R P G A M E R . C O M   - R O U N D T A B L E

Where Does Fault Lie?

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Josh: When companies decide to put voice acting in a game, many factors are involved. Does it seem like the more well-known or richer companies produce the better quality VA? Or is it a matter of how or where they involve the VA in-game?

Neill: The answer to the first question is most definitely a resounding yes.

Theo: Money definitely helps.

Cara: My first impression is that the effort you put into a game becomes apparent in every aspect. Some companies put a lot of effort into VAs, and others don't (and this may be a localization thing - I can't speak for Japan).

Liv: I would agree, although I don't always know who spends more on VA and who doesn't.

Brian: You know, I'd say that money CAN help, but it is still definitely hit or miss sometimes. Namco...a lot of their English VA in the Tales games has been very so-so, but (to go outside the genre) the Ace Combat games since AC4 have been excellent.

Josh: Agreed. Even though there are companies out there with loads of money behind them, they still manage to produce horrendous things sometimes.

Liv: One thing I've noticed is that a lot of Voice Acting in RPGs sounds a lot more... unnatural than other games. In Medal of Honor games, for instance, the VA sounds like you're actually listening to a real person in a real situation.

Liv: In this regard, I would say that some of it may be the scripts.

Josh: Well, MoH is constant action.

Josh: RPGs generally have breaks between fighting/story, etc.

Liv: But there's actually quite a bit of voice-acting in the background and when talking to people.

Neill: There's the issue of randomness as well.

Brian: Definitely the scripts. It's a lot easier to roleplay a single action packed sentence than several minutes of just regular talking in character.

Cara: It could be the production - games produced in America are going to sound way more natural to us than games produced in Japan and then translated/localized.

Liv: Very true.

Josh: Not always true...look at MGS, for instance.

Theo: The action-packed sequences are recorded all at once, usually.

Theo: RPG stuff, since you can skip parts of the dialogue, is not.

Liv: And maybe it's going back to my "not being used to seeing English voices in Japanese characters" thing.

Theo: It is recorded in bits and pieces, which tends to make it sound...well... bad.

Neill: I think the problem with realism in RPGs is mostly the repeated situations. Random battles are incredibly difficult to not make repetitive, and that's a non-issue in FPS games or games like MGS.

Cara: It could also be the level of effort the company puts into localizing as well (related to the scripts that Liv mentioned).

Brian: That's definitely true.

Josh: Neill: I agree, mostly in reference to the weird battle VA that happens from time to time. Sometimes it's very annoying; sometimes it's done quite well.

Liv: Sometimes it sounds like the voice actors are trying TOO hard, and then it just sounds odd.

Brian: I'd like to see David Hayter do VA for the first MG on NES.

Brian: It'd be terribly funny in a terrible way.

Josh: Now I have to play BK... just to see how bad it is.

David: Over-acting is just bad regardless of genre.

Brian: Josh, I cringed every time someone spoke out loud in that game.

Brian: R.A.D. is worse, but only just.

Josh: It's never been that bad for me... maybe just when certain characters open their mouths.

Liv: Some lines just sound terrible and corny in English that, at least to us, don't in Japanese.

Liv: Like shouting "Justice!" at the beginning of a battle.

Brian: In any case...you know, look at Shadow Hearts 2 and 3. Midway is hardly a huge company these days, but both those games have very good English VA, I thought.

Cara: Fighting games are the best (or worst). They make me laugh so hard.

Josh: Back on the subject of money and companies... was NIS America very big before Disgaea? Because they did quite well with that game, I thought.

Brian: Was there even a NIS America branch at the time?

Josh: I don't remember.

Brian: Atlus published it in NA.

Liv: I'm not sure.

Brian: NISA was formed afterward, I think.

Josh: Ah, ok.

Josh: But still...I don't think Atlus had very much experience with VA at that point short of battle quotes.

Brian: But yeah, for the most part I thought it was pretty good. It's unfortunate that the only English voice I COULDN'T stand was Laharl's.

Josh: Laharl's wasn't the best, but I could stand it at least.

Brian: Although, I either got used to it or it got better as the game went on.

Cara: I think VA, like a lot about video games these days, is a work in progress. Look at the VA now compared to some of the games back in the day, like Grandia.

Brian: Flonne was a little too sugary sweet, I think.

Brian: Heh.

Liv: This is true.

Cara: Disgaea's hyperbole was what made is so awesome though.