Graha Voice Actor Change?

[IronThistle]

G'raha is incredibly important to me as a character, and I've always eagerly anticipated cutscenes that include him and savored them. But while this new G'raha voice actor isn't bad, he isn't the G'raha I know and love.

It was so jarring and disconcerting every time G'raha spoke in the recent cutscenes, and it ruined the story enjoyment for me.

SE, please explain what happened with JB. Is he coming back? Or is G'raha forever changed for those of us who care about that?

Some of us would like to know before we make our choices.

[ZephyrMenodora]

G'raha is incredibly important to me as a character, and I've always eagerly anticipated cutscenes that include him and savored them. But while this new G'raha voice actor isn't bad, he isn't the G'raha I know and love.

It was so jarring and disconcerting every time G'raha spoke in the recent cutscenes, and it ruined the story enjoyment for me.

SE, please explain what happened with JB. Is he coming back? Or is G'raha forever changed for those of us who care about that?

Some of us would like to know before we make our choices.

A lot of people on various platforms have stated that it's the writers who make the characters, not the actors - but I have to disagree as I believe this to be a joint effort.

I will admit that I didn't even initially like G'raha, I found him a bit annoying. But I always enjoyed the acting behind the character - which was so well done along with some nice writing since Shadowbringers that has elevated him to my favorite along with Y'shtola and the Twins. (Krile is up there for me also).

Removing the actor is really hitting my enjoyment of the character for me - especially as I am not someone who believes the stand-in sounds close to the original.

[paradisea]

A lot of people on various platforms have stated that it's the writers who make the characters, not the actors - but I have to disagree as I believe this to be a joint effort.

Exactly! I'll repeat a previous post by peachsyder for emphasis: voice performances are a huge part of a character. G'raha's writing is the same no matter who's voicing him, and of course his writing being great is what made him appealing to many, but the acting of the person behind the character will make a major difference in how that writing lands and how it affects the audience. G'raha would simply not have had the same impact on the fans who played in English if it hadn't been for Bailey's performance, even with the writing being the exact same.

And no, that's not about Bailey as a person, it's about his performance as G'raha. Just feel the need to make this clear.

[ZephyrMenodora]

And no, that's not about Bailey as a person, it's about his performance as G'raha. Just feel the need to make this clear.

One can never be too clear on that! I don't want to relive how many times I've been called "parasocial" over caring about consistency in performance in an entertainment product, which some have confused to mean I am obsessed with a specific actor on a personal level.

[claustromania]

Would have been my favorite DT patch so far if not for all the not-Bailey-voice and all the silence and shadiness from SE around it. Here's hoping he'll be back.

I also really enjoyed 7.4 otherwise, and sincerely hope they re-record G'raha's lines at some point (JB or no, the sound quality was off) as I loved his speech in the new area toward the tail-end of the patch. Would love for it to have been delivered without "MY BOY'S BEEN BODY-SNATCHED" as a mental back-drop to the scene.

[shoebilldreams]

I also really enjoyed 7.4 otherwise, and sincerely hope they re-record G'raha's lines at some point (JB or no, the sound quality was off) as I loved his speech in the new area toward the tail-end of the patch. Would love for it to have been delivered without "MY BOY'S BEEN BODY-SNATCHED" as a mental back-drop to the scene.

It was definitely on my mind for the whole time I was playing MSQ - from the moment I heard him speak and said "that's a different cat" to myself, I was anticipating being asked by half my friends and also being told I was wrong by half the internet again. Echoes of 6.1 all over again...

[claustromania]

One can never be too clear on that! I don't want to relive how many times I've been called "parasocial" over caring about consistency in performance in an entertainment product, which some have confused to mean I am obsessed with a specific actor on a personal level.

Nevermind that this whole debacle is just the most recent in a long line of complaints many, many people in the community have toward Dawntrail's EN voice direction in general, from broom closet Y'shtola and other sound quality issues to very tonally-off line delivery by multiple characters, but now that it involves this specific character, we're all suddenly being obsessive and unreasonable. G'raha, though the most egregious, wasn't even the only one with issues this patch; Alphinaud's voice sounded weirdly deep to me, and Y'shtola's delivery very flat. This is a recurring issue and fans are understandably getting fed up.

If someone doesn't care about all of that, that's fine. I could care less about the two minute meta, job adjustments, weird spaghetti code hangups, how easy or hard or replayable certain content is, but I'll never ridicule people for caring about those things as that's what they value and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm personally primarily in it for the story and its characters, but some people simply cannot comprehend or accept that someone could have different priorities for the product they pay for.

