English or Russian voice?

[Sodie Popping]

Im about to play this game and wondering if I should have the language for the voices to be in english or russian, is the english dub good and how does it compare to the Russian one, im asking because with games like STALKER the Russian dub is superior to the english because of the more quality voice acting and obviously because it immerses you in the setting more so im wondering which one i should go for?

[Heikai]

The English voice acting is great. I would not recommend picking Russian for the first playthrough unless you understand Russian.

[Sodie Popping]

Originally posted by Heikai:

The English voice acting is great. I would not recommend picking Russian for the first playthrough unless you understand Russian.

Ok thanks, i was just wondering if the russian portrayals were better but ill probably stick with english then

[Komaru]

Mark Immortel's english dub is damn good and the english dub of the main trio is decent.

[kalevatar]

AFAIK there is no moment in the game when the voices aren't subtitled, so you won't have a problem of missing anything if you don't understand Russian - it's just a matter of preferences; both dubs are very good. Personally I go with Russian, as it suits the setting better and I just like the voices, especially in case of Sticky and Bachelor.

[Pancakes]

Russian voice - English subtitles.
I'm not familiar enough with Russian to notice different regional accents, but the mix of locations with the English voices was awful.

[Heikai]

Not understanding the spoken language hurts the experience, and you can't appreciate the acting performances the same way. Having to read subtitles also makes it different. You're probably reading the subtitles much quicker than the spoken dialogue, and then you're just waiting for the voice acting to catch up. The voice acting doesn't even really mean anything to you if you don't understand the language.

Reading subtitles is also problematic when you're in the middle of a stressful situation because it demands extra concentration. The plague voices comes to mind. I don't think that absolutely everything is even subtitled. Enemy NPC grunts are not subtitled I'm pretty sure ("You're not going anywhere!").

There are no good reasons to pick a language you don't understand over the one you do understand especially when it's as great as it is. Maybe for the second playthrough.

Originally posted by Pancakes:

I'm not familiar enough with Russian to notice different regional accents, but the mix of locations with the English voices was awful.

English is not my native language so I can't have as informed opinion about this, but I have not noticed this. Or maybe I have, but it didn't register as a problem to me. I mean, I have not seen anyone else even mention this other than you. It doesn't stand out negatively at the very least. Is it even a problem? Even if it's a problem, the problems of picking a language you don't understand are much worse imo.

[Chuck P]

Go for russian voices. it's always better to enjoy a work in its original intended language, even if you don't speak it yourself. At the very least it makes the experience more authentic; after all the game is set in Russia, albeit a fantastic version of it. And even if you don't understand the words themselves you can get a lot just out of the way they are spoken. Plus, and this is only my opinion, I don't like the english dub at all, it sounds stilted and makes the whole thing feel phony, and this is coming from a non native english speaker.

As a side note, you will never get the full experience If you don't speak the original language, whether you play in russian or english. With the former you don't get the words, with the latter you get an imperfect translation (all translations are imperfect by nature, even if this one is pretty great overall). But even if you don't get the full experience, both options are good enough that you can get most of it anyway, so pick whichever you like best and don't focus too much on what you might miss.

Originally posted by Heikai:

There are no good reasons to pick a language you don't understand over the one you do understand especially when it's as great as it is. Maybe for the second playthrough.

A language is not just meaning, it has it's own aesthetic: the chosen language can be as important in creating atmosphere as is music or art style. The translations in this game are good enough that you will miss out on very little dialogue no matter what language you go with. What does it matter if you don't know the meaning of the word стой? if a guy with a knife yells it at you in the middle of an empty street at night you can infer it well enough. But if you go with english dubbing you are missing out on more than just words.

[Sodie Popping]

Originally posted by Chuck P:

Go for russian voices. it's always better to enjoy a work in its original intended language, even if you don't speak it yourself. At the very least it makes the experience more authentic; after all the game is set in Russia, albeit a fantastic version of it. And even if you don't understand the words themselves you can get a lot just out of the way they are spoken. Plus, and this is only my opinion, I don't like the english dub at all, it sounds stilted and makes the whole thing feel phony, and this is coming from a non native english speaker.

