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Japanese and English Voice Acting

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:03 am
by Painaxl
So I was looking over different posts (specifically MGS topics) and I was wondering why so many video game afficienados prefer the Japanese voices on games rather than the English voices. Especially for a series like MGS which, in my opinion, has great English voice acting. I realize some of you understand/speak Japanese, however, this is more directed at people that don't understand the language, but prefer it anyways.

Don't get me wrong, I watch subtitled movies and I don't have a huge problem playing a game that's not translated. I also realize the localization process is such that, often times, the story is ruined or at least cut significantly (however, if you can't understand Japanese, this is irrelevant anyway).

The only reason that I can think of would be wanting to watch it "in its intending language," but as far as I know, the JAP versions (of the MGS games, at least) don't have English subs, right?

What are your reasons for choosing one over the other?

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:14 pm
by Jonathan Ingram
The Japanese MGS2 voices just sound better to me. Fatman isn't so annoying, Olga is great in it, and Solidus is voiced by Otsuka Akio, Solid Snake's actor. It's hard to put it on anything quantative, they just sound better to me. MGS has a better English soundtrack, and MGS3 is tough to call (The Boss in the Japanese MGS3 is great, as is Volgin, but then Hayter is good in the English, as is Josh Keaton. I'm sure we all agree on Volgin's English counterpart).

That's not really much help, as it's all clearly subjective, but it's the best I can do.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:16 pm
by Omega579
I think the voices in the Japanese version of MGS2 sounds better because It's a Japanese production and they have control of every facet of the game. Even though the English voice recording process may be supervised by a representative of Kojima, there's alot of nuances lost in the English performances. I think Quinton Flynn's perfermance is pretty weak compared to his Japanese counterpart. Probably alot of the resentment towards Raiden in the English version is that his appearance matched his voice, whereas in the Japanese version he had a deeper less girly voice. And in the case of Solidus, there's no confusion involved when you hear his voice in the English version because he's voiced by 2 different actors. So when during the dir.mic eavesdropping scene with Ocelot and Solidus, there's no way you can mistake him for Solid Snake. Plus you get spot on lip sync in the Japanese version.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:46 pm
by Jonathan Ingram
All very good points Omega, can't believe I forgot about Raiden's actor, that is an important factor in MGS2's soundtrack.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 2:05 pm
by Gin-Ryu
I only played the MGS2 demo that came with ZOE and I liked Olga's voice as for the other characters I prefer the english version.
I allways prefer the original voice acting but if the english version is good or simply awesome like MGS I prefer the english version

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:15 pm
by Omega579
That's another thing that get's lost in the English version, Olga's voice actor in the Japanese version of MGS2 is also the same as Meryl in MGS1 which adds to Snake's hesitation when he first encounters Olga.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:35 pm
by Painaxl
Interesting thoughts.

I see the spot on lip-synching being slighlty more immersive. How do you get over the language barrier, though?

I just bought Psychonauts yesterday (which, by the way, is incredible) and it made me realize that I can't imagine trying to really absorb a game with a language I don't understand being spoken all the time. I would think it would be so distracting.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:06 pm
by Rick Deckard
Since we were all had personality disorders characterised by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts without feeling guilt, and became astronauts who could express these natures in space, we were called the 'Psychonauts'
Edit: Er, hang on, it's a real game? ..Ah. Never mind then.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:09 pm
by Omega579
Painaxl wrote:Interesting thoughts.

I see the spot on lip-synching being slighlty more immersive. How do you get over the language barrier, though?
I've taken a few years worth of Japanese Language classes when I was in college and I've been an anime fan for almost 20 years so I'm used to hearing the language. I don't know everything but it's enough to get me through. The written language is another story as I've forgotten most Kanji I learned in school but I still remember Katakana and Hiragana. One way I was able to get through the language barrier is to own an English version of whatever you want to watch/play in Japanese. When I first saw the Macross movie which was a popular anime movie in the 80's it was in Japanese and I couldn't understand the story. Years later I was able to get a dub of the movie in English. I watched the English version so much I memorized the dialogue. Now when I watch the Japanese version I was able to understand what they were saying. Since MGS is released in English I'm sure you know what is being said so playing the game in Japanese won't be much trouble. As for going straight to a Japanese game without first experiencing the English version, you're out of luck.

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:29 am
by ReasonWhyNot
Ingram, did you say that both Hayter and Keaton acted well in MGS3? Wow. You know, I'm sick of David Hayter. I agree that he was great in MGS1, as was everyone. But he seems to overdo it now. His voice just doesn't seem to fit the character the way it did in MGS1. Keaton on the other hand was just annoying. Then again, you could argue that he was trying to be, as Ocelot's character was just as annoying.

Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:14 pm
by 87th
The only thing I really preferred all that much in the Japanese voice overs was that Raiden's voice was a lot more cool. In the English version of MGS2 he had the voice of one of those guys who feed the dolphins in those Seaworld theme parks.

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:13 am
by Jonathan Ingram
I think Hayter's been great throughout the whole series, in MGS3 I really got the sense that he was Big Boss, not Solid Snake, which is tough to do when you've only got your voice to make that difference apparent (and the script, naturally). I know most people found Keaton annoying in it, but I thought he was good. I couldn't really give you an objective reason, but I just thought he was.

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 4:23 am
by randomwab
I found Keaton annoying at first, he reminded me of a boy racer, but after awhile i got used to him and now find him great in the game

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:39 am
by Rick Deckard
His 'MEOW' was delivered rather well, I thought.

Other than that I found him a bit irritating.

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:36 pm
by 87th
Omega579 wrote:That's another thing that get's lost in the English version, Olga's voice actor in the Japanese version of MGS2 is also the same as Meryl in MGS1 which adds to Snake's hesitation when he first encounters Olga.
That fight against Meryl in Substance makes a lot more sense, now.

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:16 pm
by Johnny Undaunted
87th wrote:
Omega579 wrote:That's another thing that get's lost in the English version, Olga's voice actor in the Japanese version of MGS2 is also the same as Meryl in MGS1 which adds to Snake's hesitation when he first encounters Olga.
That fight against Meryl in Substance makes a lot more sense, now.
Speaking of Substance, do they use Japanese voices in the Missions/Snake Tales in the Japanese version? Or do they use English voices like in the main game. I've noticed the VR Training in Document used Japanese voices and I imagine it's like that in the Japanese Substance.

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2005 8:17 pm
by Random
whoah, i didn't know any of these differences before as i haven't played any jap version of the mgs games. without subs it'll be tough for me, though.

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 8:37 pm
by GRACCHVS REX
i never realy cared for ocelot either way, but since 3, he has become close to my favorite, and a lot of that was the voice acting, but also a lot was his gesture...
as for hayter, i think he is excellent, but i do agree that the jap raiden was better, he lost a lot of the girly-manness... not that that actually matters, i still think the part was done well and suited the game, even if only in a different way...

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:21 am
by Missing
I've always liked the sound of old Ocelot's voice in the English VO's --sorry, can't think of the actor's name at the moment-- but I pretty much prefer the Japanese actors when it comes to everyone else. MGS2 and 3 were very badly acted I thought. A lot of the roles seem phoned in. The Boss, Olga, Solidus, the Colonel, and occasionally even Snake himself. And if they aren't phoned in, their characters are just too annoying to listen to, i.e. Raiden, Rose, Volgin, and young Ocelot. However, I'm not saying that the Japanese VO's can't be just as annoying, but they tend not to be as frequently bad. Maybe the Japanese look at their parts with a little more seriousness than the Americans who seem to think being as melodramatic as possible is best.