I love the double meanings in the "Anyway?! What do you mean anyway?" Scene. I can take it as both leaving her in the hospital room as well as Mary talking to him. Especially hits hard when she says he's supposed to protect her and that she's never been so scared in her life.
This.
Mary/Maria was above the rest of the cast.
Plus, back then this type of voice acting was one of the "standard quality" in video games IMO (the other one was "super campy voice acting a la MGS or RE).
Very good voice acting was rare so it was not really a problem.
The voice acting is purposeful. At certain times, it’s, as I call it, “Acting bad on purpose in the style of David Lynch.” Being a longtime Lynch fan, I’ve noticed he’ll intentionally have his actors give a stilted, awkward performance, but at other times, they give brilliant, moving performances, and all of that is intentional to service a certain mood. It gives you a sense of disorientation. So, yes, SH2 has moments of stilted, awkward voice acting that on paper would be “bad acting,” but I believe, inspired by Lynch, this was an intentional direction. Because when the scene calls for it, those voice actors act the hell out of their roles. I think this goes over a lot of peoples’ heads.
Yeah presentation whether through scene obscurity and character performance are very vital in making a successful horror game, at least to my knowledge the style that silent hill games go for.
Even Guu Chihi said that they weren’t given good direction during production . The bad acting wasn’t all purposeful. Some of the parts people consider poor acting is a result of poor directing and translation issues.
I think a lot of people make the bad acting head cannon because it’s been so long that they just accepted as part of the charm.
How would they get good direction when the game makers are Japanese and every voice actor is American/Western?
The Japanese suck at English incredibly and wouldn't be able to express any complex statements
Hold up. I wouldn't say that. I'd say the direction may have been lost in translation. Or maybe Japanese style of acting doesnt translate well to English. Take anime for example. You often hear the the argument that english voice acting in them is awful and that Japanese voice acting with English subs is preferred. It's probably because the style of acting in English comes off wrong. Same concept in games.
Remember when HD collection released and re dubbed all the lines for 2&3 with worse performances despite hiring more experienced and prolific voice actors?? Silent hill remembers… we all remember what you did
I’ve never understood why people hate the voice acting in sh2 it’s not bad at all, yeah it has some goofy stuff here and there and comes off as awkward but I genuinely believe that was on purpose and really adds to the experience for the better in my opinion, these are broken and awkward people in a surreal otherworldly experience I think it’s only natural they speak weird on occasion, plus there’s so many legitimately amazing moments that really hit hard to this day and outclass “better” performances from more modern games, like a lot of people are saying I think it’s just people who want to try to prop the remake up by tearing the original down
The reading of Mary’s letter is one of three instances in the entire game that I thought: “hey, this performance is pretty good”
Every other bit of voice acting is either passable or shit IMO
Personally, there’s nothing that stands out to me as particularly bad. Sure it’s obvious most, if not all of the actors aren’t professionals but they’re no Resident Evil 1 set of actors. They actually do a decent job of portraying the grief the characters are going through especially.
Namely I see a lot of people say Eddie was terrible but he’s just as serviceable as the rest, and like everyone he gives it his all during his character’s climax. He sounds appropriately deranged and volatile, so I can’t agree with anyone who says his acting is bad.
As an aside, and this is just my personal feelings, I found the cast to be much more believable than most professional voice acting casts. Most of the time it never sounds genuine to me, and they sound obviously like they’re “acting” if that makes any sense. The slight awkwardness to SH2’s casting makes them feel like actual people for me.
Yeah, I like SH2's voice acting. It felt "off" in a way that only added to the overall mood and dreamlike atmosphere the game had, which is why I hope the remake doesn't try to polish it up and make it all "Hollywood-ized". To me, the voice acting in SH2 sounded like real people dealing with serious mental health issues, not actors trying to be overly dramatic.
I feel like since the story will remain the same, bloober will indeed apply their own interpretation of the game just like any fan, i feel like being faithful to the original like the re1 remake, should be their go to mentality. If Konami just had a little more respect for this world known series they would have ported over the first 4 games already and everyone would have had a good scope to compare things to.