As a side note, you will never get the full experience If you don't speak the original language, whether you play in russian or english. With the former you don't get the words, with the latter you get an imperfect translation (all translations are imperfect by nature, even if this one is pretty great overall). But even if you don't get the full experience, both options are good enough that you can get most of it anyway, so pick whichever you like best and don't focus too much on what you might miss.

Originally posted by Heikai:

There are no good reasons to pick a language you don't understand over the one you do understand especially when it's as great as it is. Maybe for the second playthrough.

A language is not just meaning, it has it's own aesthetic: the chosen language can be as important in creating atmosphere as is music or art style. The translations in this game are good enough that you will miss out on very little dialogue no matter what language you go with. What does it matter if you don't know the meaning of the word стой? if a guy with a knife yells it at you in the middle of an empty street at night you can infer it well enough. But if you go with english dubbing you are missing out on more than just words.

I’ll probably do English for the first run but I agree with you tho for the game Stalker I have it in Russian with English subtitle because the Russian voices are so more authentic than a generic American voice actor putting on a terrible Russian accent

[Fear Ghoul]

I've only gone about four days into the game and I remember two points where there was someone speaking with no subtitles. There is also the fact that when you talk to people, the dialogue in text is not the same as what the character says, they instead say something else, and what they say might at first seem like it doesn't really matter, but sometimes there are actual clues to things in what they say, so for these reasons, I'd suggest playing in English so you don't miss out on anything.

[Pancakes]

Originally posted by Heikai:

English is not my native language so I can't have as informed opinion about this, but I have not noticed this. Or maybe I have, but it didn't register as a problem to me. I mean, I have not seen anyone else even mention this other than you. It doesn't stand out negatively at the very least. Is it even a problem? Even if it's a problem, the problems of picking a language you don't understand are much worse imo.

It was especially jarring for me having two different countries accents - speaking the same language in the same location. At least with the Russian - and my lack of familiarity with the accents, it sounds like it fits and blends together.

The subtitles work just fine for me when playing and to be honest with you, after a while I ignore most of what they're saying in general dialogue, unless I'm being attacked, I don't really care what they have to say. Focused dialogue isn't voiced, so you're relying on text regardless.

[Fear Ghoul]

You shouldn't ignore what they say, you never know when there might be a clue to something.

And I agree with how weird it is with the different accents in the English dub.

[Pancakes]

Originally posted by Fear Ghoul:

You shouldn't ignore what they say, you never know when there might be a clue to something.

And I agree with how weird it is with the different accents in the English dub.

There reaches a point where you get tired of their babbling and just brute force your way through. That's the point of the game [both original and remake] that I look forward to, where I get tired of their ♥♥♥♥ and do what I can to take control. It was most pronounced in the original release of the original game with the babelfish translation. Playing as Clara, I reached that point about Day 9 and it turned into an even more desperate struggle from that point on - I stopped caring about what was going on and instead focused on just getting through it. It's what leads into my hatred of playing as the Bachelor, enjoyment of playing as the Haruspex and mixed feelings towards playing as the Changeling.

[petrichorus]

I've played through with both, and I honestly prefer the English VAs most of the time. Maybe that's just because I understand them, but there are also some particularly dramatic segments during which I think the Russian is significantly less effective notably the section in the Abbatoir .
Either way though, your choice.

[Double-D]

I'd say - go with whatever you feel more familiar. Both dubs are well acted, all the Russian proverbs are nicely adapted for English speakers and sound quality is good for both cases.
Don't think you're gonna lose anything if you play in English dub. For the record - I'm Russian, so I know what I'm talking about.

[dande48]

I'd recommend going with English. Here's why:
The spoken words don't align with the dialogue text. When first talking with someone, they usually state a phrase (not read), and then carry on through the dialogue box.