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Leaked audio from the Sonic Frontiers Gamescom demo reveals that Roger Craig Smith has given Sonic a much deeper speaking voice this time around.
Following its big release date and story reveal, Sonic Frontiers is currently playable on the Gamescom floor with a short demo that some are apparently speedrunning to record as much new footage as possible. Although recording has now been banned because of how much content has been posted online, some of the cutscenes are hiding very interesting information, as well as letting us hear Roger Craig Smith's new Sonic voice.
Most of the leaked cutscenes that have appeared over the past few days have had no audio attached because of the noise of the crowd, but Twitter user wounkun somehow managed to record game audio from Frontiers and shared it with SAAC_News, letting us hear the dialogue for the first time. Aside from giving the cutscenes a bit more life, the most striking thing about these audio clips is that Roger Craig Smith has given Sonic a much more natural and deep speaking voice.
The difference is immediately noticeable, as it sounds like Sonic is just talking most of the time instead of always cracking jokes. Even when he does make fun of the situation, such as saying it's better than being called a rodent, it's still much more natural and lower-pitched than it ever has been before.
As some Sonic fans have pointed out, it's ironic considering the first performance we heard Roger Craig Smith give the blue blur was for the Sonic Spinball ride at Alton Towers, where many fans complained that he gave the character a much too slow and deep voice. Now it seems things have swung right back around and a more mature Sonic is exactly what audiences want to see.
Although seeing so much of this content leak online must be a shame for Sega, the good news is that almost everyone seems to be very happy to see Roger Craig Smith get to give a more serious performance.