Cloud's Voice

[NEO Ness]

I hope to the gods It's English.

You and me both...

 

[Frostwraith]

I think it will be Japanese voice only.

All characters that speak Japanese and English depending on the versions had both languages' voice actors record them in time for their appearance in trailers. The trailers for Little Mac (Doc Louis's dialogue), Palutena, Robin, Shulk and Ryu all are examples of this. You can watch their trailers in Japanese or English, featuring their in-game voices.

Cloud, however, was given the same treatment as Roy, having voiced lines in Japanese even in non-Japanese trailers, instead of being dubbed, the trailer providing subtitles.

If they were to get Steve Burton back to voice Cloud, wouldn't have they done so before the trailer, as with all other English voiced characters? It's not like the trailer has many lines anyway, so it's feasible to record the in-game voicing along with the trailer lines in one session.

As @Masked Man (仮面の男) stated earlier in the thread, there might be union issues surrounding his voice actor and it's possible that Square Enix didn't allow for recasting. Faced with this, it's possible that Nintendo opted to have his Japanese voice actor for all versions of the game. Takahiro Sakurai has been the Japanese voice actor of Cloud for a long time, after all.

Even the re-use of previous English voice clips can be subjected to the same union issues given it's the same voice actor involved in them.

The union issue exists with the Kid Icarus characters. Unlike Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U (which is non-union), Kid Icarus: Uprising was done by union actors.

In Smash, Pit/Dark Pit's and Viridi's voice actors are not credited while Phosphora and Magnus (the Assist Trophies from KIU) had their voices recast and re-recorded, even if their voice samples mostly comprise of grunts and use lines taken from KIU. It probably means they couldn't even recycle their voice samples despite being something viable: again, their lines are taken from KIU, just re-recorded by other actors.

Personally, I don't mind Cloud being in Japanese and I wouldn't mind it if he was in English either. If I had to pick, however, I'd choose the Japanese voice.

 

[KingPinGamez]

I think it will be Japanese voice only.

All characters that speak Japanese and English depending on the versions had both languages' voice actors record them in time for their appearance in trailers. The trailers for Little Mac (Doc Louis's dialogue), Palutena, Robin, Shulk and Ryu all are examples of this. You can watch their trailers in Japanese or English, featuring their in-game voices.

Cloud, however, was given the same treatment as Roy, having voiced lines in Japanese even in non-Japanese trailers, instead of being dubbed, the trailer providing subtitles.

If they were to get Steve Burton back to voice Cloud, wouldn't have they done so before the trailer, as with all other English voiced characters? It's not like the trailer has many lines anyway, so it's feasible to record the in-game voicing along with the trailer lines in one session.

As @Masked Man (仮面の男) stated earlier in the thread, there might be union issues surrounding his voice actor and it's possible that Square Enix didn't allow for recasting. Faced with this, it's possible that Nintendo opted to have his Japanese voice actor for all versions of the game. Takahiro Sakurai has been the Japanese voice actor of Cloud for a long time, after all.

Even the re-use of previous English voice clips can be subjected to the same union issues given it's the same voice actor involved in them.

The union issue exists with the Kid Icarus characters. Unlike Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U (which is non-union), Kid Icarus: Uprising was done by union actors.

In Smash, Pit/Dark Pit's and Viridi's voice actors are not credited while Phosphora and Magnus (the Assist Trophies from KIU) had their voices recast and re-recorded, even if their voice samples mostly comprise of grunts and use lines taken from KIU. It probably means they couldn't even recycle their voice samples despite being something viable: again, their lines are taken from KIU, just re-recorded by other actors.

Personally, I don't mind Cloud being in Japanese and I wouldn't mind it if he was in English either. If I had to pick, however, I'd choose the Japanese voice.

What is this issue with union vs non-union VA's? It's too bad Anthony del Rio doesn't get credited as he does an outstanding job of voicing Pit (unlike whoever voiced pit in Brawl). So much so that I (who usually prefers original VAs speaking the language of character's origins since they tend to contain the correct emotion) prefer his English voice over his Japanese one.

