So, GANG OF DRAGON looks like it will be getting cancelled, which is disappointing to say the least. Reportedly, after NetEase pulled out of Nagoshi Studio (headed by Like A Dragon creator Toshihiro Nagoshi), it needed another 44 million to finish the game… when it already had that budget. The only official evidence of its existence is its barebones Steam page and website, despite reports of the YouTube channel being back up after it was taken down; it just paints a very bad picture for the title’s future.

What a shame…

After expressing how the Like A Dragon franchise hasn’t been doing well in terms of story quality and gameplay (at least, compared to other entries in the series), I started thinking about why such a promising game that looked really good would suddenly need another 44 million… when it occurred to me: isn’t the main protagonist of that game a big celebrity?

Ma Dong-seok is mostly known for his support roles in movies like The Neighbor, Train to Busan, and The Unjust, but he has gotten lead roles in films like Murderer and One on One. He was even in a PUBG: Battlegrounds movie, which I didn’t know existed! Just from skimming his IMDb page, he’s often in movies centred around crime and his trademark is listed as “punching people”, which doesn’t make his lead role in GANG OF DRAGON much of a surprise. He’s not as well-known as, say, Hugh Jackman, but he has been getting consistent work… and he was probably worth a pretty penny to feature as the lead of a AAA game.

This guy is a jerk.

Being mainly a film actor, it seriously got me thinking about all the games that feature them, or at least the ones I can call to mind off the top of my head. Of course, the Like A Dragon series loves getting famous wrestlers, faces of food chains, and AV actresses in the games. Heck, one of my favourite streamers, Kson, managed to get herself immortalised in a series she loves to death! However, this can go wrong. I distinctly remember how, in Yakuza 5, they featured this famous chef (Tatsuya Kawagoe) who gets the protagonists to try out different restaurants, which provide them with extra buffs. Though, as it turns out in real life, he’s not that friendly, considering he called the people saying his restaurant’s water was too expensive as “poor”.

Hideo Kojima, a big fan of movies, loves to get a bunch of famous people to feature in his games to simply hang out with them. You don’t call the protagonist of Death Stranding by Sam Porter Bridges, you likely call him by the name of his actor: Norman Reedus. He’s also managed to get Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Guillermo del Toro, and… Usada Pekora from Hololive. You know, a Japanese bunny girl known for committing (virtual) war crimes. You have to admit, it’s impressive how many connections he has in the industry.

I have no idea who this is, but they’re probably Kojima-san’s best friend.

Then there’s the more recent Mortal Kombat titles, with Ronda Rousey as Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat 11 and Megan Fox as Nitara in Mortal Kombat 1 (damn you, crappy sequel names!). They aren’t horrible, and they do their best with the direction they are given, but you can tell they aren’t used to voice acting and provide some lacklustre performances. Megan Fox did so much better as Toy Chica in the Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 film, with the right mix of being friendly yet incredibly creepy, just how I would think those animatronics should be.

Although I’m not much of an actor myself, I do know that professionals like using their faces to act. It makes them recognisable and shows far more emotion. However, this isn’t a universal thing, as media like The Mandalorian, Judge Dread (2012), and Red vs. Blue show that you don’t need a face to convey complex emotions. You can use body language and tone to let viewers imagine what they must look like underneath their helmets… which really grinds my gears when I remember the Halo show would rarely have Master Chief wear it. Like, is the armour and helmet that uncomfortable to wear?

Mortal Kombat loves their guest characters.

There are some incredibly famous actors who absolutely sell their roles regardless of stardom and medium, such as Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077. He is such a self-important ass in the game, which makes each interaction with him great. I know he’ll kill it in his upcoming role as John Wick in the John Wick videogame.

Meanwhile, Christopher Judge seriously made me see the human within the monster with his take on Kratos in the God of War Norse saga. This, in turn, makes me really excited to see what J.D. Carlson does in the God of War Greek Trilogy remake, letting us see how a family man became the monster in the first place. He certainly gave us a stellar performance as a calmer Kratos in God of War: Sons of Sparta.

In the Greek Trilogy, Kratos just screamed most of the time. Sons of Sparta reminds you who he once was before Ares.

Where is this entire article leading to? With so many developers pushing to make videogames more cinematic and turn them into interactive movies, is it worth getting big-name celebrities to star in them? Well… I just think seeing famous people that non-gamers know is a novelty. I love it when they kill their roles and do some incredible performances, but ultimately it just seems kind of unnecessary, at least in some games. You don’t need a famous actor to help sell copies, you just need good actors, and maybe not even then.

So many games like Resident Evil (1996) and Just Cause 2 had horrendous acting, and yet they’re beloved by so many people because of the gameplay. A bunch of indie games forgo actors altogether and simply use text, and I know I have cried over that. Although I do think some titles (like Pokémon) are long overdue for some voice acting.

Gameplay trumps everything else.

Good actors do make great games and push sales… but not having them isn’t that bad either.