Whats the best voice acting in any video game?
Whats the best voice acting in any video game?
Any era, doesnt matter. I just want to know of games where the actors knocked it out of the park.
Comments
168-
-
Some of my favorites:
- GLaDOS from Portal 1+2: Ellen McClain did such a fantastic job balancing a monotonous robotic tone with human emotions and adding subtle glitches to show not everything was 100% alright. She defined what a female robot voice should sound like for that decade. I saw that Stephen Merchant was mentioned and while his performance was good and Wheatley's character was hilarious, I think McLain's performance as GLaDOS was more original and memorable.
- Narrator from The Stanley Parable: Kevan Brighting was arguably the protagonist of the game and the player was the annoying mob to him. As the only chacter with dialogue in the entire walking sim game, he had to carry almost the entire game's story, personality, and charm all through his voice. And it's honestly so fun how disappointed, annoyed, and exasperated he gets when the player refuses to listen.
- The Joker from Batman Arkham Asylum: This one is cheating cause Mark Hamill has played The Joker in almost every modern animated medium available. Still, there's a reason his version is so iconic. It's just so bittersweet that he refuses to ever voice The Joker again since Kevin Conroy, the VA for his Batman passed away.
Edit: After reviewing my list, it seems like I like offscreen narrators who insult the player. How funny
-
Getting the animated series actors to voice the Arkham games was a stroke of genius, though.
-
The Joker reveal in Arkham City was also some brilliant writing carried through by Hamill's amazing voice acting: https://youtu.be/GvZTjWpuuKw?t=63
I enjoyed having him follow me around throughout Arkham Knight too.
-
How has Baldur's Gate 3 not been mentioned in this thread yet? Huge cast and everyone is going for it. Even the narrator. Especially the narrator.
-
I agree she is amazing, but Andrew Wincott's Raphael is just so phenomenal, for me it'll only ever be him.
Outside of BG3, I guess I would also say Claudia Black, Jennifer Hale and Lenval Brown (the narrator of Disco Elysium, he is so good!).
-
I legit thought Raphael was Ian McShane at first.
-
-
Check out the BG3 narrator outtakes on YouTube.
It makes me wish for a version of the game where she is actively snarking the party. Like every good DM should.
-
Authority
-
The whole cast of Team Fortress 2.
I haven't played that game in over a decade, yet if I read any of the lines from the game, I'll still hear their voices loud as day. Even just seeing the word "medic" and I hear Demoman screaming it.
-
"POOTIS PENCER HERE"
-
E-RECTING A DISPENSER
-
-
There's not a week goes by where I don't wish Expiration Date got a sequel.
-
I remember hearing that there was supposed to be an adult swim animated series that fell through early on because of valve being incredibly slow to work with.
-
-
-
The narrator in The Stanley Parable made me lose it so many times.
-
Arthur Morgan in Red Dead 2
-
Rockstar games have some pretty spectacular stories and acting and they're just getting better, ever since GTA IV/RDR/LA Noire. RDR2 was one of the most heartbreaking and melancholy stories I've ever been told, game or otherwise. It's a different genre, of course, but I have high hopes for GTA VI.
-
-
Vaas from Far Cry 3.
This scene is always such a treat: https://youtu.be/rKMMCPeiQoc
Also
Alan TudykStephen Merchant in Portal 2.Edit: Was just recently watching something with Alan in it and got them mixed up 😅
-
You mean Stephen Merchant in Portal 2
-
You are correct. Never was good at remembering voice actors…
-
-
Ooh I forgot to mention Vaas in my reply. Michael Mando is amazing
-
-
Dionysus in hades. Dude amps me up so well I pick him over boons I like better.
-
Nearly everyone in Hades and Hades 2 have awesome voice actors. I'm particularly fond of Zagreus & Skelly from 1 and Melinoë, Hephaestus & Odysseus from 2. Great game and the VAs kick ass.
-
Same! I believe Zagreus and Skelly are both voiced by Darren Korb, who is the main composer of the ost, and also sings as Orpheus. Multi talented man!
