There’s a new voice behind the protagonist of Soul in Phantom Blade Zero, and it’s none other than Sonic the Hedgehog–or his longtime voice actor, Roger Craig Smith, to be precise.
As spotted by Game Informer, Smith has stepped in to replace Jay Maksenuk (V in Once Human). You can still hear the latter in the various trailers for Phantom Blade Zero, and developer S-Game hasn’t revealed why they brought Smith on as a last-minute replacement. Both actors have several video game credits, and as Game Informer noted, it sounds like Masenuk was replaced shortly after the game’s review period began. Essentially, you won’t be hearing Masenuk’s voice, as the game launched earlier this week with Craig voicing the main character.
You’re probably familiar with Craig’s voice; in addition to Sonic and Batman, he’s also voiced Ezio Auditore in several Assassin’s Creed games, Daigo Dojima in Yakuza Kiwami 3, and Alden Dorne in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. As a friendly reminder, set a hard limit on how much coffee Smith consumes if you’re thinking of interviewing him.
Phantom Blade Zero has had a strong launch week so far, reaching over 730,000 concurrent players on Steam at the time of writing. If you’re planning to play this weekend, check out our Phantom Blade Zero guides hub for dozens of walkthroughs, and if you’re still on the fence, read our Phantom Blade Zero review to see if it’s for you. You can also learn how it fixes one of the biggest problems of soulslike-inspired boss fights.
