Does Corey get recast in IV

[WuyingRen]

Honestly I hope they don't waste money on dual VA, keep the japanese, drop english.

Ryo is pretty much a stoic character, I don't want to see him "localized", "yo, that's lit mah friend", I like Corey voice and tamber, but a big part of what I like about Shenmue is the japaneseness about it, and it's impossible to make it sound natural with english VA. Even more mainstream titles like Yakuza just have japanese VA, I don't see why a niche title like Shenmue should have dual language (it's not like the lack of budget didn't affect S3).

Given that Yu has said that he’s hoping to make the series more accessible with Shenmue 4, I very much doubt that removing the English dub will be high on his to-do list. It may save a few bob in production costs, but will alienate a large subsection of the target audience that he’s trying to capture while also pissing off parts of the existing fan base who prefer playing the games in English.

 

[Alex banana]

As many have mentioned already, the game localization was successful in making Corey sound like a Japanese person with in English, which conveys the culture and environment well, but is also successful in showing why a flat translation (i.e. like google translate) is hard for anyone to relate to or sound emotionally involved in a western sense. To be fair, it was one of the first fully voiceacted games ever, so you can give them a pass somewhat.

It also made sense years ago to keep the translation authentic because the English release didn't include the JP audio (and Suzuki's goal to make it as much of a Japanese experience as possible), but with games including both now - and that fact the voiceacting is commonplace in the gaming industry - it doesn't make an awful lot of sense to hold Corey back emotionally, especially if you want a new audience that is used to great localization like the Yakuza series (even if most of it has been text-only up to this point).

Narratively, seeing that he's a teenager travelling the world, it would also make sense for Ryo to pick up bit more of a personality round about now and no doubt he's going to get one anyway, as I can't imagine the personality of game series Ryo would fly in the anime.

 

[darksniper]

It's Corey Marshall or bust for me. I'll still play through the Japanese dub gladly. But I wouldn't have any interest playing the English version of Shenmue IV if Corey Marshall isn't Ryo.

 

[Yada San]

If it wasn't Corey, I would choose Christian Bale. He does a convincing New York accent in American Psycho, and I reckon he would pull it off. He would have to work for free, out of the goodness of his heart, and wouldn't be allowed to have a Terminator Salvation moment off camera.

 

[danielmann861]

I agree 100%; of all the "real actors" in I and II, Corey gives the best performance. I mean, Goro is probably my personal favourite, and there are a handful of small-part characters with cool voices in the first game: Chai, Lan Di, Terry, Yamagishi-san, homeless harbour guy.

Even Troy Baker couldn't have saved Shenmue from the "I'm looking for sailors/Do you know anything about Chinese people" memes. It's not Corey's acting, it's the bizarre localisation, combined with tech limitations of the time. Repeatedly asking the same weird question to NPCs, and some terribly hilarious VA perpetrated by other "actors" (I'm looking at you, NPCs) -- that's what gives Shenmue its bad rep.

Also, yes, I'd like to see him return, but if it's the anime that ends up "saving" the series then it also probably makes sense to recast Ryo as the anime guy. It'd be weird but I'd deal with it...by playing in Japanese regardless

The stiff literal script has always been the games biggest issue. It is so devoted to telling a cultural story that a lot of the nuances get lost. It's like the "years ago...I was Chinese" line...when taken into context regarding Japan's immigration laws and general views on immigration, that line makes sense. But when directly translated without explanation or context, it just sounds weird to us here in the Western World.

The script and its translation really is the biggest issue in Shenmue in general. It's so slavish to its attention to detail that it loses some of that detail in literal translation.

 

[RyoHazuki84]

I just hope this won't turn into another Jason Griffith/Brian Drummond situation like with Sonic.

 

[24Nathan]

Honestly I hope they don't waste money on dual VA, keep the japanese, drop english.

Ryo is pretty much a stoic character, I don't want to see him "localized", "yo, that's lit mah friend", I like Corey voice and tamber, but a big part of what I like about Shenmue is the japaneseness about it, and it's impossible to make it sound natural with english VA. Even more mainstream titles like Yakuza just have japanese VA, I don't see why a niche title like Shenmue should have dual language (it's not like the lack of budget didn't affect S3).

Judgment, Lost Judgment, and Like A Dragon all have brought back an English dub.

 

[RyoHazuki84]

Keep in mind Suzuki wanted Marshall back for the game. I'm sure in the end, it's all up to Suzuki since he has the final say. I know he tried to get back Hazuki Ishigaki, the original voice actress for Shenhua, but she told him she wants to stay retired.