The average dub leaves something to be desired, with early examples of dubbing often standing out as particularly terrible. The fact of the matter is that video dubbing is still an unrefined art for English language speakers – but that ♕doesn’t mean great dubs don’t exiღst. While they’re few and far between, there have been some excellent video game dubs throughout the years.
Above all else, a good dub needs complement voice direction. The best cast in the world isn’t going to make a difference if their director fails to provide emotional context or lead them in the right direction. It’ll take time before video game dubbing refine🦹s itsel꧑f fully, but the best dubs are good enough to give even the most cynical fans hope.
10 Metal Gear Solid
The original Metal Gear Solid is arguably the quintessential English dub. Released for the PlayStation in 1998, MGS’s top notch localization and high quality voice acting resulted in an experience that triumphed over most movies of the era in terms of pure emotional range. David Hayter’s debut as Solid Snak✅e is still the actor’s definitive performance and every member of the main cast brings their best work. There’s a reason the first Metal Gear Solid gets regularly mentioned when discussing✃ superlative dubs.
9 Tales Of Symphonia
Tales of Symphonia released at a time when RPG dubs were still lackluster for the most part, which makes its localiza𒈔tion all the more impressive. Despite some typos in the script, Symphonia’s localization prioritizes natural speech and a voice cast who share genuine chemistry with one another. Tales of Symphonia has a simple plot compared to its contemporaries, but the English dub does an excellent job at nailing emotional high points while pulling off comic relief with ease.
8 Kingdom Hearts
Thanks to convoluted storytelling that left the franchise splintered across multiple different home consoles and handhelds for years, has garnered a slightly negative reputation. It’s just as easy to punch down on Kingdom Hearts as it is to forget how s🧜trong the first game’s dub was.
While the original Kingdom Hearts features plenty of musins on Light and Dark, the script’s dialogue isn’t too dissimilar to what was common in Disney’s films of the era and t♚he actual dubbing maintains the House of Mouse’s high st🦩andards. The first Kingdom Hearts has a Disney-like quality subsequent titles lack.
7 Disgaea: Hour Of Darkness
The Disgaea franchise has managed to hold onto a consistently strong English dub since the very beginning, but the first game still stands out as the best o🍌f the bunch. The original Disgaea on (before several characters had lines re-recorded for re-releases) is almost in a league of its own. This is in large part due to Amanda Winn-Lee’s phenomenal performance as Etna, capturing a nuance in the first Disgaea’s script that Michelle Ruff didn’t and is simply lacking from the rest of the series.
6 Final Fantasy XII
Playing through in English is like watching Shakespeare on stage. There is an elegance to l🎃ine delivery, emotional range, and inter-cast chemistry that simply elevates FFXII above most English dubs – both past and present. N𝓡ot only is the cast made up of stage actors to actually capture this effect, the localization rewrites aspects of the script so that characters actually have regional accents now, which just has the effect of expanding the world building’s scope.
5 Xenoblade Chronicles
Wh⭕ile both Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 feature mediocre English dubs, the original has one of the best RPG dubs ever made. Like Final Fantaꦉsy XII, Xenoblade Chronicles has a very theatrical quality that’s captured masterfully by Nintendo of Europe’s casting decisions. Shulk in particular is one of the best cast main characters in the genre.
Both Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 fail to understand why exactly Xenoblade 1’s dub was so powerful. There’s not just a respect for the source material, but for actual acting. Actors didn’t record their lines together for Xenoblade, but the high quality voice direction ensured context and emotion was never lost ꦺ– something that cannot be said for either X or 2.
4 Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia
Fire Emblem’s dubbing efforts have always had its fans, but the series’ first quality English dub wasn’t until Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia. A remake of the second game in the series – Gaiden – Shadows of Valentia is a bit of a black sheep in terms of narrative scope and map design. All the same, the remake stays as faithful as it can while modernizing the game. The stoꦛry gets a major facelift, with the English localization playing into SoV’s inherent theatrical qualities forܫ a Shakespearean effect.
3 Dragon Quest XI
Dragon Quest is the archetypical JRPG franchise and has stuck to its roots rather closely throughout the year. This isn’t to say Dragon Quest fails to innovate, but the series prioritizes familiarity. Dragon Quest XI’s original Japanese release didn’t feat🧔ure voice acting to keep in line with classic RPGs, something the English localization disregards.
In general, Dragon Quest’s English localization does not ෴remain faithful to the original text, but it isn’t bad. DQ XI in particular adds an English dub to the game, complete with regional dialects, that lends a gre🔴ater sense of scope to the story without diminishing the narrative’s more classical qualities. The new voicework was so well received, a Japanese dub was actually recorded for XI’s Switch re-release.
2 Yakuza: Like A Dragon
The first ’s English localization was so infamously bad that the series stopped bothering with dubs after the fact. Yakuza’s premise is so intimate to its Japanese setting that an English dub frankly ꦦdoesn’t make sense, but Like A Dragon nevertheless attempted a new dub years later. Against all odds, Yakuza: Like A Dragon has one of the be𓆏st dubs in the genre. Mature, well directed, and with an effort to lip sync new dialogue, Like A Dragon is a best case scenario for any dub.
1 Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22
The original had an outstanding English dub that iওts remake has only improved. While Jamieson Pierce as Father Nier will be missed, Zack Aguilar and Ray Chase bring a level of nuance to Brother Nier that’s simply not present in the original story. Every single line of dialogue has been re-recorded, with returning voice actors putting in even stronger performances than the first time around (a rarity for remakes). Nier Replicant Ver. 1.22 takes an excellent duꦛb and makes it even better.