A while back Bioware did a contest where amateur voice actors could audition for a role in the upcoming Dragon Age game. I have no idea who won, but it’s not anyone I know so obviously whoever was picking was drunk.
Nah, that’s a joke, the winners are probably great, and sometimes these choices come down to things you can’t control, like the sound of your voice or the hive of bees in the casting director’s ear. Anyways, at the time I didn’t want to pick favorites, but seeing as the contest is over, I decided to scour the GOOGLES and look for some auditions.
Well, it turns out most of the actors did not make their auditions public. Either that or I am really bad at finding them. Some people may have taken them down as well in a fit of rage. Which is a shame now that I am writing this blog post. This is all about me, after all.
Okay, it’s really about the wonderful actors who I’m lucky to have working on the project. First to bat is Jessica Osborne being awesome as usual. I like how there’s text on this one so I can read the other person’s lines. Otherwise you’re just a crazy person talking to no one. Well played, my friend, well played.
Here’s my podcast partner Alice Bell telling the Inquisitor where to find the motherfucking door. Now, at first I thought her use of a plain black screen was just general laziness and/or indifference, which is something I can appreciate. But the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced it’s pure genius.
With a black screen, you pay more attention to the voice and the acting. It’s kind of like staring at some modern art piece in a museum. At first you’re like “Psssh!” but then later you’re like “Hmmmmm.” Anyways the moral of the story is Alice can do no wrong. You understand me, police? She has diplomatic immunity.
Another thing I noticed is that the only auditions that were posted on Youtube were women. Now we know who has the balls in the 3DNPC family. Anyways, I love Cassandra’s emotion as always, you can tell why she makes an excellent hypochondriac. But the thing that I’m most curious about is the photoshopped III in the video.
It’s like “Fuck, there is no way I’m acknowledging the previous game’s existence. Not. A. Chance. In fact, I am going to take my MSPAINT tool and just blur that fucker out.” Which I totally get by the way, although I may have exaggerated when I said the game was bad. I mean for one, I really, really like the characters in DA2. Varric Tethras alone is worth the price of purchase. And…and…some of my best friends are DA2 NPCs. Although one of them is Alistair. Please don’t hate me.
This video has #TheRealEldawyn and jokes and cats. It’s amazeballs. But really, everyone did great. And they all would’ve gotten cast too, if it weren’t for those rotten bees.
If any of the other actors would like to share there DAI auditions, particular the men, post in the comments here.
Here’s mine, I had taken it down but made a new video.
I really like those :) The last one was hilarious!
By the Maker! It’s Dragon Age goodness (FTW)! Didn’t expect to find this here (though I should’ve known you people had sensible taste in games). And what’s more- people I know (through the internet anyway) auditioned… and were AMAZING!
Personally, though, I don’t think DA2 was all that bad- it just… wasn’t Dragon Age. It was okay (except for their blasphemous and repeated reuse of maps… that was just awful. And the fact that they murdered Anders- both character-wise and in some games, game-wise as well. I was all like “ANDERS, COME BACK! WHERE IS MY KITTY-LOVING COMPANION! THEY MURDERED HIM!”). It was like playing playing a different game… a not-bad/okay one, but definitely not a Dragon Age one.
So… anyone else have DAI pre-ordered? *whistles* I’m going for the Deluxe Edition… I just hope they don’t make any more Pay-to-Play DLC… My poor wallet can’t handle all these micro-transactions.
I did it with Skyrim, though- first I bought Skyrim, then I bought all the DLC ’cause I didn’t want to spend more money for the Legendary Edition, when I already had a copy of the game. Then I bought the Elder Scrolls Anthology- cause I’d never played Morrowind or Oblivion or any of the other ES game, and I thought I could sell the Skyrim + DLC I already had (DAMN YOU, BETHESDA!)…
Yeah, I did the same with Skyrim, bought the game then bought the DLC, although Hearthfire I held out on until I realized $10 or whatever was a small price to pay for a 3DNPC Hearthfire patch.
I agree with you and pelzknaeul on DA2, it was fine on its own and I had fun playing it. In the podcast I think I exaggerated to make a point, that Bioware was going to bounce back strong but I should’ve said “due to the criticism and flaws” as opposed to “game is bad.”
Argggh, I’ve become the thing I hate most! A glib, reductive critic!
My only real gripe about DA2 aside from the obvious aforementioned remarks is that it had the inverse problem of a Femshep playing Mass Effect 3 with no romance from 2: Everyone was gay.
Now don’t get me wrong, when it comes to games/stories in general I’m ok with a bit of variety (especially if I can personally disagree with some characters; provides a much more realistic atmosphere that not everyone is the kind of person you want to run around with), but when the only romance options for a straight male are a slut and a demon-worshipper and you’re backed into some dialogue corners where your only option is to flirt with a guy or make him hate you (AAAAAAANDERRRRRRRRRRRS!!!) there’s a problem.
But to reword what Kris said, Varric is to Dragon Age 2 what Auron is to Final Fantasy X. The combat’s not too bad either. It’s worth playing. Also, Sarcastic Hawke is best Hawke.
Mine’s on my Soundcloud actually, I guess this was a video contest and I didn’t realize it…anyhoo, enjoy!
Okay…embedding does not work…guess I’ll just link to everybody like a damn caveman.
https://soundcloud.com/will-handford/take-your-place-in-the
Oh NOW it embeds with no problem…ugh…whatever, man.
Technology is hard, don’t let it get you down.
I really love all of them. Thank you for making this public. Some of you guys are better VA than some of the guys Bioware has hired over the years. And Kris comments are hilarious! You are all the best guys!
Cheers!
I was WONDERING why you suddenly subbed to my channel over the weekend, Kris…
In case anyone was curious, this is the dude who won. He’s pretty neat. Well-deserved, I think. His seneschal is awesome.
Actually, two people one. Dude above and https://audioboo.fm/boos/2227920-dai-typ (Rosie Bucknell)
Anyway, it’s cool to see everyone’s auditions!
Oh! I also did one for the Villager. Didn’t submit it….but I posted it up b/c I worked on it and whatnot. ^^