-
-
-
Stephen Merchant and JK Simmons do a great job in Portal 2
-
One of the best villains I can remember from a game, Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2. Maybe he was just written so well, but he was amazing.
-
"His" DLC for borderlands 3 was one of the high points of that game. I'm currently replaying 1 and while it's fun 2 is just so much more engaging with Jack.
-
Not to mention Claptrap.
-
-
Narrator in Bastion. Just glorious.
-
Maybe the first game to make narration the main feature?
-
-
Leonard Nimoy - Civilization 4
-
The first new Wolfenstein was amazing. They got actual German actors to play the nazis and it made a huge difference.
-
-
I think Hades is the best overall, which has been mentioned here. Everything from Supergiant Games is great. I've seen Disco Elysium mentioned too, which is also great.
But I think one game that is underappreciated and not mentioned here is Horizon: Zero Dawn. Ashley Burch won several awards for her performance as Aloy. I think part of the reason it gets forgotten is that the facial animations in cutscenes are bad, at least in the main game, which led to people just not liking the cutscenes very much. The DLC's animations are pretty good though.
-
Troy Baker & Ashley Johnson in Last of Us will stay with me for life.
-
Recency bias because I'm currently playing it, but Cherami Leigh, Keanu Reeves, and Idris Elba — and a ton of others — in Cyberpunk 2077. If you like sci-fi and fantasy, you're covered. Asuna from Sword Art Online. Neo from The Matrix. And Roland from The Dark Tower. The fact that the latter two actors have their characters modeled after them make it more than just voice acting, though. Johnny Silverhand moves like Keanu Reeves in addition to looking like him. And Solomon Reed moves like Idris Elba. That hulking walk he did in Luther? It's all over the Reed character. As for Cherami Leigh, well, you can make V look like whatever you want. You can even make her male, in whole or in part (trans/non-binary characters are possible, they even have a male voice actor).
I'm seeing a ton of great answers in the comments though. Shout-out to the person who said Portal. Ellen McLain has a role in Cyberpunk as well. Early on, in your garage, your car is struck by a robotaxi. The robotaxi's AI owner invites you to come to their facility for a tour as well as repayment as a way of apology, and he also has a mission for you. This AI has "children" that have been acting crazy (and, one of them hit your car) and he wants you to bring them back in. One of them is voiced by Ellen McLain. In her GLaDOS voice and with lines from Portal. It's amazing. They had to have gotten permission from Valve for that little stunt. If you like Portal, it's probably gonna be one of your favorite parts of Cyberpunk.
-
I love Keanu but his voice acting in CP2077 felt forced and unnatural
-
Like when he was trying to act younger? There are basically two Johnny Silverhand characters in Cyberpunk. There's the one in the past, and Reeves tries to invoke some of his Bill & Ted voice, but that's mostly behind him. I think he still has it, but he has to strain and it does feel a little forced. The present Silverhand is more between John Wick and Neo.
I'm sure he has a natural voice that isn't any of these things, but it seems like he gets cast as the surfer, the hacker, or the revenge-fueled soldier type. I should probably look into his drama films, like that one he did with Sandra Bullock where he just looks like a normal guy.
-
-
Yeah when I got to that issue and heard McLain's GLaDOS voice again I was so happily surprised! Totally caught me off guard in a good way. Made it much harder to assimilate them back into Delmer.
-
-
The only two I can think of that haven't been mentioned yet, but I feel must:
Disco Elysium
Skywind
The latter is unreleased, but pretty much all the voice acting is done and the work I've heard is impeccable.
-
<3
-
Guys look, senpai noticed me
-
-
-
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, for the original PlayStation. All these years later it’s still an amazing standout.
-
The whole series was fantastic, really. Absolute masterpieces of writing and voice acting.
-
It really was one of the first games to go all out with good voice acting.
Go and play other "big budget" games of the PS1 era like the Resident Evil series or even Metal Gear Solid to see the difference.
