Graha Voice Actor Change?

Early in the patch he sounded really weird but toward the end he started just sounding like G'raha with a cold. I saw Twitter mention he may have been doing this at the same time as Wicked and may have had vocal strain.

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyTank

Could also be that he's bit stuck in a different cadence/dialect after acting session, and weren't given appropriate feedback for a sound director when recording the lines.

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Possible yeah, voice directing in general has been pretty bad in DT

I truly hope that they haven't permanently recast G'raha's ENG voice actor, but having heard his lines throughout the patch, it's clear to me that whoever was voicing G'raha in 7.4 is not Jonathan Bailey, though whoever they had step in admittedly sounds like they are doing their best impression of him. That said, it's pretty egregious that they would recast a major character, whether temporarily or permanently, and not publicly address it at all. I understand that the ENG side of the player base is not their priority compared to JP, but it's not like G'raha is a minor character from several expansions ago. G'raha has been a major character for over 6 years now, and it's not as if they don't know that he is arguably one of the most popular on both sides of the aisle, or that Jonathan Bailey is an absolute star among the ENG voice performances. Whatever the circumstances - budget, contracts, wonky scheduling, etc. - that led to his recast, and whether or not they are permanent, not affording even the slightest degree of transparency about it to their players is pretty dishonest. Especially since they made a conscious choice to swap out a voice line spoken by G'raha in the JP trailer for a line spoken by a completely separate character in the ENG trailer.

Would love even just any clarification from official sources. It just feels insulting as a player to hear this jarring difference from the localization that goes on and on about what high standards they have.

This is pretty much unacceptable from any angle of it, if it is indeed Jonathan Bailey it is so flawed it needs a rerecording and if it is not him then why haven't we been informed of this change? They don't even have any plausible deniability about this quality difference since they purposefully excluded his line from the english trailer.

We should not have to be arguing about who it is, if a change happens to the performance of a major character who appears in like almost all merch and collab SE does for the game these days I think it should be announced in advance in official capacity. If this happened with one of the JP voices would they not announce a change either? Doubt it.

Please respect the players. I don't care if the answer they have is that JB was sick, that they are still negotiating contracts or they replaced him. I just want any kind of answer so we don't have to go full sound analysis on a beloved character because we can never be sure! Its disrespectful to the players and honestly to the voice actors too. Very disappointed in the localization team for this huge miss.

If he was sick/voice strained, I hope they'll consider a re-record. It really does sound jarring.

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Originally Posted by Immut

Sounds the same to me on JP voices. Hope this helps.

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Agreed. How dare people are multilingual lol. Like more than half the players I know play with JP voices, and while I get anglocetrism is fun for the players from said places, specifying the language on these threads would help a lot.

e/: And the OP is sweet so they are fine etc etc

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Originally Posted by Vespar

You right! I honestly forget that folks play in other languages. Though in my defence most folk responding on this thread, play in English and it is the English forums... but w/e. I was referencing the English VA. Not the JP/GER/FR, etc.
That said, if we lose Bailey as G'raha's VA, I will likely never use the English voices again. I'm genuinely frustrated everytime they change voice actors. Its super jarring.

Though honestly, I wish they'd give us a direct Japanese translation for this purpose as well. So we can play in native dialogue and have the spoken words and text actually match. I know enough Japanese to know that its not always the correct translation.

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Didn't see this. OP, you're valid, lol. But yeah the TL can be kind of ass, unfortunately, but if ya boi did get recast, the JP all-star cast will lovingly welcome you \o/ That said, the French is pretty good in case you happen to not speak that, in which case the subs will be less jarring!

Square staying silent about this matter is disrespectful to their players, as there is clearly something different about G'raha's voice this patch. If JB has been recast then we deserve to be updated. Cutting G'raha's line beign excluded from the english trailer is not a good look and feels like it was purposely obfuscated from us.

