Language Preference for Cutscenes

[K'nahli]

So we all have our own preferences when it comes to the language we use when dealing with the game. Unfortunately I can't have multiple polls per thread so I'll be relying on replies to find out the other details I am curious about; so please do remember to reply!

 

First off, of course, which language do you use and why?

 

Also, assuming it's not your native language, then do you have any difficulty understanding it and therefore rely on reading the dialogue?

 

And finally, given that there are a number of players who use Japanese while not being able to speak the language; I am curious if there are any out there who chose that option while not being a fan of Japanese works, such as anime - as seems to be the case with many peoples' reasoning.

 

 

 

 

 

For me, when I was handed over control of my character during the Gridanian tutorial, the very first thing I did was play with the settings and when I stumbled across the different audio options, I immediately changed it to Japanese.

 

Now, I am part of the group whom are influenced by having watched anime in the past(hardly ever these days) but while that garnered my interest in listening to the language as opposed to dubs in a general sense, I feel that my interest in it is completely irrelevant to the fact. Certain games like FFXIV just seem to work only with Japanese for me. I don't know if it's because english voice actors are so much poorer in quality outside of mainstream titles or anything else but it simply never works and just makes me cringe pretty seriously. Everyone tends to sound old with very unfitting voices and/or just don't come off as remotely believable for the little I have heard from trailers and the like. I haven't heard german or french languages to be fair but I might give them a try today out of curiosity and to see how much, if any, comes down to the fact I can't pick up on poorer quality acting from a language I cannot understand.

 

 

(Also, I know that some people simply don't feel comfortable listening to a language that they can't understand so I can comprehend that much to an extent(although not entirely since you're forced to read over the dialogue anyways to know when to click on!))

 

And as a final note, please mind your replies and remember that everyone posting has their own opinions. Let's not get worked up over something so trivial!

 

 

Anyways, thank you for reading and, hopefully, participating ^^

[MadWater]

I didn't even realize that was an option. So I watch them in English. The localization for this game is super duper though (at least for English), so I really have no complaints. I really wouldn't even call it a "dub" even though the game was written and designed in Japanese.

[Meoix]

While I do prefer English, its merely because I don't feel like reading the subs.

The dubbing is among the worst dubbing I've ever heard for English, it'll go as far as to compare a good english dubbing of an old 80s martial arts Chinese movie.

 

The voice acting is flat and emotionless, the best VO's being Hydaelyn and Gaius (likely as they're more renowned Voice actors) but all else, no disrespect is done pretty badly, Thancred being easily the worst.

[Kurt S.]

Yeah I didn't know about this until like waay too late. Like I already finished the post game MSQ up until Chrysalis on Kurt too late. 

 

Still the English voices grew on me so I don't think I'll be changing it any time soon...plus I do like how Yda sounds....also Y'shtola.

[cuideag]

I do Japanese because I speak it and I don't really care for the English dubs. Some of the characters I don't mind, like Y'shtola, but for the most part I'm not impressed.

 

Also because the English texts don't really reflect all that is being spoken. This was especially true with Keeper of the Lake. I find the discrepancies interesting.

[Berrod Armstrong]

I do English in the event that there is a name or term I need to hear pronounced.

[Dravus]

I'm English, not Japanese so it makes sense to read and listen to the game in English. I see people complain about the voice acting from time to time but it's really not that as terrible as it's made out to be. Some of the English voices - such as Livia's - are pretty awesome.

 

Some of it is average but that's the case in most MMO's. I also find the English localisation to be absolutely brilliant and most of that is apparent non-existent in the Japanese version so even if I did understand the language I'd likely be disappointed.

 

Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII are among my favourite RPG's and they boast a similar English language style to FF14 so it works out very well for me.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I enjoyed watching most in French (sounded the best to me). Sometimes I'll rewatch them in English if I want to pick up pronunciation. German sounded too flat and unless the scene was actually altered to be different in Japanese, I don't enable it.

[Seriphyn]

Given that the actual dialogue is written out into British regionals according to the localization, using Japanese voiceovers would be erroneous, as I'm pretty sure they're not actually saying the displayed text in Japanese.

 

Also with subsequent patches, I have felt that the English voice acting has improved considerably. Nanamo Ul Nanamo for example (she is terrible in 2.0, but 2.2 onwards is neat). New characters too, like Moenbryda and Aymeric, the latter especially being incredible.

