![](https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/mybb18/images/reksio/flecha.png)
Oh. I'm incredibly conservative with voice overs in jRPGs.
If I could choose (which I can't, thankfully, for most of you) I'd see them gone altogether.
I think it's because of my relationship with games at an early age.Â
I grew up a console gamer, roughly at the start of the 16-bit era, when it was absolutely unthinkable to have voice acting in video games because of technical limitations.Â
The only thing you might hear would be some digitalized voice yelling SEGA or Let's kick shell! at the start of a game/stage.
Instead I used my imagination, or simply let the beautiful music "speak" the mood, and I loved it.Â
When the era or "silent games" came to an end, I had a very hard time to adapt.Â
I missed this. I wanted this.
![[Image: 83-Image-2.jpg]](http://www.zeldauniverse.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/83-Image-2.jpg)
Not thi---oh, wait, someone posted the Tidus "laughs"(?) video already.
WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS??
...I guess I just didn't want to say "screw VOs, I hate 'em coz I just do!".
And I don't hate them, really, I'm just a silly relic of a long gone era of gaming.
Someday I'll just have to accept the winds of change...
So let's talk about Final Fantasy XIV.Â
I admit that, as a teen, I was completely biased. Japanese voice acting was always better than its Western counterpart.Â
Because it just was. 16 year old fangirl logic!
Thankfully I grew up.
While I keep the voice acting turned OFF most of the time, I have listened to both the English and Japanese voices, and in my humble opinion they are very...hmm, generic.
I think the Japanese ones sounds just like anime #129637, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for some, and the English performance has this "eeeh, not awesome, but not too bad, just glad it's not more of it" feel.
However, because of the game's Western Fantasy-esque setting, and as a non-English speaker, I am somewhat fascinated by the use of the language in Final Fantasy XIV. I prefer the English VOs for this reason.
It just fits the mood better for me.
I also think Tobias makes an interesting point.Â
While I can understand English far better than Japanese (although I do have a firm grasp of the basics), they're both foreign languages. I thought the English voice acting in Resident Evil (the original from '96) sounded sooo cool. I was 11 years old, and I hardly understood a word they were saying. But it was English! English! It's gotta be kick-ass!
Considering the notorious voice acting in that game (if you haven't heard it, look it up on YouTube, but be warned, it's bad, so bad) it may be a poor example, but it's possible that you get to be more picky with your VOs the more you're familiar the language spoken, it makes it easier to judge what actually sounds realistic, overacted, bored, and so on.
Such is what happened to me with both English and Japanese.
If I could choose (which I can't, thankfully, for most of you) I'd see them gone altogether.
I think it's because of my relationship with games at an early age.Â
I grew up a console gamer, roughly at the start of the 16-bit era, when it was absolutely unthinkable to have voice acting in video games because of technical limitations.Â
The only thing you might hear would be some digitalized voice yelling SEGA or Let's kick shell! at the start of a game/stage.
Instead I used my imagination, or simply let the beautiful music "speak" the mood, and I loved it.Â
When the era or "silent games" came to an end, I had a very hard time to adapt.Â
I missed this. I wanted this.
![[Image: 83-Image-2.jpg]](http://www.zeldauniverse.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/83-Image-2.jpg)
Not thi---oh, wait, someone posted the Tidus "laughs"(?) video already.
WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS??
...I guess I just didn't want to say "screw VOs, I hate 'em coz I just do!".
And I don't hate them, really, I'm just a silly relic of a long gone era of gaming.
Someday I'll just have to accept the winds of change...
So let's talk about Final Fantasy XIV.Â
I admit that, as a teen, I was completely biased. Japanese voice acting was always better than its Western counterpart.Â
Because it just was. 16 year old fangirl logic!
Thankfully I grew up.
While I keep the voice acting turned OFF most of the time, I have listened to both the English and Japanese voices, and in my humble opinion they are very...hmm, generic.
I think the Japanese ones sounds just like anime #129637, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for some, and the English performance has this "eeeh, not awesome, but not too bad, just glad it's not more of it" feel.
However, because of the game's Western Fantasy-esque setting, and as a non-English speaker, I am somewhat fascinated by the use of the language in Final Fantasy XIV. I prefer the English VOs for this reason.
It just fits the mood better for me.
Quote:Posted by Tobias Nightbringer - Today 09:14 AM
I noticed some RPers here understand/talk Japanese. I wonder what their perspective is on the Japanese VO in this game if they haven't already spoken their piece.
Now, this is in NO way means I believe people who do not understand/talk Japanese that prefer the Japanese VO have lesser value in opinion, but I do wonder if because those that do not speak/understand the language (myself being included of course) we are more likely to think that a language that is foreign to us are better in quality.
I also think Tobias makes an interesting point.Â
While I can understand English far better than Japanese (although I do have a firm grasp of the basics), they're both foreign languages. I thought the English voice acting in Resident Evil (the original from '96) sounded sooo cool. I was 11 years old, and I hardly understood a word they were saying. But it was English! English! It's gotta be kick-ass!
Considering the notorious voice acting in that game (if you haven't heard it, look it up on YouTube, but be warned, it's bad, so bad) it may be a poor example, but it's possible that you get to be more picky with your VOs the more you're familiar the language spoken, it makes it easier to judge what actually sounds realistic, overacted, bored, and so on.
Such is what happened to me with both English and Japanese.
Nei Lihzeh ・Yoh'a Mahjo ・K'ato Tia