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Karen Strassman possibly not reprising her roles as Kitana / Mileena

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
I don't think it's bad either, however, it does mean that the same heightened standard of quality is expected from the VA's as well. If a VA does a bad job, or even just a mediocre job, there sure will be people who take notice and will bash down the game because of it.

It will overall lower the production value, and I don't think that's within WB's interest.
I don’t think they’d intentionally cast people who are going to ruin the story. Whoever they’ve hired, I’m sure they have faith in them to perform at the level that’s befitting of a Mortal Kombat game.

Likely this will end up being a nonissue at release.
 

HeavyNorse

#BlackLivesMatter
I don’t think they’d intentionally cast people who are going to ruin the story. Whoever they’ve hired, I’m sure they have faith in them to perform at the level that’s befitting of a Mortal Kombat game.

Likely this will end up being a nonissue at release.
I definitely hope so. ^^
 

Roy Arkon

I will leave my seal on you!
I mean it's a series with a flying guy with lighting eyes in a giant straw hat, multiple palette-swap ninjas who look nothing like ninjas, a guy who punches people in the nether regions for fun, and an off-brand parody of Bruce Lee.. It's not meant to take itself too seriously, and that's part of the charm. I'm sure the acting will be fine for the tone of the series.
Yes MK is not super serious, but it still very serious for it's own and sure as hell more serious then any other fighting game series. All of the less-serious stuff in MK are related to specific things during gameplay like the Test Your Luck modifiers as well as some finishing moves like the Friendships. And yes, only some, because most of the gameplay elements are also very serious, and when it comes to the actual story, it was always more serious, and not just in recent NRS games like @HeavyNorse said. Arcade endings in the Arcade mode are for the most part "what if" scenarios rather then canon endings, but even for non-canon endings, almost non of the endings in all of the MK games were comic related or cheesy. Other then Johnny Cage's ending in MK4 as well as Stryker's ending in MK9 that also involved Johnny, all of the endings for all characters in all of the games were serious, canon or not, unlike the Tekken series for example which all of the characters were comedy-prone, including the Mishimias who are suppose to be the main characters of the series. Hell, Lee's ending in Tekken 5 featured Heihachi Mishima with nothing but a tiny underwear and a bow tie. I can't think of any MK ending or any story mode cutscene in any of the MK games from MK1 until now that was even close to be as cheesy as that.

And speaking of characters, all of the Ninjas in MK were looked like Ninjas from the very beginning, and even after all of the changes to their designs you can still clearly see their Ninja elements, Raiden hat doesn't take anything from him being a Thunder God, Liu Kang is Bruce Lee-inspired character and not a parody, and even Johnny Cage being the only true comic relief character in the series still can sow some elements of seriousness, as we have seen in his interactions with Sonya and others in the MKX story mode.

Even if the story was cheesy (and it's not), voice acting is a huge part of what makes the story of the game and it's characters so appealing to the fans and the masses. NRS/WB know that and that's why they make sure that they voices will always hit the nail with whatever characters they're voicing, and it always worked for them, regardless it's cheesy or not. So if something is cheesy, the voice acting still needs to be on a high level, except that, once again, it's not cheesy.

So they are indeed gonna keep the voice acting true the series, both in terms of quality and direction of the series.
 

xXRagingFlameXx

I'm a bad bitch, you can't kill me
Well, no matter what the case is with the voice actors. We're going to find out sooner rather than later considering we're just two weeks away from the community reveal. Kitana, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Cassie, and possibly Sonya among many others I'm sure are all characters that are probably going to be shown off. We'll be hearing their voices in due time so we can judge for ourselves without hurting our lil' knees from jumping to conclusions.

I'll be upset if Cassie's voice is replaced as well because Ashly Burch really brought that character's charm. The charisma she had is the reason I liked her so much. The voices in MKX were so great that it'd suck to see any of them leave, but if it has to happen, so be it. As long as the new talent that they hire can bring the characters to life then I'll get over it.
 

