Graha Voice Actor Change?

[shoebilldreams]

JB in general, G'raha or not, feels like a slight pressure in the front of my face, particularly my nose and forehead. I can also feel it in my throat and chest a bit, but without that exact pressure at the front I know it's not him!

Shale is quite close to a voice I can do myself (also being Scottish, like her actress, and being able to put on that English accent she's doing) so it's harder to pick out - but I also feel her in the top of my head, not quite at the surface.

I'll have to remind myself of the other Scions, it's been a while!

[peachsyder]

As a matter of pure curiosity on my part, have we ever been aware of how long before release, on average, are patches recorded?

I vaguely remember something about Bakool Ja Ja's VA celebrating his character's return a full patch before he actually had any voiced lines, which makes me assume at least 4 months or so? Though, of course, it may be that not every VA gets to record in the same timeframe as they'll have different schedules and availability and not every patch might follow the same timeframe, but I'm curious all the same.

(Also, does anyone remember when it was that they patched Wuk Lamat's Interphos voice lines? If I'm not mistaken that was also when they patched the lines Y'shtola had in 7.0 that had some pretty noticeable sound quality issues due to the actress' personal circumstances at the time.)

[OriHigame]

Personally .. a voice actor adds to the immersion.. within a story if anything changes it takes time to get used to.. I'm not saying I won't in time get used to the change.. but I've grown along way with g'raha .. it's just odd that during an expansion things change like this..

[CosmosNovaRose]

This thread now has just as many views as the official welcome thread in this forum, which was posted over a decade ago. Which, uh, might be saying a lot on how many people noticed that the voice sounds different.

In other news, Happy Starlight!

[Bantochan]

As a matter of pure curiosity on my part, have we ever been aware of how long before release, on average, are patches recorded?

I vaguely remember something about Bakool Ja Ja's VA celebrating his character's return a full patch before he actually had any voiced lines, which makes me assume at least 4 months or so? Though, of course, it may be that not every VA gets to record in the same timeframe as they'll have different schedules and availability and not every patch might follow the same timeframe, but I'm curious all the same.

(Also, does anyone remember when it was that they patched Wuk Lamat's Interphos voice lines? If I'm not mistaken that was also when they patched the lines Y'shtola had in 7.0 that had some pretty noticeable sound quality issues due to the actress' personal circumstances at the time.)

Just a quick search and shows Wuk Lamat’s lines were patched in November 2024. Not sure when they were recorded, but that’s when the community started discussing it.

Also, yes, Happy Starlight!

[KiraRavens]

From my perspective, as the person with the hundreds of hours of listening to the English voices specifically to analyse every last thing - the guy in 7.4 does certain consonants differently, and JB always does those ones the same, even as Growingway and the random Garlean soldier.

Plus, I've got this, I don't know exactly, but when people speak I feel their voices as if it's me making the noise (so, in my face/throat etc. in the right places) and JB's is one of the most distinctive physical sensations I've ever felt in nearly four decades of living with this whatever-it-is. Hence me fighting so hard to prove Nald'thal wasn't him, and having to find other reasons that weren't just "my nose feels wrong, it's not him" so people didn't think I was unhinged

Without knowing anything about this, this could be a form of synaesthesia - I have that too, though mine's associative and visual (meaning I know what colour ANYTHING has, from feelings to names to flavours etc., but I don't actively see them - some people do).
Generally, about 4% of people have some form of synaesthesia, and it means that one sense kinda bleeds into the others as there are synapses in the brain that normally aren't there.

[shoebilldreams]

Without knowing anything about this, this could be a form of synaesthesia - I have that too, though mine's associative and visual (meaning I know what colour ANYTHING has, from feelings to names to flavours etc., but I don't actively see them - some people do).
Generally, about 4% of people have some form of synaesthesia, and it means that one sense kinda bleeds into the others as there are synapses in the brain that normally aren't there.

I've got various other synaesthesia type things going on, so I did consider that this might be related, but also I just have such a vivid memory that brings in all senses so sometimes I write off things that are probably synaesthesia as a physical memory.

I can also "see" a different mood/vibe in music if the key is changed by even half a semitone which is a fun one when people record covers in a different key and I'm trying to figure out why the happy song is now giving "existential crisis"

Anyway, day 746574657 and I still think it's not JB because 7.4 G'raha doesn't give me any pressure in my face, let alone JB-specific pressure. And also it didn't sound like him at all but let's use shoebill science here.

[peachsyder]

Just a quick search and shows Wuk Lamat’s lines were patched in November 2024. Not sure when they were recorded, but that’s when the community started discussing it.

Also, yes, Happy Starlight!

It was indeed in 7.1! It's in the patch notes as well, though it doesn't specify what was patched. We all suspected it and found out though, lol.

Unfortunate. I was half hoping it had been patched as early as some 7.0x patch. I assume they did the rerecording of the Interphos lines alongside the recording of new lines for 7.1. I do wonder, though we're aware they record in cycles (x.0, x.1-x.3, then x.4-x.58), is there any indication that they record all of those patches at the same time/date? With how far apart they are, I presume not, though I really can't be sure. I assume that by the time they're bringing VAs in to record a x.1 patch they're not ready to already record x.3 content.

All of this being me feeding my own speculations of "if Bailey comes back, can he do it as early as 7.5, or has his replacement already recorded all the way to 7.58?"

