Zelda actor says her voice was influenced by “Game of Thrones,” Mia Farrow
Zelda actor says her voice was influenced by “Game of Thrones,” Mia Farrow
by Turbostrider27
40 Comments
Ofunatoofunato
Is it an unpopular opinion to dislike the English voice acting choice for Zelda? I usually play with Japanese audio because the voices seem to fit the characters much better.
TokensGinchos
Cringiest voice I’ve heard in a while . Turned her off as soon as I was given a minute to access the menu
PrinnyWantsSardines
German Zelda sounds like a Crybaby
The_Specter808
I play the game in Japanese because the voices are garbage in English. Why is this voice actress getting this much attention for a subpar performance?
smorjoken
Very interesting but that article is annoyingly written to me with the bullet points.
Elkbowy
It’s crazy to me that xenoblade can have so much more voice work done and it’s good and Zelda can’t
affinity4beards
Well she sounds awful
cutememe
I like how every single comment in this thread is about how everyone hates the voice acting. I cringe in the first millisecond of hearing Zelda’s voice. It doesn’t fit at all. Switched to Japanese the first moment I could.
Blueberrycake_
I don’t like her voice honestly. I’m sure there are people that do but I just don’t think it fits.
How can I say… it’s too dull/bland
I wish they kept them silent like link.
Doragon_Central
I’ve played both BOTW and TOTK in Latin American Spanish because I can’t stand the English dub and you’d be suprused of how good the Spanish Dub is, I was genuinely happy with it
CionSAGA
…I think the english voices are just fine…
(Inbefore I get mobbed for having an unpopular opinion)
unaviable
just a little nitpick. maybe this kind post should include something like “english VA”
Three_Froggy_Problem
Why did they get an American actor and then have her do an awful English accent rather than just get an English actor?
Toincossross
Her voice influenced me to change the language to Japanese.
shrek3onDVDandBluray
I like Zelda’s VA in this.
WhosthatMarmoset
I really wish Nintendo had found someone else.
ANYONE else.
Fitzy0728
Zelda’s voice is horrible. I cannot stand a minute of that phony british, always shaky, always on the verge of tears, voice
SharpEdgeSoda
Good voice actors, very “one take” poor voice direction.
Whoever was in charge of the dub at NoA was not given the budget for doing multiple takes it seems. Everything feels “one and done” without any effort to “direct” the voice actor.
Matt Mercer is a curious inclusion as I understand he’s a major Union Voice actor, and Nintendo often tries to dodge Union VAs.
DenVosReinaert
Not too big a fan of them but I do like em still. I think they improved upon the voice acting in BotW
pejic222
The va in this game is a lot better than botw
A lot of stuff in botw sounds like it was done In like one take with how weird some of the lines are delivered but totk definitely sounds a lot more natural in it’s delivery
Also Matt Mercer
Phiardan
They really should have just hired an English VA. She’s fucking awful and ruined the image of Zelda for me in the last game.
Ethosik
I don’t get all the hate. I don’t think her voice is as awful as people like to say it is. I’m fine with her English VA. Although people like to point out the FFX laugh scene as well about bad voice acting while not realizing it was bad on purpose. Which caused a real laugh right after.
shadowhawkz
I am so glad I am not alone thinking that her voice acting is absolute shit.
captmotorcycle
No wonder her breathy, nails on a chalkboard, high pitched voice sounds like complete shit.
ziggyrivers
Why did people suddenly stop using the word actress?
CamzoUK
Did she watch it on mute?
uncreativemind2099
She was so bad in botw, totk is just slightly better
TJL-91
Her acting has definitely improved since botw but her accent is still off, I’m always amazed when Americans do spot on British accents but sadly this ain’t one of those times.
ivster666
I had to change the voices to japanese BECAUSE OF THE UNBEARABLE ZELDS VOICE
Guglio08
I’d like to pivot away from this topic and ask a broad question: why can’t Nintendo just pick the low hanging fruit already?
Hire a language specialist and make Hylian into a language, then have voice actors record that dialogue. Then you can localize the subtitles into whatever you want. Most of the dialogue is experienced through text bubbles, and there are very few actual cutscenes. I can’t imagine that this would be particularly hard for a company of Nintendo’s size.
TheFinalBiscuit225
It’s not the voice that’s the issue. It’s that she has no inflection with it. It’s all this same breathy almost-whisper, and that doesn’t work for everything.
SubmersibleEntropy
I’m sure she’s a great voice actor, but I loathe the direction she was given. Zelda sounds so wimpy and unsure of herself, and like she’s whispering all the time. Wish it was a more normal voice. I was really hoping they’d let her speak with a stronger voice, despite continuity issues, in TotK. Oh well.
thatnitai
I really dislike Zelda’s voice acting, but honestly they’re all bad.
AP_Feeder
I don’t think her voice is as bad as everyone is saying but it’s not good. It sounds like she’s reading off a script the entire game.
bythisaxe
I just feel like she could be asking Link if he wants to go get tacos, and still sound like she’s about to burst into uncontrollable sobs as if someone just murdered her dog.
KitsuneKamiSama
Switched to JP as soon as I heard her voice again, she just sounds like she’s constantly on the verge of tears and depressed plus the fake ass British accent.
jszzsj
I am so glad modern games nowadays let you change the language now. I don’t know if I would have been able to play with her voice.
class2cherub
The voice acting really kind of ruins the magic of Zelda cutscenes for me. Not that it’s necessarily bad, but it just feels wrong to have it at all.
