Disgaea HOD has the best voice acting I've ever heard in a JRPG, thought'd give it a mention. People already mentioned Bioware stuff... ACII also is pretty good...
Best voice acting in a video game
- Thread starter thejboy88
- Start date
Fable 3
As well as having an ensemble cast of great actors playing the major characters, for me what makes the voice acting in this game so good are all the minor NPCs who are voiced by great character actors, lesser known names, but hard working and talented stalwarts of British TV and radio who lend their talents in making Albion a believable and immersive world (e.g. Sean Pertwee, Mark Heap, Simon Greenall, Lewid Macleod, Karl Theobald, Edward Hardwicke, Rosie Cavaliero, Sarah Hadland, Jo Wyatt).
In my opinion, there isn't a single character or piece of voice acting in this game which isn't well written and derived by a top notch voice actor excelling at their craft, no matter how minor or inconsequential the character.
Fable 3 may have a lot of flaws as a video game, but the voice acting and writing NPCs and their dialogue isn't one of them.
As well as having an ensemble cast of great actors playing the major characters, for me what makes the voice acting in this game so good are all the minor NPCs who are voiced by great character actors, lesser known names, but hard working and talented stalwarts of British TV and radio who lend their talents in making Albion a believable and immersive world (e.g. Sean Pertwee, Mark Heap, Simon Greenall, Lewid Macleod, Karl Theobald, Edward Hardwicke, Rosie Cavaliero, Sarah Hadland, Jo Wyatt).
In my opinion, there isn't a single character or piece of voice acting in this game which isn't well written and derived by a top notch voice actor excelling at their craft, no matter how minor or inconsequential the character.
Fable 3 may have a lot of flaws as a video game, but the voice acting and writing NPCs and their dialogue isn't one of them.
I think that in BG they could suggest and not have to show. When you entered an Inn in BG they had the music and sound effects that allowed you to build the picture in your own head. BG had charm but with 3D you have to draw everything losing that charm. Also the characterization was better, with relatively few lines you knew Minsc with all the dialogue wheel stuff for interacting you dont get a sense of independent existence.Danbo Jambo said:Lol, ah for another BG style RPG from Bioware. I loved DA:O, but I just can't take to the sequels I'm afraid. Whatever happened to that ye old worlde vibe that BG nailed so perfectly? Not even a space hamster made it feel anything else but classic RPG-esq.
You are an evil person.Guffe said:
The entire cast was exceptional. I've said it before but it bears repeating; whatever they were paid, it wasn't enough.Supernova2000 said:
Oh this is something that tickles my interest. Especially lately. So ill be brief:
Darksiders 2 (ok and the 1st). Every voice actor/actress in there, just has the deepest tones that compliment the larger than life characters. Fact of fun...Death is voiced by the actor who played the main antagonist in the original 'The Crow' movie. In the game he is the protagonist who's companion is, coincidentally, a crow.
Batman Arkham games. Specifically Mark Hamill's Joker. His voice is wonderfully bouncing all over the place but still maintaining an element of spite and threat.
Far cry 4's Pagan Min, it seems so well done, i cant imagine it coming out of Troy Bakers voice box. He does have some versatility! Probably why he's so busy all the time.
Bioware etc Dragon Age etc... yeah you know the drill.
Oh and Trev from GTA v has a great vocal perfomance. Soo angry. Must have been fun to record i bet.
Err that is still brief, right?
Darksiders 2 (ok and the 1st). Every voice actor/actress in there, just has the deepest tones that compliment the larger than life characters. Fact of fun...Death is voiced by the actor who played the main antagonist in the original 'The Crow' movie. In the game he is the protagonist who's companion is, coincidentally, a crow.
Batman Arkham games. Specifically Mark Hamill's Joker. His voice is wonderfully bouncing all over the place but still maintaining an element of spite and threat.
Far cry 4's Pagan Min, it seems so well done, i cant imagine it coming out of Troy Bakers voice box. He does have some versatility! Probably why he's so busy all the time.
Bioware etc Dragon Age etc... yeah you know the drill.
Oh and Trev from GTA v has a great vocal perfomance. Soo angry. Must have been fun to record i bet.
Err that is still brief, right?
I've seen a lot of picks in this thread that made me go "oh yeah! that voice was super good!"
My personal favorite has to be Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard in Mass Effect. That game had excelent voice-acting and plenty of people wanted to be bros with half (or the entire) crew.
My personal favorite has to be Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard in Mass Effect. That game had excelent voice-acting and plenty of people wanted to be bros with half (or the entire) crew.
VAs are thankfully coming into their own these days. Video games' popularity in the last few years, and the success of more and more cartoon shows and animated movies has made VA work a legitimate gig, and there are many people who have perfected the craft. I really pay a lot of attention to the acting quality in games, and most games these days have at least passable work.
Most recently, I've been playing The Wolf Among Us, and it is thanks to the voice acting as much as anything that the game works so well. Bigby especially is masterful, he never drops a single line, which is impressive considering how far the conversation system can branch.. I don't even recognize most of the names in the cast, but they all do an excellent job.
