Can we talk about how atrocious the Remind Limit Cut voice acting is?

[KHRULER]

And before anyone makes a comment about beating a dead horse....in my defense I wasn't visiting the forums when this was first released (if this was ever discussed) sooo aka I don't care.

Riku's VA in particular giving FORCED, STIFF, held at gunpoint, "I'm just here for a check", and last but not least "I don't want to be here." It doesn't help that the animations of the characters are very...animated either.

And tbh KH3's voice acting in general already missed the mark.

1. Kairi. Enough said.
2. Aqua sounded off.
3. Mickey sounded off.

and more. Hopefully prospects of VA quality are nice for future titles.

 

[palizinhas]

KH has never had incredible voice acting outside of a few standouts. Riku in KH3/Remind/Melody of Memory was in another level of weirdness because we KNOW he can do it well, but most characters aren't super great ever - Aqua and Terra have always been stiff, for one.

 

[KHRULER]

KH has never had incredible voice acting outside of a few standouts. Riku in KH3/Remind/Melody of Memory was in another level of weirdness because we KNOW he can do it well, but most characters aren't super great ever - Aqua and Terra have always been stiff, for one.

It’s never been amazing but Limit Cut was giving fan made. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard Riku speak, especially in Radiant Garden. Easily the worst voice acting I’ve ever heard in Kingdom Hearts. Aqua and Terra were fine in BBS and better in 0.2. However, even they took a dive in KH3.

Somehow I didn’t think KH3 VA could get worse until I heard Limit Cut.

 

[BufferAqua]

Honestly besides Riku at many points I think it sounds fine

 

[Face My Fears]

I think Riku was the only character that had any problems. He seemed so wooden and emotionless. I think it's probably because Riku did nothing except be an exposition machine. The only time he sounded good was when he said "Sora, you don't believe that, I know you don't" which is probably because it was actually a good line with some emotional depth to it.

 

[Rydgea]

KH has never had incredible voice acting outside of a few standouts.

I'm struggling to remember the issue with KH1's voice over work? The new characters weren't outshined by the veteran Disney cast (or their stand-ins) and vice versa. Unless you mean certain games are standouts and not actors.

 

[AegisXIII]

The FF characters are okay I guess and Christopher Lloyd is an amazing Xehanort. Haley Joel Osment is still good. I think only Riku had an issue.

 

[WaltK]

Mickey sounded off.

He always does.

I’m sorryyyyyy, Bret Iwan, I'm sure you're a lovely guy, and it is lowkey awesome that the world's most iconic character has an openly-gay VA… but your Mickey voice is just… so flat. Always has been

Chris Diamantopoulos is way better.

 

[Launchpad]

Yuffie and Cid carried, everyone else was a robot in that scene.

Its easy to overlook, though, since that cutscene is the prelude to the best few days of gaming I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. At least Riku sounded a bit better in MoM.

 

[Chie]

There's a lot of robot scenes in the 3-assets-games.

There are many factors as to why that I think are more prominent than the voice acting.

 

[NoWay]

This cutscene is not even the worst.
The worst ones are all Terra cutscenes in ReMind. Not his voice in particular, but THE MICROPHONE which you can hear during ReMind

 

[AegisXIII]

This cutscene is not even the worst.
The worst ones are all Terra cutscenes in ReMind. Not his voice in particular, but THE MICROPHONE which you can hear during ReMind

Terra was the worst but there was an issue during the recording of all the characters in remind. That's really a shame that they didn't catch it.

 

[darknessofheart]

Honestly, with some of the lines in the script, I'm trying to picture any voice actor doing it justice. "But if we still remember him, then he must still be with us." I understand this is a video game, but having a voice actor try to put those lines together in a believable fashion seems like a massive uphill battle to me. There are very few instances of real life where I can picture someone even saying that, so most actors are at an immediate disadvantage.

I love Kingdom Hearts, but man does the script and story make it hard for voice actors to deliver lines in a believable fashion. In my opinion, the best voice acting comes from places of genuine emotion because there is some relatability to it. I think as the series has gone on, those kernels of relatability have become less and less as the series continues to expand to include more and more ridiculous lore. The MoM is probably the best character to voice at this point because Ray Chase can truly let loose; it's as if the character understands the absurdity of the situations and is just going along with it and making fun at the same time.

In the case of Riku, what I find interesting is that Dark Riku is much better voiced and I think it's simply because being a sadistic asshole is just much more fun to play. Even-keel Riku is just boring now; his story arc has long since reached a satisfying conclusion and his character growth was in complete limbo in KH3, largely because I feel there isn't much more they can do with him. His guilt, redemption, and reminder of his mistakes have been done to death at this point. The villains are given a little more substance to work with and I think that's a byproduct of Nomura relating more to Xehanort and his cohorts than Sora and the others, something he himself has admitted in at least one interview.

Overall, I feel to simply blame the lackluster voice acting on solely the actor isn't fair; the script and the sheer unrelatability of the situations makes it hard to deliver any of these lines convincingly. There are also a fair amount of other instances in media where talented actors looked terrible because the script and other factors gave them zero to work with.

