RPGDot Network    
   

 
 
Wish
Display full image
Pic of the moment
More
pics from the gallery
 
 
Site Navigation

Main
   News
   Forums

Games
   Games Database
   Top 100
   Release List
   Support Files

Features
   Reviews
   Previews
   Interviews
   Editorials
   Diaries
   Misc

Download
   Gallery
   Music
   Screenshots
   Videos

Miscellaneous
   Staff Members
   Privacy Statement

FAQ
Members
Usergroups
Gothic 2 is awesome in every respect but voice acting - Why?
  View previous topic :: View next topic
RPGDot Forums > Gothic 2 General

Author Thread
oozle
Keeper of the Gates
Keeper of the Gates




Joined: 18 Dec 2001
Posts: 112
Gothic 2 is awesome in every respect but voice acting - Why?
   

Gothic 2 is easily one of the best games I've ever played. However, it is perfect in almost every respect except voice acting. Why did they hire B-grade English voice actors, when the German voice acting is so good?

I just wish they put more effort into voice acting, which adds so much to the immersion of the game.

Very few games have top quality voice acting (only ones i can think of are Delta Force BHD, Warcraft III)

Nearly all RPG's are ruined by poor voice acting. I just don't get it. The musical score is so good, everything is spot on, except voice acting. Why Why Why????
Post Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:07 pm
 View user's profile
Shrapnel
Rocket Scientist
Rocket Scientist




Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 1325
Location: Newark, NJ
   

Its not so much the acting is bad is more like every 3rd-4th person you talk to sounds like Xardas, Diego or Lord Andre (or versions thereof).

They say they used 12 people, feels more like 5 people lowering their voices lol
Post Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:34 pm
 View user's profile
elkston
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 21 Sep 2002
Posts: 691
Location: North Carolina, USA
   

Overall, I'd say the quality of the voice acting varies. At its best, it is good and at its worst it is somewhat sloppy. The voice of the hero seems to be good throughout but Shrapnel is right when he says they could have had just a few more actors. Xardas and Lord Hagen seem to be everywhere! I understand the realities of budgeting a game like this and its normal for voice actors to perfrom more than one voice, but just 1 additional one in the mix would have addded a lot.

It is still a fantastic game so far (in ch. 4) and the voice acting isn't bad enough that it distracts from the expereince.
_________________
All shall hear the words of Karras...the words of Karras
Post Wed Jun 25, 2003 2:05 pm
 View user's profile
AnimalMother
Head Merchant
Head Merchant




Joined: 08 Dec 2002
Posts: 56
Location: UK
   

One other game that had good voice acting, The thief series. I thought the voicews in that were excellent.
_________________
A good man may be stupid and still be good, but a bad man must have brains.
Post Wed Jun 25, 2003 2:22 pm
 View user's profile
Hagen
Counselor of the King
Counselor of the King




Joined: 18 Jun 2003
Posts: 350
Location: England
   

hmmm, I semi agree, some of its bad, there a certainly farmer that sounds absolutely stupid! lol, but most of its ok...
_________________
"There are many questions which fools can ask that wise men cannot answer."
--George Polya (1887-1985)
Post Wed Jun 25, 2003 6:08 pm
 View user's profile
scooter
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 7
   

I never get tired of hearing that
"You Aint gettin in here my boy!"
Post Wed Jun 25, 2003 10:05 pm
 View user's profile
olaf73
Eager Tradesman
Eager Tradesman




Joined: 19 Jun 2003
Posts: 30
   

I cant stand Lee's voice, and that actor voices a lot of characters also.

olaf
Post Wed Jun 25, 2003 11:45 pm
 View user's profile
the mighty stamar
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 602
Location: arcata ca, humboldt county
   

Heh the worst example of this is one of the farm girls is voiced by one of the male actors trying to sound female.... sort of. It really stands out as bad to me. Its a farm girl near the land owner, if anyone wants to find her
Ill have to check out her name next time im in that area.
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 1:55 am
 View user's profile
Irf
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 18 Jul 2002
Posts: 1032
Location: England
   