Zelda to me is all vibes. Music and ambience. Let my imagination fill in the dialogue how I want.
I get things change, but for me, this is a change not for the better.
johnnycoxxx
I haven’t gotten very far in TOTK but if she’s anything like she was in BOTW then I’d rather we have no voice acting at all.
40 Comments
Is it an unpopular opinion to dislike the English voice acting choice for Zelda? I usually play with Japanese audio because the voices seem to fit the characters much better.
Cringiest voice I’ve heard in a while . Turned her off as soon as I was given a minute to access the menu
German Zelda sounds like a Crybaby
I play the game in Japanese because the voices are garbage in English. Why is this voice actress getting this much attention for a subpar performance?
Very interesting but that article is annoyingly written to me with the bullet points.
It’s crazy to me that xenoblade can have so much more voice work done and it’s good and Zelda can’t
Well she sounds awful
I like how every single comment in this thread is about how everyone hates the voice acting. I cringe in the first millisecond of hearing Zelda’s voice. It doesn’t fit at all. Switched to Japanese the first moment I could.
I don’t like her voice honestly. I’m sure there are people that do but I just don’t think it fits.
How can I say… it’s too dull/bland
I wish they kept them silent like link.
I’ve played both BOTW and TOTK in Latin American Spanish because I can’t stand the English dub and you’d be suprused of how good the Spanish Dub is, I was genuinely happy with it
…I think the english voices are just fine…
(Inbefore I get mobbed for having an unpopular opinion)
just a little nitpick. maybe this kind post should include something like “english VA”
Why did they get an American actor and then have her do an awful English accent rather than just get an English actor?
Her voice influenced me to change the language to Japanese.
I like Zelda’s VA in this.
I really wish Nintendo had found someone else.
ANYONE else.
Zelda’s voice is horrible. I cannot stand a minute of that phony british, always shaky, always on the verge of tears, voice
Good voice actors, very “one take” poor voice direction.
Whoever was in charge of the dub at NoA was not given the budget for doing multiple takes it seems. Everything feels “one and done” without any effort to “direct” the voice actor.
Matt Mercer is a curious inclusion as I understand he’s a major Union Voice actor, and Nintendo often tries to dodge Union VAs.
Not too big a fan of them but I do like em still. I think they improved upon the voice acting in BotW
The va in this game is a lot better than botw
A lot of stuff in botw sounds like it was done In like one take with how weird some of the lines are delivered but totk definitely sounds a lot more natural in it’s delivery
Also Matt Mercer
They really should have just hired an English VA. She’s fucking awful and ruined the image of Zelda for me in the last game.
I don’t get all the hate. I don’t think her voice is as awful as people like to say it is. I’m fine with her English VA. Although people like to point out the FFX laugh scene as well about bad voice acting while not realizing it was bad on purpose. Which caused a real laugh right after.
I am so glad I am not alone thinking that her voice acting is absolute shit.
No wonder her breathy, nails on a chalkboard, high pitched voice sounds like complete shit.
Why did people suddenly stop using the word actress?
Did she watch it on mute?
She was so bad in botw, totk is just slightly better
Her acting has definitely improved since botw but her accent is still off, I’m always amazed when Americans do spot on British accents but sadly this ain’t one of those times.
I had to change the voices to japanese BECAUSE OF THE UNBEARABLE ZELDS VOICE
I’d like to pivot away from this topic and ask a broad question: why can’t Nintendo just pick the low hanging fruit already?
Hire a language specialist and make Hylian into a language, then have voice actors record that dialogue. Then you can localize the subtitles into whatever you want. Most of the dialogue is experienced through text bubbles, and there are very few actual cutscenes. I can’t imagine that this would be particularly hard for a company of Nintendo’s size.
It’s not the voice that’s the issue. It’s that she has no inflection with it. It’s all this same breathy almost-whisper, and that doesn’t work for everything.
I’m sure she’s a great voice actor, but I loathe the direction she was given. Zelda sounds so wimpy and unsure of herself, and like she’s whispering all the time. Wish it was a more normal voice. I was really hoping they’d let her speak with a stronger voice, despite continuity issues, in TotK. Oh well.
I really dislike Zelda’s voice acting, but honestly they’re all bad.
I don’t think her voice is as bad as everyone is saying but it’s not good. It sounds like she’s reading off a script the entire game.
I just feel like she could be asking Link if he wants to go get tacos, and still sound like she’s about to burst into uncontrollable sobs as if someone just murdered her dog.
Switched to JP as soon as I heard her voice again, she just sounds like she’s constantly on the verge of tears and depressed plus the fake ass British accent.
I am so glad modern games nowadays let you change the language now. I don’t know if I would have been able to play with her voice.
The voice acting really kind of ruins the magic of Zelda cutscenes for me. Not that it’s necessarily bad, but it just feels wrong to have it at all.
Zelda to me is all vibes. Music and ambience. Let my imagination fill in the dialogue how I want.
I get things change, but for me, this is a change not for the better.
I haven’t gotten very far in TOTK but if she’s anything like she was in BOTW then I’d rather we have no voice acting at all.
I actually like all the English voices…