I personally love JB acting as G'raha and would rather than SE do their best to keep him. Changing a beloved main character after six years is not at all respectful to their players.

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Originally Posted by 0blivion

Didn't see this. OP, you're valid, lol. But yeah the TL can be kind of ass, unfortunately, but if ya boi did get recast, the JP all-star cast will lovingly welcome you \o/ That said, the French is pretty good in case you happen to not speak that, in which case the subs will be less jarring!

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Ahh your sweet for your kindness.
I've always loved the JP voices <mostly>. I just liked certain English VAs for certain characters... plus the lack of proper direct translation always kept me from playing in JP. But Ive been considering a playthru in JP for a while now.

Honestly I'm only disappointed people are saying the VA we had is trash because it sounds like a different actor. Not actually any critique on sound quality or skill, literally just "It's different so it sucks."

But then this is likely exactly why SE hasn't made any announcement about a change. Some of y'all would dogpile the guy before he could even break into the role.

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Originally Posted by RedLolly

Honestly I'm only disappointed people are saying the VA we had is trash because it sounds like a different actor. Not actually any critique on sound quality or skill, literally just "It's different so it sucks."

But then this is likely exactly why SE hasn't made any announcement about a change. Some of y'all would dogpile the guy before he could even break into the role.

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I have yet to see anyone use the word "trash". Even so, people have every right to be disappointed with this change, even if "just" because it's different, considering it's a character that has been a major part of the story for nearly seven years now and Bailey happens to deliver an absolutely stellar performance that is the very reason many enjoy the character so much.

Like KiraRavens said before, seeing a character be changed into someone that feels completely different is not much better than seeing the character retired for good or killed off—in a lot of ways it's even worse. It's entirely understandable to see people have strong reactions to a potential recast like this.

In matters of proper critique, G'raha's voice lines in 7.4 lack the cadence and inflection that were so characteristic to him. His intonation is noticeably lispy, his accent is inconsistent, and the pitch of his voice is noticeably higher. Moreover, the voice just lacks the bassy tone and, for lack of a better descriptor, smokey-ness of Bailey's voice, and it is *fine* to be disappointed by that.

Glad you liked the performance, genuinely wish I could say the same, but defending SE's lack of respect for the players by making a hypothetical strawman that fans would "dogpile" a new VA is what's really unfair here. Replacing a 6+ year long voice actor of a major character with no announcement while intentionally obscuring the replacement (i.e. omitting G'raha's voice line in the trailer) is entirely unethical and disrespectful not just to players but to the voice actors themselves. Especially because they would never do this to a JP voice actor.

This definitely doesn't sound like him, but I very much hope I am wrong as Graha has one of the best voices in the game. A lot of his lines can be found in the video link before for comparison, and you can see how much fuller he usually sounds compared to...whatever this is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tydKXOzxW4M&t=138s

To be fair, Y'shota also is lacking the fullness of her voice acting as well...but I can very much still tell it is her.

Graha truly sounds like another person. I really hope the theory of him being sick ends up being true....but...I don't know. He doesn't have THAT many lines that he couldn't have pushed through it with his acting experience.

G'raha is my favorite character, I've listened to his cutscenes multiple times in rewatches, and honestly, in my opinion, whoever voiced him in this patch is not Jonathan Bailey. It is, admittedly, someone doing their best impression of him, but I frankly feel crazy that people believe this is just JB with a cold or whatever. I don't think a cold or a swollen tongue would make him change his inflection and pitch entirely.

But that whole debate aside, it's clear Square Enix is fully aware he sounds off, because they intentionally omitted his voice from the English trailer. G'raha has a line in the 7.4 trailer in all languages except English, there's no way it wasn't an intentional omission. They know he sounds off, and they're choosing to just say nothing about it, something they'd never do if this was an issue with his JP VA.

So the question is: is this a permanent change? Is this still Bailey but they directed him to go on a completely different direction with G'raha for whatever reason? Or are they seriously stealth recasting an actor for a main character who's played his character for seven years now, and saying absolutely nothing to the community?