[Yssen]

I prefer the english dub. It has been really fun to see how people have improved since 1.0. There are some terrible voice choices to be sure. Raubahn comes to mind as the weakest performance, but they have gotten better over time/familiarity with the character. Thancred, Merlwyb, and Aymeric are my favorite performances so far. All of the imperials are done well to, particularly Gaius and Livia. Lucia is pretty neat.

Given the nature of VA work, particularly in MMOs, it has been super neat to see some of the VA work improve as the actors understand and get more familiar with their characters. You usually do not see that too often with roles like these.

[Zael Aders]

I came to this thread expecting a lot of people to be talking about Japanese dub superiority, and I'm pleasantly surprised.

 

The dub itself is...ultimately flat. What I've been picking up on as playing and listening is mostly the lack of incidental noises (ie. when a character is hit, or looks hurt, or gasps, there is no sound, just silence) and background NPCs in crowds don't sound as if they're talking over each other, just one person saying a line, then silence as another NPC says a line.

 

Still, there are a few hidden gems in there. I like all of the Garlean voices, Midgardsormr sends shivers down my spine, and the temple knights have been well done too.

 

There's not much more I can do but echo the sentiments of those above me. Everyone seems to raise some good points. What I'm wondering though, is whether the dry and unfitting moments in the English version are the faults of the voice actors, or the voice directors...

[allgivenover]

Given that the actual dialogue is written out into British regionals according to the localization, using Japanese voiceovers would be erroneous, as I'm pretty sure they're not actually saying the displayed text in Japanese.

 

I switch frequently to listen to the differences, and boy is it different.

[Marisa]

I didn't even realize that was an option. So I watch them in English. The localization for this game is super duper though (at least for English), so I really have no complaints. I really wouldn't even call it a "dub" even though the game was written and designed in Japanese.

 

I could be wrong, but I believe Koji's team actually writes most the the actual dialogue, with the Japanese side merely outlining the story progression for him.

[Edda]

I listen to it in Japanese just to see how different the text dialogue is from the actual spoken dialogue, and holy fuck is there an intense difference most of the time.

 

THAT KEEPER OF THE LAKE DIALOGUE THOUGH.

 

[K'nahli]

I didn't even realize that was an option. So I watch them in English. The localization for this game is super duper though (at least for English), so I really have no complaints. I really wouldn't even call it a "dub" even though the game was written and designed in Japanese.

 

Oh I certainly wouldn't call it a dub either. When I mentioned that I didn't mean to refer to FF's other languages as such, haha. I was worried it might sound like that actually, sorry!

 

I do Japanese because I speak it and I don't really care for the English dubs. Some of the characters I don't mind, like Y'shtola, but for the most part I'm not impressed.

 

Also because the English texts don't really reflect all that is being spoken. This was especially true with Keeper of the Lake. I find the discrepancies interesting.

 

I listen to it in Japanese just to see how different the text dialogue is from the actual spoken dialogue, and holy fuck is there an intense difference most of the time.

 

THAT KEEPER OF THE LAKE DIALOGUE THOUGH.

 

Grrrr....! This annoys me so much! There's not much I can recognise but reading about the Keeper of the lake thing annoyed me immensely. As someone mentioned, localization is expertly done but I don't understand why they change things around unnecessarily.

 

Like, I just got out of a cutscene with my new character and it goes like this:

 

Nanamo:

Omega.

 

Alphinaud:

Omega...?

 

 

Nanamo:

Omega.

 

Alphinaud:

Pardon...?

 

 

 

Tiny example of course but this happens all of the time. I mean.... why?

 

(oh, and there is a moment where Teledji makes a noise as though he is lost for words but spouts out a whole sentence in english)

[Wymsical]

Also because the English texts don't really reflect all that is being spoken. This was especially true with Keeper of the Lake. I find the discrepancies interesting.

 

THAT KEEPER OF THE LAKE DIALOGUE THOUGH.

 

Now I'm intensely curious what the Japanese version of the KotL dialogue is... too bad there's no 'subtitled Japanese' version. You'd think they'd try something like that, with all the popularity of anime. Since I use Japanese or French voices, I definitely notice the difference with the text. I guess some things can't be fully translated with the significant language differences.

