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I can't stand Troy Baker, Laura Bailey and Nolan North anymore

Horohorohoro

Horohorohoro

Member
Jan 28, 2019
6,723
Goldenroad said:
That's a ridiculous take. Maybe they are cast in "everything" because they're considered the best. No casting director in the world is casting people because they think they'll do a worse job than someone else.
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It's not a ridiculous take. The person I was replying to literally said "I'd rather have the best" over people who are "crappy." There's a huge gap between people who are like Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, etc. and people who are garbage voice actors and it's dumb to act like it's them or someone who's not a good VA at all.

I don't personally have an issue with any of the voice actors OP mentioned, but I think it's just a silly opinion to have that just because they're in everything, they're "the best" and better than every other possible voice actor.
 
Nakenorm

Nakenorm

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
22,286
Prime2 said:
Nothing Major in 6-7 years hmmm not sure about that.

2015- Halo 5
2016- Street fighter and Uncharted 4
2017 Gears 4 and uncharted lost legacy
2018 World of warcraft battle for azeroth and Spiderman ps4
2019 Gears 5
2020 TLOU2 and Marvels Avengers
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Yeah I was about to post the same lol
 
LocoRoco

LocoRoco

Banned
Feb 22, 2019
579
well, we can aways call Ronda Rousey to do some voice acting, she did a amazing job in MK11 imo
 
DeoGame

DeoGame

Member
Dec 11, 2018
5,077
I honestly love all three of them, but you aren't wrong. Some of my favorite performances this gen and last have been from relative unknowns, emerging VAs given a chance to hit big and shockingly game celebs. That said, North is irreplaceable as Drake, Bailey's work as Lucina and Kait is superb and Baker's Joker is spot on.
 
TheMango55

TheMango55

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
5,788
Skade said:
Erm... She's the new lead character of Gears of War (major character in Gears 4 and now lead in 5, nominated for a VGA in 2019), Mary Jane in the latest Spiderman, Catherine in Catherine Full Body, Nadine again in Uncharted Lost Stories, Black Widow in the new Marvel game, apparently might be the main villain for The Last of Us 2.

Barely anything theses years, sure. And that's not counting the shit ton of work she does in animation.
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She's also been in Critical Role at least 4 hours a week almost every week for 4 years (other than when she and Travis took leave for their baby), plus a part owner of the company and running their merchandise department.

Not surprised she's scaled back a little on the game voice acting.
 
Scuttlefluff

Scuttlefluff

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,383
I mostly agree with OP, but I make an exception for Naughty Dog games because they're all fucking fantastic in those.

Kojima Productions Troy is worst Troy
 
Ryo

Ryo

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,523
I think Baker and North's voices generally speaking feel very video-gamey and as we approach photorealism they aren't as great as they once were.

I had this realization while playing Death Stranding, Baker's vocal performance is good but in the context of the entire game it isn't that great at all and Mikkelsen, Seydoux, Reedus, Qualley, Jenkins, etc. feel much more fitting.

Of course they can peform a wide range of voices but their typical voiceovers have a certain cadence and excitability about them.
 
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CelticKennedy

CelticKennedy

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Sep 18, 2019
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In Arkham City he played Two-Face and Robin. So in the Arkham Universe alone, he has played Two-Face, Robin, Joker, Red Hood.
 
PickledCucumber

PickledCucumber

Member
Sep 14, 2019
3,028
This is how I feel with Johnny Yong Bosch.

He has good range (was totally surprised he voiced Renton in Eureka Seven), but any time I hear him use his regular voice, I'm just reminded of Ichigo (not a fan of the character), and that happens a lot with the roles he plays.
 