Whatever the issue is, be it that it's JB but he sounds off, it's a temporary recast for whatever reason, or in the worst of cases, it's a permanent recast, they should say something. Recasting such a major character after seven years (seriously, dude, JB's first appearance as G'raha was as far back as Stormblood) is a huge deal, especially since other than the studio change from ARR to HW where everyone was recast, they've only recast English voice actors when they tragically passed away. It's incredibly disrespectful to the community for SE to just not say anything when they're clearly aware there's something wrong, seeing, once again, as they intentionally omitted his voice only from the English trailer.

This isn't some minor issue. A JP recast of such a major character would not even happen, mind you, let alone go unannounced, because the Japanese community would be at SE's doorstep with pitchforks. Square Enix isn't some small indie company, they can afford to pay Bailey, and if they're suffering budget cuts, voice acting of major characters is absolutely not where they should allocate it. Based on his interviews JB is a reasonable guy who clearly loves the role, I'm sure SE can negotiate and keep him if they actually try to.

On a personal level, I don't enjoy the JP dub of this game, and if my favorite character truly got recast in the ENG dub, I'm not sure I'll ever feel invested in the story or the game again. Maybe this seems extreme to some, but I know for a fact I'm not the only one who feels this way. So I can only hope SE is actually putting effort into keeping Bailey in the cast, because I'd hate to lose something so dear to me.

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Originally Posted by RedLolly

Honestly I'm only disappointed people are saying the VA we had is trash because it sounds like a different actor. Not actually any critique on sound quality or skill, literally just "It's different so it sucks."

But then this is likely exactly why SE hasn't made any announcement about a change. Some of y'all would dogpile the guy before he could even break into the role.

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Surely even if you liked the performance of the 7.4 VA better you believe the ethical thing to do would be to give Jonathan Bailey, who has voiced G'raha for seven years and who even through sickness and simultaneous teather, cinema, and streaming projects, always made time to come in and record his voice lines, a proper sendoff and a proper explanation as to why he's leaving, considering they've previously only replaced single VAs in the case of death? And to give his replacement a proper introduction? Instead of whatever this silence and the intentional omission of Raha's voice line in the 7.4 trailer only in English is?

I don't play with the English voices, but with G'raha being such a popular main character and JB being so popular with fans, there definitely should be some transparency on whether he's been replaced or not, especially when his lines were also omitted from the English trailer. I know I'd be devasted if Yuuma Uchida was replaced in Japanese, especially with no warning, so I can definitely sympathise with fans who love his English voice and are feeling upset over this.

An interview I watched a while ago though has me highly doubting that JB would drop out of his own free will. He even said that he was fully aware of how important G'raha is to a lot of fans and was determined to keep voicing him.

As a G'raha enjoyer, I am in the camp that it is JB, but an unfortunate combination of exhaustion, poor mic set-up, and lackluster voice direction in DT as a whole has him sounding so awful in this latest patch. Tiredness or a swollen tongue isn't enough for this degree of distortion, but I (perhaps naively) have a hard time believing SE would stealth-recast a beloved character and VA. His 7.4 performance sounds almost like his Jurassic World character to me (higher-pitched, more nasally, none of his usual graveliness), and despite a very rough start, his later lines sounded closer to G'raha's typical cadence and inflection even if the brassiness never came through. As for the missing English line in the trailer, there's a possibility where JB simply didn't record his lines in time to be included in the trailer, given how busy he's been in the last year.

That said, people are clearly upset and unsure of JB's future with the game given his successes in the last few years, so SE should be scrambling to assuage fears. Threads like this should not be necessary, and SE's silence is disappointing and disrespectful to those who love this game and the VA's who make their favorite characters come to life. And if it is JB, his lines need to be re-recorded in a studio; his voice in this patch is downright jarring, and completely shattered my immersion in the story. Clearly, many others agree.

