69 réponses à ce sujet

[wookieeassassin]

It seems like a lot of people complain about the quality of the male and female Commander Shepard voice actors. I have never understood this, do they not like either of them because their accent or tone doesn't fit their preconceived notion of what they think Shepard should sound like?

I personally don't see any issues with either of the voice actors being too emotional/not emotional enough..

[Fraevar]

It comes down to people wanting different things and liking one over the other. The problem is that some people on the opposing end will always use that as an excuse to rave on and on and on about how the other side is "wrong", and then you cannot have a civil conversation.



Short answer: Personal preferences.

[xxSgt_Reed_24xx]

Cause Meer sucks?

[wookieeassassin]

Also, I know that people can be critics without being able to do something themselves, but I bet 95% or more of the people that play the game probably couldn't do any better.

[DeadlyWinter]

I have no complaints about Jennifer Hale's work as FemShep. I think she does an amazing job in Mass Effect and I've enjoyed a lot her other voice work as well. Mark Meer I go back and forth with, though. Some of his line deliveries are really awkward and I wonder sometimes if he has a little trouble getting into the character. He's not terrible or anything, but he's not my favorite either.

Saying that, it's really a moot point in my opinion. The voices are so inextricably linked with the characters now for me I wouldn't ever want them to replace either.

[MrDizazta]

Personally, its just some peoples way of complaining about an awesome game. You will see a lot of the complaints from RPG elitists who rather drink water in game for health instead of the deep complex interactions involving Shepard.

[catabuca]

Personal preference. You're picking lines for your Shepard to say, and sometimes the VA won't say them how you intended your Shepard to say them.

You can have a game where you choose dialogue where the protagonists aren't voiced, therefore letting you impose a voice on them in your head; or you can have a VA who speaks lines from a static script, and the player has no input in dialogue choices. Those two are the ONLY way you're ever going to get everyone happy on the VA thing, because as soon as you start choosing dialogue as a player, you start choosing meaning and intent too.

Me, I'm happy to choose dialogue, have it spoken by a VA, and I'll take my risk that sometimes Shep won't say it exactly how I want. I'd rather that than have a silent protagonist or no choice at all.

[the3rdbiscuit]

I don't have as much of a problem with the VAs as others do, but there's certainly room for improvement with both of them.

The main (and possibly only) problem with femsheps is that Jennifer Hale's voice doesn't quite fit with the over the top feminine look that 90% of them have. With the way character creation works it's almost impossible to make a Shepard that doesn't look 'Mass Effect', if you know what I mean. It'd be better if BioWare had let the user adjust more, if not all, of the attributes that determine what a face will look like.

Overall Hale's voice work is better than Mark Meer's. He can sound a little wooden at times, and plain cheesy at others (i.e. the "surprise attack" line when speaking to Vigil).

In general this can probably be put down to the fact that the lines are recorded independently and only come together long after the actors have left the studio. This can result in some dialogue sounding a little unnatural as the actors weren't actually talking to each other.

Modifié par the3rdbiscuit, 21 novembre 2010 - 05:29 .

[wookieeassassin]

How is the "surprise attack" line cheesy? What was supposed to be said here?



Regardless, a line in the game that is cheesy doesn't make the voice actor bad, the same way a ****ty movie doesn't make a film actor bad. There are lots of great actors that act their part perfectly but the part just sucks to begin with.

[xxSgt_Reed_24xx]

the3rdbiscuit wrote...

I don't have as much of a problem with the VAs as others do, but there's certainly room for improvement with both of them.

The main (and possibly only) problem with femsheps is that Jennifer Hale's voice doesn't quite fit with the over the top feminine look that 90% of them have. With the way character creation works it's almost impossible to make a Shepard that doesn't look 'Mass Effect', if you know what I mean. It'd be better if BioWare had let the user adjust more, if not all, of the attributes that determine what a face will look like.

Overall Hale's voice work is better than Mark Meer's. He can sound a little wooden at times, and plain cheesy at others (i.e. the "surprise attack" line when speaking to Vigil).

In general this can probably be put down to the fact that the lines are recorded independently and only come together long after the actors have left the studio. This can result in some dialogue sounding a little unnatural as the actors weren't actually talking to each other.

Well then, get the actors together... it kinda does ruin a scene when two characters are great and the other says something in a monotone, unemotional voice. (I'm looking at you Meer!)

[the3rdbiscuit]

wookieeassassin wrote...

How is the "surprise attack" line cheesy? What was supposed to be said here?

Regardless, a line in the game that is cheesy doesn't make the voice actor bad, the same way a ****ty movie doesn't make a film actor bad. There are lots of great actors that act their part perfectly but the part just sucks to begin with.

It wasn't the line that was the problem, it was Meer's delivery of it. It sounded like something from a school play and stuck out like a sore thumb.

Also, I'm not quite sure what you mean with the rest of your post. You compare one bad line to a whole film and then mention great actors in bad roles. Are you implying that the role of Shepard is a bad one and that Mark Meer is a great actor?

