Ch-ch-ch-changes in Voice Acting

[verdant monkai]

I have no idea why people are lamenting Garretts old voice actor, he sounded like some generic American guy at odds with the setting.

Batman will need a new voice actor for his new prequel, because as OP said Conroy may have a beautiful voice, but he's not young enough to pull off a young Bruce Wayne any more.

I have never been interested in the Splinter Cell series so I couldn't give two shits what the protagonist sounds like.

I have always wanted to get into the metal gear series, but I have an xbox so I cant play some of the best instalments. But OP is right there is no good reason to replace him, it cant be justified like the young Batman can.


With regards to voice acting in general I'd say never change the character ever. Even the bad ones like Garretts voice actor, purely because people associate the voice with the character, and long time fans will feel like they've been on more of a journey with the character, if they recognise the voice from say 3 games ago.

There are times when changing the voice actor is fine in my opinion, like when...
1. The Old Voice actor is dead
2. The Old Voice actor is unable to work with the company for problems they created (James Sunderlands voice actor got dicked by Konami who blamed him, when all he wanted was money for his performance, thats not right).
3. The character is younger and the voice actor cant to higher pitches.
4. Everyone hates the voice actors performance

 

[verdant monkai]

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.

Seriously!? 0_o

I didnt even notice the change. He's only in the game for around half an hour anyway, and he's not even a squad member.

 

[ninjaRiv]

hey, some people agree with me!!! That's always nice!

I didn't actually know that Mordin's actor had changed for ME3, though. So perhaps the new guy didn't do a bad job. Although, It has been a while since I played 2&3, so perhaps I should play them back to back.

Thinking about it, I wonder if Sutherland replacing Hayter has something to do with Kojima's thing for Hollywood and making movies.

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.

I remember hearing that Ironside was asking for more money before Conviction and there was a chance he wouldn't come back for it. Perhaps that stopped him from doing a good job. Personally I just don't think he's into it anymore.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Ok, so we're all pretty pissed about the Hayter thing, right?

No... I love Metal Gear and I LOVE David Hayter (did you know? he was a writer in the first 2 X-Men movies. My theory as to why X-Men 3 sucked was because it didn't have Solid Snake writing it). But I want Big Boss to have a different voice. The end of Peace Walker showed that there was a big change in his character. He's not supposed to be the same Snake, he's supposed to be older, wiser, and a real leader now (rather than just Kaz or whoever calling all the shots). That's not exactly David Hayter to me. Kiefer Sutherland was a shock, but I think he can do it. Besides, Solid Snake will be like 20 or something when Phantom Pain takes place. If Snake was trained by Big Boss and all that before the original Metal Gears, I wouldn't be surprised if the game ended with Snake meeting Big Boss and it would be laughably stupid if they had same fucking voice!

Edit:

I don't think Ironside has it in him anymore

Is "Ironside" the guy's real name? That's fucking bad ass

 

[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.

Seriously!? 0_o

I didnt even notice the change. He's only in the game for around half an hour anyway, and he's not even a squad member.

He was my favourite character in Me2 so I might be a bit biased but I thought it was a pretty obvious change. His part in Me3 is supposed to be one of the most emotionally impacting in the game, yet all I could think about was how it wasn't really him.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

I'm still pissed about Michael Ironside. Not because he they replaced him as Sam Fisher but because of why they did. And with whom.

I could probably stomach the fact that Ironside is no longer there but WHY in the world are they using a 20-year-old frat boy to voice a character in his fifties? And why did they need the voice actor to do the mocap anyway? what's the point? I just want a good game, I don't care about how Sam's face animates in cinematics.

OT: I thought that Ironside's performance in Conviction was as good as ever. It's just that the writing was kind of shit. I mean they can do a Splinter Cell game with great writing (see Chaos Theory) but it seems they chose not to for the sake of military abbreviations and laughable drama.

 

[Foolery]

I will miss David Hayter not being in Metal Gear, if that is that case and Kojima doesn't have some surprise. Also his twitter is hilarious to read.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Meh, I don't have any issues with voice actor changes in video games, as long as the voices are good. However...

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.

Personally, I have 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.

I never understood why they had to change most of the English voice cast of Tales of Symphonia, when the English original cast was so good! ...Not that the replacement voices are bad or anything, there are some decent voices there.

However, my sticking point is that I COULD have had Scott Menville and Johnny Yong Bosch, two of my all-time favorite English voice actors in the sequel to one of my all-time favorite RPGS!

..It's a fangirl thing, okay?

EDIT: Made a clarification to avoid confusion. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[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.

 

[2HF]

We never see much of Garrett (and if you played Thief 3 in third person you're doing it wrong, go away). His voice and what he actually says are virtually the only part of his character. He is the one telling you how he feels about the world around him and his voice and tone go a long way towards conveying those feelings. Changing his voice for one of the stupidest reasons I've ever heard is just wrong.

