What's with the Voice Acting in this game?

[AgentFlea]

It's like everybody's mouth is way too close to the mic when they recorded.

I really liked it at first, but the longer I'm playing the more I'm skipping through the voices
I'm sure it was intentional because it does sound kinda nice and soothing, at first.
But then it just sounds way too personal. Like they're in your personal space. Uncomfortably close to your eyes.

I guess it's a design choice, but I think it's a bit questionable.
They all sound too casual and cool and trying to be ASMR, which clashes with the hectic action.

By like 10~15 hours in I'm getting so over that style of voice acting, and the way their voices are mixed... Trying a bit too hard to sound soft. Ah well. It's a shame because I thought it was a really awesome design choice when I was first getting into it.


Just my 2 cents. I doubt many others would consider this a con.
Especially if they're all like me, fangirling over how awesome the games audio design is.

[Sishiya]

I quite like the VA and audio in the game; have you tried not wearing a headset? That might mitigate the "closeness" of the VA.

[C4RNIVOR3]

turn the voice volume down then? the only time the va has sounded wonky to me is when i listen to the voice isolated from everything else, but with the sound effects and music and whatnot its fine.

[AgentFlea]

Originally posted by C4RNIVOR3:

turn the voice volume down then? the only time the va has sounded wonky to me is when i listen to the voice isolated from everything else, but with the sound effects and music and whatnot its fine.

I have.

And with different earbuds.

I still raise the volume sometimes. Considering how dialogue heavy the game is.

[Uli Minati]

Originally posted by Aegis:

It's like everybody's mouth is way too close to the mic when they recorded.

Sorry, no idea what you mean. All voice lines are clear on my end. Maybe it's your sound settings?

There is one Aphrodite line added with the new patch which sounds strange, you can tell the VA was further away from the mic than usual. But that's the opposite of what you're saying.

[Mr.Door]

Nope, I don't get that at all?
VA sounds more than fine to me.

[Burr Sir]

I know what you mean and I really love it! It kinda makes sense in a weird way because these are gods talking to each other, maybe it should feel this personal and close to you. But I think one way to fix your problem with it is turning the dialogue volume down or not wearing headphones

[omniwyrd]

I'll be honest and say I liked the voice over of Bastion and Transistor the most. They felt far more free flowing when compared to either Pyre or Hades, but that is the design contrast of the games themselves.

Zagreus is brilliant yet the Gods and their various quips seem to come out of nowhere (although relevent to the part of the story). But hey; that is the design of the story. The Olympian Gods are sending messages into the void without much of a two way response. Quite frankly I think of it like the void's version of youtube personalities, narcissistic monologues being delivered to your very own ears. I couldn't find any other way of communication as irritable as that. But I do love the presentation of the Gods in this game.

When you say it is as if they are speaking too close to the microphone are you getting distortion? I don't, and everything else I excuse to game design.

[Morphic]

Originally posted by Uli Minati:

Originally posted by Aegis:

It's like everybody's mouth is way too close to the mic when they recorded.

Sorry, no idea what you mean. All voice lines are clear on my end. Maybe it's your sound settings?

There is one Aphrodite line added with the new patch which sounds strange, you can tell the VA was further away from the mic than usual. But that's the opposite of what you're saying.

[Awakened Gamer]

Originally posted by Aegis:

It's like everybody's mouth is way too close to the mic when they recorded.

I really liked it at first, but the longer I'm playing the more I'm skipping through the voices
I'm sure it was intentional because it does sound kinda nice and soothing, at first.
But then it just sounds way too personal. Like they're in your personal space. Uncomfortably close to your eyes.

I guess it's a design choice, but I think it's a bit questionable.
They all sound too casual and cool and trying to be ASMR, which clashes with the hectic action.

By like 10~15 hours in I'm getting so over that style of voice acting, and the way their voices are mixed... Trying a bit too hard to sound soft. Ah well. It's a shame because I thought it was a really awesome design choice when I was first getting into it.


Just my 2 cents. I doubt many others would consider this a con.
Especially if they're all like me, fangirling over how awesome the games audio design is.

I really doubt super giant games is getting lazy, they put a ton of passion in this game, I personally loved the voices.

[Mr.Door]

I wonder if its the VA directing that maybe you don't like?

If we are talking about the same thing; I've noted a lot of lines are light and breathy, as if everyone is almost murmuring (which would make sense as Zag is considered way too chatty for the underworld)

However, I think it is due to the nature of the characters, which I believe you hear it most clearly on Aphrodite and Nyx. The gods are superior, holier than thou, beings. I believe that maybe what you're hearing is how the VAs all took this air of "oh, look, cute zag trying to escape hell again" kinda this sweet but demeaning tone, almost. Haughty. Dignified. On the verge of turning to poison if any slight would be detected. Of course Nyx is always loving but she's from different stock than one of the 12 Olympians.

While other NPCs that were human or alive at some point, Eurydices and Orpehus for example, seem to talk comfortably and almost loudly (Though Orpheus still sounds mousey, as is his nature, his bright and quick way of speaking with emotive inflections draw him apart)

The only "human" NPCs that talk closer to how the gods do is Achilles and Patrocleus (But they are "heroes" which is technically a step up from human) and Theseus... well he is a Chad and a Chad will sound like a Chad.

[AgentFlea]

Originally posted by Dragonbound:

Originally posted by Aegis:

It's like everybody's mouth is way too close to the mic when they recorded.

I really liked it at first, but the longer I'm playing the more I'm skipping through the voices
I'm sure it was intentional because it does sound kinda nice and soothing, at first.
But then it just sounds way too personal. Like they're in your personal space. Uncomfortably close to your eyes.