Soul Reaver really stood head and shoulders above everything at the time.
-
-
I was very impressed by Cherami Leigh in Cyberpunk 2077. She sent shivers down my spine.
Of course there is Roger Craig Smith from AC II, but I also enjoyed Noah Watts (III) and Steven Piovesan (Rogue).
Dominic Armato (Guybrush Threepwood) is an all time favourite of mine.
-
And for those who don’t know, who are these people in game?
-
Always the main protagonist. Lady V in Cyberpunk 2077, Ezio in AC II, Ratonhnhaké:ton in AC III and Shay in AC Rogue.
-
-
Of course there is Roger Craig Smith from AC II
Roger Craig Smith will always be my favorite Sonic the Hedgehog voice actor. The others are pretty good, but he has a quality that I personally feel captures the character.
-
-
Bastion, Hades. Basically all supergiantgames.
-
I wanted to love bastion so much, but I’ve found I hate twin-stick— or rather, keyboard to move mouse to target in a third person action game controls too much and it just gets in the way. For third person, I just want keyboard only, and target where I’m facing.
-
-
Whoever did the scientist's "ACK!" sound from Half Life 1.
-
Disco Elysium
-
There’s voice acting in that game? I tried playing it for a bit and all I remember is endless walls of text
-
The "Final Cut" rerelease added voice lines for (I think) all the characters.
-
It's fully voice acted! If it's true that only the "final cut" has it then try it again. That's what makes it so iconic!
-
-
-
Stay a while and listen...
-
I really appreciate Commander Shepard (whoever the male is) when you select renegade options only. The voice lets out stoic, brazen, unfiltered bullshit that somehow fits in with everything going on. It's like the serious version of Zapp Brannigan. I wouldn't be surprised if Seth Green (Joker) influenced it and how to deliver it.
Also, John Marsden in RDR1. If you're not American and know little about their Wild West era, that voice delivery is such a big layer of immersion, whereas other voice acting can really disconnect you from the experience. It being the voice of you helps with feeling like a part of the world. Like compare that to the cowboy from Octopath 🤢
I also really enjoyed a lot of the voices from KCD2. Rosa and Hans are excellent.
-
Vampire the masquerade: Bloodlines has amazing voice acting, it's god-tier. Check out the character Fat-Larry😉
-
Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption** as well.
-
-
Half Life : Alyx. Everyone is great but I especially enjoyed Rhys Darby as the guy in your headset. Tony Todd as the Vortigaunts was also really good.
-
I can't speak for Alyx as I never got a chance to play more than 10 minutes and I know the voice actress changed for Alyx. But Episode 2, wow. It's a treat to play the game with commentary. The end of Ep2 has Merle Dandridge (Alyx) getting emotional discussing the final scene.
-
-
I don't remember the actors names but here are characters and the games whose voice acting left an impression on me:
- Alistair and Morrigan from Dragon Age Origins
- Both leads from Firewatch
- Lee from Telltale's Walking Dead Season 1
- Most of the main characters from Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2
- The voices from Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
- Astarion from Baldurs Gate 3 was head and shoulders above the rest, although the narrator was also very good
- Troy Baker knocked it out of the park as Indians Jones in the great circle
- All of the Uncharted games have fantastic voice acting. Nolan North was born to play Nathan Drake
- Similarly, the voice acting in The Last of Us is fantastic
- In the mass effect OT, special callout to Jennifer Hlae and Mark Meer (the latter especially grew into the role in the second and third game) and also to the actors who voices Garrus and Tali.
-
Homeworld - Few lines. All brilliant. " Detecting no communication from anywhere in the system, not even beacons." - "We are being overwhelmed!"
Ixion - So many lines that would make no sense if they weren't being delivered with conviction and sincerity.
-
The semi-emotionless, or at least restrained emotional delivery of the lines always hit me really hard. They never screamed, never cried, but the matter of fact way they said Kharak was burning, and how you needed to hunt down the perpetrators… it was chilling. The emotion was somehow bleached out of the voices, yet so, so, so powerfully deep and present nonetheless… I don’t know how they managed it, but it was incredible.
