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[reektann]

A lot of the dialogue that has been written is quite shocking. "There's a wizard up ahead..if you see something floating in the air you have to kill it". Well I wasn't going to shake his hand mate?

 

[Darkmakaimura]

From the YouTube videos? Bad.

And somehow the PVP commentator is even worse.

 

[Muscle Wizard]

I wish they'd use Giancarlo Esposito instead. They had him for the live action trailer and he would probably been cheaper too.

 

[LordOfChaos]

I see some people are saying he might have been directed towards flat intonations because he's an AI, but even when Cortana isn't emotional her delivery still sounds better. Like Jen Taylor really believes she's the AI, almost, vs the detachment here. I know Bungie and Dinklage both could have done better, no idea what went on there. Not enough/proper motivation perhaps, with his lack of VA experience perhaps more was needed.

Courtnee Draper I think also did her first video game in Bioshock Infinite, and they motivated the shit out of her by yelling at her to get her crying and stuff, lol.

 

[Mechanized]

I don't know what he is. His musings about the state of the world pre-Collapse seem out of place for a purely informational AI. As do his lines delivered in a less-monotone way, like "...It's the Hive!". If he was meant to be an emotionless information delivery machine, the line should have read something like "Hive detected. Be on guard.". The wizard line should have been something like "Detecting Hive wizard. Evidence suggests that moon containment measures have been compromised.", or something. But they're written with more flavor than that, which is unnecessary for that type of AI.

See, this is just your personal preference. There is no should here. The AI sounds like how the character that created it wanted it to sound.
I really like it as is, Bungie might add some kinda filter over it. But the general vibe I get is really unique. I'm not sure why people interpret the voice acting as "bored', monotone, sure. Maybe there's a reason it's like that? Further still I don't get why so many people are so hung up about it. Like this is some god awful performance. Lets say you're right, Dinklage was bored as fuck and half assed it, do you really think Bungie, for their series that is set to last 10 years, would settle for something like that? Of course not. So it seems like this is what they're going for, for whatever reason. Maybe a filter could change it up a lot, maybe not. I think it's unfair to judge this performance so harshly until the game is out and we're given a broader picture.

 

[RdN]

It's a bad performance.. completely phoned it in. And the sound design makes it seems too detached from the game.

 

[op_ivy]

i like it. sounds interesting, yet dull. like an AI that doesnt quite get it. IMO, it works.

 

[Sean]

He's terrible, I laughed out loud several times.

I'm guessing Dinklage saw how silly the script was and rather than trying to make it work, he just decided to do an intentionally bad performance and collect his paycheck, Joel McHale VGX style. And the Bungie audio dudes were probably too scared to tell a big name actor that his line delivery is shit. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

What a giant waste of money. The PvP announcer is even worse IMO.

 

[Sande]

When he's just talking I love it because he has a nice voice and it fits that robot. But when he tries to do any kind of emotion like "It's the hive!" it sounds really phoned in. So 90% of the time awesome, 10% bad.

 

[ComputerBlue]

I like it, he's an AI. I prefer my AI's without personality.

 

[Xplatformer]

What does an AI sound like?

Seriously there is no precedent for what an average AI sounds like. Only various ideas of execution (most using filters). They didn't use a filter here. It's fine. I feel like the the negative reaction to his voice is really just silly expectations.



They could use a filter, sure. But there's nothing wrong with not using one. Brent Spiner didn't have a filter on his voice for his depiction of Data and no one ever complained about him sounding bored, rather than robotic. That was likely due to the fact that he was in front of a camera and visible to the audience, so his physical acting contributed to it but it's not objectively ineffective even without physical acting to help it out.

Data on Star Trek had inflection in his voice. Like he was always telling you something you should want to know. He never sounded bored.

 

[molnizzle]

His performance is bad.

Like terrible.

 

[Portugeezer]

Most overrated actor of the century.

Denzel

 

[Gbraga]

THAT WIZARD CAME FROM THE MOON!

*gasp* It's the hive!

My job here is done. I was laughing out loud at those parts.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Denzel

 

[Jest Chillin]

I feel like it's reasonable to ask, given your response: Have you had a chance to play the alpha yourself? The script for this AI regularly has him expressing emotion, even fairly base emotion like fear and dread.

In sci-fi terms, this entity doesn't make sense with the performance it's been given. The purpose of an AI having any human aspects is so that it can socialize with people. The idea of technology perfectly capable of mimicking human voice for an AI this advanced but have it vocalize with such unnecessarily awkward, unnatural intonation that it would undermine any connection with a living operator is preposterous. It's the equivalent of an Uncanny Valley for vocalization. Considering the state of modern automated voice intonation without the technology of the Destiny universe, this performance (in its current form, at least) comes off little better than ending every sentence with "bleep bloop, I am a robot."

Having an AI able to perfectly recreate the sound of a human voice and yet be unable to hit the correct timing and inflection of Human Speech is common in Sci-Fi. It's perfectly reasonable technique to get across that while the AI is intelligent enough to know that the social atmosphere is changing, it can't pick up and mimic the subtleties in Human speech. I.E. It knows something bad is happening and wants to express that humanly using Sarcasm, but doesn't know how to use vocal inflection and timing to fully properly use it.