I sincerely hope that someone will pay Stephen Russell to record all the same lines as the new actor so that they can be replaced in the PC version.

Who wants to kickstart this shit!

 

[80sboy]

First off, are you trying to do a David Bowie reference with the title of this thread?

lol

Okay...let's dive in.

Ok, so we're all pretty pissed about the Hayter thing, right?

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.

Personally, as much as I liked Hayter as Snake, there was something sorta cheesy about the way he enunciated that sorta threw me off. Sorta felt like he could have toned it down some. Plus, his voice never suited when the game started revving up the drama, and Snake was in the middle of it. Still, I wouldn't want him to be replaced, but, I'm not exactly sad to see him go either.

As for Batman. I use to think Conroy was a good Batman voice until I heard Robocop do it. I mean, I've never found Batman that...well...like Batman, until I heard Peter Weller in the animated movie 'The Dark Knight Returns'. I mean after Robocop...screw Conroy, screw Christian Bale, screw everyone...it's HIM!



As for Fisher...bad move...very bad move...now that pisses me off. I don't even like Sam Fisher but I love Michael Ironside.

 

[Yagami_Kira]

my problem with jack bauer as snake is that sutherland talks out the side of his mouth, so it looks like hes a stroke victim when he does facial mocap.

 

[verdant monkai]

He was my favourite character in Me2 so I might be a bit biased but I thought it was a pretty obvious change. His part in Me3 is supposed to be one of the most emotionally impacting in the game, yet all I could think about was how it wasn't really him.

It never occurred to me that it wasn't the same guy but now you mention it, I recall him sounding a bit more serious and less enthusiastic than in ME2. It sort of fitted the tone of what he was doing though.

I never understood why they had to change most of the English voice cast of Tales of Symphonia, when the original cast was so good! ...Not that the replacement voices are bad or anything, there are some decent voices there.

It may have something to do with people not speaking Japanese....

Its an unpopular opinion but I'd take the English dub over the higher quality Japanese dub every time. Since I dont speak the language it just sounds like noise. I don't care how much feeling or talent is behind it, I'd take the English as I'm pretty forgiving with voice actor quality.
I have some exceptions like Naruto because I started that in Japanese as the Jap dub is so much more up to date, and now the voices have stuck and an English dub wouldn't sound right. Also the un-holy 4kidz dubs will definitely make me pick the Japanese version.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

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.

 

[Vykrel]

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!

first of all, there is only one 'N' in Cortana.

now, forgetting for a moment that you are GREATLY exaggerating, there is nothing wrong with Steve Downes' voice acting in Halo 4.

not sure if you have heard of a little thing called character development, but that is what is happening. also, it isnt a very good example when you compare John speaking to an acquaintance, and the "person" he is closest to. Cortana is basically a part of him, so of course he is going to speak to her differently than he does to other characters.

and you should take note of the journey they have been on together. Chief already lost Cortana once, at the end of Halo 2, and did a hell of a lot to get her back. in Halo 4, he is afraid he is going to lose her again, and when he finally does, he is broken.

you want the Chief to be a bad-ass robot, but that isnt what he is. sorry to break it to you. he has an actual personality.

but he is still a certified bad-ass: http://youtu.be/GbjA6rB98Yk?t=33m9s dont ever forget that.

 

[JimB]

May I present the most compelling evidence to not change your voice actors?

Yeesh. I expect better from Mary McGlynn. Did the same person direct both games?

 

[BlackBark]

I have recently been playing Xenosaga and completed Episode 1 a while ago. Then I started Episode 2 and immediately noticed that half the voice actors had changed. In games that are so heavily story based and that have so many cutscenes and dialogue, it seems crazy to change the voice actors. The characters didn't even have the same feeling to them anymore; it was like they were completely different people/androids and I just gave up playing. I will probably go back to it eventually, because I really like the story, but that change of voice actors really ruined it for me.

To be honest, though, it only really bothered me for the characters that I liked, otherwise I don't really care that much.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

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

 

[Arina Love]

Ok look, MGS 4

Big Boss - Richard Doyle

So why everyone cry that in MGS5 it will be another dude, when they clearly had NO intentions casting DH for Big Boss role.

 

[Foolery]

Ok look, MGS 4

Big Boss - Richard Doyle

So why everyone cry that in MGS5 it will be another dude, when they clearly had NO intentions casting DH for Big Boss role.

Well, Big Boss was even more aged at that point. Hayter is Solid Snake. But he was also a young Naked Snake. I'm fine with Keifer Sutherland voicing the role. Big Boss is older and hey, muscle atrophy from a coma is also another factor to consider storywise. That said, Hayter might not be out. It was Sutherland that voiced Ishmael in the demo, which I think is simply a hallucination of Big Boss' mind. Ok, so maybe none of it makes sense. People are just overly attached to Hayter and his involvement in the series. But can ya blame them? He's a cool guy.