Definitive Edition Cutscenes Narration Downgraded

[Hideous Kojima]

I played the original AOE II that had the cutscenes narration for some of the campaigns. They were the best writing and voice acting I've ever heard... maybe barring that of the Darkest Dungeon. They really set up the background and the atmosphere for the missions ahead. I especially loved the Attila's, El Cid's and Cuatemoc's. The narration was masterfully paced, emotive and emphatic where needed. I was in middle school at the time in 2011 and we were learning figurative language in English class. For my essay, I adopted Cuatemoc's "The air was heavy with perfume... chatters filled the halls..." etc. in my story and the teacher said she wasn't sure if she could write better. As for Attila, the dialogue between father Armand and the inquirer was so awesome... the tension palpable and the narration painted the setting in your mind. For El Cid, Ximenez Diaz narration had the right hint of sorrow veiled by feminine gentleness and beauty of her voice.

Unfortunately, the new cutscenes (the art and the narration) in my opinion are just worse. The Attilla's one seems that of an almost teenage French guy (I get it it's happening in France, but his eccentric/interesting accent doesn't preclude him from actually doing a good job) who just doesn't evoke the tension filled air between him and father Armand. The new artwork is way too clean and erased of all the character and creepiness of the hooded old-man's stare and him grimacing at the skull on the stake. Attila's artistic depiction was much more fearsome and awe-inspiring in the older one. As for Quatemoc, his speech previously was much more convincing to be that of an Aztec warrior and the older narration spoke with much more emphasis and overall liveliness. For example the part where it read "I was a warrior, not a seer and knew not what to make of such omens... " you can tell just who had the better voice acting if you just juxtapose them on YouTube.

I can point out other instances but you get my point. I am very saddened to see them remove the old cutscenes just for the sake of redoing them. It was not like the old audio was of bad quality (you can find them of perfect quality in YouTube) but maybe the art I can concede a little on quality but it was just more artistic IMO. I forgot to mention that the sound effects accompanying the narration was much better and more appropriate in the older one.

I am all for progress, advancing, tackling the new things but we shouldn't neglect and discard something just because it existed in an older time. It is a big injustice to those amazing voice actors who put their heart and minds into imagining themselves in the shoes of their character and doing a fantastic job, whereas the new narrations just seem lazy, unimaginative and overall not given much care. I would like to see Microsoft Games Studio make available the older cutscenes. Leave your thoughts and comments below.

[Karl Perkins]

Couldn't agree more. Many of the replacements are just dull and there's no excuse for not giving us the option to enable the classic voice acting. Who in his right mind would even come up with the idea to replace the narrator of the Attila the Hun campaign?

[Buntkreuz]

Originally posted by Karl Perkins:

Couldn't agree more. Many of the replacements are just dull and there's no excuse for not giving us the option to enable the classic voice acting. Who in his right mind would even come up with the idea to replace the narrator of the Attila the Hun campaign?

The DE is a complete rework, that needed them to redo the campaigns. Maybe they had to revoice all the dialogues aswell and couldnt use the old sound files for some reasons.

[Jackkel Dragon]

I've liked most of the reworked campaign voice overs so far. While I can understand the nostalgia factor and I can assume that some of the old dialogue was better acted, I really like the increased accuracy the DE narration has with name pronunciation. (For instance, ever since learning how Genghis Khan is meant to be pronounced, it's hard to listen to the way most people say it. DE uses a more accurate version of the pronunciation.) Of course, I also didn't play many of the AoK/TC campaigns in their original form (except for El Cid), so I'm a bit biased toward the new version.

As for the art, I generally prefer the new art. It feels a lot cleaner to me for some reason. I think that's more of a personal taste thing, though.

I do wonder if there was perhaps a requirement in-studio to redo all of the original campaign voice overs. Perhaps someone in a management position wanted to unify the art style and voice acting between the old and new campaigns. Unfortunately, that's something that the developers or Microsoft would have to tell us...

[Felidae]

I will have to install the original AoE2 and see, some things are not as great as we remember...

or at least not at the level of William Wallace Narration and the intro video.

