What do you think about the voice acting in Civ 6?

[Zaarin]

I thought Hiawatha in Age III had too little inflection and no emphasis--way too quiet for the famous orator he was IMO.

Fair. He didn't fit the character and he sounded a little stereotyped, but I didn't think he was horrible.

What did you think about the other Sge III AIs like Tokugawa? Maurice of Nassau? Suleiman? Gall? I found them and others quite impressive. Agreed on Elizabeth, but didn't quite like Isabella, haha. (Though she was suitably vicious)

Gall was decent; Suleiman sort of grates on me, but that may be because I play against him a lot because his population limit is taken up entirely by settlers. I don't think I've ever played against Maurice (I'm afraid of his banks) or Tokugawa.

I'm a bit surprised as to your reaction re: Cyrus--my Iranian friends and I really favor the voice acting. My Iranian friends didn't understand all that was being said, and noted a possible Afghan accent, but they liked the voice as well. I thought the voice suited the model as it implied power without being too overt, and there wasn't too much bombast either. I think others on these forums have also expressed admiration for the voice and model both.

I don't know. Something about him just has voice/appearance mismatch going on for me. His model is definitely one of the best in the game, though.

What did you think of Jadwiga though? Lol.

I don't really have any frame of reference for Polish. I think her model and animations are absolutely adorable, but I don't really have any opinion one way or another on her voice.


I'm a little surprised to see so much hate for Tamar. Her dialogue is bizarrely paranoid, but I think she delivers it really well. I think Robert the Bruce stands out as, by far, the worst voice actor in Civ6, with Victoria, Pericles (he mumbles a lot for an orator ), and Frederick Barbarossa not far behind.

The best are probably (in no particular order) Gilgamesh (even if he's speaking the wrong language poorly), Alexander (as much as I loathe his presence), Teddy, and CdM ("J'ai un grand désir pour découvrir tout vos secrets." Gets me every time. ). Amanitore and Hojo get honorable mention. While I can't comment on the quality of his acting, I just adore listening to Jayavarman VII. Harald's acting is on point, but his Old Norse is distractingly mediocre.

 

[Guandao]

For me, it's easier to say all are bad or mediocre with some exceptions. That being said, I despise Jadwiga's voice actress the most for her lack of effort. That kind of lacking inflection is incredibly obvious.

I'm a little more forgiving towards the Civ6 voice actors. Most were ok to my ears. I only see Jadwiga's VA as bad because Polish speakers said so. One of the funniest online comments about Catherine de Medici's VA was a French speaker claiming she sounded like a Chinese person speaking French.

For me it will be Gitarja, Vicky, Amanitore and Cyrus.

Listen to Gitarja's being DOW line, her laughter is sooo awesome.

For Cyrus, I like a deep voice but yet with power. He doesnt yell or rises his tone much all the time, but you can still feel the strength in his words. Thats what i will call a good voice acting.

Amanitore has a beautiful choice of voice. Strength, warmth and emotions are naturally delivered.

For Vicky, she speaks in a slow pace and queenly tone. Although I cant say that she is too accurate in british accent nor extraordinary, I surprisingly find that I speak in a very similar way (but dropping british accent). Her VA resonance with my voice so I cant dislike it .

Gilgamesh, Harold, Peter are decent too. But I don't really favor the yelling type.



Mvemba (sorry for I don't rmb how to spell his full name), Pedro II, Poundmaker, Tamar and Jawiga.

For Pedro, Jawiga and Mvemba, maybe its just becoz they have an unimpressive voice.

Poundmaker just leaves me the impression "What? you have spoken something?" I can barely copy any vowels nor consonants he said.

Tamar is speaking really slow, with a pace of an elderly. I meant, slowing the speech at some unnecessary point.
Take Vicky as an example: War? We are not, a-mused. (This pause and slow represents her emphasis on it.)

Compared to Tamar: me var tamar, mepe q’ovlisa sakartveloisa, st-ku sit’q’vai she-ni da ganagrdze svlai- e-se shenni. Its like: Fin-ish your words and go-on-yo-ur way.
It can be better if we can give her a 1.5x speech speed. at those spots.

Concerning Poundmaker, many Native American languages sound like that. My sister once said the Mohawk spoken in Assassin's Creed 3 sounded like a "bunch of random consonants put together". Mvemba's VA conveys him as a ruler eager to accept your religion, so a powerful voice isn't really needed. He's a Lingala language coach in real life, and I think he is actually speaking KiKongo instead of Lingala, so he's likely not fluent.

I consider Isabella to have the worst actor from Civ V. Her voice actress just doesn't express nearly any emotions at all. She has great music and beautiful background, but she sounds really boring. I also dislike Pachacuti's VA. His voice just doesn't fit the Earth Shaker at all. About the ones I consider to be the best... Definitely Ashurbanipal, the strong warmongering librarian. Gajah Mada, the Elephant General, had also a good VA. Pedro II's VA did great job in depicting respectable old and tired man. Theodora was also nice. Somewhat flirty and warm in peace, but cold enemy in war. Enrico Dandolo's VA was quite good in depicting old scheming man with great plans. And although Maria I was a horrible choice to lead Portugal, her VA was good, especially in her hate lines. Oh, and while Attila's Chuvash was horrible and Montezuma was using Spanish loanwords in his Nahuatl, their VAs were great in depicting two bloodthirsty warmongers. Also, Shappir!

