[Feedback] Wuk Lamat's English Voice

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Originally Posted by ZephyrMenodora

Not a fan of the character - without spoilers is this character heavily featured so far?

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Sadly, yes.

I've only gotten to the first zone of the two you can choose, so not had a massive amount of exposure to it yet. That being said, personally I like her voice so far.

I completely agree. Her voice is annoying the hell out of me.

I think she's wonderful.

Didn't know much about this controversy, so I'm coming in with just my own personal opinions - not adding politics or anything like that in regards purely to the voice acting.

I stayed away from the forums when Wuk was first introduced and I loved this voice. It was so unique, fun, and portrayed the character as extremely cute, insecure, and overconfident with room to grow. I've been poking through the forums since then and saw a lot of criticism in regards to the acting and I was honestly really confused. I'm only in the second or third quest so I have no idea how bad / good it gets, but due to the criticism I was trying to watch out for the poor acting.

My thoughts: I don't think the accent is meant to be South American, at least no South American accent I ever heard. I just assumed Wuk's accent was meant to be some fantasy made up accent with some hard consonants, so I didn't find that very off-putting. I just took it as, made-up fantasy accent.

My criticism comes in the actual acting / tonal choices. This is the first red flag I've found so far. 90% has been fine, but maybe this is where criticisms are coming from. While I was on the boat, Wuk has a line stating, "I'm not seasick, I never get seasick! /almost throws up." Now, watching anime almost all my life this totally came off as a very cliche joke that I've seen in many anime, shoot a very comedic cliche in comedy in general: character overconfidently makes a declaration, then proves declaration false - haha, funny and cute. I'm 100% positive the Japanese reading of this would've been like a joke, setup: I don't get seasick; punchline: almost vomits. However, the American VA read as almost malicious or defensive - the tone was low and even, not flighty / high pitched as I would've expected. It didn't make the character cute or endearing, it almost made the character seem threatening as in they're trying to hide something.

I don't know if this is where the criticism is coming from, because I don't know if the very strange and odd tonal choices continue in this way. If it is continued in this strange direction, I very much get the criticism, and honestly I too will be going the JP VA route. However, I'm hoping that was a very bizarre acting choice and I don't continue to get strange whiplash with the character being airheaded / over confident to defensive / insecure.

Just my thoughts so far.

I went to JP voices it was so bad. I was looking forward to watching the voiced cut scenes too.

They really gotta re-record all the lines and get a woman in there that can voice act like in the JP version.

I said what I said.

I'm fine with Wuk Lamat, my bigger issue is having Thancred's va voice 3-4 characters at the same time. If i'm not mistaken Koana is voiced by him.

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Originally Posted by LittleArrow

<SNIP>My thoughts: I don't think the accent is meant to be South American, at least no South American accent I ever heard. I just assumed Wuk's accent was meant to be some fantasy made up accent with some hard consonants, so I didn't find that very off-putting. I just took it as, made-up fantasy accent.

My criticism comes in the actual acting / tonal choices. This is the first red flag I've found so far. 90% has been fine, but maybe this is where criticisms are coming from. While I was on the boat, Wuk has a line stating, "I'm not seasick, I never get seasick! /almost throws up." Now, watching anime almost all my life this totally came off as a very cliche joke that I've seen in many anime, shoot a very comedic cliche in comedy in general: character overconfidently makes a declaration, then proves declaration false - haha, funny and cute. I'm 100% positive the Japanese reading of this would've been like a joke, setup: I don't get seasick; punchline: almost vomits. However, the American VA read as almost malicious or defensive - the tone was low and even, not flighty / high pitched as I would've expected. It didn't make the character cute or endearing, it almost made the character seem threatening as in they're trying to hide something.

I don't know if this is where the criticism is coming from, because I don't know if the very strange and odd tonal choices continue in this way. If it is continued in this strange direction, I very much get the criticism, and honestly I too will be going the JP VA route. However, I'm hoping that was a very bizarre acting choice and I don't continue to get strange whiplash with the character being airheaded / over confident to defensive / insecure.

