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[StarSketch]

Both have their strong points, Golden Chie's voice matches her personality a lot better, but it's also very shrill sometimes, and so I can see why some people don't like it. Vanilla Chie's not shrill, but lacks the same energy, giving Chie a much calmer read. Which may or may not be better depending on whether you find energetic characters annoying or not.

For the record, I have a preference for Golden Chie, but I think it's because my initial experience with Chie was with her Japanese VA, and Golden Chie is significantly closer to that one, so it's just what I'm used to.

 

[CrazyDude]

Original Chie sounds infinitely more distinct and far more normal. She has some bad reads, but I'll take that over generic anime girl #200 any day.

Maybe a normal 35 year old.

 

[Green Mamba]

Maybe a normal 32 year old.

I think cartoons, anime, and video games have warped everyone's viewpoints on what teenagers actually sound like, because this sentiment has always confused the hell out of me. Teenagers have way more vocal range than they're given credit for.

 

[Caladrius]

The solution to our dilemma lies in stitching their heads together.

 

[Pepsiman]

Yeah, I totally knew girls in high school who sounded like Chie, so when I played the original PS2 version my first semester in college back in 2008, it felt as natural as could be to me to hear her speak like that. There are a lot of girls whose voices are a bit deeper and have a little less pep than what's typically considered to be the norm, so Chie's voice in those days reminded me of very real people I knew. I personally think her more subtle performance in that version better underlines some of the social stigmas she's fighting against as someone whose femininity comes from a different place than a character like Yukiko, but my experience doing translation work as a fan is probably coloring my perspective in ways that I know aren't universally agreeable.

 

[Sophia]

I think cartoons, anime, and video games have warped everyone's viewpoints on what teenagers actually sound like, because this sentiment has always confused the hell out of me. Teenagers have way more vocal range than they're given credit for.

Teenagers are generally misrepresented in most fictional mediums. It's why the Teens are Short trope is in full effect in TVs and Movie.

And yeah, most people I know generally have the vocal range of an adult by the time they hit their teenage years.

 

[hipsterpants]

I know there was some talk about SMT IV's presentation being lacking, and I 100% agree. It's pretty ridiculous that a game that came out 8 years prior and consists primarily

Spoiler

entirely

of rectangular hallways looks so much better. I especially like the stylized look of the human characters in Nocturne, looks way better than generic animu portrait #1000.

 

[buddha0991]

I know there was some talk about SMT IV's presentation being lacking, and I 100% agree. It's pretty ridiculous that a game that came out 8 years prior and consists primarily

Spoiler

entirely

of rectangular hallways looks so much better. I especially like the stylized look of the human characters in Nocturne, looks way better than generic animu portrait #1000.

While I agree that Nocturne is the best looking Megaten game, saying "Generic animu portrait" is kind of dumb imo.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I think cartoons, anime, and video games have warped everyone's viewpoints on what teenagers actually sound like, because this sentiment has always confused the hell out of me. Teenagers have way more vocal range than they're given credit for.

Then there's the Japanese thing of girls speaking in an octave or two higher to "sound" "cute".

 

[Sophia]

Masayuki Doi's artwork is many things. "Generic animu", it is not. It is fairly stylized, actually. In a different way from Kaneko or Soejima, mind you, but still not generic.

 

[jello44]

Erin Fitzgerald voiced Polka and Agnes right? I can't see her voicing Chie, lol.

Yes, she voiced those two characters along with Chie.

It's called vocal range.

 

[abrack08]

https://twitter.com/abrack08/status/466793645677375489

Sam Riegel favorited my tweet... Kristen Wiig is Rei in Persona Q, doubly confirmed

 

[CrazyDude]

I know there was some talk about SMT IV's presentation being lacking, and I 100% agree. It's pretty ridiculous that a game that came out 8 years prior and consists primarily

Spoiler

entirely

of rectangular hallways looks so much better. I especially like the stylized look of the human characters in Nocturne, looks way better than generic animu portrait #1000.

Nocturne character look completely stupid. Very ugly designs. Still love the game though, but the art style never clicked with me.

 

[CorvoSol]

Yes, she voiced those two characters along with Chie.

It's called vocal range.

When it comes to Agnes the only range is "how high can I make this shrill bitch shriek before she cracks the player's screen?"

 

[Soriku]

I know there was some talk about SMT IV's presentation being lacking, and I 100% agree. It's pretty ridiculous that a game that came out 8 years prior and consists primarily

Spoiler

entirely

of rectangular hallways looks so much better. I especially like the stylized look of the human characters in Nocturne, looks way better than generic animu portrait #1000.

Human designs in Nocturne aren't that great. How are these designs "generic animu" anyway?

Not even the main characters look like generic anime.

 

[CorvoSol]

SMT4: In which a bunch of shitty 1 scene wonders get detailed character art but the best damn girl in the game never does.

/salt

 

[Sophia]

SMT4 has some seriously spectacular character art. It's a shame it wasn't better utilized in the game, however.

