitles these days, watching old stuff again it’s amazing just how much I was missing, either through sound design issues or just zoning out momentarily. The only issue is when the subtitles get ahead of the dialogue and you end up with a bit of a spoiler, albeit only by a few seconds.

    I’ve also discovered some absolute gems of sounds/music being subtitled, one of my favourite ever being from the TV show Taskmaster, the sound effect of [he strums balalaika tunelessly], which added so much more than just hearing him strum tunelessly did.

    • Unaware7013
      2•1 year ago

      The only issue is when the subtitles get ahead of the dialogue and you end up with a bit of a spoiler, albeit only by a few seconds.

      This is the only real criticism of subtitles that I’ll agree with, since you’ll sometimes have a joke juimed because you’ll read ahead of the dialog, but I’ll take that any day over missing bits of story or jokes and either repeatedly rolling back to try to hear/understand something (and ruining the experience) or just not enjoying what I’m watching.

      • @ajoebyanyothername
        1•1 year ago

        It’s particularly frustrating when the subtitles have the sentence stop, so you know something is going to interrupt, usually someone being attacked. But I agree, it’s a minor inconvenience compared to the potential for missing key plot points or jokes, and having to ruin the flow by going back to listen again.