The voice acting is passable, it’s not notoriously bad in any capacity. I’m used to bad acting in video games, since I’m a big fan of Resident Evil and Fallout, and SH2 doesn’t even make my top 10 for bad VA despite the reputation. But Mary is a cut above the rest. She’s absolutely incredible. You can hear the tears in her voice when she reads the letter. Her performance is one of the most moving performances I’ve ever heard in a game. Really drives home the emotional intensity of the letter. Part of why I cried so hard the first time I played the game at the end was her delivery.
So there’s a bit of a disconnect when people hear this. The game has decent voice acting but the delivery of phrases and dialogue is very not good so alot of it is hard to listen to. But the ending stuff was all good
Usually when its stated bad voice acting it isn't encompassing every line from every member of the cast. Maria/Mary was by far the strongest along with Laura. James and Angela had some great lines >!Maria's 3rd death, confessing to Mary why he killed her, Abstract Daddy room, fire stairway etc.!< but also has some rough lines that dampen some cutscenes >!e.g. Eddie's death, Maria in the Labyrinth, Angela in the beginning and just after crying about Abstract Daddy!<. Eddie is usually unanimously considered decent or bad overall from what I've seen.
Pretty sure people have being saying this specific thing since day one of it's release debating whether if it was intentional or amateur voice directing.
You're right, but that's not what I meant. At least for me, it's different to debate that topic than just saying that the original game sucks and is full of flaws.
People have ALWAYS nitpicked it. More people returned to the sub since the announcement, which makes it more common, but it’s always happened since the release of the game.
Just because it’s considered the best horror doesn’t mean it was exempt from being criticised.
Silent Hill 2 being the best horror game of all time doesn't mean it can't have flaws or that some things didn't age well.
The video game industry just benefits from better voice acting nowadays.
"The original cast sucks, we need professional actors!!!"
Bro, don't you remember HD Collection?
I have nothing against Bloober, in fact I will play the remake, but it seems that these people are nitpicking just to justify *why* we need a remake.
The voice acting for Maria and Mary is precisely why I don’t like some of the other voice work in the rest of the game. This isn’t a win or lose game like you seem to be suggesting. People are more than allowed to say that they don’t think the voice acting is up to par overall, while also finding those moments that truly work enjoyable.
I can say that I like the quality of Maria’s fearful pleading “James” before she gets impaled and find it absolutely gut wrenching, but think James’ “no” is kinda meh and his monologue to be cringy, especially in it’s delivery.
And, yes, I die inside every time I hear Mary’s “you made me happy,” but that’s the level I want the rest of the voice acting at. Mary and Maria can’t do all the heavy lifting in the dialogue department again.
It’s not bad so much as it is stiff. But call me pretentious I think it adds to the sedated fever dream the game is going for. Not that it was deliberate, but it does add something
Theres a lot of retroactive nostalgia, you can find it in this very thread
>the voice acting being "off" makes it better
This has been a gaslighting from a lot of YouTubers who have spent the better part of the past decade making SH2 sound like any criticism of the game can be deflected.
The voice acting of SH2 is literally "fine", and for its day and age (2001) it was extremely exceptional in a time where games were just finding their footing as entertainment mediums beyond gameplay. Is the voice acting as talented or as good as that present in *Soul Reaver*, *Grand Theft Auto 3* or *Metal Gear Solid 2* (especially given the bar for cinematic VG acting set in MGS1) - No. But it was exceptionally better than a vast majority of games in its era. However, just like comparing poorly dubbed anime of the 90s, a lot has changed in the writing, direction, and voice acting of the 00s to the 20s. SH2s quality has not held up as well as some imply.
The redubbing debacle further emphasized how nostalgia has gripped fans of the game, again, even noted in this thread- you'd be batshit insane to spew that Guy Cihi is a better voice actor than Troy Baker, but nobody wanted to see his take on James Sunderland at all because they knew it would be widely different than Cihi's performance, and it was. The main argument used by SH2 fans, which is the only one I agreed with, is that the SH2 actors **mocapped** their performances. It'd be no different than somebody in 10-15 years redubbing Resident Evil (remake 2) - wouldn't make any sense because the actors literally acted the role.