[ZephyrMenodora]

It was definitely on my mind for the whole time I was playing MSQ - from the moment I heard him speak and said "that's a different cat" to myself, I was anticipating being asked by half my friends and also being told I was wrong by half the internet again. Echoes of 6.1 all over again...

It's funny that a lot of people tend to avoid the forums for being toxic, but in this situation the forums have been the calmest, most balanced place for discussion on this topic that I've seen anywhere.

Nevermind that this whole debacle is just the most recent in a long line of complaints many, many people in the community have toward Dawntrail's EN voice direction in general, from broom closet Y'shtola and other sound quality issues to very tonally-off line delivery by multiple characters, but now that it involves this specific character, we're all suddenly being obsessive and unreasonable. G'raha, though the most egregious, wasn't even the only one with issues this patch; Alphinaud's voice sounded weirdly deep to me, and Y'shtola's delivery very flat. This is a recurring issue and fans are understandably getting fed up.

If someone doesn't care about all of that, that's fine. I could care less about the two minute meta, job adjustments, weird spaghetti code hangups, how easy or hard or repayable certain content is, but I'll never ridicule people for caring about those things as that's what they value and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm personally primarily in it for the story and its characters, but some people simply cannot comprehend or accept that someone could have different priorities for the product they pay for.

Since Y'shtola is generally my #1, I definitely noticed the issues with her lines and mentioned them in another thread on 7.4. She usually has such a powerful presence that she no longer really has portrayed right now. (Let alone the poor quality of the recording in 7.0). I'm happy it is at least the same actress, though.

[peachsyder]

Nevermind that this whole debacle is just the most recent in a long line of complaints many, many people in the community have toward Dawntrail's EN voice direction in general, from broom closet Y'shtola and other sound quality issues to very tonally-off line delivery by multiple characters, but now that it involves this specific character, we're all suddenly being obsessive and unreasonable. G'raha, though the most egregious, wasn't even the only one with issues this patch; Alphinaud's voice sounded weirdly deep to me, and Y'shtola's delivery very flat. This is a recurring issue and fans are understandably getting fed up.

If someone doesn't care about all of that, that's fine. I could care less about the two minute meta, job adjustments, weird spaghetti code hangups, how easy or hard or replayable certain content is, but I'll never ridicule people for caring about those things as that's what they value and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm personally primarily in it for the story and its characters, but some people simply cannot comprehend or accept that someone could have different priorities for the product they pay for.

Well said. There are things about the game that are incredibly important to others but not to me, yet I've never had the instinct to join in their discussions and complaints to shout about how much this doesn't matter, how it's not a big deal because I don't care about it, how they're insane for saying their interest in the game might disappear entirely over this. Different things matter to different people, and as someone whose main reason for playing and being invested in the game is the story and characters, of which the voice performances are a crucial part of—of course this matters a lot to me. Especially when it comes to my own favorite character and my favorite voice performance in the game.

I made a couple of posts on social media doing little more than encouraging people to post here instead of just on their personal accounts, since the forums are supposed to be the place where Square Enix actually reads feedback, and was quite stunned by how strongly many people reacted to it. As in, throwing insults, saying I was delusional, parasocial towards Bailey, a danger to myself and to him, even. All of that because I said if people care about this huge voice discrepancy in this patch and want to let SE know Bailey's performance as G'raha matters to them, they should post here.

That said, I don't regret doing so. A lot of people here have voiced their sentiments incredibly well as well as provided some very interesting insight on the UK voice acting industry, what Bailey's schedule was like this year, and other bits of information I wasn't aware of myself. I wish we didn't have to be speculating among ourselves, but it's been heartening to know I'm not alone in the way I feel.

[claustromania]

I made a couple of posts on social media doing little more than encouraging people to post here instead of just on their personal accounts, since the forums are supposed to be the place where Square Enix actually reads feedback, and was quite stunned by how strongly many people reacted to it. As in, throwing insults, saying I was delusional, parasocial towards Bailey, a danger to myself and to him, even. All of that because I said if people care about this huge voice discrepancy in this patch and want to let SE know Bailey's performance as G'raha matters to them, they should post here.

I did see some of that, unfortunately. One lovely individual was even relishing the turmoil among EN G'raha fans because they just don't like G'raha themselves, which, okay lol. Thankfully most of what I saw was so absurd and weirdly deferential toward SE that it could hardly be taken seriously ("Stop posting about severe quality issues in the official forums!!", "SE owes you NOTHING no matter how much money and loyalty you've shelled out for them!!"). That said, having vitriol directed at you personally for daring to care about characters in a game that specifically touts its story and well-written characters is a whole other ballgame. I'm sorry people are being vile.

Yet another reason why SE's handling of this (or lack thereof) is so disappointing. There would be no cause for hostility in the community if they'd been transparent.