Best and worst voice actor recasts.

[DorkLord54]

Best: Chris Judge replacing Terrence C. Carson as Kratos in God of War. Both for the role for the games they're in, but Judge is a powerhouse.

Worst: I got two
1. Terrence Stamp replacing Michael Wincott as the Prophet of Truth in Halo 3. I love Stamp, especially when he gets to have a full course meal outta the scenery, but Wincott's more restrained portrayal as Truth in 2 was so much better.
2. David Chen replacing Benedict Wong as Alex Yu in Prey: Mooncrash. It's a bit part, but it's super noticeable, as - despite almost never using his native Mancunian accent in most of the roles I know him for - Benedict Wong has such a distinct voice that its easily recognisable that he'd been replaced.

 

[wiill64]

The new voice actor for Rise in the P4 Dancing games was awful. Made me appreciate just how important a fitting VA is to sell a character.

EDIT: Just as awful as I remembered.

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Came here to post this.
Laura Bailey was perfect as Rise and it was a shame she couldn't return for P4D.
Ashly Burch is a fantastic VA but she was miscast as Rise in P4D.

Best recasts
Fuuka - her original VA sounded too robotic. Wendee Lee has done a great job voicing her in the spinoffs.
Chie - Erin Fitzgerald does a fantastic job at capturing Chie's high spirited nature. Her original VA really didn't fit her character.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Worst:

Not Redfield in RE7 - David Vaughn

Jill Valentine RE Revelations - Michelle Ruff

"Snake" in MG Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain - Kiefer Sutherland
Honorable mention to Ocelot in the same game, for voice and characterization, awful.

Best:
RE5 Chris Redfield - Roger Craig Smith
REUC Jill Valentine - Patricia Ja Lee
DMC3 Dante - Reuben Langdon

 

[Navidson REC]

This only happened because Ironside had cancer at the time.

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Yeah, this revelation really changed my mind. Also increased my respect for Ubisoft for keeping it secret (even though I didn't really buy their excuse at the time). Also, I think the new guy did an ok job, but of course he's no Ironside.
I'd love for them to re-dub Blacklist and offer his voice as DLC.

Terrance Stamp as Prophet of Truth in Halo 3.

Michael Wincott was superior in Halo 2.

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Funny tidbit: in the German version, Ned Flanders's VA voices Truth. Always found that amusing.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher to the dude who replaced him in Blacklist. One of the worst recasts IMO, considering Sam is old as fuck and is meant to sound like a grizzled, hardened, combat-seasoned field agent which Ironside pulled off perfectly. The guy in Blacklist sounds like your typical white dude in his 30s.

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Yep. I had no idea he was recast until I played the game either. I started the game and Sam started talking and I was like......WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?!

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Best: Chris Judge replacing Terrence C. Carson as Kratos in God of War. Both for the role for the games they're in, but Judge is a powerhouse.

Worst: I got two
1. Terrence Stamp replacing Michael Wincott as the Prophet of Truth in Halo 3. I love Stamp, especially when he gets to have a full course meal outta the scenery, but Wincott's more restrained portrayal as Truth in 2 was so much better.
2. David Chen replacing Benedict Wong as Alex Yu in Prey: Mooncrash. It's a bit part, but it's super noticeable, as - despite almost never using his native Mancunian accent in most of the roles I know him for - Benedict Wong has such a distinct voice that its easily recognisable that he'd been replaced.

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Teal'c is literally the reason that pushed me over the edge to buy God of War. And yeah I marked the fuck out when he finally said "indeed" in God of War. Plus aside from that his performance was actually really good head and shoulders above old Kratos.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Among the best I can think of is Wolfenstein: The New Order replacing Steve Blum with Brian Bloom for BJ Bazkowicz. Steve Blum is in general a great voice actor, but the performance went from a very plain gruff dude to one of the most memorable of the generation. Partly the change in VA, partly the change in script and VO direction, but overall it was a really big upgrade.