Most recently, I've been playing The Wolf Among Us, and it is thanks to the voice acting as much as anything that the game works so well. Bigby especially is masterful, he never drops a single line, which is impressive considering how far the conversation system can branch.. I don't even recognize most of the names in the cast, but they all do an excellent job.
I've played both League of Legends and Dota, and the voice acting in Dota really stands out, for some reason. The smooth rasp of Necrophos (like an evil British Garrus) and Luna's wonderful Scottish accent help me enjoy the game even when things are going terribly.
I also vote for Logan Cunningham, the fella with the golden voice chords from Transistor and Bastion. Really wish I could get his announcer pack in Dota
Bioware and Telltale usually have great voice-acting down perfectly. I'd also cast in a vote for Thief (Oh Garret. So smooth. So sarcastic. So sweetly cynical.) and Bioshock (Atlas's accent aside.)
I also vote for Logan Cunningham, the fella with the golden voice chords from Transistor and Bastion. Really wish I could get his announcer pack in Dota
Bioware and Telltale usually have great voice-acting down perfectly. I'd also cast in a vote for Thief (Oh Garret. So smooth. So sarcastic. So sweetly cynical.) and Bioshock (Atlas's accent aside.)
I'm surprised Portal only got a passing mention so far. Portal 2 has two of my favorite characters of all time, just for their voices and writing - Wheatley and Cave Johnson. "The bean counters said I couldn't fire a man just for being in a wheelchair. Did it anyway; ramps are expensive!"
That's probably why I left Liam Neeson's performance as James from Fallout 3 out of the mix. Yeah, it was good but it was.... Liam Neeson-y. I feel like sometimes they use celebrity voices to try to sell a game. "Heyyy did we mention that Destiny has Peter Dinklage in it? EVERYONE'S watching Game of Thrones right now, so he's 'in'!" etc. Part of me wonders how you go about recruiting famous people to voice in your game. I mean.... Look at the Legend of Spyro series, particularly the first one. You have Elijah Wood (to be fair, he's been in a couple video games so it's not THAT rare), Gary Oldman and David Spade. That's such an eclectic collection and though I enjoyed the game I spent the entirety of it wondering how much they got paid to be there.WhiteFangofWar said:
(That being said, David Spade is probably my favourite Sparx in the whole series)
I agree with these two as well, yes. I ESPECIALLY enjoyed Arkham Asylum's Riddler (Wally Wingert); it's amazing how he conveys these emotions and we don't even see him in the game. I love Mark Hamill's Joker but the Riddler was where it was at for me for the Arkham games. It's such a shame they didn't bring Ron Perlman back to voice Slade Wilson... THAT would've made my millennium.Xsjadoblayde said:
As for Pagan Min, I think I covered him in my blanket statement "everything Troy Baker lately is gold" from earlier but now that someone else has specifically pointed him out, I'm inclined to concur. I enjoyed Vaas but I actually found myself very invested in Pagan Min's entire character.
Indeed, I found it difficult to even single those 2 out, which I think is only because they're the one's we hear the most. But yes, I agree.LordLundar said:
Ah i forgot the Riddler. Silly moi! I always thought he resembled Hugh Laurie in House, perhaps after a terrible breakdown and too much LSD. In Arkham City moreso.Spider RedNight said:
It is a shame there was so little of Pagan Min in that game. Crossed fingers that they release a standalone expansion where you get to go about, hand in hand with Min, causing majestic, camp chaos and loving every second of it. Make it happen Ubi!
I have to admit, it's Courtnee Draper's work as Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite. She had such a wide range of emotions and audio cues between the base game and Burial at Sea, and she wasn't too annoying or overbearing. Every line had some sort of emotion or characterization put into it. Troy Baker for voicing Booker too, but playing Elizabeth in Burial at Sea 2 is what tips her over.
"You and me... are gonna TEAR shit up!" Aw man, I can see it now. That would be a GLORIOUS DLC. 10/10 would buy.Xsjadoblayde said:
OT: ....Can I mention Rhys and Fiona from Tales of the Borderlands, now? I mean, Telltale does good but.... But Rhys and Fiona, tho.
Yardbomb. Yard-fucking-bomb from The Nameless Mod has the stupidly best faux-American Southern accent [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YcorH41AR8&feature=youtu.be&t=1m20s] I have ever heard. As someone from that region, I would be feel like I needed to be offended if it wasn't so awesome.
Also pretty much every character from Max Payne 1&2. Admittedly in the first one, James McCaffery sounds like he's reading a flat script instead of speaking werds, but iirc he gets better in 2 (along with everything else).
Also pretty much every character from Max Payne 1&2. Admittedly in the first one, James McCaffery sounds like he's reading a flat script instead of speaking werds, but iirc he gets better in 2 (along with everything else).
I'd say if it was memorable, which does mean that writing plays a part in how well it was.Braddon Dent said:
But I love some simple voice acting. Reznov and the united states lt. in cod5 were both good