Graha Voice Actor Change?

[peachsyder]

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.

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.

[ZephyrMenodora]

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.

[paradisea]

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.

[paradisea]

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.

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?

[duckslap]

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.

[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. 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.

[ZephyrMenodora]

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.

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.

[claustromania]

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.

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.

[RedLolly]

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.

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?

[xMichiyo]

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.