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Originally Posted by claustromania

As a G'raha enjoyer, I am in the camp that it is JB, but an unfortunate combination of exhaustion, poor mic set-up, and lackluster voice direction in DT as a whole has him sounding so awful in this latest patch.

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The more I listen to it, the less I believe it is him personally. It feels like a cold day in hell for me to say that Wuk Lamat did a better job reprising her character than "Jonathan Bailey" in 7.4, but it's true.

I fail to see how JB could push through Wicked and all his other obligations just fine but couldn't voice maybe 2 pages (at most) of dialogue for this, a character he's played for years and says he cares about.

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Originally Posted by ZephyrMenodora

I fail to see how JB could push through Wicked and all his other obligations just fine but couldn't voice maybe 2 pages (at most) of dialogue for this, a character he's played for years and says he cares about.

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For the same reason I just can't imagine him quietly abandoning the role. I think it more likely that multiple unfortunate factors combined to produce a lackluster performance, rather than that JB just suddenly dropped the character. If it really isn't him, I feel it also more likely that it's a temporary recast due to scheduling issues. In every scenario, though, SE should have said something by now.

I'm just hesitant to jump straight to a sudden, unannounced, permanent recast for one of the most popular characters in the game voiced by one of the most famous men alive right now. Terrible showings from other VA's in the past resulted in cries of recasting (I've done it myself), but it's never been the case, and was always due to some extenuating circumstance. I suppose we won't know for sure until 7.5 or until SE and/or some other involved party says something. If it is a new VA, you'd think they would have announced their involvement by now given the popularity of the game and the character.

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Originally Posted by claustromania

I suppose we won't know for sure until 7.5 or until SE and/or some other involved party says something. If it is a new VA, you'd think they would have announced their involvement by now given the popularity of the game and the character.

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And I fully think it would be something held back for a bit because the backlash of losing one of the most popular character's insanely beloved and famous voice actors after about 7 years of loyalty. There is a terrifying amount of pressure being put on the guy just in here.

We've not had any major character get a new voice in the English dub outside of the few unfortunate deaths that have happened over the years, so there is zero precedent of this. The only thing SE has to go off of is how poorly some things went in DT. If it's permanent, is it necessary to re-record certain things like the combat voices? Mahjong? Or just leave that stuff as the original actor recorded it until the new one needs to add to it? Do they need to make a special announcement or no? Just release the content and let the writing and acting speak for themselves?

I'm definitely leaning toward it not being him. Almost certain of it.

They omitted his line from the EN trailer which was a very weird choice. Now he sounds like this... It seems like a rushed recast.
So rushed maybe that they didn't have the new guy ready in time for the trailer and recorded lines last minute.

Even if Bailey was just sick, these lines have got to be redone at some point if possible. I love Bailey and it wouldn't be his fault at all if this is what happened.
As we all know he's incredibly busy, but these lines did not feel like G'raha at all. It really took me out of things any time he spoke because it sounded so flat and odd.

In any case it's a shame, I hope we get confirmation one way or the other sooner than later. This isn't just any recast, this is one of our main characters of many years now! A sudden replacement would be awful but I feel it's coming if it hasn't already happened.

If it is due to cost and Square doesn't want to pay for a Hollywood actor like Bailey has become, I don't really see an issue, to be honest. Bailey has been a great fit for G'raha, of course, but the new voice the actor did a fine job, and I'd rather the money went into the game itself rather than getting a Hollywood actor to voice a character.

We need transparency from Square Enix.

We can speculate about all the details till the cows come home, but that gets us nowhere.

And the truth of the matter is that this would never happen with the Japanese voice actors. English voice acting is simply not respected in the West, not even when it's involving the literal biggest star on the planet right now.

If Yuma Uchida needed to be recast, permanently or temporarily, we would have known before the patch.

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Originally Posted by ZephyrMenodora

The more I listen to it, the less I believe it is him personally. It feels like a cold day in hell for me to say that Wuk Lamat did a better job reprising her character than "Jonathan Bailey" in 7.4, but it's true.

