Ch-ch-ch-changes in Voice Acting

[ninjaRiv]

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?

 

[Aerosteam]

Well, changing the voice actor is always a good thing, right? I mean, why would the game director or whatever change the voice actor if he knows that will only do something bad? But of course that's only from his perspective...

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.

 

[Able Seacat]

I'm willing to give change a chance. I still think Hayter will appear in MGSV in some capacity. Though it is weird how Kojima said one of the reasons for the change is that he wanted an actor in his late 40s to take the role as Snake is that age, yet Hayter is 44 I believe. Also, the Japanese voice actor (Akio Ōtsuka) will be reprising the role so who knows.

Though I have to admit I prefer Ironside's voice over the new one.

 

[wintercoat]

I really can't think of many game swhere th evoice actor changed. The only ones that come to mind are the ones already mentioned and the voices of the original cast of Tales of Symphonia in the sequel.

I had no problem with the voice actor change in ToS. It was noticeable, but since it was a few years between when I played the original and the sequel, it didn't bother me much.

 

[The Madman]

It's bullshit. Oftentimes the voice is the most distinct and memorable part of a character, those voice actors deserve equal praise as do the developers and publishers yet by all reports but for a chosen few, they're paid little and are treated as disposable.

It's a disgusting practice. Also the new voice for Garrett is shit, I watched that new E3 trailer and was cringing the entire time over his emo angst filled tone that made it sound like at any moment he'd curl up in a corner listening to Linkin Park and crying. That new goth inspired outfit and his plentiful use of mascara now doesn't help either.

 

[Devil's Due]

The Master Chief. Yes, we all know it's the same voice actor, but something is wrong. Something about him in Halo 4 drove me up the walls and made me annoyed whenever he talked when instead the first three his voice soothed me as if he knew what he was doing.

Halo 2
Chief: Sir, permission to leave the station.
Admiral: For what purpose, Master Chief?
Chief: (slow to illustrate the point) To give the covenant back their bomb.

Short, sweet, badass.

Halo 4
Chief: Cortanna? (Waits .01 seconds) Cortanna! (Squeeks) CORTANNA!

It just isn't the same. The voice is different, the emotions are different. You can explain all you want, but it's just not right to me!

*sigh*

Spoiler: CAPTCHA?!

No joke, just SS'd that

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I know that whoever was voice for Chie in original Persona 4 was replaced by Erin Fitzgerald in Persona 4: Golden and Arena. And so was Teddie, who got replaced by Sam Riegel. As for Teddie, I couldn't tell since I didn't hear the original, but Riegel does an amazing job. As for Chie, I heard a couple of original lines, and it's not like that previous actress was bad, but Erin just does so much better job in conveying Chie's character. She's loud, she's energetic, she's obnoxious even, perfect voice for a character such as Chie. But then, even though I think Erin is better suited for the job, I can definitely see where complaining side comes from. Fuuka Yamagishi's Voice actor was replaced for Persona 4: Arena, and even though she has like 2 lines in that game, change in a voice of a familiar character is so noticeable it's almost cringing!

 

[likalaruku]

I only tolerate voice changes on two occasions:

1)The original was ill-fitting & the replacement's voice sounds like it belongs to the face.

2)The replacement sounds rather alike & does an excellent impression of the former.

On games I don't mind so much, I'm really thinking more of anime. The 2ed season of Saiyuki had a completely different voice cast & it was horribly distracting. But in Slayers, Lisa Ortiz replaced Cynthia Martinez as Lina Inverse, & it was the best change ever.