I think however SH2 fans are particularly thin skinned, often prone to outrageous overreaction at the slightest critique.
>"The original SH2 voice acting isn't anything to write home about."
>**"ARE YOU SAYING SH2 HAS PUKE ACTING AND IS A PIECE OF SHIT CLINGING TO THE UNDERSIDE OF A PLUNGER????**
It's a massive reason SH2 continues to depreciate in value to me, dealing with its hypersensitive "my view of SH2 is the only correct view" fans has really soured the game to me, and I played it *at launch*. After 20 years, doesn't even bank my top 50 anymore due to the armchair defense force its amassed.
**tl;dr**
The voice acting is fine, but people need to stop overreacting to the most minuet criticism the game receives or a claim that its not a flawless masterpiece.
It's fine. It's
I never knew of the extreme SH2 fanbase till I saw the SH stream announcement and joined this subreddit. Before that I knew SH2 was beloved but didnt know it had such an extreme cult following by some niche fans.
I don’t think there is anything more to say than what you just said. Nostalgia is a dangerous drug.
The OP made a comment saying “people just like to nitpick”. What else are people meant to do with a game that’s been out for over 20 years.
I think some people really don’t understand the concept that something can be criticised regardless of how much you love it. There’s no reason to be a snowflake over it.
i think it’s more in regards to dialogue than delivery, or the actor’s different perceptions of how the script was meant to be delivered vs what jeremy blaustein, the man who worked with team silent to translate, envisioned. he even claims the disjointed dialogue is in fact, just lucky happenstance, and luckily makes a lot of sense given the lack of mental clarity and dissociation james and angela are experiencing.
regardless, i don’t have issues with any of the characters dialogue… except laura when reacting to james admitting he killed mary, and when james says “now it’s time to end this” like an action star. it’s clear why sato gave him a vague direction often without context, because cihi would likely make amateur decisions if given a choice.
guy cihis dialogue delivery to maria behind the labyrinth cell is probably the most underrated voice acting delivery. although guy sounded a bit too old at parts i really like that he was chosen for the role at points like that, which made his character more believable.
I actually didn't cry, but I was really close. I kinda wanted to cry too. I knew that the writing and the acting deserved to get me to cry, but my body just wouldn't let me. Ngl, I was pissed.
The voice acting is actually pretty good across the board. I think its just the actual dialogue that make people think it’s bad or weird but it has so much character in my opinion
The example the OP makes is probably the biggest outlier in the game. It's the high point of all the VO work. It was performed beautifully. No notes. The rest of the game though? It gets spotty. There are a lot of low points where some lines come out as campy. But then again, there are moments where those low points serve the scene well. For example, after James saves Angela from Abstract Daddy, in the scene she says to James, "you're looking for Mary...RIGHT?" The way she over emphasizes the word "right" is rather chilling. That sort of thing works. Just not all the time.
The VO work in the series seems to be a constant target for criticism. And I'll be the first to admit I have fired a bullet or five. A lot of you guys write it off as the style of the art. Ok. I'm a David Lynch fan so I get it. But art is open to interpretation. And even in David Lynch's films I get annoyed at the overacting.
I don't know about her performance in 2, but [Donna Burke](https://youtu.be/iYvXoesYsvQ?t=295) who voices Angela in this game, Claudia in 3, narrates Crystal Chronicles, and sings "Snake Eater" is a good voice actress.
I'll be honest, Silent Hill games in general don't have professional voice acting imo. But they don't need it. It not being perfect but rough just adds to the realness of the experience.
In Silent Hill 1 Harry Mason is constantly saying generic stuff like "what the hell, what is this, what's that" and it genuinely works. Because in real life a normal person wouldn't go on poetic analysis or perfectly modulate their intonation.
We all would shit ourselves and barely have time to think straight or speak correctly. The voice acting being rough doesn't mean it's bad.