I fail to see how JB could push through Wicked and all his other obligations just fine but couldn't voice maybe 2 pages (at most) of dialogue for this, a character he's played for years and says he cares about.

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Vocalist here. *if* he blew his voice, it absolutely would be showing up here. And it would take a long time (if ever) to recover and require him to be near silent. Now consider his time in and out of studio to even record the lines is very limited. Meaning, they get him when they get him. If hes got even the flu, so be it. Those are the takes they will have to roll with. Also, if his voice is being damaged from overuse, to be honest, that...is just what it's going to sound like going forward. So, this might be his voice now.



Now on his end, he has said he loves voicing the character. So I just doubt it's a contract or money dispute etc. Time is likely his and SE's main issue. So yeah, I think it's him. Yes some lines sounded raspy/softer and not like him due to it....that also lines up with vocal fatigue or injury.

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Originally Posted by peachsyder

Glad you liked the performance, genuinely wish I could say the same, but defending SE's lack of respect for the players by making a hypothetical strawman that fans would "dogpile" a new VA is what's really unfair here. Replacing a 6+ year long voice actor of a major character with no announcement while intentionally obscuring the replacement (i.e. omitting G'raha's voice line in the trailer) is entirely unethical and disrespectful not just to players but to the voice actors themselves. Especially because they would never do this to a JP voice actor.

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Agreed, and I feel like it's both disrespectful to the players *and* to any new VA for them to stay silent, tbh. If SE really were concerned that a new VA would be 'dogpiled', then all the more reason for them to come out in full support of them, announcing them (or allowing them to announce themselves) and welcoming them to the team. The way they're doing things, staying quiet and even obfuscating the change in the trailer, makes it look like they're embarrassed to admit to it, which is really unfair for anyone taking on the role.

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Originally Posted by bunnymoon

We need transparency from Square Enix.

We can speculate about all the details till the cows come home, but that gets us nowhere.

And the truth of the matter is that this would never happen with the Japanese voice actors. English voice acting is simply not respected in the West, not even when it's involving the literal biggest star on the planet right now.

If Yuma Uchida needed to be recast, permanently or temporarily, we would have known before the patch.

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Agreed and seconding, I would appreciate a concrete source over wild mass speculation. Whatever the situation is, we need truth and transparency.

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Originally Posted by Kinseykinz

Vocalist here. *if* he blew his voice, it absolutely would be showing up here. And it would take a long time (if ever) to recover and require him to be near silent. Now consider his time in and out of studio to even record the lines is very limited. Meaning, they get him when they get him. If hes got even the flu, so be it. Those are the takes they will have to roll with. Also, if his voice is being damaged from overuse, to be honest, that...is just what it's going to sound like going forward. So, this might be his voice now.



Now on his end, he has said he loves voicing the character. So I just doubt it's a contract or money dispute etc. Time is likely his and SE's main issue. So yeah, I think it's him. Yes some lines sounded raspy/softer and not like him due to it....that also lines up with vocal fatigue or injury.

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Except he's done recent interviews, like Seth Meyers 4 weeks ago at https://youtu.be/35Xioi0vjKI?si=1iWQ3h8k0nVakMPO - he still sounds like himself and you can hear Graha in him.

I think what we got in 7.4 sounds like an entirely different person and I don't believe any of the things being suggested explains what I heard at all.

I also absolutely believe SquareEnix - if they had to recast them - would leave us in the dark until they got their re-sub money since that company has been heavily under the gun from their investors of late, and they barely need more negative press such as losing their most famous voice actor.

If Square Enix wont answer, cant we just JB?