[Giblet Gravy]

couldn't agree more, here's hoping someone makes a mod that lets you switch back to the old narration and artwork

[TheGodfather626]

I agree with you guys that the voice acting for the DE seems to be a down grade and I wish someone would make a mod to bring back the old voice acting. I would do it myself, but I have little cash to spare to get the programs necessary to do so (also the skills needed to turn the audio files into mods, but I could use Youtube for that part). Nevertheless, I am still waiting for the day when someone make the mod we all want.

[Hopkins955]

Any update on this one? I read about the official AoE forum where a modder commented that bringing back the old voiceovers with a mod is not an easy task:

steps March 13, 2020

Original voiceover requires a lot of work. It's not only about adding in the files, but also making sure the text syncs up (JSON and localization files) as they are quite different. I can't promise anything, though it would be great if someone does it first.

There is currently a known issue where you cannot use "Previous/Next" to skip to specific parts of a custom slide narration.


http://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/2397

[-Dare Devil/x/]

Originally posted by Hopkins955:

Any update on this one? I read about the official AoE forum where a modder commented that bringing back the old voiceovers with a mod is not an easy task:

steps March 13, 2020

Original voiceover requires a lot of work. It's not only about adding in the files, but also making sure the text syncs up (JSON and localization files) as they are quite different. I can't promise anything, though it would be great if someone does it first.

There is currently a known issue where you cannot use "Previous/Next" to skip to specific parts of a custom slide narration.


http://store.steampowered.com

-You an check the ingame mod manager to see if anyone finished it.

[Hopkins955]

OK guys, BIG NEWS!

There is a new mod called Original AoE2 Campaigns created by JoaAOE, which can be accessed here: https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/15606

This is HUGE!

You can also install these 2 to bring back original Backgrounds and Images by JoaAOE:
http://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/15601/
http://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/15603/

I just tried and I can confirm it works! Watch out for instructions in the mods' description!

[Felidae]

Originally posted by Hopkins955:

OK guys, BIG NEWS!

There is a new mod called Original AoE2 Campaigns created by JoaAOE, which can be accessed here: https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/15606

This is HUGE!

You can also install these 2 to bring back original Backgrounds and Images by JoaAOE:
http://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/15601/
http://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/15603/

I just tried and I can confirm it works! Watch out for instructions in the mods' description!

The English are terrorizing all of Scotland!!!!

But first, we need to learn how to march and fight...

[TheGodfather626]

Originally posted by Felidae:

The English are terrorizing all of Scotland!!!!

But first, we need to learn how to march and fight...

I loved that campaign and the voice acting for it in the original game and I was disappointed when I saw that they changed the narrator for it in DE...

[mickeyjim2]

Its not just the voice acting. The new cutscenes feel like they've been sped up slightly which means there are no dramatic pauses. Those pauses helped a lot to build up the tension, especially when they were usually accompanied by a lingering shot of Attila's menacing face etc.

For me the worst ones were Attila, Genghis Khan and William Wallace. There's no menace or tension in the new Attila and Mongols VA. They lack conviction in the VA's performances which previously helped to emphasis the brutality of the Huns and Mongols actions. And the thick Scottish accent from the original Wallace campaign was iconic.

[Felidae]

Originally posted by TheGodfather626:

Originally posted by Felidae:

The English are terrorizing all of Scotland!!!!

But first, we need to learn how to march and fight...

I loved that campaign and the voice acting for it in the original game and I was disappointed when I saw that they changed the narrator for it in DE...

Same here... That phrase over there its priceless in the original... The All of schotland have so much oomph...

[Hopkins955]

Originally posted by Felidae:

Originally posted by TheGodfather626:

I loved that campaign and the voice acting for it in the original game and I was disappointed when I saw that they changed the narrator for it in DE...

Same here... That phrase over there its priceless in the original... The All of schotland have so much oomph...

THIS is the feeling I was talking about! That phrase burned to my mind and when I was playing the Definitive Edition first I noticed immediately something is OFF!

mickeyjim2 You are absolutely right, it might seem as a tiny detail but who played the original a lot will notice this! :)

[Felidae]

Do you recall another one that have so much oomph... Im having trouble recalling them...