RoninZ

RoninZ

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,747
I'm alright with them although I do think there should be more minorities in voice acting roles. The industry is big enough for everyone.
 
mistersensation

mistersensation

Member
Nov 11, 2017
1,041
PAFenix said:
Is he voicing Jason in this clip? Because they got Mark Hamill back for Arkham Knight. Troy Baker voiced him in Origins if you want to share how well he portrayed Joker.
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Yeah my mistake, I thought he was Joker in all the Arkham games. Point stands regardless though, the guy has a huge range and is one of the best VAs working today IMO
 
Conrad Link

Conrad Link

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,644
New Zealand
That's what I loved about the Xenoblade 1 dub way back in the day, completely fresh voices. Get so sick of hearing the same people over and over.

Then those lovely British people showed up and I was happy.
 
Starlightmuse

Starlightmuse

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 27, 2017
413
I love the work of the three of them but yeah, I couldn't agree more, they are EVERYWHERE, I know it's probably a bit hyperbolic but it seems as you can't play any major western videogame without finding any of them as a major role. It's as if Leonardo Dicaprio or Brad Pitt were the main actors in 5 movies every year. I love their work but it gets old.
 
Daniel Westlake

Daniel Westlake

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
19,165
jwk94 said:
That's actually pretty funny. Didn't know he did work outside the gaming industry.
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Quite a lot actually
Ryo said:
I think Baker and North's voices generally speaking feel very video-gamey and as we approach photorealism they aren't as great as they once were.

I had this realization while playing Death Stranding, Baker's vocal performance is good but in the context of the entire game it isn't that great at all and Mikkelsen, Seydoux, Reedus, Qualley, Jenkins, etc. feel much more fitting.

Of course they can peform a wide range of voices but their typical voiceovers have a certain cadence and excitability about them.
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What does this even mean?
 
MZZ

MZZ

Member
Nov 2, 2017
4,226
Loved Laura Bailey since discovering she voiced the boss in Saints Row 3. Big fan of her voicework for that title. I didn't know who she was and the characters she played as before that.

I can recognize Troy Baker sometimes but honestly, I don't mind. I think he is doing a great job whenever I hear him. It takes you out of the game for a few seconds but ultimately doesn't matter.

I always pick japanese voices for japanese games as much as possible but persona 4 golden never had that option. It is for me where their voices were too obvious that its them and I am fully aware that its them throughout the game to the point that its kinda distracting. Maybe because I am subs no dubs for lyf and I never want to hear english voices for japanese/anime characters.
 

Deleted member 15227

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
1,819
Tend to agree with the Op and I've felt that way years ago. Just wished casting directors were a bit more imaginative and gave other voice actors a chance.
 
OP
OP
SonovaBeach

SonovaBeach

Member
Dec 14, 2017
187
Zombine said:
Go explore other parts of the entertainment industry and broadcasting. You'll be left with the realization that this is very common for numerous reasons: politics, union, risk aversion, etc.

All I can say is that if this bugs you, you should buy more indie games that showcase new or underused (good) voice talent. Sales are the only thing that will create more opportunity for these men and women to audition.
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Oh I am! I think I play way more indie games than AAA ones. This thread was specifically about AAA games, since there are less voice overs in indie games and zero performance capture.
 
Gooey

Gooey

Member
Oct 27, 2017
134
feonando said:
That was discussed years ago by the developers themselves and a few post above too: Laura provided the voice before the character was finalized. So she wasn't casted as a black woman.
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It's Laura Bailey's voice coming out of a black woman's body. They cast her as a black woman

And they brought her back for Lost Legacy so clearly they didn't care
 
zswordsman

zswordsman

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Nov 5, 2017
1,771
Nolan North is dope tho. Troy is alright. I didn't even know Bailey was in Nier, shows how much I know.

I'm tired of Johnny Yong Bosch tho, from games to anime, He sounds the same every time. No, changing the pitch of your voice doesn't help, now you just sound like a whiny version of JYB instead of the regular one.
 
