Longtime Sonic the Hedgehog voice actor Roger Craig Smith, who also voices iconic characters such as Ezio Auditore, Chris Redfield, and Batman, is the new voice of Phantom Blade Zero protagonist Soul, according to developer S-Game. Smith replaces former voice actor Jay Maksenuk, who can still be heard voicing Soul in various trailers and gameplay videos.
You can hear Smith’s rendition of Soul in the official launch trailer for Phantom Blade Zero, however, below:
Game Informer has reached out to S-Game for a comment or statement on why the VO was changed and will update this story if it learns more.
I can pull back the curtains a bit on how last-minute this change seemingly was for Phantom Blade Zero. For most of my time playing Phantom Blade Zero for review (you can read it here), Soul was still voiced by Maksenuk. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the English VO at the time, so I played most of the game using its excellent Chinese VO. However, about a week into the review period for Phantom Blade Zero, developer S-Game told me the VO for Soul had been updated (the team had previously said this update would happen ahead of time).
S-Game didn’t say why or who at the time, but after listening to it post-update, it was clear to me it was Smith; his voice is iconic and hard to miss. I was basically at the end of the game at that point, so I didn’t get to hear too much, but overall, I like Smith’s inclusion as Soul’s VO.
Nonetheless, if you’re jumping into Phantom Blade Zero at launch, the Soul you play as will be voiced entirely by Smith. Let us know in the comments what you think of it after you’ve had some time with it!
In the meantime, read Game Informer’s Phantom Blade Zero review, and then check out these Phantom Blade Zero tips and tricks.
[Editor’s Note: this article was updated for clarity]