Marinjuana

Up rock incoming, ETA 5 minutes
I mean it's a series with a flying guy with lighting eyes in a giant straw hat, multiple palette-swap ninjas who look nothing like ninjas, a guy who punches people in the nether regions for fun, and an off-brand parody of Bruce Lee.. It's not meant to take itself too seriously, and that's part of the charm. I'm sure the acting will be fine for the tone of the series.
I'm not trying to be argumentative but I don't understand why you keep harping on this point of tone. The series has had high quality voice acting in the last two games and the games have been better for it. That the series likes a bit of campiness is not an excuse for having poor voice acting. Jim Carrey stars in silly comedy films, but just because the movie is silly doesn't reflect on the quality of his performances, which are often exceptional. But really I only posted because I don't think it's of the questionable quality you made it out to be in your earlier posts, I think NRS has continually had great voice acting in each game they've made and continues to improve, and I hope the recasts don't affect that negatively.
 
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Jynks

some heroes are born, some made, some wondrous
whatever.... a voice is a voice is a voice. Actors are completely interchangeable in all mediums, except maybe animation, but only animation where the voice actors put on a voice.. not just hiring random actors to speak as they normally do.

Would it be nice to have the same actress, sure why not... would it be nice to get a new actress, sure why not. It is just a non-issue to me.. it is so under my "give a shit" level that it doesn't even register.

The CHARACTER is what I like.. and I have no loyalty to any particularly actor. There is literally millions of actors that are good at acting.. and that is all a production needs.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
I'm not trying to be argumentative but I don't understand why you keep harping on this point of tone. The series has had high quality voice acting in the last two games and the games have been better for it. That the series likes a bit of campiness is not an excuse for having poor voice acting. Jim Carrey stars in silly comedy films, but just because the movie is silly doesn't reflect on the quality of his performances, which are often exceptional. But really I only posted because I don't think it's of the questionable quality you made it out to be in your earlier posts, I think NRS has continually had great voice acting in each game they've made and continues to improve, and I hope the recasts don't affect that negatively.
Because people are acting like changing a few of the actors is going to throw the entire story mode down the tubes, and I think that's a fairly ridiculous conclusion to jump to. It's not a Scorsese film, it's Mortal Kombat. Whoever is in charge of casting knows what they're doing and I'm sure it'll be fine. It doesn't need to be Oscar-worthy to be suitable for the franchise.
 

stokedAF

casual kahnage
I wonder what she means.. When I think politics I think shady, lying scumbags with a dash of nepotism (any and all parties). I hope she didn’t get shafted like scorpion did.
 

Dankster Morgan

It is better this way
The plot is very non serious and cheesy and honestly pretty stupid if you think about it, but that very much works for Mortal Kombat’s favor. Crimson is right, its not like they’re recasting a character who’s voice is extremely important, it’s not like if Uncharted 4 didn’t have Nolan North returning as Drake. Sub-Zero’s new voice in MKX was way better than MK9 so it could potentially be an improvement even. Biggest video game voice actor change I can think of was Kiefer Sutherland playing Snake in MGS 5 instead of David Hayter and I honestly thought he did a great job in it, so I wouldn’t worry about someone like Kitana/Mileena especially considering how insignificant their story roles were in X and that most of what you will hear once you get tired of intro dialogue and have heard it so much you skip every time is screaming and grunting from them.
 

DDustiNN

MK11 Pocket Guide: Koming Soon to the App Store
That's very true, but I'm gonna find it hard to get immersed into the story if I'm gonna have a bunch of Ronda Rousey level actors in my ear for hours naaahhhhh.
TBH though, it's not like the MK story mode has always been a bunch of Gary Oldmans and Tom Hanks's. It's always a bit cheesy, the acting is "ok for videogames", and we enjoy it because it's fun and no other fighting game has a story mode that's even close to this.

We're not picking it apart because it's not Naughty Dog. Ronda would probably be just fine.
It’s not all about the story mode though. Mileena had the perfect amount of crazy in her voice during matches.
 
Voices of these characters are just a small fraction of what makes a fighting game great.
Sure. But, character voice are of undeniable import when it comes to specific characters (see: my avatar). Mileena could probably be done by another actress, given her affected snarl; as well as Kitana, given her voice isn't 'that' well known.

However, the likes of Kahn or Raiden are more difficult to replace. Then you have iconic voices, like Darth Vader (James Earl Jones), that are nearly impossible to replicate.

Having said that, sooner than later, voice technology will get good enough to reproduce voices with near-indiscernible likeness -- making such issues a thing of the past.
 
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BecomingDeath13

"You won't winter over?" Who the fuck wrote that?
I think my biggest concern VA wise is losing Ashly Burch. She did an amazing job as Cassie. She was also amazing as Aloy in Horizon. In my opinion she was perfect. That's why I fell in love with Cassie.