 

[Frostwraith]

What is this issue with union vs non-union VA's? It's too bad Anthony del Rio doesn't get credited as he does an outstanding job of voicing Pit (unlike whoever voiced pit in Brawl). So much so that I (who usually prefers original VAs speaking the language of character's origins since they tend to contain the correct emotion) prefer his English voice over his Japanese one.

I don't know a lot about this union stuff, but I assume it's a way of providing voice actors with a full employment.

What I know, however is that, basically, union actors shouldn't participate in projects that their union didn't take. However, non-union actors can be hired for union projects.

So, what usually happens when actors belonging to a union are doing non-union projects is that they either are not credited or use pseudonyms. In other words, a cover for the fact they're doing an outside job.

Fire Emblem: Awakening's English dub credits omit some cast members and others go under pseudonyms. FEA was non-union.

Last I checked, Square Enix's English dubs are union, which means there's a potential issue regarding Cloud's English voice in Smash. As I said before, Smash isn't union.

Since Nintendo is also dealing with a third party character, they have less freedom in regards to handling Cloud. Again, it's possible that Square Enix didn't allow Cloud to be voiced by other actors besides Takahiro Sakurai in Japanese and Steve Burton in English.

The involvement of voice actors in games carries a lot of contractual issues with either the actors, their agencies and unions. Also keep in mind that the budget for Smash DLC is also more limited and, in the end, doing one recording session is cheaper than doing two. Doing voice work requires investing on not just talent, but also the conditions necessary for recording: studios, sound engineers, equipment maintenance and all that.

Of course, this is all speculation, but I think signs point towards the fact that Cloud won't be voiced in English for this game. The red flag is that he wasn't voiced in English for the trailer, unlike all other characters who speak Japanese and English depending on the version. Given they have made the all the trailers so ar reflect the final game in this regard, the fact Cloud speaks Japanese in the English trailer is very likely a sign that he will keep the Japanese voice for international versions.

This is just my opinion, based on precedence. Whether any of these reasons is valid or whether Cloud will be voiced in English or not, it all remains to be known.

 

[KingPinGamez]

I don't know a lot about this union stuff, but I assume it's a way of providing voice actors with a full employment.

What I know, however is that, basically, union actors shouldn't participate in projects that their union didn't take. However, non-union actors can be hired for union projects.

So, what usually happens when actors belonging to a union are doing non-union projects is that they either are not credited or use pseudonyms. In other words, a cover for the fact they're doing an outside job.

Fire Emblem: Awakening's English dub credits omit some cast members and others go under pseudonyms. FEA was non-union.

Last I checked, Square Enix's English dubs are union, which means there's a potential issue regarding Cloud's English voice in Smash. As I said before, Smash isn't union.

Since Nintendo is also dealing with a third party character, they have less freedom in regards to handling Cloud. Again, it's possible that Square Enix didn't allow Cloud to be voiced by other actors besides Takahiro Sakurai in Japanese and Steve Burton in English.

The involvement of voice actors in games carries a lot of contractual issues with either the actors, their agencies and unions. Also keep in mind that the budget for Smash DLC is also more limited and, in the end, doing one recording session is cheaper than doing two. Doing voice work requires investing on not just talent, but also the conditions necessary for recording: studios, sound engineers, equipment maintenance and all that.

Of course, this is all speculation, but I think signs point towards the fact that Cloud won't be voiced in English for this game. The red flag is that he wasn't voiced in English for the trailer, unlike all other characters who speak Japanese and English depending on the version. Given they have made the all the trailers so ar reflect the final game in this regard, the fact Cloud speaks Japanese in the English trailer is very likely a sign that he will keep the Japanese voice for international versions.

This is just my opinion, based on precedence. Whether any of these reasons is valid or whether Cloud will be voiced in English or not, it all remains to be known.

I like your assessment.

Good use of precedent and inductive as well as deductive reasoning.

