How fresh is it really when the new guy doing Sephiroth just sounds like George Newbern minus the sultriness? Or how Cody Christian sounds like Steve Burton?
This was solely done as a way to make it more mainstream by attracting the fans of these actors. Will it actually work? Hard to tell when this will sell big simply on the fact of what it is.
Right? That's what I was thinking too. How is it that they are wanting a "fresh" take on the characters yet they keep almost the same voice direction. It makes no sense - not to mention the Japanese version is keeping their Advent Children / Compilation Cast. I don't know what game Square Enix/ Sony is playing - but I don't like this dishonesty with fans and the voice actors.
Well, what if old VA just ended their roles? I'm talking about new projects that will be released by FFR, where is the guarantee that the old VAs will return there?
On twitter, some people have a panic about this.
Actually it isn't officially confirmed that Cook returned to her position as Tifa in Dissidia - only on Beyond the Voice Actors does it say, but they aren't saying where they got the confirmation either. We really don't know if there are any projects that are being made FOR these voice actors to return to (only only to voice like.....4 or 5 lines in).
I see FFVIIR as a complete reimagining of the original game, which didn’t have voice acting. All the FFVII VAs we know and love were cast here and there for different projects as needed. And many characters like Aerith have never had one consistent VA.
So from my perspective, and I believe from SE’s, this is an opportunity to voice cast the game from scratch with age appropriate voice actors who have good chemistry with each other, who can more easily adapt to changes in characterization, and who will be contracted to play the role for however many installments this project will run.
It’s nothing I have against any of the original VAs. I just think they’re making a creative choice to separate this game from the compilation and I support them in that. I’ve said this before, but as a theatre person, I have no issue with different actors playing the same role. In fact, I very much enjoy seeing new takes on a part.
While I see your point - the only actors that have worked together are Emery, Hoechlin, and Christian. I get they have a "rivalry" of sorts in Teen Wolf, but these voice actors have actually worked with each other in several projects too and also have chemistry. The fact that Japan is keeping the same voice actors as Advent Children and the Compilation doesn't help the argument about "age appropriateness" of the characters. Also, the original cast members have been available for 17 years to voice the characters even with their filming schedules (Burton being an Emmy wining actor and still on General Hospital) and Newbern (who was on Scandal). They both were able to record Dissidia NT and Mobius.
It also makes no sense that the new voice actors are trying to emulate the performance of the Compilation cast. What's the point of changing if they are just going to make them sound as close to the previous voice actors as possible (sans Barret and Tifa for some reason who are trying to impress the Western audience with a "Mr. T " stereotype and "tough girl" image.)
The Japanese voice actors are considered to be prolific actors and are highly well known with a huge fan following. They aren’t changing them because they can use them to promote the game.
Alternatively, the English voice actors are definitely people of some fame but hardly as well regarded as their Japanese counterparts. This gives them a lot of room to recast with younger, up and coming stars or more prolific ones, or even just cast people they feel fit these roles better now.
I mean if that is the case, why did they keep the voice actors for 17 years? There have been plenty up and coming youngsters that could fit the roles and yet they kept them. The OG's are well regarded, Crispin Freeman, Steve Blum, and Quinton Flynn are all Top Tiered voice actors and George Newbern is an incredible Superman. Heck Burton won 2 Emmy's for his acting - that's why they've been around so long. Aerith changed so much because the majority of fans didn't like her from the get go. People didn't like Mena's Aerith so they switched her to Andrea (I LOVED Mandy Moore as Aerith, I wish she remained the same).
