So far, most players who have delved into it, The shadow of the Erd tree you’ve probably met Igon, Ring of Firemost tortured, yet ardent hater. Since the release of the expansion a few weeks ago, Igon has quickly become a character liked by fanswhich has a lot to do with voice actor Richard Lintern’s passionate delivery of the lines. It’s no wonder that the experience of recording the lines was as “epic” for Lintern as most of our encounters with his nemesis, Bayle.
In an interview for IGNLintern, who has never done voice work before Ring of Fire—discusses how Igon’s character largely emerged in the middle of his recording session. As an NPC in Hidetaka Miyazaki’s game, Igon doesn’t have many lines, something Lintern was well aware of. Initially, Lintern assumed he could finish reading the lines in about 40 minutes. The whole thing ended up stretching out to about five to six hours. Lintern, however, thoroughly enjoyed the experience, saying, “It was creative and engaging. And I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I knew I was having fun.”
Funnily enough, Lintern frames the voiceover session in a way that is quite similar to boss fight can be found in the FromSoft game. According to him, he entered the studio and saw more than a dozen people gathered around Ring of Firedirector Hidetaka Miyazaki, whom Lintern compares to “the god of the gaming world.”
He describes Miyazaki as “a mysterious figure in the center of the room…very controlling of the operation.” After reading a line, it would go through several channels back to Miyazaki, who would then provide notes. “We would say the lines hundreds of times, literally hundreds, because if I was there for five hours, the actual number of lines I said could be said in seven minutes,” Lintern shared. I can see him going through those theoretical, hazy gates over and over again. Lintern says the most consistent note he got was simply to pick up the pace. “Do you have more? Can you blow up?”
And damn, that guy exploded. Lintern — who, in his own words, had to go from “zero to 5,000” for the role of Igon — says he “gave it all, vocally, emotionally, stretching my neck, tearing my vocal cords, everything” before taking a water break and getting back into it. Director Lintern must have told him to take five, but I think he heard “change lives” instead, and he gave the performance of a lifetime.
Lintern claims to have been exhausted in more ways than one by the end of his session, and if that doesn’t sound like the feeling of triumph over a FromSoft boss, I don’t know what would. I was visibly shaken by the end of the most arduous encounters, including one that took me all of Saturday afternoon and evening during my first run BloodyI held my breath only to let out the deepest exhale, delivering the final blow. I didn’t cry, but I screamed at the top of my voice as I tasted the gore of victory.
Elsewhere, Lintern talks about his time with Ring of Fire opened up further avenues for him in voice acting, which is great considering the fan base he gained on his first try. Despite how little he knew about the gameand the aura of mystery that hung around Miyazaki all along, Lintern managed to bring it out. Now Igon is already one of the most beloved characters in one of the most esteemed gaming catalogs. How do you like your first day on the job?
