GamePress

Ray Chase Interview

During Sakuracon, Raelet at Gamepress got the wonderful privilege to sit down with Ray Chase, the voice actor for 7 different units in Fire Emblem Heroes

Ray Chase has a colorful history in voice acting, with notable entries being Noctis from Final Fantasy XV, Vlad III in Fate: Apocrypha, and Fernand in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. We met to discuss his roles in Fire Emblem Heroes, how he feels about the game, and what his experiences have been like to voice for the Fire Emblem franchise!


My name is Rae, actually, and I work for Gamepress which is an online site that’s devoted to mobile games. Our most prolific entry is our Fire Emblem Heroes section!

Love that game.

Yeah! Which you’ve done a couple voices for. And so, have you played the game? Do you currently play it?

Oh yeah, of course.

Awesome! So then, what’s your favorite hero or team, what’s your go-to with that?

That’s not really a question, I only have everybody who I voice on my team. (lol)

No, I’m kidding. My team right now is- and I don’t min-max, I’m not that kinda guy. I just like- whoever I get in the pulls is whoever I take. Right now I’ve got Ike, Roy, Corrin, and… -oh! And Gaius. So I’ve got two people who I voice.

Which Corrin?

And so, you’ve done a lot of voices, you’ve done six now, I think: three Roys, two Gaiuses, two Alfonses, that’s seven?

I… I will not speculate, because I… might have voiced things that aren’t released yet, and I don’t remember if they’re out.

I see, okay! Alright! So how much information do you get about these heroes before you go in to do the voice work?

Um… well- the first time that we went in, I had no idea what was going on, you know Nintendo is very secretive, and they gave me Gaius, Alfonse, and Roy on my first session, and we did all three in an hour. So it was pretty- it was a lot of coming up with stuff fast. I didn’t know that I was going to be Roy, it meant a great deal to me and just to be able to- to take a stab at it was incredible, and I’m really glad that they went with me.

It’s, uh- Alfonse had the most lore, ‘cause Gaius was basically a voice match, and then - and Roy I knew from a kid, so Alfonse had the most, and he has the most storyline in the game too. So, uh, we talked a lot about the Kingdom of Askr and what was going on. I did not know - who’s their friend? Their dead friend?

Oh, Bruno?

Bruno, yeah! That, they did not reveal all the secrets of who he was and stuff like that, it was definitely - we were on a mystery and an adventure and trying to figure out where he was and what had happened to our friend. So, as I was playing the game I was able to find that out and go, ‘Oh crap!’ And that was fun.

That’s cool! So, when they were doing the role of Alfonse, you said they were giving you a lot of lore and a lot of information about the character. Is there anything about the character that they were telling you about that maybe didn’t make it into the game for your voice acting?

I wouldn’t say that, necessarily. There’s only so much you can do with lore when it’s, “I’ll open the way!” So I can’t say that nothing was cut, if that’s what your question is.

There’s a lot of fans of Alfonse in this community that, uh- he’s the bench lord, but everyone loves him anyway, right?

I’m glad. Exactly! Kind of like Roy in his own game.

Right! So you played Fire Emblem 6?

Just finished it!

And Smash as well?

Absolutely, yeah.

Perfect! Did the voice of Roy in that game affect your work at all?

Oh, absolutely, no, I mean I knew him really well, I thought he was super cool, and you know, just being able to voice him was incredible. They wanted, you know, someone pure of heart, so I wasn’t going to come up with some crazy voice. He’s my young, brave lord kinda voice.

Yeah! He has two alts that are currently in the game. He has his original, his Choose Your Legends, and his Valentines alt. When you were doing the two different units, did you do anything different for the two alternates?

It’s nicer. I feel like, when we first did Roy, they were really concerned about making sure he was high pitched. Because that - you know, means a fifteen year old guy. And now they’re okay with letting me act a little more and be able to make him settle into his, kind of deeper tone. And I really liked that a lot.

So, if Roy were to get another alt, is there anything that you’d want to see him as?

Mmm... Roy getting another alt… um… what’s coming up… It’d be fun, Labor Day Roy, and he’s uh, he’s dressed in a business suit, he’s ready to go to work as an accountant. I think it’d be really fun.

I love it, that’s awesome. So, how far in advance do you get information about the VA work? So, Alfonse’s alt, the Spring alt, was released about a week and a half ago.

Okay, yes, yes.

Oh, was that the one you were worried about spoiling?

I’m not even saying. I’m not even saying. (lol)

Haha, alright. But anyway, that one was released about a week and a half ago. So how long ago did you do the voice work for that?

That I don’t know. It’s usually about, uh… four to five months in advance. It’s pretty well in advance.

And they’re all separate sessions? You don’t just go in and do a bunch of-

All totally separate, yeah.

In general, what made you decide to be a voice actor?

When I was a kid, my dad would tell funny stories to us and he would come up with all these crazy voices so as a kid I was always experimenting with my voice and trying to mimic accents and things like that. That came on when I was playing video games and mimicking the characters and saying their catchphrases and stuff and uh, it wasn’t really until after college that I said, “Wait a minute I could actually make a career out of this”. And, it was, you know, the journey was long - It was a good five or so years before I was making a living doing that.

Awesome. Are you excited about Roy’s announced Weapon Forge? They announced it last night!

(surprised) I don’t… I… what is it?

I don’t know yet!

Okay, interesting!

Binding Blade finally gets an upgrade!

Yes! That is very cool. (laughs)

Probably, I don’t know … I’m excited for whatever it is.

Yep!

Of all the alts you’ve recorded up until now, which is Roy, Roy Valentine, Gaius’s Summer Alt and Alfonses’ Spring...

Gaius’s Summer! Right! That’s the one I have on my team - Summer Gaius, “It’s so hot.”

Do you have a favorite you’ve recorded of the alts? The one that’s the most fun to do the lines for?

I like the Spring Alfonse - how nervous he is about the costume and stuff. “Please don’t make fun of my costume” and stuff like that. I haven’t drawn him yet, so I’m not as familiar with his catchphrases. Oh yeah, there’s, “All up in the way - to Spring!” I love how super nerdy that is.

How does it feel to know it took getting a giant spoon to get him off the bench? (lol)

Oh yeah (lol), I think that’s incredible.

Each of the characters in the original release - Did you audition for each individually or just go for them all?

I auditioned for Alfonse and that was it. And they gave me Roy and Gaius. And Gaius because they knew I could do the deeper voice. And Roy was a total surprise. I couldn’t believe it. People at Cup of Tea vouched for me and said, “No, Ray can handle it. No worries, give him a shot!” It was total luck that it happened to be someone that really really liked him. (smiles)

Was it all at once?

It was within an hour. We were done within an hour. It was nuts.

So just went in and did all of them and you’re all done?

That was it, yeah. It’s really not that many lines. Each time you go in it’s only twelve or so per character. It’s not that much.

Do you play the other Fire Emblem games from the main franchise?

I played the Game Boy Advance game - with Lyn, Eliwood and Roy’s Dad. - back in high school.

Do you have a character from that game you’d like to see in Heroes? It’s been a while!

I wouldn’t know. I wouldn’t remember. Nor would I know who is or is or not in. I don't draw that much. I just stick with my guys - they’re all level 40 and go with them.

Challenge missions. Try to do all the Challenge Missions.

Exactly, yeah. It’s tough, I do not have an optimized team. I just have a fun team.

More of a casual player, no whaling for all the crazy units?

Exactly. No, not at all. It’s whoever I like. I like Ike. (laughs)

I think we all do!

Yeah.

Alright, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

It was fun. Thank you! Cheers!