Talking animations.

[Anteater]

Hi. In the game I've been working on, I've been bugged by something. Due to the visual style of the game, talking animations really don't look very well. The characters have no mouths, therefore exaggerated body movements are required to convey talking. However, I dislike this 'look' and am perfectly happy with the characters staying still while they talk. Unfortunately, this comes across as cheap, since it would appear that less effort was put into animation then one would expect. Would you guys prefer that I stick with the exaggerated body movements or just have the characters stay still? Or is there some third option I'm completely overlooking?

[The Suitor]

I'd would probably stick with some sort of movement while talking. Of course, a visual example would help people to help you better. 

[OneDollar]

How about different poses to convey different expressions? E.g. you could have a question indicated by the character spreading their arms, or them considering by placing their hand on their chin etc. Once you've got them in that position you can just animate their mouths, but I think that'd lose the 'cheap' look. Also helps convey the meaning of your sentences.

But yeah, an example of what you've already got would be helpful

[Peder 🚀]

Why not just use the sierra style with portraits of the characters with talking animation instead?
(Offcourse it might not fit your style and game but its just an idea )

[Tuomas]

Dunno, I could easily take speaking with just some movement of the chin or by a little bit of nodding here and there. The hand gestures wouldn't have to be more than just bending the straight  arms to a 90 degree andle and opening the first once in a while. Personally I think that'd do it perfectly well.