[RELEASE][Shenmue III] Eric Kelso As Ren & Paul Lucas as Lan Di

I was watching the stream, and Eric sounds like as if 20 years hadn't passed by, he absolutely nailed it. Keep in mind that this is probably done without a professional VA director and studio (At least, I assume so considering the circumstances?).

Fuku and Guizhang were spot-on as well... I can now actually listen to the conversations without cringing for the first time.

Lan Di now sounds like a merciless syndicate boss instead of a Kingdom Hearts villain.

Ahh this is cruel, now I'll be so very bummed if they don't get cast in Shenmue 4.
I am a professional VA director and Eric has a decent home studio. It was all done remotely but that has become the norm during the pandemic.
 
This is somewhat of a surprise and it's interesting that all these people want to participate too. By the way, is it possible to get a hold of the original audio files? When I heard the trailer I wanted to try out and compare a few things for myself.
 
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we are by far the best video game community in the world, that's the reason why i got to know shenmue despite i was 18 at the time. it's incredible, well I think I'll have to start my 3rd playthrough with the English audio.
 
Getting Eric to do the phone calls was amazing, but this is on a whole new level of incredible. Really cannot think him and all of the people that made this possible enough. Gotta love what this community is capable of and that even the actors are passionate around the series after decades.
 
This is one of the greatest mods ive seen in the community. Amazing work from everyone involved
I would go as far as to say it's one of the best mods for any game ever. Where else could you get voice actors to come back to a series for free?

It just reaffirms my beliefs that there isn't a better community in gaming than the Shenmue one.
 
This is somewhat of a surprise and it's interesting that all these people want to participate too. By the way, is it possible to get a hold of the original audio files? When I heard the trailer I wanted to try out and compare a few things for myself.
Yeah that's no problem, I'll send a DM so it doesn't clutter this thread up :)
 
Eric was super kind as to have a nice back and forth with me on Twitter as well (mainly about Iron Chef though, lol); he seems like a super, wholly-downright-decent guy. This is an absolutely awesome thing that he and Paul have done, kudos to everyone involved! :D
 
It's cool to see some websites pick up on this too :)





 
It's cool to see some websites pick up on this too :)





I thought Greg Chun did a stellar job as Ren but it's nice to some positive headlines.
 
I thought did good, and was way closer to a proper Ren than say, Kyle was to Lan Di (even though he does the nouveau riche guy very well, and I like him in other roles I've heard I'm in), but Eric is Ren to me. Not to mention Eric actually embraces Shenmue, whereas I've never seen Greg so much as acknowledge that he had a role in III.
 
I didn't stumble upon all the right files yet (missing voices/effects) but for fun I quickly tested a few things. I mixed each voice separately to remove some overly present tones (also in original ones). Slightly changed the music to make it feel a bit larger/more ominous in the mix while it blends with the voices differently (small analog touch too). Without the game engine reverb I created my own combination of reverbs and other time based effects. Just another interpretation.
 
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I didn't stumble upon all the right files yet (missing voices/effects) but for fun I quickly tested a few things. I mixed each voice separately to remove some overly present tones (also in original ones). Slightly changed the music to make it feel a bit larger/more ominous in the mix while it blends with the voices differently (small analog touch too). Without the game engine reverb I created my own combination of reverbs and other time based effects. Just another interpretation.
You've done a great job on that!
 
This is just incredible. I am literally going to have to get a gaming PC because of this. I've seen a lot of mods for games throughout the years that have made me question my decision to game on consoles instead of PC, but this is the first one that I absolutely need in my life.

Even without any changes to the actual content, Paul Lucas voicing Lan Di makes the game's ending infinitely more satisfying to me. And while I didn't really have a problem with Ren's new actor, hearing all these lines spoken by Eric Kelso just sounds so much better.

Speaking of Eric Kelso, how awesome of a dude must he be? He signed hundreds of prints for Shenmue World for free and now he's provided voice acting for an entire game for free. Such dedication to the fans. Amazing!

I really hope that this catches Yu Suzuki's attention and makes him realize how high the fans' demand is for Eric and Paul, as well as how passionate they both are for Shenmue, and they end up getting officially cast in Shenmue IV.

Amazing work by everyone involved and kudos to Eric and Paul for doing this for us. As others have already said, the Shenmue community has got to be the best in all of gaming. Even the original English voice actors share our passion!
 
You've done a great job on that!
Thanks. I'm mostly trying out approaches and gear that I otherwise use for music and vocals.

I tested a bit more today to see what could be done with a Lan Di recording. I didn't find all the music and have no sound effects. All voices are mixed again for coherence and got their own effects treatment. I first smoothed over a part that sounded glitchy in the Lan Di recording and then tried to mix his voice in a way that reminds me of the earlier games. I also gave the effects a whispering quality when he speaks.

Spoilers ;) :

 
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