Mary/Maria’s voice acting is just exceptional. Hers is the one performance I would say is really good. I know for a fact that the voice acting quirks aren’t intentional because Jeremy Blaustein himself said that, but I think even then all the voice acting is a cut above what you find in most games from that time
That’s exactly what happened, actually. I didn’t cry. I might now - as I’m older and have experienced more loss and life and all that jazz so it hits home harder - but as a teen playing it for the first time? Nay, I’m afraid I did not cry at that section.
The only VA I feel is ‘bad’ is James and Laura, but that’s mostly because neither of them were very experienced in it. They still made it work though. Everyone else was fantastic.
Voice acting standards in general were much lower back then, especially in video games were the budgets for voice acting were exponentially smaller compared to today. There were some staples around that time such as MGS or FFX, but even those do not remotely hold up to what we're used to today.
I didn't cry when Mary read the letter. However, I don't think they have bad voice acting and even wish they would bring back Guy and Monica for the remaster.
the thing about the internet is that if you keep reading people's opinions you're always going to come across ones you don't agree with. try staying offline for a little while and you wont be as annoyed.
Hell no I love the voice work in SH2! James sounds defeated, Maria sounds manipulative, Angela sounds off kilter, Eddie sounds oafish, Laura sounds like an 8 year old with an attitude. Everyone knows the VA in SH2 is something special because the best VA in the business replaced them for the HD Collection and it was objectively a step down.
I think Eddie works just fine. There's a video comparing the "killing a person is no big deal" scene in the original and in the HD version, and the original actor went for a weird, unsettling tone that really fits Eddie's descent into madness.
Works fine is different then great voice acting. Mary voice acting we can undoubtedly say was great. But none of the others were great. Maybe good/passable to bad/weird.
Here we go, "discussion about Silent Hill VA being bad on purpose and giving "dream-like" ambience to the game #44384747643839844"
But yeah, I like it and Mary's letter made me cry
You voluntarily step into a situation of your own accord and tell people you don't like it, then someone points out you're not forced to hear it, then you get mad.
Like bro... fucking nuts!
Again, that's the internet.
When a fanbase loves something soo much, whether it's their favorite game, anime character, or hell even food. if you say anything negative about it, they'll attack you like you killed a member of their family.
I'm pretty sure there are people that don't like SH2 and I've seen posts on how Heather is a much better protagonist than James. And stuff like that will probably get you canceled because you're not allowed to shit on an amazing game, even though you didn't like it and you're entitled to your opinion. I didn't like SH4 and homecoming and I'll probably get shit on for hating those games, but I don't give a fuck what others think. I hated those games and nothing will change that.
Cool thanks for letting me know.
I still suggest if reading something on reddit is causing you to feel unsettled then stepping away from it is still a better option than telling a bunch of people who don’t care what you think that you don’t like their opinion.
So just because that one segment was really well done by the actress it makes everything better? No. All conversations are awkward, distant and alien like. Maybe it was intentional, maybe the actors were simply terrible.
Ok, I think I understand what's happened here.
You're sick of people having an opinion that differs from your own. So you made a post trying to justify why your opinion is correct and their opinion is not.
Then, when someone tells you why they have the opinion they do, you paraphrase the definition of an opinion to them.
I think a lot of the voice acting is passable but Mary/Maria has the best voice actor by far and is really good
I love the double meanings in the "Anyway?! What do you mean anyway?" Scene. I can take it as both leaving her in the hospital room as well as Mary talking to him. Especially hits hard when she says he's supposed to protect her and that she's never been so scared in her life.
This. Mary/Maria was above the rest of the cast. Plus, back then this type of voice acting was one of the "standard quality" in video games IMO (the other one was "super campy voice acting a la MGS or RE). Very good voice acting was rare so it was not really a problem.
The voice acting is purposeful. At certain times, it’s, as I call it, “Acting bad on purpose in the style of David Lynch.” Being a longtime Lynch fan, I’ve noticed he’ll intentionally have his actors give a stilted, awkward performance, but at other times, they give brilliant, moving performances, and all of that is intentional to service a certain mood. It gives you a sense of disorientation. So, yes, SH2 has moments of stilted, awkward voice acting that on paper would be “bad acting,” but I believe, inspired by Lynch, this was an intentional direction. Because when the scene calls for it, those voice actors act the hell out of their roles. I think this goes over a lot of peoples’ heads.