I guess it's a design choice, but I think it's a bit questionable.
They all sound too casual and cool and trying to be ASMR, which clashes with the hectic action.

By like 10~15 hours in I'm getting so over that style of voice acting, and the way their voices are mixed... Trying a bit too hard to sound soft. Ah well. It's a shame because I thought it was a really awesome design choice when I was first getting into it.


Just my 2 cents. I doubt many others would consider this a con.
Especially if they're all like me, fangirling over how awesome the games audio design is.

I really doubt super giant games is getting lazy, they put a ton of passion in this game, I personally loved the voices.

Never said they were getting lazy. It's obvious it's executed fantastic. And yeah, It's barely a con and I'm being super nitpicky, but I just ended up turning them down. They all talk like therapists or something. Super soft spoken and... odd

Originally posted by Mr.Door:

I wonder if its the VA directing that maybe you don't like?

If we are talking about the same thing; I've noted a lot of lines are light and breathy, as if everyone is almost murmuring (which would make sense as Zag is considered way too chatty for the underworld)

However, I think it is due to the nature of the characters, which I believe you hear it most clearly on Aphrodite and Nyx.

While other NPCs that were human or alive at some point, Eurydices and Orpehus for example, seem to talk comfortably and almost loudly (Though Orpheus still sounds mousey, as is his nature, his bright and quick way of speaking with emotive inflections draw him apart)

The only "human" NPCs that talk closer to how the gods do is Achilles and Patrocleus (But they are "heroes" which is technically a step up from human) and Theseus... well he is a Chad and a Chad will sound like a Chad.

Yeah this makes a lot of sense. The main character sounds sorta that way too. It's a hell of a contrast with the music and setting. It's not quite dull, but when you compare it to a character like the Skeleton dummy in your base, their personality and manner of speaking falls kinda flat IMO.

But then again, they're super confident gods.

[Blink4aMoment]

I honestly think you might be mistaking high quality sound design for ASMR tier mic mumble. Like yes it feels Darren Korb is whispering into my ear when I hear Zagreus, Orpheus or Skelly speak but I have never noticed any audio mistakes. Keep in mind most of the voice lines are recorded in a professional audio room with a mic close to their face and the walls are likely covered in acoustic paneling. I think this is part of what you're describing. I think a lot of the voice actors were likely directed in such a way that they aren't meant to sound like regular people. I think your criticism of the olympians all sounding alike is pretty unfair, Zeus is booming, Dionysius is laid back and slurs, Posiedon seems to laugh in almost every voice line, Hermes talks so fast it hurts me, Artemis and Aphrodite kind of have a similar vocal range but huge difference in speaking tone.
That being said I have picked up on the direction of the voice acting being more akin to a stage play than a TV show or something, some people are very sing song, some are very rough, very few characters are allowed to have a normal persons vocal range. Most cartoons, anime, and plays are like that though and while it could be annoying to some I think its a good design choice and brings a lot of flavor to the game and the different characters. Also if you keep playing eventually Hermes will ask you if he should shut up i suggest taking it if you don't like the VA. He won't even get sad he just knows the voice lines could be slowing you down and he wouldn't want that ;}

[AgentFlea]

Originally posted by HexFlex32:

aren't meant to sound like regular people. I think your criticism of the olympians all sounding alike is pretty unfair, Zeus is booming, Dionysius is laid back and slurs, Posiedon seems to laugh in almost every voice line, Hermes talks so fast it hurts me, Artemis and Aphrodite kind of have a similar vocal range but huge difference in speaking tone.
That being said I have picked up on the direction of the voice acting being more akin to a stage play than a TV show or something, some people are very sing song, some are very rough, very few characters are allowed to have a normal persons vocal range.

No I absolutely can tell it's high quality. I dig the sound design overall but I think it's just a creative decision that didn't jell well with me. And yeah like you said, it sounds as if the mic was put extremely close to their face lol

I think it's the combination of the super relaxed sounding dialogue, and that ultra-smooth silky vocal tone they use. I go back and worth with it.

I do appreciate them sounding like Gods and ethereal deities. I've played other games were these gods are portrayed (God of War) But it's mostly just a handful of characters that the voices fall flat to me. I get that therapist vibe if you know what I mean... xD

[caw]

I like the voice acting in this game.

and I do agree that some gods sound alike and if you were to do blind test i bet a lot of people wouldnt notice difference between ares and dionysius for example. BUT the way I look at is that the subtleties is what you end up appreciating I guess :P ^_^

However I just wish some characters would be able to stand on their own rather than follow the archetype. Could you imagine if Ares for example would just drop the voice archetype and ends up sounding more like someone who they call God of War would sound like? Alucard from Hellsing Ultimate comes to mind. Both very similar, still follows the voice archetype, but is able to stand on its own.

idk xD lmao

[qawal]

Yea, most of em speak in this weirdly moisty, lip smacky, tongue slappy, texture.
Especially Meg and Achilles, my god... Hearing them speak makes me wanna gargle my mouth dry.

But overall Im okay with it, if we have any complains about how they mixed the audio or how they recorded them. All we can do is be aware tbh. Cuz they've uniformed their voices to be mixed that way and to remix or re-record every single one would be demanding too much from the talents and the production team.

They have a dozen or so new characters in the making and to change that format so abruptly because of a nitpick would slow them down for no reason. (and that means every single dialogue in a game that still has new ones appearing after 50 hours of playtime)

So yknow, silver lining at least you're not crazy to think there's something weird going on with the VO work. Everyone notices it.