OP
OP
SonovaBeach

SonovaBeach

Member
Dec 14, 2017
187
xinoart said:
The amount of "hate" or "anger" in this community is getting toxic beyond belief. Especially because of how this forum was supposed to be. We have strayed so far.
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This thread is me, an absolute nobody, saying that I'm tired of hearing the 3 same voice actors - despite them being very talented - and reaching out to hear people's opinion on the matter.
Maybe you can call that "negativity" (which I wouldn't agree, it's just a simple critique and I start this thread by talking about things I love), but there definetly isn't any "hate" or "anger" in what I say or how I say it. Except for one specific dude there's none of this in the replies, too.
 
Zacmortar

Zacmortar

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Oct 25, 2017
7,383
Prime2 said:
Nothing Major in 6-7 years hmmm not sure about that.

2015- Halo 5
2016- Street fighter and Uncharted 4
2017 Gears 4 and uncharted lost legacy
2018 World of warcraft battle for azeroth and Spiderman ps4
2019 Gears 5
2020 TLOU2 and Marvels Avengers
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"Barely" is the word there, as thats still only 1-2 games a year and shes not the protagonist in any besides Gears.
 
Renteka-Bond

Renteka-Bond

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Dec 28, 2017
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This is how I was with Laura back in like 2012-2015, where she somehow managed to voice in the majority of anime style games at the time, which I was into then. Hearing her put on her cutesy voice got old to me really fast and it wasn't endearing to me like, say, Yuri Lowenthal, who my friends and I made a game out of (Called "Find the Yuri") where we'd loosely see how long it took for Yuri's voice to show up in a game. We usually won pretty fast.

Nolan North can be a lot of fun, like in Resonance of Fate (which, nowadays, would probably star Nolan, Troy and Laura instead of Jessica and Robin's VA), but I'm as tired of him as I am of Troy.

Funnily enough, I'm pretty ok with Laura Bailey now, but that's mainly because it's super easy to ignore her (and the other two) since they're basically 'too big' for a lot of small stuff now. I remember being upset when Kanji got replaced with Matt Mercer in P4U/Anime because I felt like Troy was 'too good' to come back to the role, but honestly, having him locked into big-budget AAA games I don't really care about now is, for me anyway, a blessing in disguise, since I don't really like them that much anyway.

They're good at their jobs and they're probably fine people, but they make my eyes glaze over when they show up all the time.
 
Zacmortar

Zacmortar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,383
zswordsman said:
Nolan North is dope tho. Troy is alright. I didn't even know Bailey was in Nier, shows how much I know.

I'm tired of Johnny Yong Bosch tho, from games to anime, He sounds the same every time. No, changing the pitch of your voice doesn't help, now you just sound like a whiny version of JYB instead of the regular one.
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Yuri Lowenthal is this for me. Every character he plays sounds like a generic anime boy besides maybe Peter Parker
 
Fjordson

Fjordson

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,010
I totally get why people can get tired of certain voice actors that pop up in a ton of AAA games.

For whatever reason that's never really bothered me, though. Even when Nolan North was at his peak appearing in everything, the guy is just good at what he does. And the same goes for Laura and Troy. They always put in quality performances imo.

Been hearing a lot of Laura in particular as Jaina Proudmore playing WoW recently. She's fantastic.
 

Deleted member 56306

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Avalon said:
Because, like you said, you had no idea before you looked it up. That means the actress did a fantastic job and had the required range.
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They still had a second chance to actually cast a black woman, who could have also shown her range. But they didn't and in the case of something like Wargroove they still don't. Quality of the voice acting isn't the issue here, it's not even looking for black / brown people in the first place.
 
Skyball Paint

Skyball Paint

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Nov 12, 2017
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Hearing the same voice actor in another role is about as immersion breaking for me as seeing Leonardo Dicaprio in yet another movie:
Not even a tiny bit
 
mindsale

mindsale

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Oct 29, 2017
5,911
This is more a small pool of VA talent I think. Yeah, it's a bummer. Troy doesn't have a ton of variety in his performances (Joel and Joker are really the exceptions) and I can pick him out immediately. It's a bummer.

