Polygon spoke with Béart to learn more about their experience voicing the character, who can transform from a human into a large droplet of water at will, outsmarting enemies and solving puzzles while exploring the strange world of Corel.
“It’s great,” Béart said of the opportunity to play a different sort of elementally aligned character. “I’m sort of very — in terms of elements — I’m very earth and fiery myself. So that’s not the hardest thing to do. In fact, to see a player-character with water energy, it seems brand new. I’m so excited and I will bring that [excitement] into it.”
Béart is also excited about the game’s cartoonish, cel-shaded art style.
“It’s more of an anime style as well,”“ the voice actor told Polygon. ”I’ve actually sat down with the lead animator, and she’s shown me how [One] moves, what she looks like, all of that, and it all helps inform that performance.“
Voice actors aren’t always privy to detailed information about what their characters look like or how they move, and Béart says the ability to see One in action has made voicing her a lot less challenging.
“We normally don’t get to see [how a character looks and moves in-game] until the game comes out,” Béart said, “so [I want] more of this. This is what I’ve been saying in interviews: It’s more transparency. It helps everyone do their best work and it makes people feel valued and you’ll get better work out of people. It’s a crazy idea. I know. I wish it would catch on.”
Béart spoke highly of Fading Echo’s developers, artists, and writers, along with their fellow voice actors, a cast that includes Matt Mercer, Laura Bailey, and Jasmine Bhullar.
””I’m having the best time with the team. And of course, we’ve got Jasmine Bhullar, who’s not only acting in it, but also writing the thing. So it’s just really good fun. And most of the devs are based in Lyon in France, our composers [are] in London, like me. Then you’ve got obviously some of the actors on the West Coast of America. So we’re a good international team.“
As for the game’s puzzle mechanics and One’s curious ability to turn into a (very adorable) blob of water, Béart says they’re excited to finally get their hands on the game once it’s out.
“I’m seeing bits going on social media about how you will interact with your environment [in Fading Echo],” they explained. “So if you jump on lava, you’ll turn into steam. Or you can petrify enemies with the water. It’s very puzzle-based as well, from the looks of it. Really exciting stuff. There was a bit in the official trailer […] where she’s in a blobby form and sort of sits on some sort of weighted device to open a door and I’m like, ‘Yes, bring it on.’ Can’t wait!”
New Tales has not yet announced an official release date for Fading Echo, but the game is set to launch on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. It’s currently available to wishlist on Steam, where its release date is listed as “coming soon.”