I wish there was more of this happening on these forums usually.

I wonder why Steve Burton wouldn't reprise his role under a pseudonym or something. Then again, I don't make a living off of voice work, so who knows: maybe I'm (a lion) naive.


Sadly Marth doesn't get his japanese counter quotes, even though Roy has them and they patched Lucina and Ike's into the game T_T.

 

[Frostwraith]

I like your assessment.

Good use of precedent and inductive as well as deductive reasoning.

I wish there was more of this happening on these forums usually.

Thanks.

I wonder why Steve Burton wouldn't reprise his role under a pseudonym or something. Then again, I don't make a living off of voice work, so who knows: maybe I'm (a lion) naive.

He did say on Twitter he didn't get called for the role.

Remind that actors aren't normally hired by companies directly but contacted through their agents/unions.

Sadly Marth doesn't get his japanese counter quotes, even though Roy has them and they patched Lucina and Ike's into the game T_T.

The Japanese counter quotes are in the game and can be heard in the Sound Test. They are, however, unused.

As a matter of fact, they aren't used in the Japanese version either. In all versions, he uses the grunts for normal attacks instead of the counter quotes. A bit odd and I agree that they should patch them like they did with Lucina.

 

[KingPinGamez]

Thanks.


He did say on Twitter he didn't get called for the role.

Remind that actors aren't normally hired by companies directly but contacted through their agents/unions.


The Japanese counter quotes are in the game and can be heard in the Sound Test. They are, however, unused.

As a matter of fact, they aren't used in the Japanese version either. In all versions, he uses the grunts for normal attacks instead of the counter quotes. A bit odd and I agree that they should patch them like they did with Lucina.

I swear they used his quote during the Roy video, so I assumed in japan he still had his.

 

[DonkaFjord]

The only reason why I would guess he wouldn't have been dubbed yet is because Sakurai and his dislike of leaks (and after what happened with Roy/Ryu) they even kept it under wraps for a while maybe even internally at NOA and NOE, but who knows.

I mean Chris Pranger shed a lot of light on how the big game devs like Miyamoto and Sakurai get a lot of leeway to do as they please with how the games are handled and how Sakurai is very precise with things that go down.

I have a feeling it could go either way and I figure the Union/non Union thing could be an issue as many of us have stated above. Really hoping for him to get dubbed especially since we don't know his release date- could be released in a pack like Lucas/Roy/Ryu later down the line.

 

[ramon_zer0]

I'd think that he should an English voice, but I won't be too bummed out if Cloud isn't dubbed. I'm used to both actors so it's cool either way (although if he isn't dubbed then dammit nintendo i would have wanted a japanese only ryu)

 

[fenyx4]

I think it will be Japanese voice only.

All characters that speak Japanese and English depending on the versions had both languages' voice actors record them in time for their appearance in trailers. The trailers for Little Mac (Doc Louis's dialogue), Palutena, Robin, Shulk and Ryu all are examples of this. You can watch their trailers in Japanese or English, featuring their in-game voices.

Cloud, however, was given the same treatment as Roy, having voiced lines in Japanese even in non-Japanese trailers, instead of being dubbed, the trailer providing subtitles.

If they were to get Steve Burton back to voice Cloud, wouldn't have they done so before the trailer, as with all other English voiced characters? It's not like the trailer has many lines anyway, so it's feasible to record the in-game voicing along with the trailer lines in one session.

As @Masked Man (仮面の男) stated earlier in the thread, there might be union issues surrounding his voice actor and it's possible that Square Enix didn't allow for recasting. Faced with this, it's possible that Nintendo opted to have his Japanese voice actor for all versions of the game. Takahiro Sakurai has been the Japanese voice actor of Cloud for a long time, after all.

Even the re-use of previous English voice clips can be subjected to the same union issues given it's the same voice actor involved in them.

The union issue exists with the Kid Icarus characters. Unlike Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U (which is non-union), Kid Icarus: Uprising was done by union actors.

