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No need for Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, Liam O'Brien, etc... etc.. (The "typical" VAs)

J

Japanmanx3

Member
It's really weird seeing how people are turning against VA's more and more. I consider them actors. I don't think Nolan North in every role is Drake and thats a good thing; means he knows how to shift roles. Same for Troy Baker. Just because they are big names and get the roles doesn't necessarily means it's bad. Variety is nice but I'd rather consistency over generic anime sounding tryhard or cliche bad guy voice, etc.

Edit: More Black VA roles tho for sure. That whole Marlene explanation from Naughty Dog was whack.
 
N

NipplesAndToes23

Member
Yes. Definitely want to see more black and other people of color voice actors, but I doubt that's going to happen until we see more ethnic characters in video games.
 
N

NinjaCoachZ

Member
Blasian Persuasion said:
Yes. Definitely want to see more black and other people of color voice actors, but I doubt that's going to happen until we see more ethnic characters in video games.
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There's a bunch but they sadly don't always get a lot of roles. Probably because of the lack of ethnic diversity as you mention.

Off the top of my head there's the famous people like Phil LaMarr, Kevin Michael Richardson, Cree Summer who usually do cartoons but occasionally dabble in games, and there's people like GK Bowes, Kim Mai Guest, Stephanie Sheh, TC Carson, TJ Storm, Xanthe Huynh for an example in the OP's thesis, I believe Josh Keaton is Hispanic, actually... probably a bunch of others I can't think of. But you're absolutely right, there's a real lack of opportunities to let them shine.
 
J

joms5

Member
Moobabe said:
No - YOU need to educate yourself, pal.

It's an issue of direction. He said in an interview about Dark Void, for example, that they asked him "to do Drake" for the voice of the main character.
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Fair enough. If he's asked to do the Drake voice then I can't fault him for that.

But I find it very hard to believe that all of those games I mentioned (plus more that others have already pointed out as well) have all had the game director asking him to do Drake.

I've already said in here that he's surprised me before. But I wouldn't say he has incredible range.
 
D

Dragon1893

Member
Well, the thread already covered everything that is wrong with the OP's premise.
I'll just add that I wish Courtnee Draper would do more VA, she was incredible in Bioshock Infinite but made a career choice outside of VA.
 
N

NipplesAndToes23

Member
NinjaCoachZ said:
There's a bunch but they sadly don't always get a lot of roles. Probably because of the lack of ethnic diversity as you mention.

Off the top of my head there's the famous people like Phil LaMarr, Kevin Michael Richardson, Cree Summer who usually do cartoons but occasionally dabble in games, and there's people like GK Bowes, Kim Mai Guest, Stephanie Sheh, TC Carson, TJ Storm, Xanthe Huynh for an example in the OP's thesis, I believe Josh Keaton is Hispanic, actually... probably a bunch of others I can't think of. But you're absolutely right, there's a real lack of opportunities to let them shine.
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What was the last game Cree Summer was in? The last thing I remember her being in was Batman: Arkham Asylum and that was kind of a minor role.
 
D

Diancecht

Member
On an unrelated note, I have a fantastic ear regards picking out the VA in games. Just started playing Forza Horizon 3 and after 10 minutes I realized the car mechanic/barn finder dude is the Sergeant dude from Witcher 3.

I can go as deep as that dude, so I immediately recognize any high-profile VA in a game. Nolan, Troy, Laura, Brain, Courtenay Taylor can't hide from me. It's actually pretty funny to pick out VAs as they are trying their damnest to hide their "iconic" voices.
 
S

Sabercrusader

Member
As long as they're good, I don't really mind hearing the same voice actors often. Of course the best moment is when you can't even tell it's the same voice actor and you find out in the credits.
 
Aenima

Aenima

Member
Nolan North voices from other games (like David from TLOU) sounds nothing like Nathan Drake. Hes a very good VA.

Troy needs a break. Hes incredible talented but his voice is easely recognizable is many games. For example i dont think his voice was the best choice for the Infamous SS main char. But his Joel from TLOU was perfection.
 
S

StoneFox

Member
The Silent Hill series was pretty refreshing (played them more recently) because I recognized pretty much none of the voices.