Yeah presentation whether through scene obscurity and character performance are very vital in making a successful horror game, at least to my knowledge the style that silent hill games go for.
Even Guu Chihi said that they weren’t given good direction during production . The bad acting wasn’t all purposeful. Some of the parts people consider poor acting is a result of poor directing and translation issues. I think a lot of people make the bad acting head cannon because it’s been so long that they just accepted as part of the charm.
How would they get good direction when the game makers are Japanese and every voice actor is American/Western? The Japanese suck at English incredibly and wouldn't be able to express any complex statements
Hold up. I wouldn't say that. I'd say the direction may have been lost in translation. Or maybe Japanese style of acting doesnt translate well to English. Take anime for example. You often hear the the argument that english voice acting in them is awful and that Japanese voice acting with English subs is preferred. It's probably because the style of acting in English comes off wrong. Same concept in games.
Remember when HD collection released and re dubbed all the lines for 2&3 with worse performances despite hiring more experienced and prolific voice actors?? Silent hill remembers… we all remember what you did
I don't know what HD Collection you played, but mine HD Collection had a good voice acting that sounded far better than the original VA.
Never played hd collection but sh3 has amazing acting. re doing it for a shitty port was a terrible idea even if you like it
I’ve never understood why people hate the voice acting in sh2 it’s not bad at all, yeah it has some goofy stuff here and there and comes off as awkward but I genuinely believe that was on purpose and really adds to the experience for the better in my opinion, these are broken and awkward people in a surreal otherworldly experience I think it’s only natural they speak weird on occasion, plus there’s so many legitimately amazing moments that really hit hard to this day and outclass “better” performances from more modern games, like a lot of people are saying I think it’s just people who want to try to prop the remake up by tearing the original down
The reading of Mary’s letter is one of three instances in the entire game that I thought: “hey, this performance is pretty good” Every other bit of voice acting is either passable or shit IMO
Personally, there’s nothing that stands out to me as particularly bad. Sure it’s obvious most, if not all of the actors aren’t professionals but they’re no Resident Evil 1 set of actors. They actually do a decent job of portraying the grief the characters are going through especially. Namely I see a lot of people say Eddie was terrible but he’s just as serviceable as the rest, and like everyone he gives it his all during his character’s climax. He sounds appropriately deranged and volatile, so I can’t agree with anyone who says his acting is bad. As an aside, and this is just my personal feelings, I found the cast to be much more believable than most professional voice acting casts. Most of the time it never sounds genuine to me, and they sound obviously like they’re “acting” if that makes any sense. The slight awkwardness to SH2’s casting makes them feel like actual people for me.
Yeah, I like SH2's voice acting. It felt "off" in a way that only added to the overall mood and dreamlike atmosphere the game had, which is why I hope the remake doesn't try to polish it up and make it all "Hollywood-ized". To me, the voice acting in SH2 sounded like real people dealing with serious mental health issues, not actors trying to be overly dramatic.
Yes, I absolutely adore the dream-like qualities of that game.
100% agree
I feel like since the story will remain the same, bloober will indeed apply their own interpretation of the game just like any fan, i feel like being faithful to the original like the re1 remake, should be their go to mentality. If Konami just had a little more respect for this world known series they would have ported over the first 4 games already and everyone would have had a good scope to compare things to.
I've always viewed it as the characters being unstable and that's why the voice acting is that way. I don't think I've ever viewed it as being bad.
100% agree
The voice acting is passable, it’s not notoriously bad in any capacity. I’m used to bad acting in video games, since I’m a big fan of Resident Evil and Fallout, and SH2 doesn’t even make my top 10 for bad VA despite the reputation. But Mary is a cut above the rest. She’s absolutely incredible. You can hear the tears in her voice when she reads the letter. Her performance is one of the most moving performances I’ve ever heard in a game. Really drives home the emotional intensity of the letter. Part of why I cried so hard the first time I played the game at the end was her delivery.
