Who should be the Narrator for Civ VII?

[XX36789]

Kind of a crackpot question considering Civ VII is a long ways off, but still worth discussing. Heavy is the head on which the crown of reading tech quotes in a Civ game rests. IV had the legendary Leonard Nimoy, V had a powerful narrator whose name escapes me, and VI of course has Sean Bean.

Who would you want as the narrator for next game? I included a poll consisting of various celebrities who are famous for voice over work and have done history/nature documentaries. I have a few wildcards like Dan Carlin (history-focused podcaster).

 

[Chekko]

An AI Bob Ross

 

[XX36789]

"Now let's fire some happy little nukes"

 

[Francel]

Some other person: Samuel L Jackson

 

[acluewithout]

Sarah Millican
David Mitchell
John Green

 

[CyberPhy]

William Shatner xD

 

[9gkj548hkm20vk79dj689bnj4]

Keith David. He seems to do a lot of voices.

 

[AsH2]

Oprah Winfrey would match all requested goodie bags in Civ7.

 

[Morningcalm]

Keith David (did a line in the Civ V trailer) or Morgan Freeman (God from Bruce Almighty, among many other roles) or Martin Sheen (voiced The Illusive Man in Mass Effect 2 and 3) would be great. Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) would be a good option too!

 

[XVeris]

Michael McConnohie.

 

[criZp]

Preferably nobody if the quotes are gonna be nearly as bad as in civ 6

 

[AaronTBD]

Preferably nobody if the quotes are gonna be nearly as bad as in civ 6

"I like pigs" "Monay" "The class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat"
I don't know what you're talking about the quotes are just fine!

 

[Lonecat Nekophrodite]

1. Isao Sasaki (佐々木功)
2. Mizuki Ichiro (水木一郎)
3. Victor Caroli
4. Peter Cullen
5. Issei Masamune

 

[Galvatron]

Ooh. Good options. I voted Freeman bc that was my first thought. Although her is a bit of a meme. I love Sigourney, but she's more notable for her acting than her voice so I don't think she's a good choice.

 

[9gkj548hkm20vk79dj689bnj4]

Linda Hunt. nice baritone voice there.

 

[Zaarin]

Sara Kestelman! Complete with lectures about how all your choices are horrible!

More seriously (I mean, I was serious about making Kreia the narrator, but it's not going to happen ): Cate Blanchett or Shohreh Aghdashloo (I. Love. Her. Voice) would make good choices. If someone could develop a time machine, any of Rene Auberjonois, Christopher Lee, Tony Jay, or Patrick Stewart would be nice (the first three are dead; the last sounds like he's dead). Alexander Siddig has a nice voice and absolutely no discrimination about what projects he takes on.

 

[cinattra]

Michio Kaku

 

[PhoenicianGold]

I voted for Lupita. I think she hits a nice balance of having a distinct voice but not being too much of a caricature like Freeman or Attenborough, or too nondescript like Sarandon or Dafoe (although Dafoe has enough range that he could do something different, inappropriate as I think that would be in the case of stunt-casting celebrity narrators). Earl Jones would also be a pretty solid, if kind of cliche choice.

My rule of thumb for a civ narrator is that they should practically disappear into the soundscape. I think Bean was somewhat miscast because his accent is so thick. I'm thinking someone with very clear, sonorous diction like a Tilda Swinton type.

 

[Zaarin]

I think Bean was somewhat miscast because his accent is so thick.

For me it's not his accent; it's that he's just not a narrator. He's a talented actor (and voice actor), but narrating is a different skill. There's also the fact that he butchers 9 out of 10 names, but TBH that's the fault of whoever is supposed to be coaching him.

 

[PhoenicianGold]

For me it's not his accent; it's that he's just not a narrator. He's a talented actor (and voice actor), but narrating is a different skill. There's also the fact that he butchers 9 out of 10 names, but TBH that's the fault of whoever is supposed to be coaching him.

It's somewhere between the two I think, or a combination. Again I think diction and unobtrusiveness is more important than character, especially for game narration that players have to listen to many times over. And I think we agree that Bean's talents just don't fall into that area. I hope it didn't come off as disliking Bean...I think he's a fine actor who has never disappointed me on screen. He just always struck me as not the best choice for this particular job.