But then when the "HD" collection came around and they changed the VAs, oh joy, it's voices I've heard in so many games before! :/
 
sublimit

sublimit

Banned
I absolutely agree with you OP.It's definitely tiresome to listen to the same old voices over and over again for every game out there.Unless it's a series that involves the same characters i want new voice actors to lend their voices to new characters.

I'm sure there are many new,unknown and talented voice actors out there looking for work and the developers should do well to trust them and give them a chance.This will help their stories to feel more unique and fresh.
 
Indelible

Indelible

Member
I love Laura Bailey's work, very talented voice actor with alot of range. I do agree that it is time for some new blood though.
 
T

Tik115

Neo Member
Neoxon said:
Steve Blum was Leeron? I guess you learn something new everyday (though that's not to say that I ever doubted Steve Blum's range).

That said, it's kinda funny how he's done Wolverine-type roles a lot despite not voicing Wolverine himself in years. I suppose that's type-casting for you.
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Correct, often times a voice actor will be known for "That voice" (for Steve it's Wolverine style characters, for Nolan it's cocky/wisecracking characters) And when a company decides to cast a character with those kinds of voices they will often times look for the best, Resulting in these guys always being casted because they're the best or their craft and have proven it hence the typecasting and why we see people like Troy in everything.

Now lets take Persona 5, these are more teen characters and maybe they don't have the voice these "Typical" VAs are typecasted for, well now they look for smaller VAs who may get their break and then THEY will be typecasted for teen characters

Unless you get known right off the bat for your vocal range (Robin Atkin Downes) a VA will often get typecasted which is why people say they see them everywhere
 
Z

Zolo

Member
I generally don't have a problem with recognizing voice actors, but it was kinda noticable to me how jumping from 'Tales from the Borderlands' and Telltale's 'Batman' had both Troy and Laura play the same leading roles with the same voice direction.
 
StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Member
I listened to that intro trailer a few times now and I am not particularly impressed so far. I really hope the VA and voice direction quality didn't go down a large amount from P4G since in 2016 Atlus can't figure out how to present an option for Japanese voices (even if as a paid DLC).
 
M

Mr. Smiley

Member
I think I have more of a problem with how common voice direction is in games than I do the oft used voice actors.

That said, more diversity in actors for new, prominent roles can't hurt. Getting more roles for minority voice actors and prominent ones at that should happen too.
 
styl3s

styl3s

Member
OnPoint said:
Troy Baker always stands out to me and I wish people would use him less. Or he would change it up more. Sorry Troy.
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People keep saying him and Nolan should change it up but that's the direction they get.

You can't blame an actor for a director telling them to do the accent everyone knows is shitty or to act like they do in every movie because that's the person people want to come see.
 
O

Ohwiseone

Member
I like all of the VA's you mentioned, and I don't think they are overused.

Troy Baker still to me, does fantastic in Bioshock Infinite and TLOU. (Booker DeWitt is one of my favorite characters in video games, a big reason is because of the way Baker did the voice)


Watching Critical Role has essentially, made me realize how much Laura Bailey, Liam O'Brien, and even Matt Mercer voices...not that it's a bad thing.
 
R

Randam

Member
Really have no problem with Nolan North voicing David in The last of us, or Richthofen in Black Ops Zombies.


Most of the time, you don't really hear who is voicing who.

Troy Backer voicing Nathan's brother in UC 4 didn't sound like him either.
 
Kamina

Kamina

Golden Boy
Nathan Drake doesn't even remotely sound like the Destiny Ghost, so why would i care who speaks these als long as they have enought "voice levels"?
 
S

shiftplusone

Member
joms5 said:
What?! You need your ears checked pal.

Uncharted, Shadow Complex, Spec Ops: The Line, Saints Row, Prince Of Persia, Assassin's Creed, Singularity, Alpha Protocol, Deadpool. The list goes on and on.

He has his standout performances (which sometimes are altered with software) but a lot of the time he just plays Nolan North, and it almost always makes a game worse.
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"voice actors have incredible range"

"no you're wrong look at all these times that nolan north isn't asked to do anything other than drake"

Not a great argument

Nolan North does like 10 voices for Dota 2. none of them are his drake voice, all are insanely unique and awesome
 
Cornbread78

Cornbread78

Member
I wouldn't be surprised if you guys heard a new VA with a role in this game...