 

[Adamska]

Worst:
Michael Fipowich to Roger Craig Smith (Chris Redfield)
Richard Waugh to DC Douglas (Albert Wesker)
Ryan Drummond to Roger Craig Smith (Sonic)

Best:
David Hayter to Kiefer Sutherland (Solid Snake)

 

[MMarston]

During the Star Wars Battlefront 2 Alpha, they had this particularly weird, yell-y Daisy Ridley impressionist who was pretty much the same person doubling as Felicity Jones in the previous game too.


So they just got the real thing instead. Although I imagine the above was because they weren't done recording yet.

 

[Skel]

Kevin Conroy -> Roger Craig Smith as Batman for Arkham Origins is one of the best recasts.

 

[Deleted member 25140]

Original


4Kids

Sonic voice acting has never been anything to write home about but Team Dark got hit with some nasty changes after the 4Kids recast, Shadow is as edgelord as it gets, Rouge sounds about 40 and what even is Omega's voice (even though I loved Maddie Blaustein as Meowth)

Arguably Heroes Tails has the worst voice acting in any game ever though

 

[Neoxon]

Imo it goes like this for the ones I can think of at the top of my head.


Mediocre to Awful:
Aerith (KH1 -> KH2)
Viridi (Kid Icarus Uprising -> Smash Ultimate)
Fox (Smash Brawl -> Smash 4)

Ok:
Viewtiful Joe (Any of them -> MVC3)
Rise Kujikawa and Kanji Tatsumi (P4 -> whatever spinoffs they changed VAs in)

Good to Great:
Tron Bonne (anything before MVC3 -> MVC3)
Chris Redfield (Early games -> RE5)
Chie Satonaka (P4-> P4G)
Sonic and friends (Unleashed -> Colors. I like both sets for the most part though.)
Pauline (MvDK games -> Mario Odyssey)

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Rise was only recast in P4D due to scheduling conflicts. She had her original VA (Laura Bailey) in everything else. Also, Fox's VA in Smash Wii U/3DS & Ultimate is his original VA (Mike West).

 

[YellowBara]

Rise was only recast in P4D due to scheduling conflicts. She had her original VA (Laura Bailey) in everything else. Also, Fox's VA in Smash Wii U/3DS & Ultimate is his original VA (Mike West).

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Oh! Well you learn something new every day! Thanks for the correction.

 

[Neoxon]

Oh! Well you learn something new every day! Thanks for the correction.

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Mike West's performance in Wii U/3DS was more due to poor voice direction than anything else, which can be seen by how Mike West sounds perfectly fine in Star Fox 64 3D, Zero, & Smash Ultimate.

 

[Furisco]

Chris Redfield after RE6 for worst.

 

[NuclearCake]

Best: David Hayter to Keifer Sutherland . I didn't even dislike Hayter in MGS1-3 but after his MGS4 and PW performance,it becomes pretty obvious why Kojima wanted him replaced.

 

[xendless]

Genie Homer in Kingdom Hearts is very off putting, I don't blame the voice actor though. It's impossible to follow up.

 

[Deleted member 29682]

The voice actor for Alex Yu changed from Prey to Prey: Mooncrash. I can understand if they weren't able to get Benedict Wong back, but the new voice didn't sound similar at all.

 

[TheBaldwin]

The new voice actor for Rise in the P4 Dancing games was awful. Made me appreciate just how important a fitting VA is to sell a character.

EDIT: Just as awful as I remembered.

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I remember her being fine, and that whi ever they got to replace troy baker did a perfect job.

Chie P4 >>>>> Chie P4G

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Other way my friend ;)

2018 Kratos. Big upgrade.

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Yep. The previous voice actors great and fits in the absolute madman kratos, but the new voice actor adds some depth to it.

Terrance Stamp as Prophet of Truth in Halo 3.

Michael Wincott was superior in Halo 2.

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So true. Man i really loved halo 2's cutscenes and story

 

[fontguy]

Worst:
Ryan Drummond to Roger Craig Smith (Sonic)

Best:
David Hayter to Kiefer Sutherland (Solid Snake)

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My man.

