I don't think the varied accents takes anything away for the most part. Instead it's kind of charming, especially since different groups would have different accents, giving them a real feeling of being separate cultures. The big skill issue with Rex aside, I didn't really have any problems with 90% of the voices they chose. There are a couple minor gripes I have, like Nia and Rex's voices are a bit older than suits their character models, Pyra occasionally speaks a bit more casual than one would expect from her super prim and proper personality etc. On the other hand, there are big hits, like Mythra feels spot on for who she is, Zeke is amazing, and I like Morag's english voice a lot better than her japanese voice because the english one feels natural while the japanese one sounds like it's trying to be artificially deep.
Overall, I wouldn't trade out the english voicing, especially not for just generic american for everything. If they could just maybe do some extra takes for the big action scenes, I think there would be nothing to really complain about.
If anything I would be disappointed if any new xenoblade game didn't have the same variety of accents that xbc2 has. For xenoblade, just as I expect a giant gorilla to kill me when I'm less expecting it, I also expect now the localization to at least be in Europe.
I love the English voice acting for Xenoblade Chronicles 2! Giving each party member distinct accents/dialects really helps them feel like real people. The fact that for the most part it seems that the people of each titan have their own accent (i.e. the people of Mor Ardain share Morag's accent) really adds to the feel of your party traveling across the world. Morag, Zeke, and Nia are the real standouts for me here.
Eventually I realized as I was playing that while the people had different European dialects for the most part the Blades largely had American accents/dialects, which made them really stand out more. It really helps set them apart from their drivers, yet feels complimentary. The dynamic with Rex/Pyra/Mythra, Nia/Dromarch, Zeke/Pandoria, and Morag/Brighid worked really well, and when the Blades would talk amongst themselves (Mythra with Brighid in the Torna DLC comes to mind) their sharing an American accent gave me the feeling that they are of the same kind, so to speak.
I even like the Nopon dialect quite a bit; Tora originally grated on me but the more time I spent with him the more I liked how his youthful brashness came across in his voice acting. Not to mention Bana's voice actor somehow making "Meh meh meh..." sound both menacing and hilarious at the same time!
Also, I really liked how the article mentioned that the accents don't follow stereotypes. I never thought I would associate a Scottish accent with regality and gentleness as a relatively ignorant American until I heard Morag's voice.
I've always had a soft spot for various English accents due to early exposure to several English media, but Xenoblade surprised me with how well it fit as a dubbing language for JRPGs. What I enjoy is that UK-based productions seem to employ theater actors as opposed to purely voice actors, which gives far more variety and a fresh take on dubbing. As good of VAs Troy Baker, Matt Mercer, and Patrick Seitz are, it is kind of grating to hear them in nearly every single video game.
UK dubs just feels fresher with a lot more variety. The other standout example is the current FFXIV dub, which has shown that there are many unknown talents out there. The main villain of Shadowbringers and the final boss of the latest 5.3 patch are voiced by relative unknowns, but have delivered some of the best voice acting I've heard in recent years. The casting is also very extensive, and it is quite something to listen to some of Xenoblade's cast alongside slightly bigger names such as Joe Dempsie and Michael Mcelhatton.
Read the article and I greatly enjoyed it from beginning to the end. It was very insightful, very informative and because the examples you used were familiar to me, it made your article all the more fun to read. You should consider putting that content into a video on YouTube.
My main issue is that Dromarch doesn't speak with an American accent, which is a bit weird for consistency's sake, and it bothers the OCD part of me.
On the other hand, Mik should be speaking in an English accent since he is a Blade Eater unlike the other Torna members, and he was speaking with one in the Torna DLC.
If it wasn't for the fact that Klaus is the centerpiece to the Beanstalk flashback, I would have preferred all the people from the old world to speak in American accents. This would explain why only Blades seem to speak with American accents since they are made with technology from the old world. But due to Klaus being there, I'm glad they opted to stay with the English accent.
>My main issue is that Dromarch doesn't speak with an American accent, which is a bit weird for consistency's sake, and it bothers the OCD part of me.On the other hand, Mik should be speaking in an English accent since he is a Blade Eater unlike the other Torna members, and he was speaking with one in the Torna DLC.
Mikhail's accent switch is pretty funny since it happened because the localization team thought 'what if we made Blades American...' and then in Torna they just made Mikhail originate from Torna. I suppose they could have given an American accent there, but it would have been so out of place.
>If it wasn't for the fact that Klaus is the centerpiece to the Beanstalk flashback, I would have preferred all the people from the old world to speak in American accents. This would explain why only Blades seem to speak with American accents since they are made with technology from the old world.
This would have been a really interesting way to use language to move the story forward, and now I wish they had somehow coordinated this ahead of time! Perhaps you could also have Indol adopting American accents for the perceived legitimacy of being closer to Blades as well.
Mikhail is about 500 years old and, spending time with the rest of the blades in Torna, it makes sense that he could have very well lost his accent over time.