-
I agree, that's the genuine beauty of it, their layered performance. We could hear their emotions as much as we could hear them hiding their emotions. Genius
-
-
-
I've always loved the narrator of Darkest Dungeon, I just wish i didn't such at the game so bad.
-
“Glittering gold, trinkets and baubles... Paid for in blood."
-
I still quote some of the lines and wish I could have that dark intensity he delivered them with.
Iirc he passed away recently, too.
-
-
I quite like the work in Max Payne, whoever did it.
-
While Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is a bit of a mixed bag overall, Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra will always be one of my favorites. Also Courtenay Taylor as female player character in Fallout 4, and Ashley Burch as Pavarti in Outer Worlds.
-
Really good ones, especially AC Odyssey. The gulf in quality between the male and female voice actors in Odyssey is astounding.
-
-
Every single line in the Soul Reaver trilogy is a masterpiece.
Here, see for yourself. The intro alone will pull you in and never let go.
-
The special zombies in left 4 dead 1 & 2
I know it's super obscure, but there are some YouTube videos compiling each special zombie and it's like god tier sound. I bet they had fun doing it, too.
To this day, I still hype myself up to do weird sounds by listening to those because they're so good.
-
I love the Witch! (This video starts with a scream, not crying, so it's loud.) https://youtu.be/tcVy7uJbvH8
-
-
I gotta say David Hayter was the first video game voice actor I ever heard of and that’s because of a metal gear solid. I still think solid snake is my favourite game voice acting. Especially if you look at the subtle difference in Snake’s voice depending on the game. It was a complete travesty to have snake voiced by anyone else in 5, but in canon it makes sense i guess
-
It doesn't get better than JC Denton in Deus Ex.
Fight me.
-
Just a shame about some of the other voice acting from that game...
'Rhetoric, and you believe it!'
'JC Denton, in da fresh'
'I spill my drink!'
'JC - a bomb!' -
I would but a bombs a bad choice for close range combat.
-
-
It's gotta be the Obra Dinn for me, the vocals are such a huge part of the story and dine really well.
-
Ayy, fellow Return of the Obra Dinn lover. Such a good game. Peerless in terms of vibe.
-
-
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The voice actors really hit it out of the park with this one. But this scene in particular:
-
Such a good scene. This is my vote too.
-
The writing matters just as much, but the entire intro sequence not falling flat is some truly skilled work nailing the awkward reunion of two ex lovers.
-
-
The narrator in Indika. Or really anybody in Indika. Especially considering the English actors aren't even the original actors.
-
The Last of Us Part 2 has amazing voice acting. Part 1 as well, but the second game goes beyond.
Only Uncharted 4 feels close to that level (unsurprisingly, considering it's from the same studio).
-
I don't know if it is the best, but I liked the voice acting in Slay the Princess.
-
Jennifer Hale as FemShep in the Mass Effect series 1-3.
-
Disco elysium, any supergiant game (hades/bastion) logan cunningham my beloved, legacy of kain, parts of mass effect, bad company 2
-
Cpt. Janeway as Flemeth in the Dragon Age series (especially Origins).
-
Kate Mulgrew
-
-
Final Fantasy 3/6. Kefka's laugh will forever be the best evil laugh.
-
CURSE YOU BAYLE! I HEREBY VOW YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY! BEHOLD, A TRUE DRAKE WARRIOR, AND I, IGON! YOUR FEARS MADE FLESH! SOLID OF SCALE YOU MIGHT BE, FOUL DRAGON, BUT I WILL RIDDLE WITH HOLES YOUR ROTTEN HIDE! WITH A HAIL OF HARPOONS, WITH EVERY LAST DROP OF MY BEING!
-
There is so much testosterone in that moment that just reading this comment put an extra hair on my chest.
-
You and me as well.
-
-
Daaamn too late :D
That voice actor HATED Bale!