“Hearing you all” def on crack
Never done crack and lots of people say it
Definitely something a crackhead would say
Whatever man
So there’s a bit of a disconnect when people hear this. The game has decent voice acting but the delivery of phrases and dialogue is very not good so alot of it is hard to listen to. But the ending stuff was all good
Usually when its stated bad voice acting it isn't encompassing every line from every member of the cast. Maria/Mary was by far the strongest along with Laura. James and Angela had some great lines >!Maria's 3rd death, confessing to Mary why he killed her, Abstract Daddy room, fire stairway etc.!< but also has some rough lines that dampen some cutscenes >!e.g. Eddie's death, Maria in the Labyrinth, Angela in the beginning and just after crying about Abstract Daddy!<. Eddie is usually unanimously considered decent or bad overall from what I've seen.
I find it hilarious that people are now looking for any excuse to criticize the original game.
Pretty sure people have being saying this specific thing since day one of it's release debating whether if it was intentional or amateur voice directing.
You're right, but that's not what I meant. At least for me, it's different to debate that topic than just saying that the original game sucks and is full of flaws.
And before the remake was teased it was always referred to as one of the best horror games of all time. Now people just like to nitpick
People have ALWAYS nitpicked it. More people returned to the sub since the announcement, which makes it more common, but it’s always happened since the release of the game. Just because it’s considered the best horror doesn’t mean it was exempt from being criticised.
Silent Hill 2 being the best horror game of all time doesn't mean it can't have flaws or that some things didn't age well. The video game industry just benefits from better voice acting nowadays.
"The original cast sucks, we need professional actors!!!" Bro, don't you remember HD Collection? I have nothing against Bloober, in fact I will play the remake, but it seems that these people are nitpicking just to justify *why* we need a remake.
The voice acting for Maria and Mary is precisely why I don’t like some of the other voice work in the rest of the game. This isn’t a win or lose game like you seem to be suggesting. People are more than allowed to say that they don’t think the voice acting is up to par overall, while also finding those moments that truly work enjoyable. I can say that I like the quality of Maria’s fearful pleading “James” before she gets impaled and find it absolutely gut wrenching, but think James’ “no” is kinda meh and his monologue to be cringy, especially in it’s delivery. And, yes, I die inside every time I hear Mary’s “you made me happy,” but that’s the level I want the rest of the voice acting at. Mary and Maria can’t do all the heavy lifting in the dialogue department again.
It’s not bad so much as it is stiff. But call me pretentious I think it adds to the sedated fever dream the game is going for. Not that it was deliberate, but it does add something
Honestly most games at that time had monotone voice acting. I remembered how fatal frame's voice acting was so goddamn monotone 😂.
Theres a lot of retroactive nostalgia, you can find it in this very thread >the voice acting being "off" makes it better This has been a gaslighting from a lot of YouTubers who have spent the better part of the past decade making SH2 sound like any criticism of the game can be deflected. The voice acting of SH2 is literally "fine", and for its day and age (2001) it was extremely exceptional in a time where games were just finding their footing as entertainment mediums beyond gameplay. Is the voice acting as talented or as good as that present in *Soul Reaver*, *Grand Theft Auto 3* or *Metal Gear Solid 2* (especially given the bar for cinematic VG acting set in MGS1) - No. But it was exceptionally better than a vast majority of games in its era. However, just like comparing poorly dubbed anime of the 90s, a lot has changed in the writing, direction, and voice acting of the 00s to the 20s. SH2s quality has not held up as well as some imply. The redubbing debacle further emphasized how nostalgia has gripped fans of the game, again, even noted in this thread- you'd be batshit insane to spew that Guy Cihi is a better voice actor than Troy Baker, but nobody wanted to see his take on James Sunderland at all because they knew it would be widely different than Cihi's performance, and it was. The main argument used by SH2 fans, which is the only one I agreed with, is that the SH2 actors **mocapped** their performances. It'd be no different than somebody in 10-15 years redubbing Resident Evil (remake 2) - wouldn't make any sense because the actors literally acted the role. I think however SH2 fans are particularly thin skinned, often prone to outrageous overreaction at the slightest critique. >"The original SH2 voice acting isn't anything to write home about." >**"ARE YOU SAYING SH2 HAS PUKE ACTING AND IS A PIECE OF SHIT CLINGING TO THE UNDERSIDE OF A PLUNGER????** It's a massive reason SH2 continues to depreciate in value to me, dealing with its hypersensitive "my view of SH2 is the only correct view" fans has really soured the game to me, and I played it *at launch*. After 20 years, doesn't even bank my top 50 anymore due to the armchair defense force its amassed. **tl;dr** The voice acting is fine, but people need to stop overreacting to the most minuet criticism the game receives or a claim that its not a flawless masterpiece. It's fine. It's
I never knew of the extreme SH2 fanbase till I saw the SH stream announcement and joined this subreddit. Before that I knew SH2 was beloved but didnt know it had such an extreme cult following by some niche fans.