Arguably Heroes Tails has the worst voice acting in any game ever though

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LOoK AT aLl ThOsE EgGMaN's RoBOtS

 

[Patryn]

Genie Homer in Kingdom Hearts is very off putting, I don't blame the voice actor though. It's impossible to follow up.

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Dan Castellaneta has been voicing the Genie since the 1994 Aladdin direct-to-video sequel, after Disney burnt bridges with Robin Williams over the character and marketing. While, yes, Williams did return to the role at one point, Catellaneta has voiced the Genie far more than Williams ever did in various ancillary movies and tv shows, in addition to KH.

Not saying you can't prefer Williams, but Castellaneta can be considered "genuine", at least in terms of KH voices.

 

[Duxxy3]

I still don't like the recast of Sebastian Castellanos in The Evil Within 2. Some people like it. I really didn't.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Best to worst: KOS-KOS ( and Shion ) Xenosaga Trilogy.

Then went from excellent in Episode I to nightmare in Episode II to back again to the original VA from Episode I in Episide III:



The same for MOMO but sadly they kept her horrible VA from EPII in EPIII.

 

[Keym]

Replacing Billy Zane (Ansem) and David Boreanz (Squall) from KH1 with whoever they picked for the sequels was the worst decision SE made.

 

[shiftplusone]

Matt Mercer as Kanji is one of the best recasts but for a different reason: he sounds EXACTLY like Troy Baker's Kanji.

 

[Transistor]

Chie P4 >>>>> Chie P4G

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I see you are a man of taste

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Original Chie in Persona 4 is much better than Golden Chie. She didn't sound quite like what you'd expect that character to sound which was nice.

The new voice actor for Rise in the P4 Dancing games was awful. Made me appreciate just how important a fitting VA is to sell a character.

EDIT: Just as awful as I remembered.

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This too.

 

[ChaserX]

The new voice actor for Rise in the P4 Dancing games was awful. Made me appreciate just how important a fitting VA is to sell a character.

EDIT: Just as awful as I remembered.

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Jesus Christ.

 

[Lightning Count]

Worst: Terence J Rotolo being replaced by Ty Olson as Frank West in Dead Rising 4.

Best: Roger Craig Smith as Batman in Arkham Origins.

 

[mindsale]

Worst: Hayter to Sutherland
Best: Kratos 2018
Best: Dinklage to North

 

[cj_iwakura]

Ftfy. Honestly, Chie OG P4 sounds like a 20-something old woman trying to pass off as a teenager. The VA from Golden fits the age much better and also the type of character Chie is, imho.

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The original Chie sounded natural and down to earth, P4G/P4A's sounded shrill and 'anime' for lack of a better word.

 

[J_Viper]

Steve Blum's Sub-Zero is super lame. Jim Miller did a much better job in MK9

 

[Jimnymebob]

Replacing Billy Zane (Ansem) and David Boreanz (Squall) from KH1 with whoever they picked for the sequels was the worst decision SE made.

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I liked David Boreanaz as Leon, but then I'm reminded of his "POOOOWEEEEEEEEER!" Voice line and it cracks me up.

Anyways, any Viewtiful Joe that isn't Dee Bradley Baker is awful.

 

[Brinksman]

Doesn't matter if you love Tony Jay. Changing Tony Jay for Alastair Duncan when Mortanius was brought back in Legacy of Kain was not only entirely necessary, but a marked improvement. Duncan was far better placed to communicate the understatedness and vulnerability baked into this character from the outset, while Jay continued the far more fit-for-purpose role of the giant squid.

 

[Camjo-Z]

Arguably Heroes Tails has the worst voice acting in any game ever though

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Heroes was the last game where Tails still had good voice acting. Yeah it was goofy and unprofessional sounding but it was also entertaining and made Tails feel like the little kid he is. Now this supposedly 8-year old character is always voiced by some middle aged woman who can't possibly bring that same youthful spark to the character.

 

[Gold Arsene]

Going to throw my hat in with Golden Chie being better.

 

[Keym]

Best: Roger Craig Smith as Batman in Arkham Origins.

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Yes! He made me wish Conroy would retire and pass on the torch over to him.

