6 PS2 Games With Bad But Endearing Voice Acting
In the era of PS2 gaming, developers invested a lot of effort into making the storylines of games more captivating and engaging, akin to TV shows or movies. However, the voice acting often proved to be a weak point, hindering the immersion of players and leaving them uninvested in the game’s world. The poor performance of voice actors could be attributed to a weak script or bad NPC voicing, which would lead to a decline in the game’s overall quality. However, some of these games managed to turn their bad voice acting into a charming aspect of the game.
Rygar: The Legendary Adventure is a prime example of a game with bad voice acting that added to its charm. The game’s protagonist, Rygar, was poorly voice-acted in an overly-simplified heroic voice, while the voice acting of Princess Harmonia was quite egregious. However, the opening of the game set the tone with the voice of the Goddess, whose reverbed voice made her sound more like a disembodied God than a mortal.
Another game with bad voice acting worth mentioning is Shining Force EXA, which repeated many of the mechanics from the previous entry in the series, Shining Force NEO. The voices of characters like Toma were hardly bearable to listen to, and even secondary characters like Maebelle and Gadfort seemed irritatingly simplistic in their portrayals.
Grandia III was a well-meaning RPG with similar mechanics to its predecessors, but its voice acting made it hard to take seriously. From the leads to the side characters, the voice acting was outright ridiculous, and the cheesy triumphant music only added to the game’s overall cringe-worthy feel.
Chaos Wars is remembered solely for its bad voice acting, which was done partly by the children of the CEO behind the game. The voices of characters like Uru and Karen sounded more like they were being read by a high school drama class than acted.
The Sniper 2, a game about sniping people from rooftops, is generally enjoyable for the sheer audacity of how bad it is. While its writing doesn’t help, the voice acting is particularly egregious and will leave players horrified by the time they start shooting at enemies.
Lastly, Robot Alchemic Drive is a game that seems to have intentionally bad voice acting, which is tragic in a way. The game follows a young human fighting to save the Earth from machine creatures called the Volgara. The voice acting in this game is so bad that it’s almost comical, from overly long conversations about bread and soup to the worst death screams in history.
In conclusion, while bad voice acting can hinder the overall quality of a game, some games have managed to turn it into a charming aspect that adds to their appeal. These games are still worth checking out for a good laugh, such as the aforementioned Rygar: The Legendary Adventure and Robot Alchemic Drive.
During the PS2 era of gaming, developers began to put a lot of effort into not just into the enjoyment of wider forms of gameplay, but also into making the story feel as alive and intriguing as TV shows or movies. While games on the PS2 didn’t always succeed in this, one of the generally weaker points was the voice acting.
Trying to get players invested in a story or world was difficult with less-than-ideal voice acting. A weak script or too many NPCs in an RPG world that were poorly voiced could lead games down rabbit holes. The games usually suffered for it, but sometimes the voice acting was so bad that it was amusing, and became part of the game’s charm.
6 Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
There is something off-putting but kind of hilarious about a bad voice actor whose every line is reverbed with an effect that makes her sound slightly more like the disembodied God she is meant to be portraying. That is part of the opening to Rygar: The Legendary Adventurea PS2 action game set in a fantasy Roman/Greek inspired world where Titans attack and steal Princess Harmonia.
Simplistic in style, Rygar’sHero was pretty poorly voice-acted throughout in an overly simplified “heroic” voice. Meanwhile, the Princess herself was quite an egregious bit of voice acting, and the Goddess who saves Rygar sets the tone in the opening for some of the weakest voice acting of the lot.
5 Shining Force EXA
A late release for the PS2, Shining Force EXA is just one in a series of RPGs about battles between angelic and demonic armies. Shining Force EXA repeated many of the mechanics in and out of battle from Shining Force NEOthe previous entry in the series. There were problems with the game outside the voice acting, such as frame rate issues and lag when many enemies were on-screen simultaneously, as well as the length going a bit extreme. But the most egregious fault was with the voices.
Characters like Toma, the main male character in the game, were hardly bearable to listen to, particularly for such long periods of time. Even secondary characters came off as irritatingly simplistic in their portrayals, including Maebelle and Gadfort. The voices felt like there was very little effort to them. At times, it was horribly irritating; at other times, simply amusing.
4 Grandia III
Another RPG from the PS2 era, Grandia III followed the previous entries in the Square Enix series when it was released in 2005. Set in a world where magic controls the aircraft in which humans fly around, the game follows a teenager looking to become a pilot as he becomes embroiled in the works of dangerous beings around him and falls in love.
While Grandia IIIwas a well-meaning game with a fun story and similar mechanics to those from previous entries, the voice acting made it hard to take it seriously. Everything from the leads to the side characters was outright ridiculous, and the cheesy triumphant music didn’t help matters as fans took to remember this as a very special entry in the franchise.
3 Chaos Wars
Chaos Wars is one of those PS2 games that is remembered for the voice acting above any other aspect. A crossover game between franchises such as Shadow Hearts, Growl launcher, Blazing Soulsand more, this tactical RPG was supposed to be a huge triumph. Instead, it has fallen into cult status because of the hilariously bad English voice work, partly done by the children of the CEO behind the game.
It is nothing short of hilarious. Characters like Uru and Karen barely sound as if their lines are being acted, more as if they were being read by a high school drama class. Chaos Wars is one of the few games that has become known so well for an aspect such as this, but it will definitely give gamers a few laughs to hear for the first time the voices in this game.
2 The Sniper 2
One of the more legendarily terrible but fun PS2 games, The Sniper 2 is about sniping people from rooftops. It would be fair to laugh at the horror of most aspects of the game, which is generally enjoyable for the sheer audacity of how bad it is.
The Sniper 2 features a number of cutscenes with characters whose writing doesn’t help, but whose voice acting is particularly egregious. By the time players get a chance to start shooting at enemies, most will already be horrified by the quality of the game. A forgotten classic of the so-bad-its-good variety, The Sniper 2 is worth checking out for a good laugh.
1 Robot Alchemic Drive
Of all the games that are known for bad voice acting, there are few where it seems so tragic that it almost has to be on purpose. Robot Alchemic Drive is about a young human who must fight to save the Earth from machine creatures called the Volgara. Despite receiving favorable reviews upon release, there has never been a more mortifying English dub of a game.
From overly long conversations about bread and soup to the worst death screams in history, every piece of the voice acting seems purposefully terrible. It’s hilarious enough to checking out and playing every second of the game in shock at witnessing this acting and trying to guess how it could have been released.
