Posts
I have not been posting nearly enough this year and I want to steer
back from that. To that end
I have found a 30-day blog challenge and will be writing out entries, hopefully
I can get all thirty days without any breaks, and if I manage to do that (since
August has 31 days) I will think of an additional entry to write about. I have done a 30-day
challenge before, it for movies, but that was a
while back, feel free to read those too if you like.
Today is
day 20 and the topic is “Best Video Game Voice Acting”.
“South
Park: The Stick of Truth”. This game is
a ton of fun. And represents the single
best transition of an intellectual property to a different medium, with the
entire creative team of the show working on the story, dialogue, and art. It is actually kind of hard to compete with
in regards to voice talent because it is the voices of the characters, not just
vocally, but intellectually. This is
“South Park”.
 |
| I am also looking forward to the sequel which is about Superheroes, |
I don’t
really have anything else to say about it.
I guess I will post my Steam review of the game, such as it is.
Even though I have not played the
game to completion it is still a fun and definite recommendation.
The combat is a little limited
(with only one other companion to help you in battles, and positioning is not a
substantive factor) and the gear you get is so flexible that you can be a bit
overpowered at times by switching between numerous different augments to fit
the situation.
The story is ULTRA true to the
South Park universe, and I imagine that the game was meant to reintroduce fans
of the series who have not played games before (via the easy gameplay) but also
to welcome back people who used to watch the series but hadn't in a while
(hence why some of the references are to jokes from the series that aren't even
referenced in the show anymore, like Mr. Hanky).
But how
about I talk about a game that I love which has totally original characters
with voices and characters captured by the voice actors: Pretty much everything
ever produced by Bioware. Even when I
didn’t care about the game all that much “Dragon Age Origins” I loved the voice
cast and the dialogue is delivered in a natural tone with great comedic
timing. “Mass Effect 2” is one of my
favorite games ever because of Jennifer Hale, the most prolific voice actress
in video games, and the surrounding talent which allows her to get shit done.
 |
| Her actress has played space heroines elsewhere too. |
I could
point to a game with voice acting that totally doesn’t work, but I tend to not
play those very much… Maybe “Shadows of Mordor” a game I love but I hate the
main characters because they are boring assholes. But that isn’t a reflection on their
performances, just the writing. I guess
I don’t have anything for a bad example of voice acting, except for stuff
everyone already knows about (that I never actually played) like the original “Resident
Evil”.
How about
the single best casting choice? Armin Shimerman, was the actor who portrayed Andrew
Ryan in “Bioshock”. The lunatic founder
of a Libertarian city under the sea is voiced by the same actor who played
Quark on Star Trek, the character who spoke of the philosophical benefits of
capitalism and free trade on Deep Space 9, a city in the stars. He so completely disappeared into the role I
didn’t notice until I started researching this blog.
 |
| Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? -Rule of Acquisition #70 |
 |
| Though, there were numerous instances in which I just wanted this jerk off to shut up while I stealth his goons. |