Biggest video game voice actor change I can think of was Kiefer Sutherland playing Snake in MGS 5 instead of David Hayter and I honestly thought he did a great job in it,
He hardly had any lines in phantom pain. It's just listening to ocelot basically the whole game. Most of his dialog was in the tapes that most of the casual players would have ignored. With what Kiefer was given, he did do a great job. He just didn't sound like Snake anymore. That campy sarcastic dialog style David Hayter had became iconic for Snake's character. Kiefer was good, but he just couldn't match it. David Hayter is Solid Snake. Forever and always. Also.... #fuckonami
 

Dankster Morgan

It is better this way
I think my biggest concern VA wise is losing Ashly Burch. She did an amazing job as Cassie. She was also amazing as Aloy in Horizon. In my opinion she was perfect. That's why I fell in love with Cassie.


He hardly had any lines in phantom pain. It's just listening to ocelot basically the whole game. Most of his dialog was in the tapes that most of the casual players would have ignored. With what Kiefer was given, he did do a great job. He just didn't sound like Snake anymore. That campy sarcastic dialog style David Hayter had became iconic for Snake's character. Kiefer was good, but he just couldn't match it. David Hayter is Solid Snake. Forever and always. Also.... #fuckonami
I definitely agree to that, I think having Kiefer play Snake in that game and have a different voice worked given the twist at the end.
 

ImperatrixSindel

Too bad YOU... will DIE!
Nobody's arguing this is equivalent to if they suddenly recast Karen Strassman in like, the Persona series. Obviously there isn't a ton of dialogue here and the game isn't about dialogue. But there's a continuity of character we've had in MK9 and MKX and it is a bummer to lose that. Voice is a huge part of what makes a character feel real, including in battle.
 

Tanya-Fan-28

TanyaShouldBeInMK11
But the production value is upped while still staying true to the tone of the series, which is to never take itself too seriously. If it becomes The Last of Us, it’s no longer Mortal Kombat — and they clearly know that — so there’s always enough ridiculousness in every MK story to keep it campy and fun.

I don’t think this is a bad thing.
I don't think it's bad either, however, it does mean that the same heightened standard of quality is expected from the VA's as well. If a VA does a bad job, or even just a mediocre job, there sure will be people who take notice and will bash down the game because of it.

It will overall lower the production value, and I don't think that's within WB's
I don't think it's bad either, however, it does mean that the same heightened standard of quality is expected from the VA's as well. If a VA does a bad job, or even just a mediocre job, there sure will be people who take notice and will bash down the game because of it.

It will overall lower the production value, and I don't think that's within WB's interest.
I agree with both of you, because on one hand ghee is a certain standard that players want in terms of VA and story in general but when it goes to much to the left then it becomes overly serious and boring when it has no self awareness of what it actually is: A lightning man fighting ninjas who aren't actually ninjas along with a Bruce Lee iteration and a vain superstar wearing shades. It needs balance, shows like The Walking sea take itself too seriously and it became boring and unpopular. Tomb zpRaider used to be campy and fun and now that it's rebooted its overly "gritty and realistic" to the point it's boring (especially in Rise of the TR). So a balance of both I think would be a proper formula but thats just me.
 

MKF30

Fujin and Ermac for MK 11
I think every fighting game has a parody of Bruce Lee, let's be honest here lol.
 

Roy Arkon

I will leave my seal on you!
I think every fighting game has a parody of Bruce Lee, let's be honest here lol.
Like I said, Liu Kang is not a parody of Bruce Lee, but rather an Bruce Lee-inspired character. Same thing for all of the Bruce Lee-inspired character from all other fighting game franchises which like Fei Long from SF which yes, are indeed exist. The term "parody" is supposed to refer to something that take the original inspiration in a joking fashion. If any of those characters would've been an actual parody, they would've been a totally different character. The Law's from Tekken are technically a parody due to their comic-relief aspects, although like I said earlier, almost every Tekken character is comedy-prone in terms of story, unlike Mortal Kombat, so maybe it doesn't count.
 
Solution: just cut Raiden And Kotal Kahn.
I'm kidding, I'M KIDDING -- don't shoot me!!! :O
You can do with the knock-off "Kahn" whatever you like. However, Raiden is iconic, and cutting him would likely get an Outworld 'fatwa' issued on whoever puts that god on the chopping block... ⚠