who liked Xenosaga 1 ??

[kakomu]

Originally posted by Robojack
I probably would've liked the game more if they retained the original Japanese voice track. The English dub in Xenosaga was alright, but somehow I feel they don't capture the same feeling you get from the original Japanese one. Of course, that would've meant expanding the game onto 2 DVD-9s, raising the price of it.

do you understand Japanese? IF you're like most native English speakers. then probably not. In which case, I doubt you would really be able to get the 'feeling' conveyed by Japanese VAs.

[Robojack]

As a matter of fact, I understand a moderate amount of Japanese. However, it's that and also the tone and pitch of the voice acting used at certain points of the story that also determine the mood of any particular scene. Japanese voice acting usually has a lot more passion behind it, which is often necessary in serious productions such as Xenosaga.

However, even if you don't understand Japanese, if you just close you eyes and listen to the tones used by the actors, you can easily perceive their full emotional state, and how it corresponds to what is going on in the scene. This applies to not only Japanese anime & games, but also in other cultures too. This is why I feel that English voice acting for anime and games don't usually quite meet the grade.

[Zagatto]

I'm still waiting to play Xenosaga but I have to agree about the voice acting.

In Japan, it seems to be much more of an artform where the actors are expected to present a wide range of emotions. I remember watching my first untranslated anime (this is before I could even recognize the word baka) at a friends house and still being able to understand what was happening because of how well the emotions were presented by the voice actors.

In most games produced here in North America, I've seen otherwise great games trashed by some of the most amature voice acting imagineable. SSX Tricky is one example of great voice talent being used to take a game up to that next level of greatness.
Hidden Invasion would be an excellent example of crap writing and voice actors who just don't care.

[kakomu]

Originally posted by Robojack
if you just close you eyes and listen to the tones used by the actors, you can easily perceive their full emotional state, and how it corresponds to what is going on in the scene.

when I listen to Japanese Voice Acting, more often than not, I think they're over acting for any situation. I don't care about the emotion and passion of someone talking, but rather how well they're able to convey realism. By which, I think that any Japanese anime VA doesn't convey realism in their speech, which really bothers me.

[Robojack]

If you're looking for realism, go outside for a walk and watch a couple argue. All movies and television, be it in North America and Japan or anywhere else in the world, are exaggerated and overacted in some way. What you make it sound like is that you don't care if they speak in a monotonic manner, as long as they say the right things. That's pretty low standards, kakomu. I really don't think you'll win us over, especially with those standards.

[kakomu]

Originally posted by Robojack
If you're looking for realism, go outside for a walk and watch a couple argue. All movies and television, be it in North America and Japan or anywhere else in the world, are exaggerated and overacted in some way. What you make it sound like is that you don't care if they speak in a monotonic manner, as long as they say the right things. That's pretty low standards, kakomu. I really don't think you'll win us over, especially with those standards.

YOu seem to be jumping from one extreme to another. When you take Japanese VAs they will typically over-exaggerate. However, I don't know about you, but I don't speak in a dull monotone, nor did I ever mention anything about not caring what people sound like (otherwise, I wouldn't be complaining about over-acting). No, I want people who do voice overs and voice acting to speak like they would normally. I don't need to inflect my voice 3 times when I ask a question like you hear in anime, nor do I need to speak in a A3 note monotone through everything I say. All I ask is that people speak NORMALLY.

NOW, if you speak in a monotone normally, I don't want to hear people speaking like you.

[israfel]

xenosaga 1 was ok, but i was annoyed by the bland environments, the slow character progression and slow moving story line. but i guess you can expect that from a game who's story line is explained over 8 games. hopefully the second installment will be better.