I don't think Meer is great, but I don't think he's bad either. A lot of the woodenness can be put down to how the lines are recorded, as I said before, and the fact that those lines aren't often recorded in the order we hear them.

xxSgt_Reed_24xx wrote...

Well then, get the actors
together... it kinda does ruin a scene when two characters are great and
the other says something in a monotone, unemotional voice. (I'm looking
at you Meer!)

The logistic of that can cause problems. In an ideal world this would be the case, but it's not always possible.

[Dark_Caduceus]

I actually like the male voice actor, I feel that the female voice actor tries too hard to squeeze too much emotion into every line, works sometimes, but doesn't at others.

[GreenSoda]

Of course it's mostly personal preference. It's simply one of the downsides of having fully voiced PCs: If you don't like the voice your 'effed.



Having said that most people seem to think the VA for femShep did a pretty good job. It's mostly dudeShep's VA that's gotten some flack from the community.

[catabuca]

Dark_Caduceus wrote...

I actually like the male voice actor, I feel that the female voice actor tries too hard to squeeze too much emotion into every line, works sometimes, but doesn't at others.

I more or less agree. I like Meer's voice for manShep. Hale, especially in ME2, grates on me. I can't ever speak to Jacob, and her default setting appears to be hardass****. Couple the voice with the way femShep is animated in ME2 (she has the same 'masculine' animations as manShep, regardless of the differences in her frame) and I find her unplayable a lot of the time.

The only exception is a recent paragon playthrough I made, running straight through from ME1 to ME2. I had to play her as paragon as possible to avoid the hardass**** default as much as possible. But yes, even then it seems like she's overdoing the emotion.

I Meer.

[mattylee10]

Thought everyone liked Hale's work - maybe I was wrong.

[catabuca]

mattylee10 wrote...

Thought everyone liked Hale's work - maybe I was wrong.

Those who prefer Meer and dislike Hale are in the minority, I think, but we certainly exist.

[thompsmt]

Well, I think Meer is serviceable as a VA. He's the greatest, but he does well enough. There's enough emotion inconsistency to put you a little off.



Hale, on the other hand, to me is more consistent in her emotional delivery. It made it more enjoyable to me.

[shinobi602]

I love Meer's voice acting. I usually play as a male anyway, being a male myself.



I've played as Femshep a few times, but I just can't enjoy Hale's VA. Most of the time it just sounds like she's angry when delivering her lines, or she's too serious, almost alllll the time. I just don't like it.



But I don't complain about it, people are free to use who they want

[ninja0809]

Meer was ok...Hale just did such a tremendous job it made meer look bad lol

[FuturePasTimeCE]

ninja0809 wrote...

Meer was ok...Hale just did such a tremendous job it made meer look bad lol

 she tried so hard to act as a butch lesbian... great job... wow.

meer sounded natural and what not.

[Christmas Ape]

FuturePasTimeCE wrote...

ninja0809 wrote...
Meer was ok...Hale just did such a tremendous job it made meer look bad lol

 she tried so hard to act as a butch lesbian... great job... wow.
meer sounded natural and what not.

I liked you better when you just posted nonsense masquerading as ill-formed conspiracy theories.

[wookieeassassin]

I haven't played much as a female Shepard but I kind of agree with shinobi. Most of the time when she talks she seems like she is pissed off even when she's saying something relatively benign.



Meer's emotion may not be spot on for every piece of dialogue, but since when did the video game community become acting experts?



the3rdbiscuit: You must be way more sensitive to voice acting than I am. I still don't hear anything absolutely terrible about that line. What about his inflection makes you dislike it so much?



Regardless, they could easily find worse people to be the voice actor's for Shepard...

[the3rdbiscuit]

wookieeassassin wrote...
I haven't played much as a female Shepard but I kind of agree with shinobi. Most of the time when she talks she seems like she is pissed off even when she's saying something relatively benign.

I agree with this. I still think Hale is a better actor than Meer (not only based on ME & ME2), but the tone she used goes a little too far for me.

wookieeassassin wrote...
Meer's emotion may not be spot on for every
piece of dialogue, but since when did the video game community become
acting experts?

One doesn't have to be an expert to find faults in something, or just to dislike it. There are faults with the voice acting, whether they are down to the actors themselves or the direction they were given isn't immediately obvious.

wookieeassassin wrote...
the3rdbiscuit: You must be way more sensitive to
voice acting than I am. I still don't hear anything absolutely terrible
about that line. What about his inflection makes you dislike it so much?

To be fair I didn't say it was 'absolutely terrible', just that it was cheesy and stood out as poor. My problem with it is that it's overacted and so sounds cheesy. That's it.

wookieeassassin wrote...
Regardless, they could easily find worse people to be the voice actor's for Shepard...

And equally they could have found better.

The voice acting is what it is. It's perfectly acceptable and certainly does the job. It's not the best I've heard, but for the vast majority of the time it's very good in my opinion.

Modifié par the3rdbiscuit, 21 novembre 2010 - 07:25 .