That kind of stuff happens often enough it's gotta be a trope by now.

Data on Star Trek had inflection in his voice. Like he was always telling you something you should want to know. He never sounded bored.

His performance was always very much even, which is the point. Dinklage is very even for the majority of his lines in the Alpha and yet people are labeling that as "he sound bored." He doesn't.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I haven't played Destiny, but the Giant Bomb: Unfinished video made "the voice" sound bad. Listening to some of his lines now, it sounds very oddly delivered and uneven. Very flat sometimes, and other times there's a burst of emotion - with stilted delivery splattered throughout.

I don't know why, but I feel like Bungie wants "the voice" to be similar to the Bastion narrator.


Is there an example of the PvP announcer's voicework anywhere? I'm curious what he sounds like now that everyone is complaining about it.

 

[Muscle Wizard]

He's terrible, I laughed out loud several times.

I'm guessing Dinklage saw how silly the script was and rather than trying to make it work, he just decided to do an intentionally bad performance and collect his paycheck, Joel McHale VGX style. And the Bungie audio dudes were probably too scared to tell a big name actor that his line delivery is shit. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

What a giant waste of money. The PvP announcer is even worse IMO.

Strange, he reads GoT scripts yet musters his best fake English accent to say the inane things about not-War of the Roses.

 

[The Xtortionist]

See, this is just your personal preference. There is no should here. The AI sounds like how the character that created it wanted it to sound.
I really like it as is, Bungie might add some kinda filter over it. But the general vibe I get is really unique. I'm not sure why people interpret the voice acting as "bored', monotone, sure. Maybe there's a reason it's like that? Further still I don't get why so many people are so hung up about it. Like this is some god awful performance. Lets say you're right, Dinklage was bored as fuck and half assed it, do you really think Bungie, for their series that is set to last 10 years, would settle for something like that? Of course not. So it seems like this is what they're going for, for whatever reason. Maybe a filter could change it up a lot, maybe not. I think it's unfair to judge this performance so harshly until the game is out and we're given a broader picture.

I was disagreeing with the post I was replying to. There's a disconnect between Dinklage's deadpan delivery and the flavorful lines he's given. I'm not saying the character should be this or that, but many of the lines seem out of place if we accept Ghost as an information delivery machine.

 

[Komputerwelt]

BAD

I think it's the combination of both the delivery of the dialogue & the script Dinklage has been given, it's just not a great match at all unfortunately. The fact that this has it's own thread on GAF is proof enough that there is a real issue here, & Bungie need to look into possibly recasting the role or look into some post processing on his voice. Has anyone tweeted/emailed Bungie about this problem?

 

[gatti-man]

It sounded great to me. The games overall design is what bothered me. I hope they keep it in the game. Dinklage sounds like a machine and it fits to me.

BAD

I think it's the combination of both the delivery of the dialogue & the script Dinklage has been given, it's just not a great match at all unfortunately. The fact that this has it's own thread on GAF is proof enough that there is a real issue here, & Bungie need to look into possibly recasting the role or look into some post processing on his voice. Has anyone tweeted/emailed Bungie about this problem?

Having a thread on gaf doesn't prove anything. We have monthly ff7 hate threads and love threads. We discuss things.

 

[SamVonSam]

The crucible announcer on the other hand....completely awful. What were they thinking with that one?

"Man, we wish we still had the Halo announcer"?

As for Dinklage, it's a combination of bad lines and poor delivery. Remember, some of the lines from Halo were kind of bad too.

 

[Dysun]

Didn't really notice once I started playing

 

[Dragonborn]

Not bad. I get that there's little emotion but it supposed to be a robot no? In that sense I think it does a fine job. Not great, but good.

 

[Gestault]

If he's supposed to be a high intellect but low-humanity AI, I'm all for that. It gives you opportunities for things like:

(a) Living characters reacting to his dry, analytic nature (good for characterizing others)
(2) Non-sequitur observations/comments to soften or interrupt otherwise stressful or emotional moments
(C) Dynamically ontroducing gameplay-centric information that's not part of the hud, without it feeling out of place.
(9) Setup for small, uncharacteristic moments where humanity is conveyed from words or actions (good for comedy and drama alike)

If he's supposed to be a high intellect and empathetic AI, I'm all for that too. It gives you opportunities for things like...you know what, no. I'm not planning out the entire framework for a script for what this element of the game should have been. The problem is that from what we've heard, the AI's characterization garners the advantages of neither half of this divide. It's just a jumbled mess, with a voice that's neither alien nor human enough to be interesting or intriguing. I hope it's implemented better in the final game, I'll say that much. I've really enjoyed the alpha thus far, enough to grab it early on. That being said, this AI is no Data.

 

[Stimpack]

I don't think anyone in here knows the meaning of monotone. It's not monotone. He doesn't sound like an AI. He just sounds terrible. Whether the script is shit or not, that's not the discussion in place here. His voice acting is what we're talking about, and it's just plain bad no matter how you want to look at it.

