mjq jazz bar wrote: I know a few of those voice actors are 'embedded' in the Shenmue community, but it's a game that's known for its horrible English dub. Wouldn't surprise me that some in development might want distance from that. At the same time, continuity is always a good thing.
Doesn't really match up with what Robert said about Yu being happy to have old VA back, but at the same time they have probably resolved to try doing a better job with the English dub this time around regardless. Ryan Payton, who chairs the game's advisory board, doesn't like the dub at all.
Honestly, I don't like the English dub a huge amount either. The original has a cheesy charm, but IIx can be pretty bad.
That said, Eric, Paul, and Lisle are solid enough actors that with better voice direction and maybe a touch better localisation they could really shine. Eric is probably the most solid voice actor in the English dub over three main/sub characters and a handful of NPCs, similarly I personally think Paul bests his Japanese counterparts for both Chai and Lan Di (yes the Chai voice is nuts but how else are you gonna voice that character?), and Lisle can be really great as Joy, was fine as Yuan, but wasn't right/had bad direction for Xiuying.