Voice Acting TW1 vs TW2

[Babli.480]

Witcher is inspired by slavic culture so I just cannot stand english in it. Thats why I am playing in Polish. In both games is Polish dubbing absolutely brilliant. I am from Slovakia so i even understand most of what characters are saying

And I completely disagree with "over-acted" sentiment. To me its more like properly acted. Problems are with facial animations that cant express as much emotion in faces as voice actors with their voices.

 

[Garrison72]

After a couple of hours into TW1 with English vo's, I switched to Polish and never looked back. Every playthrough was in Polish.

The Polish vo's in TW1 are good, same with the Polish vo's in TW2. This time though, the English vo's are much better, with three exceptions: Triss, Letho, and Dandelion. Didn't really like the English vo's for those characters. I thought the rest were superb. I also still prefer Polish vo's for Geralt and some of the main female characters like Triss, Sila, and Phillipa. Maybe I have a thing for the accent but damn they sound sexy and assertive in Polish.

 

[anathemic]

I never played TW1 or TW2 with Polish voiceovers, due to a youtube video of Lady of the Lake VA in TW1 after I finished the game, the English VO for Lady of the Lake sounded way smoother to me.

Anyways on comparisons on the English VO between TW1 and TW2.

I'd say that TW2 did a better job, I enjoyed the VO in TW1, it was decent. In TW2 I loved it, I actually prefer the new Zoltan and Dandilion VA's over TW1's. The only criticism is of course Triss, I don't hate her VA in TW2 but in TW1 Triss's VA was much better sounding more mature and independent.

 

[Dona.794]

the appeal to custom ad absurdum when Letho tells Iorveth to bow before a crowned head

YES! I didn't play the game in Polish for long since most voices grated on my nerves, but I got to see this part. It is so good.

 

[f5f9]

I do not have opinions
there is no Italian dubbing in TW2

 

[songlian]

I've played both games in English, and I prefer TW2 when to comes to VA. My favorites are Iorveth, Triss, Philippa, and of course, Geralt.

My least favorite VA in TW2 would be Saskia's. Most of her dialogue sounded flat to me.

As for Geralt vs Hawke, I prefer Geralt by a long way.

 

[Dona.794]

My least favorite VA in TW2 would be Saskia's. Most of her dialogue sounded flat to me.

I loved Saskia on my first play-through, but not so much on my second. She was indeed very flat.

 

[mercannis]

I actually found myself liking Doug more in TW2 than in the previous outing, he sounded a bit more world weary and experienced. On the other hand i agree with the Triss VA being stronger in the TW. She was portrayed as a powerful sorceress who had her secrets and her own agenda, in comparison to TW2 where at some points she came off as a giggling schoolgirl.
Triss aside though i thought the voice acting was far superior (English) to the first game.

 

[siklara]

YES! I didn't play the game in Polish for long since most voices grated on my nerves, but I got to see this part. It is so good.

I have to check this out too!

I'm Hungarian so I wanted to play TW EE first with Hungarian voiceovers, but it was... well, it wasn't that bad, but pretty mixed. The actors didn't act much and at some parts the Hungarian translation was done poorly too, which didn't help. The funny thing is that most main characters are horrible, while some random peasants and minor characters were done brilliantly. I remember switching to English for good when I sided with Yaevinn because his Hungarian voice was unbearably bad. (Leo was much worse, but he doesn't speak much)
I liked both the English and the German voices, they weren't anything special but much-much better and I really like Geralt's English VA.

I absolutely love the English voice acting in TW2 with all those beautiful accents and fortunately this time the Hungarian translators did a fantastic job as well, so I really enjoyed my first playthrough with English voices and Hungarian subtitles. Maybe it's just me but sometimes I felt that poor ol' Geralt fades in comparison to certain side-characters. I know he's supposed to sound indifferent most of the time, it's just that the others express much more emotion. My favourites are Foltest, Roche, Iorveth and Saskia and I generally like everyone, though maybe Philippa sounds a bit older than she should and Letho's American accent is out of place.
I'm addicted to Saskia's accent, love how she always talks with such passion, and after her speech I would have followed her to any battle. Iorveth’s interesting because the actor shows many sides of him; sometimes he shouts at the top of his lungs, other times he speaks softly and gets all emotional. Roche's VA is perfect because he always sounds pissed, cocky, or impatient, and his "ENOUGH OF THIS PISS" line always gets me. Both Roche and Iorveth can be such drama queens sometimes that it almost hurts, but it just makes me love listening to them even more.

I tried playing the game with Polish voiceovers when the language pack became available, but some of the characters sounded way over the top (and it bothered me that I only understand a few words), so I switched back to English.

 

[Dona.794]

I'm Hungarian so I wanted to play TW EE first with Hungarian voiceovers, but it was... well, it wasn't that bad, but pretty mixed.

Okay, you have no idea how much I want Hungarian voice-overs for TW2. I really want to learn the language (I'm of Hungarian origin, mostly, but I live in Serbia and nobody bothered teaching me the language) and I feel like having a game I love and can replay over and over would help. Wishful thinking, I guess, but I might try TWEE, even if it's really bad, heh. I had no idea it was available in so many languages since I only played the very first version of the game.

Philippa is supposed to be older, but enhancing her looks with magic, much like all sorceresses. I liked her voice, although it doesn't quite match her body :] I liked Letho, too, but I think he sounds even better in Polish.