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Just a little update: It seems the ENG Wuk VA does a great job when the emotion is neutral / positive, but this is the second or third 'cutscene,' where I was just really confused between the tone choice and the character animation. I honestly can't read the character's emotions when it goes below "I'LL BE THE NEXT DAWNSERVANT!" or "OOOHH ERENVILLE YOU'RE SUCH A STINKER!" It's very bizarre how the VA chooses to read disappointed, surprised, and scared so far. Anger, I get it, but the more subtle emotions kind blur together to either a middle to very low energy. It's almost like the VA chooses to read those lines crashing from a sugar high or something - really that's what it sounds like LOL.

Wuk Lamat SUGAR HIGH WOOO to ...no one likes me... meh... nothing in between.

On a sidenote just met Bakool Jaja and omgah, those VA's are killing it! I'm super impressed and I love their interactions! I get the hot headed typical anime villain with that cool even toned anime villain. Those VAs are doing a great job and I'm so super excited to see them both again!

Anyhow, probably last post because I was intrigued by the criticism. I definitely think I'm seeing where the amateurish statement is coming from. There's just very poor translation between the character's emotions and the VA's range / skill in portraying them. Wuk seems like a very almost child-like character with very adult problems on her shoulders and I don't think I've seen those emotions properly portrayed through the ENG acting. I still really enjoy the spunk and excitement of Wuk's ENG VA - it's very contagious, but yeah complicated emotions are really falling through, for me at least.

It looks like Square Enix listened to the criticism, because most of her early scenes are unvoiced. I don't know what's worse!

Ok sorry, last last thought! I think...

I'm so intrigued by trying to figure out what feels weird with these scenes, and I think it's a combination with the VA director and the VA themselves, because so far for me Erenville and Krile have been carrying every scene despite who's the focus or not. Surprisingly, I thought Alphinaud and Alisaie were really disappointing. I get there's no reason to be pitchy or trying to take over a scene when they're there for support, but even so, Alphi and Ali have always held their own despite their role in a scene. They had charisma, they sounded awake and so far they both sound just tired. It sounds like everyone took some sleepy pills and they're trying to shrug it off, except for Krile and Erenville, well and Wuk when the character isn't anything but super excited. Knowing how well Ali / Alphi are in the other expansions, I think the VA director needs to carry some of the blame here. Whelp, anyhow! Maybe JPN VA here I come lol.

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Originally Posted by BeoCat

I'm fine with Wuk Lamat, my bigger issue is having Thancred's va voice 3-4 characters at the same time. If i'm not mistaken Koana is voiced by him.

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And all he does is talk about how much he misses Minfilia. Ten years later.

Switched to JP voice for now. I don't mind the EN voice but JP sounds better to me for some reason, JP is just how I imagined her to sound in my head. Maybe because EN is trying so hard with mixing accents. JP just sounds JP.
Is accent the responsibility of VA? I don't think so. I don't get it either, why did SE decide EN voice has to imitate certain accents? when for other languages the VA don't have to try as hard when it comes into accents.

I switched to JP voice because her voice and accent are like nails on chalkboard to me.

Yeah it didn't get better. It's hard to get through these quests because of it.

Honestly once we started getting accented English I switched to JP. I just find it really annoying going from everyone sounding British then suddenly getting accented English you almost never see this with any other language and it takes me out of the game so much. It reminds me yeah these are supposed to be south Americans or these are Indians not fantasy people from another world.
It's why I appreciate monster hunter voice acting having an option for a fake language from the world everyone speaks I find it far more immersive.

I didn't mind the voice like some other people but did keep getting weirded out in cutscenes. I think the voice director is more to blame then the actor. She's trying to play up a very expressive and intense character but due to the game being an MMO they can't really animate that performance for every cutscene, so it looks very jarring that she's just standing still with her mouth flapping open and shut. Every line is recorded like it would belong in a fully animated cutscene which just doesn't work for the genre, the voices need to be more restrained to synch with what's actually going to be on screen not just what's on the script.

It's a similar issues to what I had with Lyse, a lifeless mannequin has a hard time conveying that sort of character that the VA was told to play.

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Originally Posted by Ramiee

I just find it really annoying going from everyone sounding British then suddenly getting accented English you almost never see this with any other language and it takes me out of the game so much. It reminds me yeah these are supposed to be south Americans or these are Indians not fantasy people from another world.

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Why would the people from a far away continent that is a literal parallel to the Americas have the same accent as the people from the literal parallel of Europe?

