Christopher Tester, Voice of Bulb, Dilly, Pax, and more.

Christopher Tester is an actor specialising in theatre and voiceover. Game credits include Dark Souls I & II, Lego Marvel Superheroes, Tin Hearts, The Horus Heresy, Dead in Vinland, AI Wars 2.

1. How did you get involved with the development of Forgotton Anne?

I'm predominantly a theatre actor, but have enjoyed doing voice over for games in the last few years having always been a gamer myself. I've worked on the Dark Souls series, Lego Marvel Superheroes and a handful of indie games in the last few years. Recently, I've paid much more attention to the interesting projects indie developers are producing. I spotted some early images of Forgotton Anne on the Throughline Games Twitter feed, was totally blown away by the project and messaged them asking if they were still looking for characters. Fortunately they were, and even more fortunately Alfred decided to cast me after I sent him some demos.

2. Can you tell us a bit about the characters you are playing in Forgotton Anne, and how you approached the roles?

I play Dilly, Pax, Bulb and then a few smaller parts as well. With each, Alfred gave me a description of the character as well as providing concept art of each, so I would have a very clear idea of who I was voicing, what they looked like and how they might talk. The focus was on making clear and distinct choices for each so as not to confuse the player, but not to throw in lots of weird accents either - the characters still needed to be truthful. So I found it most useful to get as much information about the context of the scene (who were they talking to, why, and how does their interaction with Anne function in the whole of the story), then take one core aspect of their character (Dilly's nervousness, Pax's status, Bulb's directness) and build from there. The great thing about these characters is that none of them are simply 'good' or 'bad', so they were much more interesting to play!

3. What do you think of Forgotton Anne and the project?

As a fan of Japanese cartoons, especially Castle in the Sky and Akira, I had an immediate affection for the art style, which I thought was beautifully executed. But the actual game and puzzle mechanics are something that also really interest me. I love branching choice mechanics in games, but only if they're done well. And similarly with the platforming and puzzling elements - it's a fine balance between crafting something challenging that doesn't risk becoming infuriating. From the extracts of the game I've seen and articles I've read, Throughline seem to be keenly aware of this tightrope act.

4. What's next for you?

I'm currently in the middle of my first VR video game using mo-cap, which is very exciting. And then I'm doing a theatre show later in the year. Always looking for more exciting characters to play - so if you're looking for a British voice actor, get in touch!

5. If you were an object in the Forgotten Lands, what would you be?

I remember losing my favourite toy bunny as a kid when my family was on holiday in France. I was devastated for weeks until the hotel we had stayed at posted him back! So I think I'd have to be a toy bunny whose fur had been flattened from having been posted without any proper packaging.