But about Civ VI... For me, Jadwiga and Montezuma are the weakest. Robert the Bruce and Tamar aren't good either. About the best... Cyrus the Great. Although his depiction of backstabby villain isn't right, his VA did a great job in depicting him as great and scheming leader. Somehow, the way he speaks just shows that he is leader of glorious Persian Empire and you can feel his power. Also, he has one of the best character models. Harald Hardrada is also quite good. His voice actor is doing quite good job in depicting strong Viking king. Although he gets a minus point for mentioning Pagan gods while being Chrictian. I also quite enjoy listening to Peter the Great. I especially like his war lines. Strong words, but still said with respect. Other leaders whose VAs I like are Amanitore, Chandragupta Maurya, Frederick Barbarossa, Tomyris and Gandhi.

Edit: Forgot to mention Catherine de' Medici, Gilgamesh and Alexander the Great among the VAs I like.

Good thing Isabella and Pachacuti's VAs were uncredited....The Quechua speaker for the Civ4's Inca units was also high pitched. Maybe Quechua is meant to be spoken like that?

Why do you hate Monty's VA in Civ6? Because he wasn't over the top and stereotypical like the Civ5 voice? His Civ6 VA sounded more "human" to me. I mean, the Aztecs sacrificed humans, but they were still people like you and me. Presumably, the Tlatoani would carry a degree of refinement and sophistication.

Robert the Bruce's VA sounds very sleepy and dreary, but maybe that's the point. I don't know if Cyrus' model is historically accurate. How much do we know about Achaemenid clothing styles, especially their colors? I feel like the Sassanids need representation in Civ. I'm getting tired of the Achaemenid kings.

 

[Kimiimaro]

Why do you hate Monty's VA in Civ6? Because he wasn't over the top and stereotypical like the Civ5 voice? His Civ6 VA sounded more "human" to me. I mean, the Aztecs sacrificed humans, but they were still people like you and me. Presumably, the Tlatoani would carry a degree of refinement and sophistication.

Robert the Bruce's VA sounds very sleepy and dreary, but maybe that's the point. I don't know if Cyrus' model is historically accurate. How much do we know about Achaemenid clothing styles, especially their colors? I feel like the Sassanids need representation in Civ. I'm getting tired of the Achaemenid kings.

It isn't really hate. Actually, he's better than Jadwiga. I don't know, maybe it's just the fact that I dislike his whining when I have something that they don't. The fact that he appears quite often in my games doesn't help at all. But the truth is that Montezuma was a conqueror, and unlike his Civ V counterpart, he doesn't really sound like someone who would gather an army and go conquer other tribes. On the other hand, Cyrus or Harald do sound like someone who could lead a conquest.

 

[Esperr]

Sean Bean is a good actor. But that yorkshireish accent gives me a headache after a while.

Teddy's VA was fine, if a little cringy. I guess i get tired of my home country getting steretyped into this mythical "back in the day" place that never existed.

 

[Zaarin]

Concerning Poundmaker, many Native American languages sound like that. My sister once said the Mohawk spoken in Assassin's Creed 3 sounded like a "bunch of random consonants put together". Mvemba's VA conveys him as a ruler eager to accept your religion, so a powerful voice isn't really needed. He's a Lingala language coach in real life, and I think he is actually speaking KiKongo instead of Lingala, so he's likely not fluent.

Funny part is, Mohawk (like most Iroquoian languages) doesn't really have all that many consonant clusters. Try a Salishan language like SAANICH (yes, it's preferred orthography really is all caps).

Why do you hate Monty's VA in Civ6? Because he wasn't over the top and stereotypical like the Civ5 voice? His Civ6 VA sounded more "human" to me. I mean, the Aztecs sacrificed humans, but they were still people like you and me. Presumably, the Tlatoani would carry a degree of refinement and sophistication.

I rather like Monty's voice actor, even though his model could use, well, a complete overhaul and redo.

Robert the Bruce's VA sounds very sleepy and dreary, but maybe that's the point.

His delivery is bad. His pronunciation is bad. Like I said, I consider him the worst actor in Civ6 by a good margin.

I don't know if Cyrus' model is historically accurate. How much do we know about Achaemenid clothing styles, especially their colors? I feel like the Sassanids need representation in Civ. I'm getting tired of the Achaemenid kings.

Depictions of Darius show him in typical Mesopotamian-style tunics, so I think Cyrus' attire is a bit of an anachronism. I don't mind it too much, though. Better than Freddy's anachronistic solid plate armor, for example.

Sean Bean is a good actor. But that yorkshireish accent gives me a headache after a while.

Teddy's VA was fine, if a little cringy. I guess i get tired of my home country getting steretyped into this mythical "back in the day" place that never existed.

Look up some recordings of Teddy Roosevelt and I think you'll find his VA is on point.

 

[halfhalfharp]

Sean Bean is a good actor. But that yorkshireish accent gives me a headache after a while.

Teddy's VA was fine, if a little cringy. I guess i get tired of my home country getting steretyped into this mythical "back in the day" place that never existed.

Agree. That accent is so... well I don't know how to describe it, I can't hear what he says without subtitles.

I don't really like Monty's voice in VI either. His voice is too airy and non-solid for me. Its not about the pitch or sth, its becoz his voice is not powerful enough to strike into my soul, unlike Monty in V. But I wont say it is bad neither.

 

[Esperr]

Look up some recordings of Teddy Roosevelt and I think you'll find his VA is on point.

Yeah the guy is spot on, its more just the concept and presentation. We are more then just 1900-1950. And even if he is close, it still comes off as really cringy and over the top.

 

[Zaarin]

Yeah the guy is spot on, its more just the concept and presentation. We are more then just 1900-1950. And even if he is close, it still comes off as really cringy and over the top.

Well, it's not like we're going to get someone more recent, thankfully.