Ch-ch-ch-changes in Voice Acting

[Doom972]

It depends on how iconic that character is, and how much that character matters to different people. You, for example, don't care about Ironside as Sam Fisher, but someone else might care about it and not care about Garret.

As for my own personal example: I didn't care too much when they changed Lara's voice in Tomb Raider: Legend, but I did care when IOI said that Hitman Absolution won't have David Bateson as 47's VA (which, fortunately, changed a few months before release).

Because all VA's of iconic characters matter to certain groups of people - they all matter. Unless the VA is dead, unwilling (and can't be reasoned with), or unable to do it (and won't in the forseeable future), of course.

 

[l3o2828]

May I present the most compelling evidence to NOT chnage your voice actors. At least, not for a HD re-release...


My favourite game... butchered forever!

They kept the same voice actor for April Ryan in both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall and I didn't even notice! I think it's because she sounded significantly more grown up, which is part of her character in Dreamfall, but I definitely felt better about it once I knew. Strange, must be a psychological thing.

Lara Croft seems to have had the most voice actors for any video game character (5 over the course of 10 games) and yet no one ever cares about that. So long as she sounds female, posh and British it doesn't seem to matter.

Oh bloody effin Ninjas...

the original voice actors of Silent Hill were very weird sounding, and sometimes they felt too unnatural, like you're not talking to sane people...AND THAT FITS THE GAME PERFECTLY
Changing them made the game lose some of it's unintentional weirdness and oddness factor, which really really sucks.

I'm gonna have to say that, no matter how good Bauer is as Snake, he can't and won't be accepted after all these years of us hearing Hayter's voice with Snake's Face.

 

[The]

In every single Sly Cooper game, the voice actress for Carmelita Fox always changes. It's something that has become an inside joke in the series.

 

[latiasracer]

Metro Last Light used a different VA for Artyom than the first one did, which i thought was a shame.

The first game's Artyom VA fitted the character really well i thought, Sounded like somebody who was actually living i post apocalyptic world and had to deal with all kinds of crazy shit regularly.


The second one sounded like your typical American 30's something white male, just with a vague Russian accent. I got used to it though..


So yeah, it does annoy me when they change voice actors for characters.

That threw me off too. I was confused as hell as to who was talking in the opening scene. While I like the new Artyom's emotion, the old Artyom's monotone voice made more sense for a silent protagonist. New Artyom was such a change because it sounded like he had been a hardened ranger for years or something even though its only a year after the first game. Still, I found the new Artyom's actual monologues and narration a shit ton more interesting than the old one so I got used to it too

Yeah, the writing was much better for sure. Personally i would have liked the old one, the monotoness fitted the hopeless atmosphere of the game


His new VA had a damn creaky chair though

 

[SecondPrize]

Ok, so we're all pretty pissed about the Hayter thing, right? I mean, I still say it's a hoax. Hayter's New Coke comments could be some weird viral marketing or something! Right? Right?

Also, Batman, Sam Fisher and Garret have been replaced. But... Only two of the four mentioned here bother me.

Batmant needs to be younger in origins (I still maintain he's hard at work with Rocksteady on the next Arkham right now) and Conroy is not a young man anymore. I know "But he played a young Bruce in Mask of the Phantasm!" He did. In the early 1990s. I just don't think he can do that now.

As for Fisher, I don't think Ironside has it in hi anymore. I thought he sucked at it in the last game. I know they didn't hire him due to the stunts and such and this is stupid. But I'm not sad to see him go. I am, but imo he finished as Fisher after Double Agent.

As for Garret and Snake, they were fucked over and there was no reason to replace them. You could argue the same with Ironside but I still say it's not a bad change. At leas they didn't find some cheap copy and went for someone who could possibly leave their own mark.

So, getting to the point, do you ever feel that changing an iconic voice actor can be good? Do you hate all voice changes? How do you feel about theses changes?

I'm still pissed about changing the actor for Garrett (Thief) because of how lame the reason was. The guy said they needed a younger actor who could do actiony stuff while recording.
Yeah, I'll believe they're not doing the VA in a soundbooth like EVERY OTHER BIT OF VOICEWORK EVER about the same time I believe the original voice guy, a professional voice actor, is incapable of grunting or adding 'out of breath' to his lines.