Sigh. I've been doing a Shadowbringers replay that I started long before all of this, and continuing it after 7.4, there's just a certain sadness to it. If it truly comes down to they're recasting Bailey permanently, I hope this isn't the half-baked way they're planning to do it. I'd much rather have someone with a slightly different voice but a comparable performance than what I can only call "a half-plausible impersonation with none of the flavor". Hearing the sort of completely flat delivery we got in 7.4 just feels so wrong on G'raha. Not to mention the inconsistent accent, the noticeable lisp, and the moments where it just doesn't even pass as an impersonation. Sorry if all that sounds harsh, but it's hard to not be critical, especially after DT has been a consistent mess of terrible voice directing overall, and especially with an actor we may be expected to accept as successor to a performance like Bailey's. I had been away from the game for a while, so I actually played 7.3 shortly before 7.4 dropped, which just made the recast that much more jarring to me.

That said, again, here's hoping the recast is just not permanent. I'd truly hate to see Bailey go after seven whole years, especially if it's a case of him getting Troy Baker'd.

Happy Starlight, everybody.

[paradisea]

As a matter of pure curiosity on my part, have we ever been aware of how long before release, on average, are patches recorded?

I vaguely remember something about Bakool Ja Ja's VA celebrating his character's return a full patch before he actually had any voiced lines, which makes me assume at least 4 months or so? Though, of course, it may be that not every VA gets to record in the same timeframe as they'll have different schedules and availability and not every patch might follow the same timeframe, but I'm curious all the same.

See, this is what gets me. "Wicked press tour" is the reason most people keep saying Bailey might not have been able to record for 7.4, but... that was early to mid November. Surely they recorded 7.4 before this?

The other dates I could see schedule conflicting is the Jurassic World press tour, which was throughout mid to late June. But surely there was a time through July, August, September or October where they could have scheduled Bailey for, I don't know, a day? I doubt G'raha will have enough lines in 7.4-7.58 combined to warrant much studio time.

Then again, this is all just speculation. I can only hope that he has some yet unrevealed project that maybe kept him busy through the latter half of this year, and not that he has decided to leave the game or that Square Enix is pulling a Troy Baker on him for whatever reason.

I'm just... sad. My hype for the game is kind of dead over this (yeah yeah I care that much, don't really care nor wanna hear what you think about me because of it), and the harassment over caring about this recast was kind of the biggest blow of it all, to be honest.

Not really expecting to hear from SE at all at this point. I think the best scenario at this point is Bailey just returning for 7.5 and them pretending like all of this just didn't happen, but I don't know how feasible that is. NA Fanfest should be around the time 7.5 will drop, can we even hope to hear anything about it then? If they do those character introduction slides for the characters that will be prominent in the next expansion, and that includes G'raha, will he have a little footnote saying who is his voice actor?

So many questions and it all just feels like copium.

A belated happy Starlight to all of you. Let us hope for better news in the new year.

[CosmosNovaRose]

I'm just... sad. My hype for the game is kind of dead over this (yeah yeah I care that much, don't really care nor wanna hear what you think about me because of it), and the harassment over caring about this recast was kind of the biggest blow of it all, to be honest.

I felt this too. My excitement for 7.4 was completely deflated because G'raha is the primary reason I am still subscribed to the story. He's just that well written, and his Jonathan Bailey did a phenomenal job with him.

However, upon hearing about Yuma Uchida's role as G'raha in JP, I started giving the JP audio a listen. And down the rabbit hole I went- I learned a lot about how the EN localization changes a lot of G'raha's dialogue, and even just... cuts out things entirely.

A criticism about G'raha I'd have as a solely EN player was that it felt like his identity issues were forgotten about until his speech in Ultima Thule, where he makes a passing allusion to it with nothing before it really... communicating that. And that's where I learned that Yuma Uchida plays G'raha in a way where, in times of need, G'raha's voice itself switches to the Exarch's.

Yuma plays him in such an intruiguing twofold way, where even in 5.0 theres intentional slips where the Exarch voice is dropped for a more boyish delivery. It's night and day, and it especially gets the point across that there's two identities at war with each other. Mt Gulg, for instance, has a deliberate and obvious change in Yuma's delivery if you call him by his name, versus remaining silent. I don't hear much of a difference on the EN side. Bailey's 'Exarch mode' is more commanding and booming, as the moment in Radz at Han calls for it, but it is still the same voice.

I had learned this week that the JP cast is treated extremely well, and they get to sit in the studio with the writers and discuss the story and context. They get retakes, direction, and they get questions answered. Yuma makes a point to truly understand G'raha and where the character is at, emotionally, for each line of dialogue. His passion for the role is inspiring and entirely wholesome.

I've heard that the EN cast either sends in recordings from home or if they have a scheduled recording session, they only have a certain amount of time allotted, far less direction, less time for retakes, and they don't get nearly as much context going in.

And yet, despite all of it, Bailey was able to interpret G'raha's voice in his own unique way which landed well with the EN audience.

G'raha's 7.4 EN voice is not resonating with a vast majority, to the point many fans are convinced of a recast. Until we know for sure what happened and if Bailey is still on board, I'm actually happy to switch to the JP audio.

Any fans of G'raha would be delighted to hear him there- and also learn of so many little details in his JP dialogue thats omitted in English! I'm actually learning Japanese now because of it.