Lunar Threads

Generally I am looking forward to the new remake of TSS even though of course I also would prefer a real new game with better quality than Dragon Song but maybe this can be a first step if the game should become popular and so making the series more famous again.

But what I am a little worried about is by who it will be published for the western world as Working Designs doesn't exist anymore I always found their releases just great and I am so used to their voice actors and doubt that for example I could ever get used to a Ghaleon with a suddenly different voice

I wonder how do others here feel about it and is there anything known if maybe there are plans for recruiting some voice actors from the previous Lunar games? Otherwise maybe it might be a good idea to suggest that to the publisher

XSEED seems to already realize the general attitude of the Lunar fanbase toward Working Designs' localizations, and they indicated in their interview with RPGamer that they want to remain at least somewhat faithful to the spirit of past localizations.

Generally speaking, though, I'm not opposed to changes in voice acting. The acting was very good for the time and is still at least average with some definite standout characters, but I also think there're some characters who could be improved by new voice talent. My only annoyance is that they'll probably pick actors and actresses from that Cup of Tea pool who voice just about everything on the planet. Not that people like Lowenthal, Bosch, and Sheh are bad or anything, but it becomes tiresome when you hear them over and over again, particularly when it's a really distinct voice like Bosch's.

Should replacements become a necessity, I'd suggest someone like Will Friedle for Alex, Claudia Lenz or Hynden Walch for Luna, Kyle Hebert for Kyle, Julie Ann Taylor or Jodi Benson for Jessica, Spike Spencer (er, can't think of anything better) for Nash, Heather Hogan for Mia, and Kirk Thornton for Ghaleon.

I would honestly take a wait and see on voice acting. I think XSEED is pretty in-tune with the Lunar fandom, so I imagine they'll probably at least consider the voice acting carefully. Honestly, I wouldn't be mad about new voice actors, but I would like them to at least keep John Truitt if at all possible. I'm not super concerned about the rest, but Ghaleon's voice is pretty synonymous with Truitt, and even many that disliked WDs translation efforts wouldn't disagree with that.

Oh my god, the boat song! Are they going to have another singer record it? If so... yikes. I'm afraid.

John Truitt at least should be contacted by XSEED. We can live without new Obama and (Hillary) Clinton jokes but John Truitt's voice is how I expect Ghaleon to sound in any remake.

http://www.sabrecat.net/ghaleon/sounds/

...You know, I wonder how many of the people who bring that up whenever WD's Lunar translations are mentioned have played all of the games and realize how minor it really is. It's one reference -- not even much of a joke, let alone a political joke -- in one game from 1994-5. There are more references to Lorena Bobbitt than to Clinton. Get some perspective.

There are a few jokes in the translation by Working Designs that feel a little out of place like the one with Clinton and for example one where Baywatch was mentioned (I think when you enter the Star Dragon Tower) but overall I think WD did do a great job and I am sure it helped a lot that they liked the games and understood the story and the world of Lunar themselves.
I personally really like their voice acting even though it might not be perfect but just look at other games what might have happened if other people than WD would have done the job, for example Valkyrie Profile. Often I see the people in front of me just reading their script from a piece of paper, no wonder you can find many undub versions of games floating around these days.
Or worse, there might have been no English version of Lunar I and II on the Mega CD at all, the system was never a big success in the first place.

They did do a good job. TSS was the first RPG I played and it was the dialogue that ultimately got me into the genre. I do wish it had been lighter on the pop refs, but I remember having a good laugh over the Wheaties in the TSS credits. I think they just got carried away after that, breaking the fourth wall a bit too much. The best ones are those which work taken at face value as well, like Kyle describing Jessica with a quote from Muhammad Ali ("Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.")

The voice acting is okay, though I know my standards have been raised from later games (Beyond Good and Evil and Valkyria Chronicles stand out to me as being particularly noteworthy). I think the spoken dialogue could use some tuning up. It never seemed right to hear Alex saying "My God...", for example.