-
I was surprised no one said it before me haha. He did in fact, hate BAYLE!
-
-
-
The voice acting in Hellblade always gives me chills.
-
Crusader: No Remorse
Wicked good acting in general (it had full motion video sequences in live action) and just a criminally underrated game from the DOS era.
The entire Command & Conquer series when Westwood was still handling them, especially Red Alert 2.
-
Crusader: no remorse wasn't underrated, lol. It got the praise it deserved. What a fucking great game. The aesthetics at the time were just fucking A.
-
-
The original Resident Evil
-
"Stop!... Don't o-pen... that door!"
-
"Oh, Jill, this house is... dangerous. There are... terrible demons. Ouch!"
-
-
-
Removed by Moderator — Modlog
-
!
-
-
Halo master fucking chief! Hell yeah brother
-
In terms of pure voice acting I think it's Date Everything. The game have a 100 different professional voice actors that want to seduce you.
-
Deep Rock galactic has some of my favourite voices and lines in it.
-
Where's Molly?!
-
I love how in game everyone dislikes molly, but everyone who plays the game would die for that lovable hunk of junk.
-
-
-
GTA San Andreas has a few good ones my Favorite Being AXL Rose as the DJ from KDST.
But many suprising actors in there : Samuel Jackson, James Woods, Peter Fonda and Ice T:
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Grand-Theft-Auto-San-Andreas/
-
The voice actors for GTA radio DJs always seem to be having a good time. Too many to list, but Ruslana on Vladivostok FM and Iggy Pop on LRR in GTA IV both stand out to me.
-
-
Resident Evil on the PlayStation
-
I remember most of the super giant and double fine games having good voice acting. Jennifer Hale Femshepard from mass effect is a classic, and Matt Mercer does some great work with Edér and Aloth in pillars of eternity. Anything Keith David does is gold.
-
Not necessarily the biggest roles but I've always appreciated:
- The narrator in the original Medieval: Total War (intro for example). Set the mood.
- Prophet of Truth in Halo 2.
- Dunmer male voice actor for Morrowind.
The first and last especially set the atmosphere so well.
-
Not an actor, but the early voice synthesis was amazing the first times hearing it:
-
I'm picking nits, but Impossible Mission didn't use voice synthesis (where a computer creates the voice sounds from scratch.) It was using really low-fi by modern standards (but amazing for the time) recordings of actual speech provided by an unknown actor.
From this interview with the programmer:
The speech in the game was real, digitized speech. The performances were provided by Electronic Speech Systems, who also provided the software for reproducing the speech on the Commodore 64. I told them what I wanted the game to say, and when they asked me what kind of voice I had in mind, I said I was imagining a fiftyish English guy, like a James Bond villain. I was told that they happened to have such a person on their staff, so, instead of hiring an actor, they let him take a whack at it, and I thought he was just fine. I never met the guy who provided the voice, but, to my knowledge, the recordings were not altered or processed, apart from being digitized. It is certainly possible, though, that Electronic Speech Systems could have tweaked them without my knowledge. There are no other digitized sounds in the game.
-
Heh, I specifically came here to post Impossible Mission!
-
-
For me, one 2001 game is lodged forever in my mind, Hostile Waters
It's a great game, although sadly won't run on modern systems. And not strictly voice acting, more narration, but I've just re-watched the intro and Tom Baker's narration still gives me shivers.
Almost a quarter of a century since I first played it, the phrase "These are hostile waters" in Tom's voice still pops into my head from time to time.
-
Terry Bogard
-
Hey c'mon! Get serious!
Powah wave! Kickbat! Kickbat! Kickbat! Burn-u knuckle!
(Let's add the announcer from the original Metal Slug games while we're at it. "Rawket Lawnchair!!!")
-
-
Isaac Clarke in the first Dead Space
-
Intro narration to Fallout 4.
War. War never changes.
-
Ron Perlman did it better!
-
-
Gabriel Angelos from the original Dawn of War
-
Man that entire game had banger after banger in the units voice lines. Still in my head over 20 years later.