In Smash, Pit/Dark Pit's and Viridi's voice actors are not credited while Phosphora and Magnus (the Assist Trophies from KIU) had their voices recast and re-recorded, even if their voice samples mostly comprise of grunts and use lines taken from KIU. It probably means they couldn't even recycle their voice samples despite being something viable: again, their lines are taken from KIU, just re-recorded by other actors.

Personally, I don't mind Cloud being in Japanese and I wouldn't mind it if he was in English either. If I had to pick, however, I'd choose the Japanese voice.

Darn Union issues.. >.< Great explanation. Although, in this case, if the Kid Icarus: Uprising voice actors for Pit/Dark Pit and Viridi can still "perform without being credited" (major props to Antony Del Rio and Hynden Walch; so sad that they go uncredited in the behemoth of a game that is Super Smash Bros. 4 ), why couldn't the same practice be done for the Kid Icarus: Uprising voice actors of Phosphora and Magnus? Was forgoing the same implementation for Phosphora and Magnus due to developer preference or easier implementation or what..?

I don't know a lot about this union stuff, but I assume it's a way of providing voice actors with a full employment.

What I know, however is that, basically, union actors shouldn't participate in projects that their union didn't take. However, non-union actors can be hired for union projects.

So, what usually happens when actors belonging to a union are doing non-union projects is that they either are not credited or use pseudonyms. In other words, a cover for the fact they're doing an outside job.

Fire Emblem: Awakening's English dub credits omit some cast members and others go under pseudonyms. FEA was non-union.

Last I checked, Square Enix's English dubs are union, which means there's a potential issue regarding Cloud's English voice in Smash. As I said before, Smash isn't union.

Since Nintendo is also dealing with a third party character, they have less freedom in regards to handling Cloud. Again, it's possible that Square Enix didn't allow Cloud to be voiced by other actors besides Takahiro Sakurai in Japanese and Steve Burton in English.

The involvement of voice actors in games carries a lot of contractual issues with either the actors, their agencies and unions. Also keep in mind that the budget for Smash DLC is also more limited and, in the end, doing one recording session is cheaper than doing two. Doing voice work requires investing on not just talent, but also the conditions necessary for recording: studios, sound engineers, equipment maintenance and all that.

Of course, this is all speculation, but I think signs point towards the fact that Cloud won't be voiced in English for this game. The red flag is that he wasn't voiced in English for the trailer, unlike all other characters who speak Japanese and English depending on the version. Given they have made the all the trailers so ar reflect the final game in this regard, the fact Cloud speaks Japanese in the English trailer is very likely a sign that he will keep the Japanese voice for international versions.

This is just my opinion, based on precedence. Whether any of these reasons is valid or whether Cloud will be voiced in English or not, it all remains to be known.

Another good explanation/argument. My thought is that, as much as I hate not crediting people properly/relying on pseudonyms (and props to all the uncredited Fire Emblem: Awakening voice actors!), in a similar manner to 2 of the Kid Icarus: Uprising actors, couldn't Steve Burton still do Cloud's voice while going uncredited/using a pseudonym?

In any case, a decent-sounding Japanese-only voice for Cloud is better than no voice at all, although I'll be optimistic and hope that we get Cloud's English voice to show upon Cloud's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. 4..

Thanks.


He did say on Twitter he didn't get called for the role.

Remind that actors aren't normally hired by companies directly but contacted through their agents/unions.

That makes sense, too; darn it..

 

[NintendoKnight]

I think it will be Japanese voice only.

All characters that speak Japanese and English depending on the versions had both languages' voice actors record them in time for their appearance in trailers. The trailers for Little Mac (Doc Louis's dialogue), Palutena, Robin, Shulk and Ryu all are examples of this. You can watch their trailers in Japanese or English, featuring their in-game voices.

Cloud, however, was given the same treatment as Roy, having voiced lines in Japanese even in non-Japanese trailers, instead of being dubbed, the trailer providing subtitles.