 

[Ishigami]

I don't get personality cults. Just because someone is in something or worked on something does not make the result automatically good (or bad for that matter). Especially if it is something minor like a voice actor.
English is a foreign language to me so many of those fine ?makes all the difference?-details are lost to me.
All I care about is that the lines spoken fit the mood or situation and conveys emotions.
English speakers are actually easy off if you ask me. If you want a truly terrible dub in a high profile game then you probably have to go back years. If I would investigate a terrible dub in my mother tongue then I probably only have to go back some weeks...
Here they just bleach everything to the correct grammar and pronunciation lacking any sort of emotional investment in the scenes. It is IMO terrible... strange thing though that our movie dubs are probably among the best...
That is why I buy English video games. My English is good enough to understand almost anything and the dubs are so much better.
That is also why I ignore English dubs of Animes and watch the Japanese original with subs instead. These voice actors just throw themselves into the scenes, it is like they are living the good damn thing.

Anyway getting of track here. Usually I don't even get that a voice actor changed unless someone points it out. So I have to say that I don't really care one way or the other. If the new one does a good job then I have no issue with it.
If nothing was wrong with the old one then I don't understand why it is necessary to change him but then again I'm just a spectator and have no insight on contracts, relationships or goals of higher ups.
So I can't really judge the necessity of it.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Ironside has always disturbed me as Fisher.

I did love him in Command and Conquer 3, though.

 

[Casual Shinji]

From what I gathered, the Japanese Snake is still the same dude.

 

[Starik20X6]

Turn and face the strange...

I suppose how much it bothers me depends on how well established the voice is with the character. Kevin Conroy has been the voice of Batman for almost my entire life, so the change will be jarring to begin with. But then again, Tara Strong did a great job as Harley in Arkham City, despite a chronic case of not being Arleen Sorkin...

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

If you do it early enough in the series then you can get away with it, assuming you have good reason.
I'm still bitter about Mordin Solus though. If you offered me a good ending to ME3 or the return of Mordins original VA I'd pick the VA any day.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

As for the case of Snake, it's one of those best case scenario type situations. Yeah, I feel for David Hayter. The guy did a great job and owned the role.

But we got Kiefer Sutherland in his place. Yeah, no one can replace Hayter. Although.... since he's being replaced, this is a best case scenario.

 

[Whispering Cynic]

For me the voice pretty much shapes the character, change the voice and you invariably alter the character as well (imagine casting Patrick Stewart as Hitman... see what I mean?). Alterations to established characters rarely work well, and people usually don't welcome them with open arms.

Case-in-point: If they don't cast Stephen Russell as Garrett in T4 I'm not buying the game. It's that simple. There's a lot of things I can stomach, but I refuse to support raping of my favorite game series.

 

[Fredvdp]

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.

Whle I think William Salyers is a good voice acor, the change bothered me a lot. I think Michael Beattie as Mordin Solus was the best voice prformance in the trilogy. I tink it's extra annoying because they managed to get the same actors for even the most minor characters. Barla Von was still the same actor as in ME1, but many players din't even meet him in that game. On the top of my head, I can think of only two characters in the Mass Effect trilogy that were recast, being Mordin and Refund Guy.

Normally recasts don't bother me all that much. They recast every returning character in The Witcher 2 except Geralt and I was fine with it.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I hate it when an established character changes voices for the same reason I hate it when they change race or gender without explanation, and I'm pretty annoyed about the Hayter thing to, and would extend that to any voice actor who has become closely associated with their character and is replaced for no good reason. If tthe character requires a different voice, younger or older, say, and the voice actor can't meet those requirements, fair enough. But Hayter took a massive pay cut in the past to allow Twin Snakes to hire the original VAs, and he's pretty synonymous with the character, and he could probably do an older snake better than his replacement apparently can, if that's even what they're aiming for. Of course I assume he didn't ask for twice the salary and is having a tantrum, but considering his history, I doubt anything like that went down.

 

[Vale]

Ironside was HYPE back in Chaos Theory. Scary, occasionally gleefully and disturbingly evil, appropriately exasperated, and the silly occasional back-and-forth worked.
Double Agent I never played, and he was pretty bad in Conviction (alongside everybody and everything else) so it's probably fine they change the voice actor. I think he didn't really feel like doing a decent job of it in the last game.
Hayter not being Snake is... weird. I dunno what's up with that.
And Garrett without Stephen Russell is just plain wrong.

 

[Mojo]

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.