Also, lol, you missed some of the actors who had overlap in the games you mentioned (for instance, Bailey is Catherine), but that's just more to your point.
 
Syriel

Syriel

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Dec 13, 2017
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Derachi said:
Honestly, I find their prevalence sort of baffling. They can't be cheap to get, right? And it's not like a voice actor's name is going to sell copies of a game. Sure, they're absolutely great at their jobs, but I'm always confused why games, especially smaller games with smaller budgets, wouldn't try getting someone cheaper/less instantly identifiable instead. It would be better for the game (probably cheaper and it would help the game not fall into the sea of other games starring the same handful of people) and better for smaller voice actors who have trouble getting roles.
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Shining Star said:
There really needs to be more diversity in voice acting. Unfortunately, it's a very small field over here.
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The catch-22 of the union is a thing. Can't get cast in a union gig if you're not in the union. Need experience to join the union. And casting directors often don't want to risk someone new when there is someone with experience that is easy to hire.

justiceiro said:
It's either that is hard to find good actors that have experience with videogames, or that is a career that actors are not interested in persue.
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The interest is there in the field, but between the cost of an open call and the politics of hiring non union, there is a natural roadblock. The industry is setup to benefit the status quo, which does hurt marginalized voices.

I would love to see greater variety in casting and more risks taken. It would allow this segment of the industry to grow.

Nora said:
Laura Bailey is generally a great VO but the meritocracy argument for her playing a black woman completely falls apart when you hear how bad her South-African accent is. Most people still defending her just don't know or care, and clearly neither did Neil Druckmann. Just, idk, maybe hire someone who speaks Afrikaans?
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It didn't help that the character was modeled after a well known BSG actor. If you're using someone as a reference, you might as well use their voice.
 
PAFenix

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Nov 21, 2019
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mistersensation said:
Yeah my mistake, I thought he was Joker in all the Arkham games. Point stands regardless though, the guy has a huge range and is one of the best VAs working today IMO
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Definitely. I loved his Joker and would be fine if he replaces Hamill going forward (If what Hamill said was true about stopping with Joker after Knight.)

Apologies if I sounded hostile, wasn't my intention! Just wanted to point out if you wanted to share an Origins clip instead.
 
Moogle

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Oct 27, 2017
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Dr Pears said:
I like when Yuri Lowenthal voices pervy characters in Japanese games.

He straight up asks for sexy time with the main character as Dito in Drakengard 3.
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Zero was played by Lowenthal's irl wife Tara Platt. Between that and various Persona 3 + Persona 4 voices talking to each other so uh, bluntly, it definitely added an extra unintended layer to those scenes lol
 
WhiteRabbitEXE

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Oct 25, 2017
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Ada said:
I have to agree especially with Troy, other than TLOU its just his normal voice and its everywhere. Completely ruins characters for me.
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I don't know if it's the case for Baker, but North's said in interviews that he tries to bring a lot of variety to his voices and often suggests different ones, but he keeps getting asked to specifically do light variations on Nathan Drake.
 
Ruu

Ruu

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Oct 28, 2017
913
I wouldn't say I can't stand them but it definitely takes me out of the game hearing the same 2 or 3 voices. The new Avengers game made me roll my eyes when they announced the cast. A lot of times it feels like seeing James Franco or Johnny Depp in a movie where it's hard to get involved with the character cause also you notice is the actor playing themselves in every roll.
 
Prime2

Prime2

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Oct 25, 2017
2,338
Zacmortar said:
"Barely" is the word there, as thats still only 1-2 games a year and shes not the protagonist in any besides Gears.
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I didn't even quote the majority I picked out the major games she was doing work for, seriously she has done a ton since 2012 in games. We have vastly different opinions on what barely means if the amount of work she has done qualifies for that description.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Bailey_(voice_actress) take a look yourself.
 
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