If they were to get Steve Burton back to voice Cloud, wouldn't have they done so before the trailer, as with all other English voiced characters? It's not like the trailer has many lines anyway, so it's feasible to record the in-game voicing along with the trailer lines in one session.

As @Masked Man (仮面の男) stated earlier in the thread, there might be union issues surrounding his voice actor and it's possible that Square Enix didn't allow for recasting. Faced with this, it's possible that Nintendo opted to have his Japanese voice actor for all versions of the game. Takahiro Sakurai has been the Japanese voice actor of Cloud for a long time, after all.

Even the re-use of previous English voice clips can be subjected to the same union issues given it's the same voice actor involved in them.

The union issue exists with the Kid Icarus characters. Unlike Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U (which is non-union), Kid Icarus: Uprising was done by union actors.

In Smash, Pit/Dark Pit's and Viridi's voice actors are not credited while Phosphora and Magnus (the Assist Trophies from KIU) had their voices recast and re-recorded, even if their voice samples mostly comprise of grunts and use lines taken from KIU. It probably means they couldn't even recycle their voice samples despite being something viable: again, their lines are taken from KIU, just re-recorded by other actors.

Personally, I don't mind Cloud being in Japanese and I wouldn't mind it if he was in English either. If I had to pick, however, I'd choose the Japanese voice.

The union stuff is rather outside of my area of expertise, but I can debate on the trailer comment.

It's a little unfair that you compare Cloud's trailer with ones that have English voices that were revealed during the game's pre-release period.

And Ryu is the kicker. (No pun intended)

You see, you can't say Cloud won't get an English voice because he didn't have it in his trailer when Ryu had it in his.

After all, Ryu was released the day his trailer came out. Which means he was 100% complete. Cloud isn't out yet, which means he isn't done like Ryu was when they revealed him.

 

[Douglas Jay Ganon]

I think he'll have his jp voice. If he had english VO, he would have used it on the release trailer for EU and NA, but he didn't. Ryu uses his english VO, but the japanese users have the japanese voice.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

I want the English voice, but I won't mind the Japanese one...

Either way, I'd still spend my life playing Strife

 

[DonkaFjord]

I think it is fair to say that we can't be sure about whether he gets dubbed or not, we may bring up patterns from past DLC characters, but even then Cloud himself is an anomaly to past theories and patterns. It probably is a case-by-case basis and I could see an iconic character from another company being very carefully and respectfully represented (and thus going out of there way to make him as true as possible to how his fans remember him.) That being said it could go either way.

 

[NintendoKnight]

The best hope we have is since the remake for FF7 is being made with English voice acting, Smash will give Cloud his English voice as well.

Just remain optimistic.

 

[Strong-Arm]

Im honestly torn as to which voice I want. It would be odd if he didnt get an English voice tho tbh, I mean unlike Roy and Marth his game was released in America and he has an english voice actor.

 

[SSJ X Cloud Strife]

Doesn't really bother me. I like both his English and Japanese VA. If I HAD to choose, I'd probably go with Japanese one. But his English one is pretty good too, unlike Ryu.

 

[Simperheve]

I actually quite like Cloud's English voice. It definitely won't be a deal breaker if we have just the Japanese voice though.

 

[Tino]

I don't mind either way, even though I pretty much prefer his English voice.

 

[DevaAshera]

I'll still enjoy Cloud regardless of whether or not he has his English Voice intact. I will be a little bummed if he doesn't end up being English though since it is, of course, what I am used to.

Also, since it was brought up, if Steve Burton is going to use a Pseudonym for Super Smash Bros, wouldn't it make sense for him to say he wasn't called even if he was..I mean, he'd have to use a Pseudonym for a reason..meaning he can't directly confirm his involvement due to legal things involved..that way there's still reasonable doubt or deniability on his part.