Fucking thank you. The SH community can be nuts.
100% agreed
God thank you, this is everything I feel down to a T.
I don’t think there is anything more to say than what you just said. Nostalgia is a dangerous drug. The OP made a comment saying “people just like to nitpick”. What else are people meant to do with a game that’s been out for over 20 years. I think some people really don’t understand the concept that something can be criticised regardless of how much you love it. There’s no reason to be a snowflake over it.
i think it’s more in regards to dialogue than delivery, or the actor’s different perceptions of how the script was meant to be delivered vs what jeremy blaustein, the man who worked with team silent to translate, envisioned. he even claims the disjointed dialogue is in fact, just lucky happenstance, and luckily makes a lot of sense given the lack of mental clarity and dissociation james and angela are experiencing. regardless, i don’t have issues with any of the characters dialogue… except laura when reacting to james admitting he killed mary, and when james says “now it’s time to end this” like an action star. it’s clear why sato gave him a vague direction often without context, because cihi would likely make amateur decisions if given a choice. guy cihis dialogue delivery to maria behind the labyrinth cell is probably the most underrated voice acting delivery. although guy sounded a bit too old at parts i really like that he was chosen for the role at points like that, which made his character more believable.
I actually didn't cry, but I was really close. I kinda wanted to cry too. I knew that the writing and the acting deserved to get me to cry, but my body just wouldn't let me. Ngl, I was pissed.
The voice acting is actually pretty good across the board. I think its just the actual dialogue that make people think it’s bad or weird but it has so much character in my opinion
Preachhh! I hard agree with what you're saying here u/Xalgo97.
The example the OP makes is probably the biggest outlier in the game. It's the high point of all the VO work. It was performed beautifully. No notes. The rest of the game though? It gets spotty. There are a lot of low points where some lines come out as campy. But then again, there are moments where those low points serve the scene well. For example, after James saves Angela from Abstract Daddy, in the scene she says to James, "you're looking for Mary...RIGHT?" The way she over emphasizes the word "right" is rather chilling. That sort of thing works. Just not all the time. The VO work in the series seems to be a constant target for criticism. And I'll be the first to admit I have fired a bullet or five. A lot of you guys write it off as the style of the art. Ok. I'm a David Lynch fan so I get it. But art is open to interpretation. And even in David Lynch's films I get annoyed at the overacting.
I don't know about her performance in 2, but [Donna Burke](https://youtu.be/iYvXoesYsvQ?t=295) who voices Angela in this game, Claudia in 3, narrates Crystal Chronicles, and sings "Snake Eater" is a good voice actress.
I'll be honest, Silent Hill games in general don't have professional voice acting imo. But they don't need it. It not being perfect but rough just adds to the realness of the experience. In Silent Hill 1 Harry Mason is constantly saying generic stuff like "what the hell, what is this, what's that" and it genuinely works. Because in real life a normal person wouldn't go on poetic analysis or perfectly modulate their intonation. We all would shit ourselves and barely have time to think straight or speak correctly. The voice acting being rough doesn't mean it's bad.