We should be pushing Square Enix for clarification/transparency on the situation rather than JB because they are the entity responsible for making questionable decisions re: this entire thing, such as omitting G'raha's voice line from the ENG trailer when it's present in all others. I'm not going to pretend I'm not biased; I also look on Bailey's early 2024 BAFTA interview where he speaks so fondly of the character and his commitment to it that I'm willing to give him far more grace on whatever the issue is that has necessitated the recast (since I do believe it's a recast, whether permanent or temporary) than I am the company who chooses acting shady over transparency from the jump. And make no mistake, it IS a shady move because it speaks to their own awareness that they knew the fans would clock that G'raha sounded different and made a choice to hide it until they could release the patch. I also agree with what others have said that it's not only disrespectful to the players, but also to Jonathan Bailey, who has spent years including the absolute peak of his career still giving his all with G'raha's vocal performance even when being pulled in multiple directions for high-profile Hollywood and theater commitments, AND the new VA who has stepped into a debut performance for a beloved character, that they outright HID from the trailer. I doubt they'd be treating their JP VAs like that if Uchida was the one who ended up being recast instead, and it is on Square Enix to address this before it's on anybody else.

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Originally Posted by Garruss

If it is due to cost and Square doesn't want to pay for a Hollywood actor like Bailey has become, I don't really see an issue, to be honest. Bailey has been a great fit for G'raha, of course, but the new voice the actor did a fine job, and I'd rather the money went into the game itself rather than getting a Hollywood actor to voice a character.

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Hey, so newsflash: voice acting for the story is the game itself, not some mythical separate thing.

To quote Aco505's extremely on point words from earlier in this thread:

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Originally Posted by Aco505

Jonathan Bailey has stated that he likes the character and would like to continue being his VA. This was when he was already famous so I'm sure it's not a money issue and Bailey himself seems like an honest down-to-earth person that does things because he enjoys art.

And speaking of art, video games are so, too. I think we, as players, should be way more concerned when money is always used as an excuse in order not to do something that can be mildly inconvenient. Not everything has to be profitable, especially in FFXIV, the main reason why the company keeps afloat. Sometimes things should be done for the sake of art and keeping beloved long time VAs is one of those things.

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We ought to stop acting like it's just totally okay for SE to decide "muh budget" is an excuse. This thread and the reactions all over social media have made it clear that plenty of people are not just indignant over the lack of transparency from SE but over the very prospect of Bailey being recast. This matters to people. This is the extremely beloved voice actor of one of the most (frankly, if not arguably the) popular characters in the game. Square Enix needs to be doing everything in their power to keep him.

Bailey has made it plenty clear he loves the role and wants to keep doing it, I'm sure he's not unwilling to negotiate just because he's become very popular. Like peachsyder said earlier too, he already came back as G'raha when he was at his busiest and working on his most high profile projects, surely if his rates increased because of his popularity it was then, so why would he be getting cut now?

Let's stop acting like multimillion dollar conglomerate Square Enix is scrambling for money, and even if they were, acting like it's okay for main character voice acting to be on the chopping block. If SE is trying to test the waters with a stealth recast and just hoping people don't complain, then everyone who cares about this needs to make it very clear that we want Bailey to stay.

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Originally Posted by mildlymoonstruck

We should be pushing Square Enix for clarification/transparency on the situation rather than JB because they are the entity responsible for making questionable decisions re: this entire thing, such as omitting G'raha's voice line from the ENG trailer when it's present in all others. I'm not going to pretend I'm not biased; I also look on Bailey's early 2024 BAFTA interview where he speaks so fondly of the character and his commitment to it that I'm willing to give him far more grace on whatever the issue is that has necessitated the recast (since I do believe it's a recast, whether permanent or temporary) than I am the company who chooses acting shady over transparency from the jump. And make no mistake, it IS a shady move because it speaks to their own awareness that they knew the fans would clock that G'raha sounded different and made a choice to hide it until they could release the patch. I also agree with what others have said that it's not only disrespectful to the players, but also to Jonathan Bailey, who has spent years including the absolute peak of his career still giving his all with G'raha's vocal performance even when being pulled in multiple directions for high-profile Hollywood and theater commitments, AND the new VA who has stepped into a debut performance for a beloved character, that they outright HID from the trailer. I doubt they'd be treating their JP VAs like that if Uchida was the one who ended up being recast instead, and it is on Square Enix to address this before it's on anybody else.