Im so glad the german version doesnt double, no, rather tripple down on accent, for us shes fine, but i cant even bear a minute of your english one... or most others...

Wuk Lamat voice is OK.

Now Cachya or w/e it spelled (97+ quests NPC), now this is awful VO. It feels so amateur to me.

Ok this expansion actually motivated me to log in and shitpost on a forum like the mid 2000s.

I'm not going to comment on the forced accent because I'm not a native Spanish or Portuguese speaker. The issue I see is that she absolutely cannot maintain consistency. Some lines are delivered fine and if not amazing, but some of them you can clearly hear the accent slipping and the line being delivered subpar. If you want to hear what good consistent voice acting is, she plainly cannot do it. Every line you hear that is not consistent just pulls you out of the experience. In my opinion, they should just get her to re-record the lines.

You absolutely need to have consistent performance especially for voice acting.

Her voice is really good for the character as well as region, if you think it spoils it because her accent has a bit of a trait that Erenville has, then they grew up in the same area, no need to hate, it works and it works well, most here is trolls anyway.

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Originally Posted by Themarvin

Her voice is really good for the character as well as region, if you think it spoils it because her accent has a bit of a trait that Erenville has, then they grew up in the same area, no need to hate, it works and it works well, most here is trolls anyway.

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Dismissing opinions you disagree with as trolls is pretty poor. A lot of people have actual grievances with the character. Just because you don't share their opinion doesn't invalidate their criticism.

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Originally Posted by Themarvin

Her voice is really good for the character as well as region, if you think it spoils it because her accent has a bit of a trait that Erenville has, then they grew up in the same area, no need to hate, it works and it works well, most here is trolls anyway.

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Isn't Erenville voiced by a Scandinavian actor and has a Scandinavian-leaning accent, not a Spanish/Portuguese one?

"Then I wonder...am I the aberration for thinking thus? And I am filled with dread... But now I know I'm not alone. Not the only one for whom the flowers weep."

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Originally Posted by Themarvin

Her voice is really good for the character as well as region, if you think it spoils it because her accent has a bit of a trait that Erenville has, then they grew up in the same area, no need to hate, it works and it works well, most here is trolls anyway.

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I'm not meaning to question your intelligence but Wuk's VA simply cannot do it.

If you want to hear some examples of consistent voice acting, where the actor or actress is able to maintain the tone and manner of speech, just go listen to Fem V in 2077. Go to Phantom Liberty and look up when Fem V says "RUST IN PISS SHITBOT". Also since we are on 2077, I didn't know Spider Murphy, Misty, and Meredith Stout were all voiced by the same actress. I legit couldn't tell at first, because that's how good they are at getting into character and making sure that they maintain the consistency required to voice a character.

As a counterpoint to your points about hating on Wuk because she's not male, everyone loved Fem V to death.

Another example of consistent voice acting is the old Persona 3 games. One actress played 2 different characters with 2 totally different voices. She managed to do both, sometimes even in scenes where they talk to each other. Wuk's VA got a long ways to go to get on the level where players expect voice actors to be at.

Bad voice acting can make or break characters or even games.

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Originally Posted by Rhysati

Why would the people from a far away continent that is a literal parallel to the Americas have the same accent as the people from the literal parallel of Europe?

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You missed the second half when I said I like fictional languages the most. It's an immersion thing I don't want to associate the Indian inspired area with literal Indians because they speak in an Indian accent it reminds me I'm playing a game.

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Originally Posted by Somnolence

Wuk Lamat voice is OK.

Now Cachya or w/e it spelled (97+ quests NPC), now this is awful VO. It feels so amateur to me.

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I think the same few lvls. But then, terrible decisions was made by VO. Voice was really flat or out of place .

In last trial, when she appear in battle, that "Sphene, listen to me" was REALLY, astronomically bad. Like its emotional battle, not school drama-club.

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Originally Posted by Karious

It's bad. I feel like the character was miscast. Why did an American get hired for the role when the hiring studio is based out of London and everyone we've gotten has been from the UK so far?

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It's not that weird. The expansion is set in the "New World" which is kinda similar to the discovery of the Americas.

Though it would've made more sense to pick someone with a mid or south America accent (someone with a different mother language than English).