I tried playing the game with Polish voiceovers when the language pack became available, but some of the characters sounded way over the top (and it bothered me that I only understand a few words), so I switched back to English.

I thought it overacted in some places, too, although I was pretty amused by the swearwords I managed to understand ;p

 

[KnightofPhoenix]

My least favorite VA in TW2 would be Saskia's. Most of her dialogue sounded flat to me.

Yea it does seem that way. I wonder if it's deliberate, as in she's awkward in convos because of you know what. Not likely though.

I did like her speech however.

 

[goopit]

they did a really good job casting for both

as for which is better I'd say W2(by a pretty big margin)

In TW1 it was more exaggerated sure it sounded good and it gave the characters more uhh character. In TW2, It felt more natural like you got the sense people weren't trying to seem like they were voice acting and trying to sound all pleasant and interesting. Geralt only sounded bad ass when he needed to be.

The secondary characters were awesome and memorable. Derae and Whistling Wendy were really charming. I remember the merchant you talk to about the Kayran saying "Pgouh! You jest!" which was really cool it sounded improvised and not generic since that word didn't really exist.

 

[GODzillaGSPB]

I loved Saskia on my first play-through, but not so much on my second. She was indeed very flat.

What the hell are you talking about? She had really nice, round...oh you're talking about the voiceover...yeah...

 

[songlian]

I did like her speech however.

Her speech was written very nicely, yes. I would have probably liked it even more if I sympathized with her as a character. (Which I didn't.)

 

[username_2093396]

4) If you don't speak Polish you'll miss out on a few nuances: the Polish art of understatement when Geralt suggests that Roche convince Geralt's captors not to execute him, the appeal to custom ad absurdum when Letho tells Iorveth to bow before a crowned head, and at least one place that refers to Polish literature (Geralt's conversation with Roche in Act III refers to Mickiewicz's Lord Thaddeus)...

You got me on the Lord Thaddeus thing (I've never heard of it before the game) but I think the first two examples also came across in English unless you mean something else from what I think you mean

 

[227]

In TW2, It felt more natural like you got the sense people weren't trying to seem like they were voice acting and trying to sound all pleasant and interesting.

Exactly this.

I do think the voice acting for both fit the occasion, though. There was something about the atmosphere of the first game that called for such emphasis--and overemphasis, at times--in the voice acting, whereas the second game benefited (in my opinion) from the more relaxed, natural VA. If you hypothetically switched the two, I do think both games would be the worse for it.

 

[Metropolitan]

TW2 - My only doubt (English) is the choice of voice actor for Roche. A rather suave upper middle class English voice didn't quite fit the viciousness of the character to my mind. What is the Polish voice like? It was, however, superbly well done.
What impresses most about the game is the way the motion capture and voice acting work together so brilliantly. The most stunning piece of realistic 'acting' (or whatever you call it!) I have ever seen in a video game was the final sequence when Triss walks to the gate with Geralt and Roche/Yorveth at the end of the Epilogue. Triss's mannerisms, expression and the sheer realism is unbelievably good.

 

[siklara]

Okay, you have no idea how much I want Hungarian voice-overs for TW2. I really want to learn the language (I'm of Hungarian origin, mostly, but I live in Serbia and nobody bothered teaching me the language) and I feel like having a game I love and can replay over and over would help. Wishful thinking, I guess, but I might try TWEE, even if it's really bad, heh. I had no idea it was available in so many languages since I only played the very first version of the game.

Philippa is supposed to be older, but enhancing her looks with magic, much like all sorceresses. I liked her voice, although it doesn't quite match her body :] I liked Letho, too, but I think he sounds even better in Polish.

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I thought it overacted in some places, too, although I was pretty amused by the swearwords I managed to understand ;p

And you have no idea how good it feels to read what you've written, I never expected anyone in this forum other than myself to wish for Hungarian voice-overs. Unfortunately it's not going to happen, I know it from reliable source (a guy told me who works for PlayOn, the Hungarian publisher of TW2). You should try TWEE, I had a lot of fun listening to various languages. You can download the language packs from here. : )

I know all sorceresses do that and I love Philippa's voice, I just thought it funny that she looks younger than she sounds.

I also caught a few words I could understand, and not only swearwords.
(Funny that we also borrowed some of our most commonly used swearwords from Slavic languages and when I was in Russia it was strangely calming that I could at least understand those. )

 

[goopit]

Best VA was Iorveth hands down btw. Every line he delivered really had this bitter hateful tone to it really awesome.

 

[Thothistox]

You got me on the Lord Thaddeus thing (I've never heard of it before the game) but I think the first two examples also came across in English unless you mean something else from what I think you mean

I know the idea comes across, but you don't get the same irony because you can't have the same expectations in English. When Geralt says "maybe you could convince them not to do that" (i.e., hang him the next day) it really sounds (at least to me) like he has a lot less regard for his life than he does. It's partly the intonation on behalf of the actor and not just the line itself.

I don't remember the Mickiewicz reference exactly, but when Geralt is debating with Roche about what to do with Anais he refers to Temeria in a similar way that Mickiewicz refers to Lithuania in the opening lines of Lord Thaddeus. Loosely translated: "Lithuania, fatherland of mine you are like health. How you must be valued one will only know when one has lost you."