Well, voice acting = expensive, and i guess rpg's tend to have rubbish voice actors because of their settings, Gothic 2 is set in medievil times, they hired american voice actors, but america didnt exist back then (well, no english speakers were there) so obviously the voices will not fit, they should ahve hired british voice actors, IMO it would have sounded alot better. It would have been good if they didnt have the same actor for both a lead role and citizens/farmers. And i agree lee, and a few other lead characters have terrible voices
_________________
=High Shadow of the RPGDot Shadows=
=Mercenary of the Gothic Rogues=
=Member of the Sixth House=
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 2:16 am
 View user's profile
FetishFool
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 484
Location: Toronto, Ontario
   

Nothing regarding the english voice acting was done right.
The translaters used British slang in the translations. Then Americans, that have never used words like "Fancy" and "Chap" before, were told to give a personality to the script.

What ended up happening was a lot of on-the-fly editing, which left many sentences incoherent. It also seems like entire dialogues were missing.

Gothic 1 had flawless voice acting and a beautiful script.
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 3:29 am
 View user's profile
Detori
Head Merchant
Head Merchant




Joined: 29 Nov 2002
Posts: 69
Location: Hungary
   

quote:
Originally posted by FetishFool
What ended up happening was a lot of on-the-fly editing, which left many sentences incoherent. It also seems like entire dialogues were missing.


I also felt the same, I am slightly irritated by 'pubs' being called 'taverns' and some other inconsistencies...
_________________
You don't know the power of the dark side...
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 10:06 am
 View user's profile
Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Stranger In A Strange Land




Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia
   

I don't tihnk I can agree that nothing is right with the voice acting in G2 and Gothic is perfect. The quality of voice acting in G2 does vary and there is a little too much repetition but overall it's quite satisfactory; apart from the repetition it's not that different to Gothic.

Bear in mind very few RPG's have full voice for every line; it's really quite ambitious for a small developer.
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 10:07 am
 View user's profile
olaf73
Eager Tradesman
Eager Tradesman




Joined: 19 Jun 2003
Posts: 30
   

I think the voice acting is better in G2 than G1, at least in the English versions. The voices are the same in many cases, but they seem to be more familiar with their lines and/or have more experience in reading them.

olaf
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 5:36 pm
 View user's profile
FetishFool
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 484
Location: Toronto, Ontario
   

The voice acting was satisfactory. It'd still be satisfactory if only one guy and one girl did all the voice acting.

Apart from the not-so-great script, emotions weren't always portrayed.
If it wasn't for the emotes (eg: (angrily), (annoyed), (grumpy) ) that are throughout the subtitles, you'd never guess the character was angry, or annoyed through many of the conversations. Grumpy was depicted with a throat-clearing sound at the beginning of the sentence, most of the time.

But of course, most players have subtitles off. So they wouldn't have noticed any change in mood.

What makes Gothic so special is it's immersive dialogue. The storyline is pretty straight-forward, and it's not as open ended as other RPGs.
The voice acting needs to be something more than just satisfactory.
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 7:11 pm
 View user's profile
Dez
King of the Realms
King of the Realms




Joined: 08 Jan 2003
Posts: 455
Location: Fortress of Tell Halaf
   

I decided not to put spoilers here..afterall this is spoirless discussion..so that text of mine was a bit too much spoiler heavy
_________________
The focused mind can pierce through stone


Last edited by Dez on Thu Jun 26, 2003 11:15 pm; edited 3 times in total
Post Thu Jun 26, 2003 11:00 pm
 View user's profile


Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
All times are GMT.
The time now is Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:47 am



Powered by phpBB © 2001 phpBB Group
 
 
 
All original content of this site is copyrighted by RPGWatch. Copying or reproducing of any part of this site is strictly prohibited. Taking anything from this site without authorisation will be considered stealing and we'll be forced to visit you and jump on your legs until you give it back.