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I do agree that this isn't Bailey's fault in the slightest, but one thing where I would see merit in reaching out to him (if at all possible — he's notoriously extremely offline) is in the possibility that Square Enix recast him without notifying him at all. If anyone has been around enough and familiar with the Tales series, you might remember that Troy Baker voiced the main character in Tales of Vesperia, Yuri, and was replaced when the game's definitive edition was released in English. People were assuming it was because Baker had become too popular for Tales, but he later revealed he was never approached about doing additional lines/scenes at all, and voiced that he was gutted over it, because he loves the character and would have jumped at the chance to play him again.

The possibility of the same happening to Bailey does exist, and upsets me immensely to even think about. If he's not been made aware, he deserves to know.

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Originally Posted by paradisea

I do agree that this isn't Bailey's fault in the slightest, but one thing where I would see merit in reaching out to him (if at all possible — he's notoriously extremely offline) is in the possibility that Square Enix recast him without notifying him at all. If anyone has been around enough and familiar with the Tales series, you might remember that Troy Baker voiced the main character in Tales of Vesperia, Yuri, and was replaced when the game's definitive edition was released in English. People were assuming it was because Baker had become too popular for Tales, but he later revealed he was never approached about doing additional lines/scenes at all, and voiced that he was gutted over it, because he loves the character and would have jumped at the chance to play him again.

The possibility of the same happening to Bailey does exist, and upsets me immensely to even think about. If he's not been made aware, he deserves to know.

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Okay, yeah, as a long time Tales fan I was familiar with the Troy Baker/Yuri Lowell situation, and it hadn't crossed my mind yet that it is possible Square Enix recast Bailey and never even discussed it with him. That's gutting. It's an eerily similar case to this, to be honest: actor becomes a part of big projects after his initial casting in the game, and is eventually recast with a soundalike. Fans assume it was just because he's too big for little small time jRPG voice acting role but it turns out the actor never wanted to leave, he was just never asked to return. Troy Baker's tweet for the unfamiliar.

It would be widely unethical for this to be case, but it certainly warrants considering the possibility that Bailey hasn't been made aware he's been recast at all. In which case, my god, I will actually go ballistic lol.

All I can say is I hope it's a combination of having a terrible setup and being sick that his voicework in 7.4 was so inconsistent, because he sounded so off. There were lines that sounded like someone was impersonating Jonathan Bailey, and others sounded more true to form. Just a weird roller coaster for my ears this patch that drove me crazy.

Jonathan Bailey makes G'raha Tia for me. He has done a spectacular job since Shadowbringers, and honestly, one of the few reasons why I'm still playing this game. If SE is replacing him without notice because of budgeting reasons, a lot of people are going to be incredibly disappointed. Replacing him would be a huge mistake.

SE, I beg. Please don't replace Jonathan Bailey.

SQE should make a statement already. People's worry has been really souring this patch. (And I understand that, my wish to play HSR disappeared after all of the sudden recasts)
Really hoping that was just the result of weird voice direction. DT has had lots of these.

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Originally Posted by paradisea

I do agree that this isn't Bailey's fault in the slightest, but one thing where I would see merit in reaching out to him (if at all possible — he's notoriously extremely offline) is in the possibility that Square Enix recast him without notifying him at all. If anyone has been around enough and familiar with the Tales series, you might remember that Troy Baker voiced the main character in Tales of Vesperia, Yuri, and was replaced when the game's definitive edition was released in English. People were assuming it was because Baker had become too popular for Tales, but he later revealed he was never approached about doing additional lines/scenes at all, and voiced that he was gutted over it, because he loves the character and would have jumped at the chance to play him again.