 

[CorvoSol]

On second thought, is the Agnes mentioned earlier not the one from Bravely Default? Guess I should've considered that, haha.

 

[Kazzy]

New Chie doesn't sound like a teenager, and therein lies the irony.

 

[PK Gaming]

On second thought, is the Agnes mentioned earlier not the one from Bravely Default? Guess I should've considered that, haha.

You were right the first time, it's Erin

Her gaming portfolio is pretty massive

 

[Daimaou]

New Chie doesn't sound like a teenager, and therein lies the irony.

Old Chie didn't either.

 

[ULTROS!]

I'm curious, I thought SMT4 was renowned but it seems like quite a number of people are having issues with it. What are the common issues and how does it fare to SMT3?

 

[Sophia]

I'm curious, I thought SMT4 was renowned but it seems like quite a number of people are having issues with it. What are the common issues and how does it fare to SMT3?

SMT3 is actually the oddball out as far as aesthetics and design go, where as SMT IV (and for that matter Strange Journey) have a lot more in common with the classic SMT games. Lots of people started with SMT3 as their first mainline game, so it can be a bit of a turnoff.

Some people have legitimate and not so legitimate grievances with the presentation too. There's a lot of phenomenal artwork that goes underused thanks to some plot decisions.

 

[TWILT]

For TWILT:

I'm super late on this, but damn, this looks awesome. Thanks man!

 

[CorvoSol]

I'm curious, I thought SMT4 was renowned but it seems like quite a number of people are having issues with it. What are the common issues and how does it fare to SMT3?

Part of my issue going in was just not knowing what to expect from a MegaTen game since SMT4 was my first, but as far as presentation goes I was a little underwhelmed at the way the game went about having no models for anyone but the hero. I'm told it's normal for SMT endings to be short but after all I'd gone through I was expecting something more conclusive than what I'd gotten, and I have to say it was a major pain in the neck the way the game completely shut itself down after I started the Neutral path to force me to do numerous dull fetch quests. I wasn't a huge fan of the whole binary morality thing, either, but that could simply be a matter of personal tastes.

Those are my chief complaints, really. I still enjoyed the game quite a bit, and once I got used to those things I was content to put them off and just sorta roll with it.

 

[todd360]

I never did find a p3 movie unboxing video. Guess I will have to wait until the imports come in.

 

[Kazzy]

Old Chie didn't either.

Considering the complaints leveraged against the original, I find it amusing. In any case, I think that she sounds more natural.

I'm not really a fan of Erin Fitzgerald's performance. It just veers off too much into "I'm in anime - this is called ACTING!"

 

[Soriku]

I'm curious, I thought SMT4 was renowned but it seems like quite a number of people are having issues with it. What are the common issues and how does it fare to SMT3?

It is renowned. The game is about as good as Nocturne, and better in ways. The game doesn't have many issues IMO. The two biggest things for me is that the difficulty drops off a lot once you get to Tokyo and the map can be confusing to navigate (but still manageable).

Otherwise I think the other big common complaint is the presentation (lots of sprites/portraits, not many 3D models), and some people don't like the new demon designs.

Some people might have issues with the lack of dungeons like Nocturne. There are still dungeons, just not as long-winded. But you do explore a lot of deserted parts of Tokyo.

 

[PK Gaming]

I'm curious, I thought SMT4 was renowned but it seems like quite a number of people are having issues with it. What are the common issues and how does it fare to SMT3?

Pros:
+Fun, flexible gameplay. Optimizing your team setup has never been funner
+Tokyo is a blast to explore
+Fantastic OST
+Save anywhere
+Fairly forgiving
+A good portion of the sidequests are fun and varied
+Intriguing narrative
+Demon fusion is incredibly convenient
+The side characters are very likable (Nozoimi, Terminal man, etc)

Cons:
-The story is better in concept rather than execution
-Random encounters in Tokyo are obnoxious/Difficult to navigate at times
-The lack of a dedicated defense stat causes the battle system suffers from "Rocket Tag" syndrome. You'll occasionally run into situations where a bunch of enemies will get the drop on you, and cause you to wipe out
-Far too easy past the midway point
-Jonathan and Walter (the 2 leading characters) are intolerable
-The beginning is pretty rough

Verdict: If you're remotely a fan of SMT games, then you're probably going to like SMTIV.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Golden Chie is like 10 times better than Vanilla Chie

 

[Tetranet]

I really hope Persona 5 will include dual audio, but I'm not feeling very confident. Having to suffer through English voices will diminish the game for me.


It should become a standard for JRPGs. Hopefully with the new console generation, developers will be more inclined to include it.

 

[Busaiku]

I love being able to knock out the dungeons in one trip and spending the rest of the month with Social Links.

 

[Meia]

I really hope Persona 5 will include dual audio, but I'm not feeling very confident. Having to suffer through English voices will diminish the game for me.


It should become a standard for JRPGs. Hopefully with the new console generation, developers will be more inclined to include it.

I don't agree. The localization job Atlus does is great, especially when it comes to VA.


I'd also be worried about how much it would up the cost of these games to do this, not to mention storage space may also be a concern.