[V'aleera]

Now I'm intensely curious what the Japanese version of the KotL dialogue is...

It's more explicit in the information it presents (while not actually possessing any extra information) and Midgardsormr's personality is a few degrees more bland.

[MadWater]

 

...

 

Oh I certainly wouldn't call it a dub either. When I mentioned that I didn't mean to refer to FF's other languages as such, haha. I was worried it might sound like that actually, sorry!

 

...

 

Grrrr....! This annoys me so much! There's not much I can recognise but reading about the Keeper of the lake thing annoyed me immensely. As someone mentioned, localization is expertly done but I don't understand why they change things around unnecessarily.

 

Like, I just got out of a cutscene with my new character and it goes like this:

 

Nanamo:

Omega.

 

Alphinaud:

Omega...?

 

 

 

 

Nanamo:

Omega.

 

Alphinaud:

Pardon...?

 

 

 

 

 

Tiny example of course but this happens all of the time. I mean.... why?

 

(oh, and there is a moment where Teledji makes a noise as though he is lost for words but spouts out a whole sentence in english)

 

It's because they took into account their audience when they localized it into English. From my little bit of dabbling in anime and assuming that dialog in anime tends to reflect how Japanese people speak, characters tend to repeat the relevant words in an interrogative tone when they don't fully understand what someone has said. ("Omega." "Omega?") While in the United States, people generally use different questioning word like "what?" or "huh?" ("Omega." "Pardon?") To me, it feels more like natural dialog. A lot of times when I'm watching a subbed anime that leans more toward literal translation, the dialog feels unnatural to me and it actually takes me more time to read it (causing me to miss some of the visuals or even have to rewind), even though it's perfectly good English. That's what I was trying to get across in my first comment.

[K'nahli]

 

It's because they took into account their audience when they localized it into English. From my little bit of dabbling in anime and assuming that dialog in anime tends to reflect how Japanese people speak, characters tend to repeat the relevant words in an interrogative tone when they don't fully understand what someone has said. ("Omega." "Omega?") While in the United States, people generally use different questioning word like "what?" or "huh?" ("Omega." "Pardon?") To me, it feels more like natural dialog. A lot of times when I'm watching a subbed anime that leans more toward literal translation, the dialog feels unnatural to me and it actually takes me more time to read it (causing me to miss some of the visuals or even have to rewind), even though it's perfectly good English. That's what I was trying to get across in my first comment.

 

I can't say that I quite understand that notion. A lot of the changes seem to be totally unnecessary and random and they'd be no less clearer had they been literally translated. Things like this only change the way characters are portrayed and received by the audience. I know that some changes are, of course required, especially for lesser NPCs that tend toward accents, regional and archaic forms of english; though with exception to Hydaelyn and Urianger, I can't think of a single, important and voiced NPC whom has such traits - and that only lends to believe that their character and personality are being altered to a degree, even if only minutely.

 

And frankly, I can't say that I like that. I want to hear and read the character as was intended by the creators, not a variation of that just because it somehow wasn't clear enough that someone was annoyed to the point of being rendered speechless that they had to go and give him a whole other line of dialogue.

[allgivenover]

To be fair, the Japanese dialogue isn't the "real" or "original" dialogue. It's all developed concurrently and released simultaneously along with the English/French/etc version. The differences are localization differences, and for whatever reason they decided that writing Keeper of the Lake the way it was written in English was a better localization move for this region.

 

Much of the nuanced lore and dialogue is written by the western team anyway and translated into Japanese, so if anything the English dialogue might be more "original" than the Japanese version.

[Seriphyn]

 

It's because they took into account their audience when they localized it into English. From my little bit of dabbling in anime and assuming that dialog in anime tends to reflect how Japanese people speak, characters tend to repeat the relevant words in an interrogative tone when they don't fully understand what someone has said. ("Omega." "Omega?") While in the United States, people generally use different questioning word like "what?" or "huh?" ("Omega." "Pardon?") To me, it feels more like natural dialog. A lot of times when I'm watching a subbed anime that leans more toward literal translation, the dialog feels unnatural to me and it actually takes me more time to read it (causing me to miss some of the visuals or even have to rewind), even though it's perfectly good English. That's what I was trying to get across in my first comment.