It's good to keep introducing new people into the biz to keep things fresh.
 
S

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
I'm playing Elder Scrolls Online and Jim Cummings and Troy Baker are ALL OVER this game, to the point that it breaks my immersion quite frequently. Especially when an NPC voiced by Jim Cummings gives me a quest to go talk to another NPC, who is also voiced by Jim Cummings.

Yeesh.
 
D

dirron

Neo Member
I love all those VAs and enjoy hearing them in a variety of games but there are definitely times that hearing them takes away from a game for a minute. My best example is when I was playing The Last of Us and I killed a random nobody who cried out and I went, "Huh, I just killed Yosuke." I know that can be applied to a lot of stuff but that one stood out to me.
 
M

Mr. Nice_Guy

Member
I'm not saying I dislike the most common voice actors, and they do have great range; but they don't always get to use it. So when I'm hearing your voice so much that I can easily pick it out, even if you're working hard to change it, then I'd say we need to keep making that VO actor pool a lot deeper.
 
A

Anung

Un Rama
Kor of Memory said:
Put Tara Strong and Grey Griffon (Delisle) in everything.
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Yes please.

Hearing Baker and North doing the same voices in everything can get tiring. To be fair though they are probably paid and told to do exactly that. It must suck when you go audition for a VA role and one of them shows up.

The only one I outright dislike and takes me right out of a game is Travis Willingham. Dude always sounds like he's in a studio reading lines.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Teknopathetic said:
Nolan North voices more characters than you know, but you don't realize it because it doesn't actually sound like Drake.
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This. Nolan North is one of the best and at times most poorly utilized. Destiny's Ghost simply does not sound like Nathan Drake, and I didn't realize he was in The Last of Us either.

Kinda funny how Troy Baker was in Persona 4 but absent here, but he hit it big since.
 
N

Neoxon

Junior Member
Eusis said:
This. Nolan North is one of the best and at times most poorly utilized. Destiny's Ghost simply does not sound like Nathan Drake, and I didn't realize he was in The Last of Us either.

Kinda funny how Troy Baker was in Persona 4 but absent here, but he hit it big since.
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He's now above Atlus' budget. And even with Kanji, he was a bit too busy to reprise his role for the spin-offs from P4AU onwards. And honestly, I'm cool with the P5 cast being entirely new (Matthew Mercer aside, though he was mainly Plan B Kanji).
 
S

SlickVic

Member
I think it would've been strange for Altus to have Troy Baker and Laura Bailey voice new characters in P5 when they already voiced main characters P4. Kinda like doing an anthology type TV series with a new story each season but hiring the same actors to play different people. Definitely makes sense to seek out new voices in that case.

I do like Laura Bailey's voice work a lot and it's always great to hear it in a game I'm playing.
 
N

Neoxon

Junior Member
SlickVic said:
I think it would've been strange for Altus to have Troy Baker and Laura Bailey voice new characters in P5 when they already voiced main characters P4. Definitely makes sense to seek out new voices in that case.

I do like Laura Bailey's voice work a lot and it's always great to hear it in a game I'm playing.
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I honestly kinda wish that Capcom would have let Laura Bailey give Chun-Li a bit more maturity to her voice like Laura wanted. But at the same time, if we end up getting another Mahvel (it's a long shot, I know), it'd be awkward to have Chun-Li & Black Widow in the same match with the same vocal delivery.
 
G

Gaz_RB

Member
Yeah let's put these awesome people out of work because you can sometimes (rarely, I'd imagine) recognize their voices.
 
S

shiftplusone

Member
SlickVic said:
I think it would've been strange for Altus to have Troy Baker and Laura Bailey voice new characters in P5 when they already voiced main characters P4. Kinda like doing an anthology type TV series with a new story each season but hiring the same actors to play different people. Definitely makes sense to seek out new voices in that case.

I do like Laura Bailey's voice work a lot and it's always great to hear it in a game I'm playing.
Click to expand...

Yuri Lowenthal did MC for Persona 3 and then Yosuke

that was weird to me
 
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