Also, as was brought up earlier, we can't compare DLC Trailers to the Done well ahead of time, more expensive ones and then the one for Ryu, the only DLC character thus far with a localized voice, was released on the same day. Its also worth pointing out that if Nintendo did end up going with Re-Used Voice Clips from the Dissidia titles, Kingdom Hearts series, Advent Children, and Crisis Core then the trailer would still need to be kept in Japanese since Steve Burton has never said the lines "Never thought I'd see the day" and "Smells like Chocobo", nor any similar enough lines to work in those instances.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

I just remembered something!

When Snake was revealed in Brawl during E3 2006, the VA was Japanese, but we got an English one in the non-Japanese versions of the game!

The trailer means nothing! We can STILL get Burton!

 

[Dhragen]

as shown in the Remake Trailer, cloud was already dubbed there, so maybe Burton is recoding his lines for smash while also recording more for VII Remake

 

[TempestSurge]

Unlike Marth and Roy with no localizations and thus have never been casted an English VA, Cloud does have a notable English voice actor doing recent work in the remake so I'd find it more bizarre and lazy more than anything if Cloud isn't dubbed. Not that it's a deal breaker to buy his character or anything but I'm no hardcore fan so I pretty much have only ever heard Cloud with his English VA.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Unlike Marth and Roy with no localizations

Both are DLCs in Awakening and Marth also has a localized version of FE1 for the DS, so they should, in theory, get an English VA.

Only reason they don't is probably to keep the Melee nostalgia...

 

[TempestSurge]

Both are DLCs in Awakening and Marth also has a localized version of FE1 for the DS, so they should, in theory, get an English VA.

Only reason they don't is probably to keep the Melee nostalgia...

Well I guess I should have explained that better. They have made appearances since Melee of course, I meant more in the sense that they don't have any speaking roles, casted by any English voice actors. Since Roy and Marth have never been casted, it made sense that they stayed speaking in Japanese, compared to Ike who had an English VA in his games before Brawl released. Marth does have his voice by Yuri Lowenthal in Codename Steam, but I'm not sure if that will be considered an official casting since there was no choice but to have him dubbed (it sounds like something that was rushed and specifically directed to sound exactly like the Japanese VA since it's way outside of Yuri's typical voice range) for that guest appearance.

On another note Ryu debuted instantly while Cloud is still yet to be released (and the other characters like Shulk were part of the starting roster to begin with. Even Palutena wasn't just left to speak Japanese when they couldn't get her original VA to schedule a voice session in. Of course in Cloud's case, I doubt they'd just throw another voice actor in the booth and replace Steve on a whim if there's issues to get him to voice in Smash to begin with, so it's the only way I see Cloud being left undubbed.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

On another note Ryu debuted instantly while Cloud is still yet to be released (and the other characters like Shulk were part of the starting roster to begin with. Even Palutena wasn't just left to speak Japanese when they couldn't get her original VA to schedule a voice session in. Of course in Cloud's case, I doubt they'd just throw another voice actor in the booth and replace Steve on a whim if there's issues to get him to voice in Smash to begin with, so it's the only way I see Cloud being left undubbed.

Again, I'll bring up Snake's reveal in Brawl; there was no English VA.

As such, the lack of English VA in Cloud's trailer doesn't really prove anything.

He could still get Burton!

 

[Tri Knight]

He probablt wont be English in Smash but it okay. Either way Burton's in the remake and thats all tht matters. His voice fits perfectly with Cloud's face.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Either way Burton's in the remake and thats all tht matters. His voice fits perfectly with Cloud's face.

Maybe he starved himself for a week to fit the with the character

 

[DonkaFjord]

Both are DLCs in Awakening and Marth also has a localized version of FE1 for the DS, so they should, in theory, get an English VA.

Only reason they don't is probably to keep the Melee nostalgia...

At the time of their appearance in Melee they didn't have any English voicework done before since the games weren't released outside of Japan yet.
Well... actually one of the Fire Emblem anime OVAs made it stateside and Marth...err... "Mars" was dubbed in it. Seems they gave his name a more literal translation of his inspiration there too.

 

[3D Dillon]

Should we call the director Masahiro or M. Sakurai if we post something about both him and Cloud's JP voice actor?