 

I can't say that I quite understand that notion. A lot of the changes seem to be totally unnecessary and random and they'd be no less clearer had they been literally translated. Things like this only change the way characters are portrayed and received by the audience. I know that some changes are, of course required, especially for lesser NPCs that tend toward accents, regional and archaic forms of english; though with exception to Hydaelyn and Urianger, I can't think of a single, important and voiced NPC whom has such traits - and that only lends to believe that their character and personality are being altered to a degree, even if only minutely.

 

And frankly, I can't say that I like that. I want to hear and read the character as was intended by the creators, not a variation of that just because it somehow wasn't clear enough that someone was annoyed to the point of being rendered speechless that they had to go and give him a whole other line of dialogue.

 

IDK, MadWater has explained it in very easy to understand terms IMO.

 

If one looks at examples of live interpretation IRL, literal translation does not work. As MadWater said, people are more likely to go "What?" or "Excuse me" in English than repeat the word they just didn't understood like we were LARPing an anime.

[Faye]

English, because that's the only one I fluently speak and I like to be able to hear.

 

plusnotaweeb*cough*

[Edda]

Localizing dialogue more naturally into English makes sense, and is quite necessary. Translations of Japanese that are too literal tend to sound awkward as all hell, so it doesn't bother me in most quests where the dialogue is vastly different from the text, but the point is still there. Keeper of the Lake was an interesting take, although from my point of view a bit overboard. It's one thing to give him character and make him sound ancient and majestic, but I think the localization went too far, and ended up muddling the significance of the scene by making him sound like an overly verbose, confusing asshole.

 

HOWEVER.

 

However. Differences in dialogue, however much or little is one thing on its own, and should be expected. Changing a scene, and the complete presentation of a character is another. There is literally no excuse for this. It's not something you can argue either by saying "well, characters like this tend not to exist in Western stuff!" or "it would be hard to localize!" because those are both retarded arguments. Observe.

 

Haurchefant in English:

 

aVlPvBW0UJ8

 

Haurchefant in Japanese:

 

Jb716z1_8fk

 

No idea what this is like in French or German, though I imagine it's closer to English. I feel bad for the people who watched in English, because they completely missed the presentation of what his character is clearly meant to be. Oh well.

[Wymsical]

[Edda talks about Haurchefant here]

 

Holy crap, I remember getting very confused in the recent MSQ updates when I had on Japanese voices and Haurchefant was being his eccentric self. It was so different from what I knew of him that I thought he was being mind-controlled or had his personality altered. Did a little searching around and turns out... he was always like that in the Japanese version and they just cut that out for the English one (and also apparently his attraction to the player character as well?). It's a pretty jarring difference and I'm disappointed they did it for the sake of apparently keeping Coerthas' story more serious. I'd hope they won't keep doing it but I'm sure Heavensward will be much the same.

[Flickering Ember]

I am curious if there are any out there who chose that option while not being a fan of Japanese works, such as anime

 

*raises hand* Although I am not sure if I count. I used to like anime but I don't really anymore, despite the anime avatar. The older I've gotten, the less I end up liking anime and by extension, some JRPGs. I've mentioned before in previous threads that it's sort of odd that I am even here because I dislike Asian-styled MMOs and vastly prefer western storytelling, such as Bioware's works. I often admittedly feel uncomfortable with how unrealistically beautiful all our characters are and how typically anime-ish the animations are but ultimately I am here because I believe FFXIV is the best MMO out on the market.

 

However, when I was an anime fan I always did subtitles. I had a reason too. A lot of the early dubs were pretty awful before anime got big and I was a fan before it broke out on a larger level. (Ya know, back in the day when if you were an anime fan you paid 40$ for a VHS tape with 4 episodes on it, and no, that is not an exaggeration)

 

Anyway, I always opt to watch something in its original language. The original language is how those characters were envisioned and how they intended to sound. No matter what you do, when you change voice actors, a piece of that character changes along with it. In this manner, I disagree with allgivenover in that, the game is Japanese and almost everything needs to be translated from Japanese. The Japanese are the intended real experience the way the actual creators envisioned them. The localization team did not have any creative effort in writing these characters.

 

No matter what game or movie I am watching or playing, no matter what language it is...I will always listen in its home dialogue if available.