I keep pressing forward when it's her turn to speak in the voiced scenes, I just read it fast, so I don't have to hear her full sentence.

The voice actor is all over the place with the accent (I wouldn't care if it was just a poor accent (compared to real life cultures that the dlc is based on - it's not a one-for-one comparison so I don't mind if they have an accent in real life that is from comparable real world locations/cultures) -

but the accent is all over the place and not consistent, it's like she comes up with a new way to pronounce the same sounds every line) Also the pitch variation is grating, most people have a variation of using higher and lower sounds in their speech (unless they're like Ben Stein or something).

However, like the accent it's so non-consistent it doesn't feel like the normal up and down lilt of someone speaking naturally.

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Originally Posted by Tengi

However, like the accent it's so non-consistent it doesn't feel like the normal up and down lilt of someone speaking naturally.

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Because it's not. The VA grew up in the American East coast and is half puerto rican. Great, that doesn't mean you can nail an accent. I'm half Mexican and lived my entire life all over the American Southwest. I can't do a Mexican accent except when I'm actually speaking Spanish. Anytime I try to do a Mexican accent in English, it's just bad and borderline offensive. That's how the VA's accent feels.

I don't mind Wuk Lamat's voice, really. Some lines are weird, but honestly every character has super weird delivery in this expansion. Like they don't know the context.

Whoever was in charge of directing the English cast must have been super checked out. Even longtime fan favourite voice actors give super weird performances.

Sorry to the talent who I am sure tried very hard despite being in over her head.

SE really should have chosen talent with acting experience, and preferably from the proper area. Listening to this annoying zoomer thinking she "I did Drama in highschool, and everyone always told me I can do anything, so I can do this too" as her fake accent shifts all over the place. And outside the accent the intonation is all wrong, there is no real true emotion in her voice, the acting is just shocking. She often comes in worse than the ARR voice acting lowpoints.

https://i.gyazo.com/23457c7d8549b548...a1b216b341.jpg

So I get to play a lala boomer. She's an immersion breaking actress and a shocking VA, with too much fry and a fake accent that's all over the place, who needs a solid size 11 boot in the tailpipe to get it into gear.

lamat's voice is all over the place, voice cracking, pitch changing tO wHeRe iT sOuNdS LiKe ThIs

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Originally Posted by grinkdaboy

lamat's voice is all over the place, voice cracking, pitch changing tO wHeRe iT sOuNdS LiKe ThIs

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She's not the only one, either. Thancred sounds super weird during some cutscenes. No clue what's going on with the voices this expansion.

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Originally Posted by koko-on-da-forumz

Whoever was in charge of directing the game must have been super checked out.

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Fixed that for you, friend. They're really going all in on boneheaded decisions this expansion.

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Originally Posted by Oizen

some of the lines felt like it was a white person trying to sound Brazilian.

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So it's an ACTOR playing a part. Why is this bad? Or you trying to say it needs to be someone of that race doing the voice acting? Last time I checked, miquote, elezan, rothgar, etc don't actually exist. Actors play a part, voice and accent included.

I dont think that her VA is bad the writing is just bad with this expansion. When your character is written in on dimension you can only do so much, it would have been better if the story was about exploring this new world instead baby sitting Lamat. The focus should be about the WOL being a adventure again not getting involve with politics again.

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Originally Posted by CazzT

So it's an ACTOR playing a part. Why is this bad? Or you trying to say it needs to be someone of that race doing the voice acting? Last time I checked, miquote, elezan, rothgar, etc don't actually exist. Actors play a part, voice and accent included.

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It's bad because the thought "This sounds like a white person trying to sound Brazillian" took you out of the experience and made you realized you are playing a video game. It breaks immersion.

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Originally Posted by Ratikal

It's bad because the thought "This sounds like a white person trying to sound Brazillian" took you out of the experience and made you realized you are playing a video game. It breaks immersion.

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Yes, I think also, it's because the pretend LatAm accents are bad across the board, that the VA behind Wuk can't get a carry. A minor character can do a speedy-gonzales stand-in like voice, but not any of the mains.

Her voice sounds like 2 balloons rubbing together most of the time. It's very strained and she can't emote with it at all. She basically speaks in the same cadence all the time and when she strays from that the voice falls apart horribly.