 

[Elysium]

In the case of Riku, what I find interesting is that Dark Riku is much better voiced and I think it's simply because being a sadistic asshole is just much more fun to play. Even-keel Riku is just boring now; his story arc has long since reached a satisfying conclusion and his character growth was in complete limbo in KH3, largely because I feel there isn't much more they can do with him.

True, evil characters are more interesting. But I think Riku being boring in KH3 is more to do with there having been so many characters to wrap up, to the point Riku's role was merely to deliver exposition between worlds a lot of the time. Mickey didn't get as much time or attention in 3 as he had in 2, Coded, and 3D either. Makes sense, I guess, with Riku generally having received more development than anyone else for him to be the one to sit on the backburner in 3 for the rest. Perhaps that's partly why Nomura's way of ending things came across somewhat like he was bored with it, with higher interest on those things prepping what was to come 3?

 

[GreyouTT]

Some longer segments as Riku would've been nice, like say revisiting 0.2 areas (honestly wouldn't shock me if that was planned when 0.2 was still part of 3). But I was fine with him being more of a supporting role since he pretty much finished his entire arc and really only had the Replica and Terra/Aqua connection left. Really though, this was all I needed:

 

[Dandelion]

Some longer segments as Riku would've been nice, like say revisiting 0.2 areas

Most of the 0.2 areas wouldn't exist anymore because those worlds were restored at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1.

 

[KHRULER]

Honestly, with some of the lines in the script, I'm trying to picture any voice actor doing it justice. "But if we still remember him, then he must still be with us." I understand this is a video game, but having a voice actor try to put those lines together in a believable fashion seems like a massive uphill battle to me. There are very few instances of real life where I can picture someone even saying that, so most actors are at an immediate disadvantage.

I love Kingdom Hearts, but man does the script and story make it hard for voice actors to deliver lines in a believable fashion. In my opinion, the best voice acting comes from places of genuine emotion because there is some relatability to it. I think as the series has gone on, those kernels of relatability have become less and less as the series continues to expand to include more and more ridiculous lore. The MoM is probably the best character to voice at this point because Ray Chase can truly let loose; it's as if the character understands the absurdity of the situations and is just going along with it and making fun at the same time.

In the case of Riku, what I find interesting is that Dark Riku is much better voiced and I think it's simply because being a sadistic asshole is just much more fun to play. Even-keel Riku is just boring now; his story arc has long since reached a satisfying conclusion and his character growth was in complete limbo in KH3, largely because I feel there isn't much more they can do with him. His guilt, redemption, and reminder of his mistakes have been done to death at this point. The villains are given a little more substance to work with and I think that's a byproduct of Nomura relating more to Xehanort and his cohorts than Sora and the others, something he himself has admitted in at least one interview.

Overall, I feel to simply blame the lackluster voice acting on solely the actor isn't fair; the script and the sheer unrelatability of the situations makes it hard to deliver any of these lines convincingly. There are also a fair amount of other instances in media where talented actors looked terrible because the script and other factors gave them zero to work with.

I was hesistant to bring the voice acting up in general because I remember reading somewhere that the voice actors aren't giving much direction when doing their lines. The energy between Terra and Riku in their Limit Cut interation was equally bland from both parties so I shrugged it off. Hearing Riku in Radient Garden however make it difficult for me to be sparing with my criticisms. It sounds like he's struggling to read the lines or doesn't care to. The scenes were all around bad but his were just horrible, even for a Kingdom Hearts game. Granted, I don't know much about the voice acting process or involvements but it was hard to ignore.

He always does.

I’m sorryyyyyy, Bret Iwan, I'm sure you're a lovely guy, and it is lowkey awesome that the world's most iconic character has an openly-gay VA… but your Mickey voice is just… so flat. Always has been

Chris Diamantopoulos is way better.

Recoded, BBS, and DDD Mickey were fine to me. 0.2 as well. KH3 sounds like a completely different person, let alone Remind.

The FF characters are okay I guess and Christopher Lloyd is an amazing Xehanort. Haley Joel Osment is still good. I think only Riku had an issue.

Xehanort's new voice acting is such an underrated gem.

 

[GreyouTT]

Lloyd fits Xehanort so well that I want the games to have a "Legacy" and "Consistent Voice" option where the latter has redubbed lines with Christopher Lloyd.

 

[AegisXIII]

Lloyd fits Xehanort so well that I want the games to have a "Legacy" and "Consistent Voice" option where the latter has redubbed lines with Christopher Lloyd.

I want that as well. Or at least make it consistent in the entirety of KH3+ReMind.
Fun fact, the voice actor of Master Xehanort in Japanese also changed between 3 and remind.

 

[KudoTsurugi]

Honestly, the direction and the script adaptation is where some moments fall flat for me. There are so many times in the English version that Sora would say “We’ve got this!” or “I’ve got this.” where in the Japanese he’s saying something different and more varied. It almost feels like the voice direction was limited by the Japanese producers who wanted a specific tone. The overall story is good, and the moments where it hits just right, but some voice deliveries are held back by a stilted script and limited context.