 

[Squire]

I really hope Persona 5 will include dual audio, but I'm not feeling very confident. Having to suffer through English voices will diminish the game for me.


It should become a standard for JRPGs. Hopefully with the new console generation, developers will be more inclined to include it.

Tech isn't holding them back, rights issues are. I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Moonlight]

I hope P5 has dual-audio too.

Spoiler

Alternate Spanish audio pls

 

[Soma]

Considering the complaints leveraged against the original, I find it amusing. In any case, I think that she sounds more natural.

I'm not really a fan of Erin Fitzgerald's performance. It just veers off too much into "I'm in anime - this is called ACTING!"

This is the exact vibe I got from her voice from the various clips I've seen from Golden (as I unfortunately cannot play it due to a lack of a Vita). On that note, the new voice is what I expected Chie to sound like from the first time I looked at the box art right before I played the original version. I expected to hate Chie and expected find her really annoying but she managed to be a very likeable character and I think the distinct voice lent itself to that a bit. I thought a lot of her lines felt very natural, "Aha is this our chance!" notwithstanding.

 

[CorvoSol]

Some people might have issues with the lack of dungeons like Nocturne. There are still dungeons, just not as long-winded. But you do explore a lot of deserted parts of Tokyo.

Exploring post demon apocalypse Tokyo was definitely the best part of the game for me. I'll never forget how fucking crazy it was to me that I went down and down and down in a cave and found myself

Spoiler

above the city lights.

SMT4 really nailed this survival horror rpg feeling and that was what won me over to the game, I'd say.

 

[abrack08]

Part of my issue going in was just not knowing what to expect from a MegaTen game since SMT4 was my first, but as far as presentation goes I was a little underwhelmed at the way the game went about having no models for anyone but the hero. I'm told it's normal for SMT endings to be short but after all I'd gone through I was expecting something more conclusive than what I'd gotten, and I have to say it was a major pain in the neck the way the game completely shut itself down after I started the Neutral path to force me to do numerous dull fetch quests. I wasn't a huge fan of the whole binary morality thing, either, but that could simply be a matter of personal tastes.

Those are my chief complaints, really. I still enjoyed the game quite a bit, and once I got used to those things I was content to put them off and just sorta roll with it.

How much of the game is left after this part? I was all excited because I got the Neutral path without even trying, and then this part hits and.... I haven't gone back. Kinda wondering how much I've missed

 

[Setsu00]

I vastly prefer Tracey Rooney, but I'm fine with Erin Fitzgerald's performance. However, it boggles my mind whenever somebody says that OG Chie doesn't sound like a teenager. I mean, where you guys surrounded by squeeky voices during your teens?

Also, calling SMT4's art generic is dumb.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

I never did find a p3 movie unboxing video. Guess I will have to wait until the imports come in.

I'm so excited to see it but the price -___-

I really hope Persona 5 will include dual audio, but I'm not feeling very confident. Having to suffer through English voices will diminish the game for me.


It should become a standard for JRPGs. Hopefully with the new console generation, developers will be more inclined to include it.

I don't mind since the VA in Persona is usually top notch. In fact I prefer a lot of the English VA over the JP's ones but options are always great.

 

[pan-hime]

this week's character is................LABBY-CHAN!
and SHADOW Labrys, Mitsuru, and Akihiko are added.

also AtlusTSU interview with Meguro and Yumi Kawamura. sadly not good enough to translate it, but seems interesting.


(I'M FUCKING DYING AT SHO'S PORTRAIT)

 

[Hot Coldman]

2edgy4me

 

[Dantis]

What the fuck is going on with Sho's portrait.

Soejima is really phoning in this Arena art, gosh.

this week's character is................LABBY-CHAN!
and SHADOW Labrys, Mitsuru, and Akihiko are added.

also AtlusTSU interview with Meguro and Yumi Kawamura. sadly not good enough to translate it, but seems interesting.


(I'M FUCKING DYING AT SHO'S PORTRAIT)

When I read this, the text loaded before the image, and I thought Labrys was in PQ. There was a brief moment of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!".

 

[Setsu00]

Sho's portrait seems fine to me, too be honest. His mouth is a little wonky, but other than that...?

 

[Dantis]

He looks like some kind of rodent.

 

[snow in jamaica]

hmm red hair and a facial cross scar

 

[Setsu00]

He looks like some kind of rodent.

Oh. OH.

Oh.

 

[LelouchViBritannia]

[/s]

i know i say this every week but.........WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL IS UP WITH THAT SHO PORTRAIT?????

Rise "Rat On Crack", "Junpei with wide mouth" all is forgiven.

Seriously though, what is going on with the artwork in this game?

 

[Soriku]

hmm red hair and a facial cross scar

The shade of red is totally different. He looks like Ronald McDonald.

 

[Jintor]

He looks like some kind of rodent.

The shade of red is totally different. He looks like Ronald McDonald.

accurate

what's going on is probably that soejima is drawing these in his lunch break while he's working on persona 5!