Professor Layton and the Curious Voices

This is the week when Professor Layton finally arrives on domestic shores, and I'm definitely going to make the purchase. And yes, I'm well aware that it's all in English voice acting.

You may be wondering why I say "well aware." I've been known to critique English voice dubbing over Japanese voice acting, simply because most of the time, the English voice actors hired to complete the task don't have the same characteristic tone as their Japanese equivalent. And, I admit, I'm one of those who refuses to watch a show that's dubbed - or, at the worst case, cringe while being subjected to it.

So why am I not throwing a fit over all of this? Because the game's done by Level 5, which is lately becoming more and more recognized for their quality games (Dark Cloud series, Dragon Quest VIII, and Jeanne D'Arc, to name a few). I mean, the voices done in Rogue Galaxy were done so well, I accepted the fact that I wouldn't even care what the original voice actors sounded like - it's that good.

Already, there are some criticisms about the English voice acting, but I've seen some clips of it, and I don't think it's half bad. I think, over the past few years, English voice acting has raised in quality - partly because now I think the industry is finally using their ears and listening to their customers and their own work. I think people are now becoming more fanboy-ish in their favoritism for Japanese over English that they're not willing to convert. I think the game will/should outshine any doubts over the voice acting, and give people the experience they expect.