Evil_Goddess wrote:I personally really like their voice acting even though it might not be perfect but just look at other games what might have happened if other people than WD would have done the job, for example Valkyrie Profile.

Hey, hey. "To my side, my noble Einherjar" and "Come to me dark warriors, battle awaits us" are epic.

Yeah, John Truitt is Ghaleon. I'd rather they just import the dialogue from SSSC than redub him with someone else. (Assuming that's possible, probably not)

The whole WD dub was solid, I think. And despite what purists rant about, I thought their dialogue was well written and hilarious, including the fourth wall/modern reference stuff.

honestly i hope they do keep the fourth wall breaking jokes in it again as well and they at least better get John Truitt back

I thought the script from SSSC and EBC was solid and hilarious. Also, I have to this day never had as much fun reading the game instruction manuals as I had with Lunar's.

Just dropping in...

I think it would be interesting, if unfortunate, if the American version of the game lacked John Truitt's stellar performance as Ghaleon. It would be an interesting parallel to the jolt players of SSS felt in Japan when Naya Rokurou's eerie, sneering voice was replaced with the deep, stereotypical "fantasy villain" voice of Yanada Kiyoyuki. At least they brought Naya back for the Eternal Blue remake (though that made the voice incongruity even more glaring), but the superior Truitt Ghaleon in SSS literally makes me more eager to play the US version. We'll see what happens with this!

I've often tried looking him up online, to no avail. I wonder what the story is on Working Designs' voice actors...

Hehe, I was just mentioning recently how the Japanese TSS Ghaleon made an impression that the SSS one didn't. I haven't played far enough in the Saturn EB to hear Ghaleon, though, and don't remember anything of what he sounded like in the MegaCD EB since I played that several years back (and lost my save from just after Borgan, sigh). Who did the MegaCD voice?

I think most of WD's voice actors were locals rather than professional VAs, so it's not surprising that they're obscure outside of WD games.

Alunissage wrote:I think most of WD's voice actors were locals rather than professional VAs, so it's not surprising that they're obscure outside of WD games.

Based on what I now know about how Working Designs did business, I'm guessing the VA's were just a few of Victor Ireland's buddies. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were buddies of his from the office (or their friends/relatives). He always ran WD like a small business, and it shows in details like how fly-by-night it turns out they were behind the scenes.

ilovemyguitar wrote:

Alunissage wrote:I think most of WD's voice actors were locals rather than professional VAs, so it's not surprising that they're obscure outside of WD games.

Based on what I now know about how Working Designs did business, I'm guessing the VA's were just a few of Victor Ireland's buddies. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were buddies of his from the office (or their friends/relatives). He always ran WD like a small business, and it shows in details like how fly-by-night it turns out they were behind the scenes.

Actually, they turned to local theater groups in Redding to find suitable voice actors. One or two people may have been friends of Vic, but otherwise they came from acting groups in the area. KF

I hate to break it to you guys, but John Truitt is not that impressive as Ghaleon. His voice has no authority behind it, for one thing. He sounds like a snooty butler. Someone like Crispin Freeman Corey Burton, or Christopher Lee would be much better.

Impressive is in the ear of the be-hearer. You're not "breaking it" to anyone, you're reporting a different impression.

That said, I'm fairly neutral on this. If we must have voices, I want them to be natural enough that I don't find myself thinking of the lines as being said by a VA rather than the character. Focusing too much on who plays the parts makes that difficult.

Oh come now. If they have to change the voice of Ghaleon, they should use Alan Rickman.

Alan Rickman's voice does actually come across as Ghaleon-ish. I know he plays Snape, but his Snape voice actually fits (and I dare-say sounds a bit John Truitt-ish anyways)

And yes, LunarRaptor, you're going to be in a very small minority of people disliking Truitt as Ghaleon. Very small indeed.