 

[fenyx4]

Ugh, and yet again, optimism is dampened.. I'm extremely disappointed by Cloud only having his Japanese voice included in Super Smash Bros. 4; this is like one of the few scenario's where Cloud actually needed his already-established English voice actor.. I would really like to know the rationale, whether it was Square Enix's decision, "voice-actor union" issues, or as a result of budgetary issues for the game. If it was Square Enix's decision, WHHHHYYYYYY? If it was voice-actor union issues, those darn issues cropping up and ruining game implementations! >.< Budgetary issues would be the absolute worst, as then I have even more reason to dislike Dark Pit's inclusion and/or Lucina's inclusion (whether they takes on the role of alternate costume or playable character), as the funds used to cover their English and Japanese voicework expenses could have been allotted to give Cloud a proper English voice for Super Smash Bros. 4 (although no qualms at all with the use of their voice actors of Antony Del Rio and Laura Bailey, respectively; they did good jobs from what I can tell!)..

Regarding the Japanese quotes that we do have, the Up Taunt quote of "Not interested!" and the various victory quotes of "No hard feelings.", "Better luck next time.", and "I'm out of your league." (being the English translations of the Japanese phrases) seem to perfectly fit Cloud!

I would have liked the quote of "Can't smile about this one." to be worked in somewhere, though..possibly as a random victory quote option against Ike (due to Cloud's promotional trailer's Sephiroth parallels as well as their in-game and meta rivalry); against princess-like characters like Zelda, Peach, Female Robin, Female Corrin, and/or Palutena (due to potentially reminding him about Aerith and her kindness); and/or against cute/kid characters like Pikachu, Ness, and/or Kirby (due to feeling pity for their small statures and perceived inexperience in combat). I also would have liked the "Limits are meant to be broken!" quote to be included somehow in-game (possibly when Cloud attains a full "Limit Gauge" charge). Furthermore, I would have possibly liked Cloud to incorporate the "Bring it on." at times during his On-Screen Appearance when a versus match begins.

 

[NintendoKnight]

Ugh, and yet again, optimism is dampened.. I'm extremely disappointed by Cloud only having his Japanese voice included in Super Smash Bros. 4; this is like one of the few scenario's where Cloud actually needed his already-established English voice actor.. I would really like to know the rationale, whether it was Square Enix's decision, "voice-actor union" issues, or as a result of budgetary issues for the game. If it was Square Enix's decision, WHHHHYYYYYY? If it was voice-actor union issues, those darn issues cropping up and ruining game implementations! >.< Budgetary issues would be the absolute worst, as then I have even more reason to dislike Dark Pit's inclusion and/or Lucina's inclusion (whether they takes on the role of alternate costume or playable character), as the funds used to cover their English and Japanese voicework expenses could have been allotted to give Cloud a proper English voice for Super Smash Bros. 4 (although no qualms at all with the use of their voice actors of Antony Del Rio and Laura Bailey, respectively; they did good jobs from what I can tell!)..

Regarding the Japanese quotes that we do have, the Up Taunt quote of "Not interested!" and the various victory quotes of "No hard feelings.", "Better luck next time.", and "I'm out of your league." (being the English translations of the Japanese phrases) seem to perfectly fit Cloud!

I would have liked the quote of "Can't smile about this one." to be worked in somewhere, though..possibly as a random victory quote option against Ike (due to Cloud's promotional trailer's Sephiroth parallels as well as their in-game and meta rivalry); against princess-like characters like Zelda, Peach, Female Robin, Female Corrin, and/or Palutena (due to potentially reminding him about Aerith and her kindness); and/or against cute/kid characters like Pikachu, Ness, and/or Kirby (due to feeling pity for their small statures and perceived inexperience in combat). I also would have liked the "Limits are meant to be broken!" quote to be included somehow in-game (possibly when Cloud attains a full "Limit Gauge" charge). Furthermore, I would have possibly liked Cloud to incorporate the "Bring it on." at times during his On-Screen Appearance when a versus match begins.