 

[Woodsey]

Conroy is crap in both Arkham games, I don't know why anybody cares.

 

[Do4600]

Once a character is successful you can't change voice actors without totally changing the character unless they're nearly identical voices.

Can you imagine if they had changed Darth Vader's voice for Return of the Jedi? It would have sucked.

 

[MorganL4]

I am going to put this very plainly: If Kevin Conroy is not Batman, I don't watch it.... Plain and simple. Its not because others CANT do it, I am sure they can. But for me, I have grown up with Conroy as Batman, and if another voice comes out of that animated cowl I find it WAY too jarring. I just can't take it... I get pulled right out of the story, characterization doesn't matter, the mystery doesn't matter... I CAN'T FOCUS.... So in regards to the Dark Night, for me, it is Conroy or no Bat.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The only time I was pissed about the voice acting change was when they replaced Yuri Lowenthal as the Prince of Persia in Warrior Within. Not that the new voice wasn't talented, but the change reflected the Prince's personality swap into some generic emo rage talker. What I love about this bit of history is that Ubisoft backed off and hired back Lowenthal for Two Thrones and explained the earlier voice/personality change through a neat retcon. So all was well in the end.

 

[Ren_Li]

Mordin Solus from Mass Effect had two different voice actors, you can notice a difference, but both play the character amazingly and there wasn't anything wrong with the change. I don't think it's about having the voice of the character, it's about having a voice that suites the character well. So yes, I think Mr Sutherland will probably make a great Snake.

Say whaaaat? I honestly never notice that. They both do great acting then, because the change isn't a very obvious one.
EDIT: Okay, I checked YouTube and there is a difference, but the way they talk remains the same and they both do a great job, really doesn't bother me.

If you didn't listen to them one after another for the purpose of comparing them, would you be able to tell?
Honestly, I still can't hear the difference- although I can't say I've gone out of my way to compare the two. I also had to mention it to a couple of friends, because they also didn't notice.

They both capture Mordin's character very well, which likely smoothed the process greatly.

 

[Sectan]

How to do it: Uncle Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Mako had done a fantastic job voicing Iroh as long as he did. After his unfortunate passing, Greg Baldwin took over and did an amazing job to make sure Iroh stayed Iroh.

Fo sho with Uncle Iroh. I noticed the voice difference right away, but his character and delivery stayed spot on so I wondered why they changed the voice actor for a second and then I just kept watching.

I'd say what's worse than changing a voice actor, is making the original change their delivery. Instead of getting just a change of voice you're getting awkward changes with their vocal ticks and you end up in the uncanny valley of hearing someone imitate themselves, but doing it badly.

 

[II2]

May I present the most compelling evidence to NOT chnage your voice actors. At least, not for a HD re-release...


My FAVORITE game... butchered forever!

Kinda an interesting example, because to my mind they actually did a pretty good job, technically speaking, rerecording the lines, but no matter how much care went into rerecording the dialouge, our brains have a much higher fidelity memory for sound than for sight. We notice subtle differences and are alarmed by them. It's not just cognitive dissonance, but actually taps into the survival-enabling part of the human brain's psychoaccoustic ability to discern minute changes in sound - IE: hearing a pitched tone buried in a higher volume of unpitched noise, or alternately the movement of a tiger creeping up on you against the wind brushing the leaves.

At any rate, I don't think it's a bad re-recording, per say, but I get where you're coming from and feel it simply shouldn't have been done in the first place. It stands out more to you because it's an intimately familiar title you KNOW, whereas I only played silent hill 2 last year, out of curiosity.

For me, the same kinda of bug bear exists with the redub on the dvd and blue ray release of AKIRA. It's arguably BETTER, but it's nails on chalkboard uncomfortable to hear, because I know it's not what or how the characters SAY things from my memory of the VHS localization.

----

Also, unrelated, the original voice actor for Garrett in Theif, Stephen Russell, was brought on to do the voice of Harold the Ghoul in Fallout 3, when Bethesda couldn't get Charlie Adler.

 

[Mojo]

If you didn't listen to them one after another for the purpose of comparing them, would you be able to tell?