The possibility of the same happening to Bailey does exist, and upsets me immensely to even think about. If he's not been made aware, he deserves to know.

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I wasn't familiar, but this is such a horrifying yet plausible possibility that I'm honestly gutted. To me, Jonathan Bailey's performance made the character every bit as much as the writing did. I really don't have the words for how disgusting it would be if Square Enix pulled something as underhanded as this. They need to clarify what's happened immediately.

I do wonder myself if it’s a temporary recast, sound quality or something else. I hope it’s addressed soon.

I don't mind if a recast happens since people can get busy, but they should at least tell us.

Doubt that Bailey can ever get more busy than when he was recording Bridgerton, Wicked and Jurassic Park, all of which finished filming last year at the latest. If he made time to come back as G'raha when he was that busy, I don't see what could possibly have stopped him from coming back for this patch, seeing as it's unlikely 7.4 was recorded more than a year in advance. If he didn't come back, I'm placing my bets that the issue lies with Square Enix.

Personally, I do very much mind a recast, as do many others. Jonathan Bailey makes G'raha Tia for me. If Square Enix gives up on him after he's given his all in this role for seven years, I'll be extremely upset and disappointed.

Honestly, this really hurt me. For those who aren't attached to the character and play in another language, everything was fine. For those who play in ENG and love him, it was a low blow. I couldn't hear JB's voice anywhere, and that left me worried.

I had my suspicions from the trailer, but I was hoping that everything would remain normal in the patch, which clearly didn't happen. Even some of my friends said he sounded like AI (which I hope is not the case).

The new VA tries hard to match Jonathan's tone, but just no..., and there are moments where he sounds very forced or emotionless. Soulless (things that don't suit Raha at all). Jonathan gave him that emotion and charisma that made our scion so charming. In the patch, I even felt a different personality that just didn't...

I hope it's temporary, and of course, that SE will address this situation...

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Originally Posted by paradisea

Doubt that Bailey can ever get more busy than when he was recording Bridgerton, Wicked and Jurassic Park, all of which finished filming last year at the latest. If he made time to come back as G'raha when he was that busy, I don't see what could possibly have stopped him from coming back for this patch, seeing as it's unlikely 7.4 was recorded more than a year in advance. If he didn't come back, I'm placing my bets that the issue lies with Square Enix.

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He did star as the leading role in Richard II earlier this year, Feb thru May, doing something like seven or eight shows a week. If it is in fact JB in 7.4 and his lines were recorded during that period, that could explain why his voice sounds so wrecked and the sound quality is shot (recording on the go). He mentioned that his performance in Company was the reason for his swollen tongue issues back in that BAFTA interview last year, and that wasn't even a leading role. Or, if it isn't JB, it might explain why they had a stand-in this patch that is hopefully temporary.

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Originally Posted by claustromania

He did star as the leading role in Richard II earlier this year, Feb thru May, doing something like seven or eight shows a week. If it is in fact JB in 7.4 and his lines were recorded during that period, that could explain why his voice sounds so wrecked and the sound quality is shot (recording on the go). He mentioned that his performance in Company was the reason for his swollen tongue issues back in that BAFTA interview last year, and that wasn't even a leading role. Or, if it isn't JB, it might explain why they had a stand-in this patch that is hopefully temporary.

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I'm aware of his work in Richard II, but the thing is, even he had his tongue inflamed and swollen because of his work in Company, he at most sounded lispy, not like an entire different person. Raha's voice lines in 7.4 do not sound like Bailey with a sickness, they sound like someone else entirely — or like Bailey mysteriously being directed to do an entirely different voice and inflection for Raha.

If it was Bailey, the voice lines are bad enough to warrant a rerecording. If it wasn't Bailey, we deserve to know why and if it's temporary. And if it's not temporary, we deserve to know why they'd chose to part ways with him now of all times, when he's less busy than he was when he still came back to record for 7.0 through 7.3.