I wholeheartedly agree. I wish they'd tell us why. Or just add his English voice in a future patch.

 

[Frostwraith]

Guess I ended up being right.

Again, it's probably due to contractual/voice actor union issues that they couldn't get Cloud's English voice.

I highly doubt it's budget issues given they got a good amount of the original voices for characters, both Japanese and English, save for a few exceptions such as Palutena, whose original English VA had scheduling issues so she had to be recast. Given the amount of voice work needed for each character isn't intensive for the most part and the fact that Smash Bros. is a high-budget game, budget seems a lesser issue.

What I think is that Square Enix stipulated that only Takahiro Sakurai and Steve Burton could voice the character and didn't allow for any replacement voice actors. For some reason they couldn't get Burton (likely due to union issues as Smash isn't union), so they had no choice but to have the Japanese voice for all versions.

Personally, I can't complain. Cloud is still in the game anyway and the trailer being in English but having Cloud speak Japanese immediately gave me the expectation that he would have the Japanese VA in all versions, as something similar happened with Roy as well.

I wholeheartedly agree. I wish they'd tell us why. Or just add his English voice in a future patch.

Given the usual secrecy on what goes behind the scenes in game development, I wouldn't expect them to say anything regarding this.

I highly doubt it will be patched. Considering that for every single character with English and Japanese voices, they recorded them all in time for their reveals, I doubt they would do things differently with Cloud.

Besides, DLC is coming to an end and Cloud's Japanese voice is already in the game as an integral part of it, so I wouldn't expect anything.

 

[KingPinGamez]

I guess I got my wish. Cloud stays japanese! Just the way I like hearing him haha

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

Could be also that Burton might be busy working in the FFVII remake.

 

[KingPinGamez]

Could be also that Burton might be busy working in the FFVII remake.

then they could have reused voice clips like they did with sonic. They didn't. means it's another issue altogether.

Edit: In fact it seems the reused the voice clips from dissidia for Cloud anyway xD

 

[TempestSurge]

Even with the whole 'union' thing as a common obstacle in the voice acting industry, I figured with as big of a deal Cloud being in Smash is, that there would be an exception of the sort for Steve to voice him for the English version since he's voiced him pretty much every other appearance. Though since Steve is returning for the remake, him not appearing in Smash isn't too much cause to be disappointed.

 

[KingPinGamez]

Even with the whole 'union' thing as a common obstacle in the voice acting industry, I figured with as big of a deal Cloud being in Smash is, that there would be an exception of the sort for Steve to voice him for the English version since he's voiced him pretty much every other appearance. Though since Steve is returning for the remake, him not appearing in Smash isn't too much cause to be disappointed.

I'm afraid this post shows your age.

In the real world out there there are indeed many adult circumstances that prevent toys to be made the way you wish them.
Companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Capcom, Square Enix etc are not Santa Claus and won't make things happen just to please you at any cost.

They will only incur costs that they can earn back at the very least, while hopefully aiming for profits.

 

[Altais]

For some weird reason, I'm glad they kept Cloud's voice Japanese; it reminds me a bit of Ike's Japanese voice. I'm not too picky when it comes to this kind of thing. Plus, we already have two swordsmen (Marth & Roy) whom speak Japanese. What's one more?

And like an above poster said, it would cost more to hire an English-speaking actor, as opposed to just keeping the Japanese voice. This is the same reason they re-used voice clips from Brawl; to save money. It's all about the money. That said, I can't say I'm surprised by this.

 

[DonkaFjord]

Even with the whole 'union' thing as a common obstacle in the voice acting industry, I figured with as big of a deal Cloud being in Smash is, that there would be an exception of the sort for Steve to voice him for the English version since he's voiced him pretty much every other appearance. Though since Steve is returning for the remake, him not appearing in Smash isn't too much cause to be disappointed.

Yeah, sometimes your union or talent agency will even kick you out for going behind their back. The fact that Midgar has so few songs my point at some licensing hang-ups as well.