Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (2007) Voices

Another voice acting criticism thread. This time, we're going to completely ignore the failure of the original recording sessions from the 1997 version on the PlayStation, and go straight to the current and better version.

Alucard - Yuri Lowenthal
I'm sure everyone knows where this is going, but given how Lowenthal is all over the place, I'm gonna give him some rope and ignore his breathy dialogue and sometimes inappropriate pitches. For once, I actually felt that Yuri Lowenthal's constant English drawl fits the character he is portraying, but only because Alucard is from Transylvania and it would be somewhat redundant to do a Russian accent for every single bit of dialogue given how much effort it takes to switch accents that hugely. Lowenthal still doesn't really fit the dark and brooding hero type as well as others I could name, but this is probably the only role of his that I actually like. 5/10

Richter Belmont - David Vincent
Like Lowenthal, I'm giving rope for this actor, since he brings the breathy dialogue and inappropriate pitches everywhere he goes, but it doesn't mean he deserves it much. Vincent plays a young anti hero a lot, and keeps the same voice tone for each one, I've noticed and for this, it didn't really fit. Vincent kept him sounding evil when he returns to his normal self and Richter has compassion and is actually a hero when he isn't being possessed, so Vincent failed on that part. 2/10

Maria Renard - Michelle Ruff
Hardly believed this was Michelle Ruff when I read the credits, since I'm used to her playing a younger role, but she played Maria quite wonderfully. Maria only makes four or five appearances in the whole game, but every time she does, Ruff leaves an impact on you, this is one of the better roles in the game. 8/10

Lisa Farenheights, Succubus - Wendee Lee
What a name to see with such a small role. That being said, she puts a lot of effort into the role and much like Ruff, leaves an impact and keeps you from forgetting the character even after the credits roll. Given the roles I'm used to hearing from Lee, I was awful surprised to see her name pop up and how perfectly she pulled it off. Well done. 9/10

Ferryman, Librarian - Kyle Hebert
Another strange name to see for another very small role, the Librarian and Ferryman both only have a few lines, the rest are repeated every time you speak to them again. Since they're both small and sadly uninteresting roles, I can't really judge these aside from that the tones Hebert used were perfect for the situations they were in. 8/10

Death - Travis Willingham
I wasn't impressed by Willingham's performance when I first heard him in BlazBlue, but this is very much the opposite. Death is essentially the best friend of Dracula and a long time servant, and in so being, is opposed to the progress of Alucard, and he interrupts your path twice in the game, both being pretty powerful moments making you hate Death, and Willingham played the role very sadistically, making it that much easier to hate him, which is the perfect role. 10/10

Shaft - Jeff Manning
This is one of the better roles in the game and be best described as Yuri Lowenthal without breathy dialogue, appropriate pitches and a death scream befitting of the character. Sadly, this character only makes two appearances, and both are almost as powerful as Death, but not quite as sadistic or manipulative.8/10

Count Dracula - Patrick Seitz
Now this role surprised me to the point where I thought the casting director made a typo in the credits. I've never been fond of Seitz, but this is by far his most impressive role and completely fitting the character. His usual boorish growl he employs in most of his roles is gone and he seems to effortlessly be playing the part as Dracula. I can almost see him being Dracula in the recording studio. Very well done, and I'm excited to see more impressive roles from Seitz. 10/10