Not really, no. The differences are quite subtle if you ask me. They way they talk, the pronunciations and such are almost identical. Maybe if you play ME2 and have Mordin in you squad all the time and then instantly continue with ME3, then maybe. I still think you wouldn't. Besides, a few years pass between the two games, maybe Mordins vice simply changes, Salarians go through their life cycle much faster then we do.

 

[Ren_Li]

If you didn't listen to them one after another for the purpose of comparing them, would you be able to tell?

Not really, no. The differences are quite subtle if you ask me. They way they talk, the pronunciations and such are almost identical. Maybe if you play ME2 and have Mordin in you squad all the time and then instantly continue with ME3, then maybe. I still think you wouldn't. Besides, a few years pass between the two games, maybe Mordins vice simply changes, Salarians go through their life cycle much faster then we do.

I played ME3 immediately after completing ME2, and I still couldn't pick up on any big differences- although some people are better at picking up differences in voices and I'll admit to not being one of those people.

But yes. Mordin is an example of how changing a voice actor can be done well- as you (and others) have commented, any slight differences do make sense in context.
I don't know why he got a new voice actor, though; I assume there was some sort of conflict, with agreements of some sort, or of timing, etc.

 

[hazabaza1]

May I present the most compelling evidence to NOT chnage your voice actors. At least, not for a HD re-release...


My favourite game... butchered forever!

As someone with no attachment to Silent Hill whatsoever I honestly think the rerelease performances are waaaaaaaay better. Excluding the fat guy maybe.

 

[Action Jack]

I'm still baffled to hell by Hayter's replacement. Even more so to learn that Kojima's reason was that he wasn't old enough; I didn't play MGS4, but didn't Hayter play like a 60+ year-old Snake in that?

As for Garrett, I'm pretty sure it's been over a decade since the last Thief game. Cutting him for motion-capture reasons is bullshit, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt there. Especially when I'm so busy being mad about... well, everything else I've heard about the new Thief.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

the original voice actors of Silent Hill were very weird sounding, and sometimes they felt too unnatural, like you're not talking to sane people...AND THAT FITS THE GAME PERFECTLY
Changing them made the game lose some of it's unintentional weirdness and oddness factor, which really really sucks.

At any rate, I don't think it's a bad re-recording, per say, but I get where you're coming from and feel it simply shouldn't have been done in the first place. It stands out more to you because it's an intimately familiar title you KNOW, whereas I only played silent hill 2 last year, out of curiosity.

As someone with no attachment to Silent Hill whatsoever I honestly think the rerelease performances are waaaaaaaay better. Excluding the fat guy maybe.

I can't speak for the other voice actors but Guy Cihi, James Sunderland's voice actor, was pretty much just some American businessman that Konami pulled off the streets. He literally had no experience of voice acting. I honestly don't think even the most experienced voice actor could convey the same confusion and bewilderment that was in every one of Cihi's spoken lines. James just isn't the same character without his original voice actor because so much of his character is presented in his dialogue delivery.

At first the original acting sounds awful, I'll admit that freely; it's even cringe worthy in some places. But once you learn more about the characters it just seems to make sense. I'm not saying remakes shouldn't have dialogue re-recorded. This is just one of those truly special cases!

Apparently Angela is supposed to be 19 years old in the game... so the voice acting is far from the strangest design choice in Silent Hill 2!

 

[Action Jack]

May I present the most compelling evidence to NOT chnage your voice actors. At least, not for a HD re-release...


My favourite game... butchered forever!

I'll agree with you that it's silly to completely redo the voices when rereleasing a decade-old game for the nostalgia market, but I wouldn't call that "butchered forever." Those new voices don't really sound better or worse, just... different. I'm more shocked about the rerelease's horrid technical issues that they officially announced they wouldn't patch.

 

[BM19]

I know some people got upset about the voice actors from Persona 4 changing, but honestly I prefer Golden/Arena's new Teddie and Chie.
Teddie is close to the same, but Chie's just matches her personality so much better.

 

[The Madman]

those voice actors deserve equal praise as do the developers and publishers

Nope.

Not that they aren't valuable or shouldn't be recognized, but a few days of recording lines is nowhere near the kind of work the developers put in.

I meant more towards the characters themselves, not the overall game. A good voice actor after all is just as integral to bringing a character to life as are the art team and writers. Sorry if that was unclear.