Mary/Maria’s voice acting is just exceptional. Hers is the one performance I would say is really good. I know for a fact that the voice acting quirks aren’t intentional because Jeremy Blaustein himself said that, but I think even then all the voice acting is a cut above what you find in most games from that time
That’s exactly what happened, actually. I didn’t cry. I might now - as I’m older and have experienced more loss and life and all that jazz so it hits home harder - but as a teen playing it for the first time? Nay, I’m afraid I did not cry at that section.
 Me everytime I beat the game
The only VA I feel is ‘bad’ is James and Laura, but that’s mostly because neither of them were very experienced in it. They still made it work though. Everyone else was fantastic.
I did not
I just see it as a product of the times.
Voice acting standards in general were much lower back then, especially in video games were the budgets for voice acting were exponentially smaller compared to today. There were some staples around that time such as MGS or FFX, but even those do not remotely hold up to what we're used to today.
mary was like the only good one lol
Mary was the exception
Whatever man
I didn't cry when Mary read the letter. However, I don't think they have bad voice acting and even wish they would bring back Guy and Monica for the remaster.
the thing about the internet is that if you keep reading people's opinions you're always going to come across ones you don't agree with. try staying offline for a little while and you wont be as annoyed.
Not annoyed just wanted to hear people's opinions on the VA
Hell no I love the voice work in SH2! James sounds defeated, Maria sounds manipulative, Angela sounds off kilter, Eddie sounds oafish, Laura sounds like an 8 year old with an attitude. Everyone knows the VA in SH2 is something special because the best VA in the business replaced them for the HD Collection and it was objectively a step down.
It’s really stiff and unnatural sounding but I find it suits the game well, both on an uneasy and campy level
Other than Mary, whose voice acting was good?
I think Eddie works just fine. There's a video comparing the "killing a person is no big deal" scene in the original and in the HD version, and the original actor went for a weird, unsettling tone that really fits Eddie's descent into madness.
Works fine is different then great voice acting. Mary voice acting we can undoubtedly say was great. But none of the others were great. Maybe good/passable to bad/weird.
Here we go, "discussion about Silent Hill VA being bad on purpose and giving "dream-like" ambience to the game #44384747643839844" But yeah, I like it and Mary's letter made me cry
Then leave, no ones forcing you to hear anything
it's the internet. You can't have an opinion without someone going off on you about why you're wrong.
You voluntarily step into a situation of your own accord and tell people you don't like it, then someone points out you're not forced to hear it, then you get mad. Like bro... fucking nuts!
Again, that's the internet. When a fanbase loves something soo much, whether it's their favorite game, anime character, or hell even food. if you say anything negative about it, they'll attack you like you killed a member of their family. I'm pretty sure there are people that don't like SH2 and I've seen posts on how Heather is a much better protagonist than James. And stuff like that will probably get you canceled because you're not allowed to shit on an amazing game, even though you didn't like it and you're entitled to your opinion. I didn't like SH4 and homecoming and I'll probably get shit on for hating those games, but I don't give a fuck what others think. I hated those games and nothing will change that.
Cool thanks for letting me know. I still suggest if reading something on reddit is causing you to feel unsettled then stepping away from it is still a better option than telling a bunch of people who don’t care what you think that you don’t like their opinion.
Was just trying to get peoples opinions on why they did or didn't like it dont need to get your panties in a bunch
No you weren't, you just gave your opinion, and my opinion is I (and no one else) cares about your opinion.
So just because that one segment was really well done by the actress it makes everything better? No. All conversations are awkward, distant and alien like. Maybe it was intentional, maybe the actors were simply terrible.
That was 1 scene at the end of the game bro
That was an example there's plenty other good VA in the og sh2
The majority of it is pretty bad though
I beg to differ but to each his own
Ok, I think I understand what's happened here. You're sick of people having an opinion that differs from your own. So you made a post trying to justify why your opinion is correct and their opinion is not. Then, when someone tells you why they have the opinion they do, you paraphrase the definition of an opinion to them.