Behind The Voice

Former Halo story director, CJ Cowan, made a new horror game with Probably Monsters studio, called IRE A Prologue. In this episode, I asked him why he moved from Halo to a horror game. He also talks about how this game is basically Silent Hill PT on a boat in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. He also answers what makes this game different from any other first person walking simulator horror games, and how the focus of this game is on the storytelling and relatability. A big thanks to Probably Monsters for sponsoring this episode!

Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, the lead writer of Clair Obscur's Expedition 33, shares her creative journey from voice acting to writing. She reveals that a dream inspired the game's unique story about painters rescuing loved ones. Jennifer discusses the significance of character backstories, explaining why there are four generations of Gustave's family. The conversation also touches on crafting authentic dialogue, balancing player choices, and how humor is woven into a dark narrative, providing an engaging perspective on narrative design and storytelling in gaming.

Carina Conti, who plays Isabella in Mafia The Old Country, joins Behind The Voice Podcast to talk about how this role was the highlight of this year for her. She talks in-depth about specific scenes, whose writing she absolutely loved, and how much she was mesmerized by the kind of the story this game was telling. She also reacts to specific scenes in the game and breaks down how they did the scene, including a discussion around whether you should drink wine with your eyes closed or not. Carina loves this beautiful love story and shares how much she would like something similar in her life. Mafia The Old Country in the end is a beautifully structured love story in a Mafia setting.

Cronos The New Dawn lead writer, Grzegorz Like, talks about how horror video game storytelling should be done. He mentions how Cronos The New Dawn's main focus was storytelling and its characters but also how monsters were able to give a far better experience than other horror games. He also talks about the best way to make a creepy horror games without using too much jumpscares and why characters are more important.

Billie Fullford-Brown, a talented voice actor known for her role as Sophie in Expedition 33, shares her insights on the emotionally charged gommage scene and the nuanced relationship between Sophie and Gustave. She discusses the challenges of recording emotional lines while matching motion capture cues and reveals how the game reshaped her view on storytelling in modern media. Billie also reflects on the life lessons learned from her character and highlights the significance of human connection in gaming, making the gommage moment resonate deeply with players.

Markus and Olli from Poets of the Fall join the podcast to talk about their journey as a band from Max Payne 2 to Alan Wake 2. They talk about how the formation of the iconic Late Goodbye song, working with Remedy and making a fictional band Old Gods of Asgard as well as the making of one of the longest video game songs, Herald of Darkness, for Alan Wake 2.What's your favorite song from Old Gods of Asgard and Poets of the Fall?00:38 Late Goodbye wasn't meant to be04:42 Success of Late Goodbye07:07 How Old Gods of Asgard happened10:13 Old Gods vs Poets of the Fall11:55 How songs are made for Remedy?15:55 Reacting to their songs in-game20:10 Alan Wake 2 musical 25:48 Longest guitar solo28:39 Shooting live action & music video32:24 Old Gods of Asgard album wasn't planned35:55 The Game Awards almost didn't happen40:07 Herald of Darkness impact on Poets42:49 Input on Old Gods of Asgard characters44:19 Fav music video45:30 Touring as Old Gods of Asgard?47:10 Fav Remedy game48:57 Use of unusual intruments51:59 VR in Olli's latest song

In this episode, Echoes of the End game director, Halldór , talks about how the studio with only 40 employees made an ambitious narrative driven game inspired by games like God of War, Uncharted and The Witcher. In this episode, we will explore how they built a game from ground up, scanned Iceland to give the most realistic visuals, made their motion capture studio to bring life to the characters and more!Have you played Echoes of the End yet?

Aldís Amah Hamilton, the lead actress of Echoes of The End, shares her experience on working in video games for the first time. She mentions how challenging and frustrating it can be to do motion and performance capture but also mentions how actors from video games should be recognized even more. She's been working for Echoes of the End for 7 years, bringing the character of Ryn. She also worked on Hellblade 2 alongside Melina Jurgens and also talks about how different that experience was.

Winter Solider voice actor, Eliah Mountjoy, & Psylocke's voice actor, Alpha Takahashi, from Marvel Rivals join Behind The Voice Podcast to talk about handling the pressure of playing Marvel characters in a video game. They also mention the incredible fan interactions, going to San Diego Comic Con and cosplaying as their characters.They also touch upon preparing for the role, what their characters ambitions are and how closely are they connected with their characters. We spoke a lot about personal connection, things they learned and a lot more!

Zenyatta's voice actor from Overwatch, Feodor Chin, shares his opinions on the state of Overwatch 2. He also mentions how they recorded more lines and scenes that just havne't been released. Feodor also talks about his emmy nominated episode of Love Death & Robots Season 4, Spider Rose, and how it was like to work with Blur Studios. We also talk a bit about his experience with Ghost of Tsushima & his opinions on Ghost of Yotei