 

[Deleted member 34949]

Replacing Billy Zane (Ansem) and David Boreanz (Squall) from KH1 with whoever they picked for the sequels was the worst decision SE made.

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I think Doug Erholtz did okay as Leon in KH2 and was one of the few half decent recasts in that game. He wasn't really all that great in the Dissdia games afterwards, though.

 

[zma1013]

Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher to the dude who replaced him in Blacklist. One of the worst recasts IMO, considering Sam is old as fuck and is meant to sound like a grizzled, hardened, combat-seasoned field agent which Ironside pulled off perfectly. The guy in Blacklist sounds like your typical white dude in his 30s.

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Ironside is perfect for this character so much that if they can't get him to voice Sam then they might as well just make an all new character. Basically, if Ironside retires from the role, Sam should be retired.

 

[Catdaddy]

Best: Replacing Peter Dinklage with Nolan North in the same damn game...

 

[PIMPBYBLUD]

Destiny:
Nolan North>Peter Dinklage

Edit:Beaten above

 

[Gavin Stevens]

The two that will forever be the correct answers are Ironside as Sam, and Hayter as Snake. Ironside will forever be Sam, I don't care how old he is. If you want to change his voice, either get a damn sound-a-like or just kill him off and do a new agent. And as for Snake... Nah. I'm convinced in my mind that MGS5 Snake is just some weird odd test tube baby nanomachine bollocks. He's not Snake, and he never will be Snake.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

I didn't know Ironside had cancer at that time. I wouldn't have known cause they always talked about how they wanted a younger actor for mo-cap purposes. Either way the newer voiceover wasn't as entertaining as Ironside's voice.

 

[zma1013]

Best: David Hayter to Keifer Sutherland . I didn't even dislike Hayter in MGS1-3 but after his MGS4 and PW performance,it becomes pretty obvious why Kojima wanted him replaced.

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My guess is that the recast was partly motivated by the new face capture technology so he preferred to have an actor with good live acting experience and also partly because it's obvious Kojima geeks out over Hollywood stars and used his position to work with a favorite star of his.

 

[Gold Arsene]

The two that will forever be the correct answers are Ironside as Sam, and Hayter as Snake. Ironside will forever be Sam, I don't care how old he is. If you want to change his voice, either get a damn sound-a-like or just kill him off and do a new agent. And as for Snake... Nah. I'm convinced in my mind that MGS5 Snake is just some weird odd test tube baby nanomachine bollocks. He's not Snake, and he never will be Snake.

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Spoiler

I mean for the majority of the time you're not entirely wrong.

 

[TheAggroCraig]

Worst: Roger Craig Smith as Sonic. I'm probably just too old, but I can't stand his voice for the character (the writing is also trash though, so that doesn't help). I finally got used to the 4Kids voicing when Unleashed came out and then they killed it :< Brian Drummond forever tho.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

The two that will forever be the correct answers are Ironside as Sam, and Hayter as Snake. Ironside will forever be Sam, I don't care how old he is. If you want to change his voice, either get a damn sound-a-like or just kill him off and do a new agent. And as for Snake... Nah. I'm convinced in my mind that MGS5 Snake is just some weird odd test tube baby nanomachine bollocks. He's not Snake, and he never will be Snake.

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The only thing I feel that lets them get away with Snake is that he isn't the actual Snake. Still it feels like a cop out. They could have included Hayter as the Boss's actual voice. It would have been a cool nod to tie the twist all in.

 

[Techno]

Worst: David Hayter to Keifer Sutherland.

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This.

she shurfiffe

 

[Gavin Stevens]

I was about to post about how I hope the next Metal Gear game has Hayter back but then remembered who it is behind the wheel of the franchise now and how I may as well try and voice my calculator...

 

[Geg]

Best: Akio Otsuka taking over his father's, Chikao Otsuka, role as Master Xehanort.

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This is what I thought of when I saw this thread title. Akio's impression of his father's voice acting is spot-on. They apparently still had some lines that Chikao Otsuka recorded really early on and use those for some lines but it's nearly impossible to tell when the voice switches actors.