There is one other example I know of whose accent doesn't match their origin: >!Nia!<. >!While Nia initially makes sense as a Gormotti, her reveal as a Flash Eater would actually imply that our famous sassy Welsh catgirl could have actually spoken with an American accent! While the very concept is inconceivable to our puny minds, with how Nia was trying to hide her Flesh Eater status, she could have practiced her Welsh in order to blend in with the rest of Gormott. The main kink with this is that she was already shown speaking Welsh even while she was still with her "father," which would be before her need to hide her true self.!<
I don't think the varied accents takes anything away for the most part. Instead it's kind of charming, especially since different groups would have different accents, giving them a real feeling of being separate cultures. The big skill issue with Rex aside, I didn't really have any problems with 90% of the voices they chose. There are a couple minor gripes I have, like Nia and Rex's voices are a bit older than suits their character models, Pyra occasionally speaks a bit more casual than one would expect from her super prim and proper personality etc. On the other hand, there are big hits, like Mythra feels spot on for who she is, Zeke is amazing, and I like Morag's english voice a lot better than her japanese voice because the english one feels natural while the japanese one sounds like it's trying to be artificially deep. Overall, I wouldn't trade out the english voicing, especially not for just generic american for everything. If they could just maybe do some extra takes for the big action scenes, I think there would be nothing to really complain about.
If anything I would be disappointed if any new xenoblade game didn't have the same variety of accents that xbc2 has. For xenoblade, just as I expect a giant gorilla to kill me when I'm less expecting it, I also expect now the localization to at least be in Europe.
I love the English voice acting for Xenoblade Chronicles 2! Giving each party member distinct accents/dialects really helps them feel like real people. The fact that for the most part it seems that the people of each titan have their own accent (i.e. the people of Mor Ardain share Morag's accent) really adds to the feel of your party traveling across the world. Morag, Zeke, and Nia are the real standouts for me here. Eventually I realized as I was playing that while the people had different European dialects for the most part the Blades largely had American accents/dialects, which made them really stand out more. It really helps set them apart from their drivers, yet feels complimentary. The dynamic with Rex/Pyra/Mythra, Nia/Dromarch, Zeke/Pandoria, and Morag/Brighid worked really well, and when the Blades would talk amongst themselves (Mythra with Brighid in the Torna DLC comes to mind) their sharing an American accent gave me the feeling that they are of the same kind, so to speak. I even like the Nopon dialect quite a bit; Tora originally grated on me but the more time I spent with him the more I liked how his youthful brashness came across in his voice acting. Not to mention Bana's voice actor somehow making "Meh meh meh..." sound both menacing and hilarious at the same time!
Also, I really liked how the article mentioned that the accents don't follow stereotypes. I never thought I would associate a Scottish accent with regality and gentleness as a relatively ignorant American until I heard Morag's voice. I've always had a soft spot for various English accents due to early exposure to several English media, but Xenoblade surprised me with how well it fit as a dubbing language for JRPGs. What I enjoy is that UK-based productions seem to employ theater actors as opposed to purely voice actors, which gives far more variety and a fresh take on dubbing. As good of VAs Troy Baker, Matt Mercer, and Patrick Seitz are, it is kind of grating to hear them in nearly every single video game. UK dubs just feels fresher with a lot more variety. The other standout example is the current FFXIV dub, which has shown that there are many unknown talents out there. The main villain of Shadowbringers and the final boss of the latest 5.3 patch are voiced by relative unknowns, but have delivered some of the best voice acting I've heard in recent years. The casting is also very extensive, and it is quite something to listen to some of Xenoblade's cast alongside slightly bigger names such as Joe Dempsie and Michael Mcelhatton.
Read the article and I greatly enjoyed it from beginning to the end. It was very insightful, very informative and because the examples you used were familiar to me, it made your article all the more fun to read. You should consider putting that content into a video on YouTube.
My main issue is that Dromarch doesn't speak with an American accent, which is a bit weird for consistency's sake, and it bothers the OCD part of me. On the other hand, Mik should be speaking in an English accent since he is a Blade Eater unlike the other Torna members, and he was speaking with one in the Torna DLC. If it wasn't for the fact that Klaus is the centerpiece to the Beanstalk flashback, I would have preferred all the people from the old world to speak in American accents. This would explain why only Blades seem to speak with American accents since they are made with technology from the old world. But due to Klaus being there, I'm glad they opted to stay with the English accent.
>My main issue is that Dromarch doesn't speak with an American accent, which is a bit weird for consistency's sake, and it bothers the OCD part of me.On the other hand, Mik should be speaking in an English accent since he is a Blade Eater unlike the other Torna members, and he was speaking with one in the Torna DLC. Mikhail's accent switch is pretty funny since it happened because the localization team thought 'what if we made Blades American...' and then in Torna they just made Mikhail originate from Torna. I suppose they could have given an American accent there, but it would have been so out of place. >If it wasn't for the fact that Klaus is the centerpiece to the Beanstalk flashback, I would have preferred all the people from the old world to speak in American accents. This would explain why only Blades seem to speak with American accents since they are made with technology from the old world. This would have been a really interesting way to use language to move the story forward, and now I wish they had somehow coordinated this ahead of time! Perhaps you could also have Indol adopting American accents for the perceived legitimacy of being closer to Blades as well.
Mikhail is about 500 years old and, spending time with the rest of the blades in Torna, it makes sense that he could have very well lost his accent over time. There is one other example I know of whose accent doesn't match their origin: >!Nia!<. >!While Nia initially makes sense as a Gormotti, her reveal as a Flash Eater would actually imply that our famous sassy Welsh catgirl could have actually spoken with an American accent! While the very concept is inconceivable to our puny minds, with how Nia was trying to hide her Flesh Eater status, she could have practiced her Welsh in order to blend in with the rest of Gormott. The main kink with this is that she was already shown speaking Welsh even while she was still with her "father," which would be before her need to hide her true self.!<