-
Same here. The Dark Eldar builder slaves, the chaos lord, the space marine voice lines coming through their vox grills. So peak
-
-
-
I don't play as many games as some of you, but Christopher Judge as Kratos is my favorite.
-
Indeed!
-
-
Alan wake is damn good
-
"Trust me."
-
Every actor in 'Still Wakes the Deep'. I don't usually like that type of game - you don't really have a great deal of agency, you can't fight only run, there are sudden deaths in some sections - but the overall atmosphere, the design, and that perfect voice casting drew me in. I think it's still on Game Pass if you want to see and hear it for yourselves.
-
Kreia from KOTOR 2 really gave an astonishingly good performance, as did Bao-dur in the game game.
-
I played The Last Campfire recently. It's a small puzzle game and the only voice is the narrator, Rachel August. Maybe it's just her accent but I think her voice has a haunting otherworldly beauty that just makes the game.
-
I can't think of any game at the moment that was particularly notable across the board, but I can think of a few specific performances.
Kazuhiro Nakaya as Nishiki and later Ichiban in the Yakuza/Like a dragon series. He is fantastic at getting the character's personality across just in general scenes, and the emotional moments genuinely stick with me.
Rene Zagger as Emet Selch in FFXIV. That game has some fantastic performances but Emet Selch's is honestly one of my favorites. Every one of his lines is delivered perfectly. The arrogance theatrics that later tive way to genuine anger and sadness at what he's gone through. Along with more specifics I won't get into. 100%, A+ Performance.
Though, actually... Now that I think about it... The Persona 3 Reload dub is probably one of the best English dubs for a Japanese game in a looooong time. And generally they're pretty good these days. But that one nails it.
-
All of the actors for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 were fantastic, but certain things stick with you forever.
-
I was fully expecting this line instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Sq1Nr58hM
-
I love how he's trying to not laugh at the ridiculous line, so good!
-
-
-
Disco Elysium has the best voice acting that's ever enhanced my experience. Others might be objectively better but never have I been so immersed in a story
-
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Every Character in it has stellar voice over, I can't think of anyone who's just average.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Has a great cast too. The voice behind Bastilar is also female Shepard. Her name is Jennifer Hale.
-
David Lodge as Grigori in dragon's dogma.
I don't even usually care about voice actors, but he did such a good job that I looked for him specifically in the credits and remember him to this day.
-
Pretty much every voice actor in Star Wars: The Old Republic is really great
-
Path of Exile has some good ones, but the emperor that narrates the labyrinth and the captain of the ship that rescues you are my favorites.
-
I have to plug in my favorite vg voice actor: Kellen Goff! A recurrent cast for the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise, and one of the best performances in League of legends! His range and vocal control is crazy, plus he looks like a really fun guy based on his multiple interviews.
Notable roles:
Fiddlesticks (League of Legends)
Arnold (Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret Of The Mimic)
Funtime Freddy (Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location)And a really fun watch of him explaining how to do the Fiddelsticks voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czsRZd2-6Ac
-
Death from Darksiders. But that's cheating.
-
Karen Dunbar - also a legendary Scottish comedian.
-
I mean, the new Indiana jones is pretty incredible.
-
I really love the Voice Acting in Telltale's The Walking Dead series. Just superb story and the actor's really sell a superb script. One of the better stories I've seen in Video Games.
-
The voice acting in Tangle Tower (a point and click murder mystery game) is 10/10
-
A bit part, perhaps, but George Ledoux as DUNCAN FISHER MechWarrior 4 Mercenaries!
-
Man I loved mechwarrior 4
-
Cave Johnson.. Love J.K Simmons work overall but Cave was perfect.
All the Portal characters, really. Cave, GLaDOS, Wheatly, Chell...
Even the turrets!
Agreed, didn't mean to leave anyone out. Brilliant writing with excellent voice acting in both games.
I still tell people I will burn their house down with lemons.
https://youtu.be/IYxvyT0MhUo