 

[Ein Bear]

Yeah, hilariously terrible. Love that hyperbole.

As an Englishman, I feel confident in saying that yes, his English accent is abysmal.

 

[Delta Assault]

As an Englishman, I feel confident in saying that yes, his English accent is abysmal.

It's not an English accent though, it's a Lannister-Westeros accent.

 

[AZUMIKE]

Yup, as of now, the implementation of Dinklage's voice work doesn't fit. Its pretty evident as well. Not that they have to throw out his voice work, but modifications would help.

 

[dofry]

He's from average to bad. Think of Jarvis from Ironman for better performance. Now we know who that guy is but I still think of his voice as an AI/computer for tony stark.

Oh, and Bungie, if you're reading this USE THE PS4 CONTROLLER SPEAKER for important audio like this. It's so damn useful.

 

[BuggeryBugz]

i like it. sounds interesting, yet dull. like an AI that doesnt quite get it. IMO, it works.

Yeah, he was obviously instructed to sound like this and I don't mind it.

 

[elcapitan]

http://youtu.be/clRpcIHpmoY?t=1m8s

This is how he sounds like in the latest trailer at E3. Did none of you see it or something? They obviously haven't processed his voice yet.

 

[Fedele]

My job here is done. I was laughing out loud at those parts.

Fantastic, these were absolutely laughable, haha!

Really, really boring and non-convincing.

I'd like to have an assistant that sounds (and acts) much more like Tim Dadabo as 343 Guilty Spark.

 

[jtan]

I enjoyed him, it fits the way I imagined Ghost would talk. I wasn't expecting it to feel like there's another person there.

 

[Xplatformer]

Didn't really notice once I started playing

It bothers me in the alpha.

It's going to be annoying after 10 hours in single player.

Claudia Black OTOH is always amazing.

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

Not bad. I get that there's little emotion but it supposed to be a robot no? In that sense I think it does a fine job. Not great, but good.

He's an AI. We've seen much better voice acting for AI's for quite some time now, this is just plain bad.

You want to make it sound robotic? Make it sound like 343 Guilty Spark or Glados.

 

[ComputerBlue]

Most overrated actor of the century.

Brad Pitt.

 

[sjay1994]

So bad its good.

"That wizard came from the moon" gave me a good laugh.

I have been switching between playing Transistor and the Alpha, and honestly, Bungie should have gotten whoever is voicing the sword in Transistor.

 

[RoKKeR]

This is how he sounds like in the latest trailer at E3. Did none of you see it or something? They obviously haven't processed his voice yet.

http://youtu.be/clRpcIHpmoY?t=1m8s

Ah, nice catch! Definitely doesn't sound like that in the Alpha.

 

[Xplatformer]

This is how he sounds like in the latest trailer at E3. Did none of you see it or something? They obviously haven't processed his voice yet.

http://youtu.be/clRpcIHpmoY?t=1m8s

That helps. I can deal with that.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

The voice in the alpha definitely sounds like it's missing modulation. I think the E3 trailer had a filter over it, which will probably help a lot. A big problem with what we have so far is that it sounds like he's just sitting right next to you and talking, or something - it never sounds like he's a robot or in the world or anything like that. You can almost hear the pages turning in the recording booth.

That said, Dinklage is a fantastic actor, and the real issue lies in the script they handed him. There's no way to say "If you see something in the air, kill it!" or several variations on "wait here while I open this door" convincingly. Likewise, it's pretty hard to wax poetic about THE DARKNESS effectively (unless you're Mike Patton).

 

[tokyostomp]

I don't hear an English accent at all in his work IN THE GAME.

Where are people hearing this?

 

[antitrop]

It some of the worst VO I've heard in a game since 90s JRPGs.

It's Resident Evil levels of terrible.

 

[Zyae]

As an Englishman, I feel confident in saying that yes, his English accent is abysmal.

You know that GOT doesnt take place in England, right? And that Every single Lannister has a different sounding Accent.

 

[Myggen]

Absolutely awful. Sounds like he's going for a monotone since it's a robot, but he just sounds so bored. I hope this isn't how it'll sound in the final game (it probably is) because his voice is the voice you'll hear the most in PvE.

 

[LordOfChaos]

http://youtu.be/clRpcIHpmoY?t=1m8s

This is how he sounds like in the latest trailer at E3. Did none of you see it or something? They obviously haven't processed his voice yet.

Hmm, I wonder if they'll add the robot filter to all his dialogue in the actual game.

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

AIs are not meant to sound monotone anyway. As computerised replications of human intelligence they can develop their own personality.

It's bad directing, not bad acting.

 

[Zyae]

http://youtu.be/clRpcIHpmoY?t=1m8s

This is how he sounds like in the latest trailer at E3. Did none of you see it or something? They obviously haven't processed his voice yet.

Yeah, that literally sounds fine. This is being so overblown.

 

[Vire]

How are you supposed to read "The wizard came from the moon" with a straight face.

The VO is bad, don't get me wrong, but I'd say the writing is even worse.

 

[indigo-cyclops]

I hopped in today to play and yes, it's awful at this time. Maybe it will be fixed for final, but the bad writing will still be there.