Opinions on the V.O. for This Game

[Naunet]

Maloriak and Putricide always made me giggle with glee.

 

I love the VAs in Blizzard works.

[K'nahli]

I have zero trust for english voice acting in games like these nor for anime either. I immediately chose Japanese VAs for this game without even sampling the english. I was very satisfied as usual, Japanese VAs never disappoint I find.

 

I recently played a cutscene with the english voicing just to torture myself though. I chose the scion scene to hear each of them. Needless to say I was horrified.

 

 

What makes good voice acting? When the tone and accent actually suits the character. It is especially bad with females but I swear that english VAs just never take their job seriously outside of big franchises/console games.

 

Thancred is meant to be a youthful, desirable male but he sounded nothing of the sort from what I recall.

 

Papalymo sounded like a jolly, little leprechaun whose voice would never serve me any immersion in any respect that I can imagine.

 

Yda sounded a bit annoying I think. Granted she's kinda meant to be a bit eccentric but the VA didn't do her justice and made her seem more insufferable than anything.

 

Mysterious Elezen might have been 'okay'.

 

Y'shtola certainly wasn't the worst but, as with so, so, many english female VAs, she sounded too old. Minfillia was the same but to a much greater extent. The sentences were far too solid and unemotional, totally lacking anything that says "I am not reading from a script".

 

 

Its not about having high standards. I don't sit in front of a cutscene for the first time, waiting to critically judge the work of the VAs. I hear the voice and wince and recoil in horror as I listen to what the developers are trying to pass as 'quality acting'(in cases where I didn't like it). I don't know how these people have earned themselves jobs outside of fan-made games/productions. I simply can't imagine how people could take it seriously, let alone subject themselves to it.

 

 

I have a question though. How many of you heave heard the English VAs and find them bad/questionable/lackluster or simply 'okay' and still choose to listen to them over a different language that could easily offer a better experience? Not once have I found the Japanese language lacking myself. The VAs are incredible. They are emotional in their dialogue, TOTALLY suiting their characters' personalities and age and just brings everything to the table that you'd come to want and expect. I don't understand why anyone would say:

"Oh, well English is my language so I best listen to it even though I don't really like it". Why are subtitles so bad, especially when you spend 90% of the game reading what the characters say anyways?

[Zyrusticae]

I...

 

Well.

 

That's interesting.

 

I really have nothing to say, other than I do not agree with any word of that post with exception to Papalymo.

[Tobias Nightbringer]

 

I...

 

Well.

 

That's interesting.

 

I really have nothing to say, other than I do not agree with any word of that post with exception to Papalymo.

 

 

Haha hah...ahhhhh...heh. Umm, well everyone is a critic, amirite?!

 

And also, Zyrusticae, being an amateur, and I DO mean amateur. Wait...no scratch that, I meant AMATEUR. Ahem, anyway so being an amateur/VO artist in training (thus far I have had a small amount of professional training), I can at LEAST say with confidence that good voice acting is 100% about TRUTH. I can NOT stress that enough. It is the inflection and nuances. We all know the basics if we think about it because what makes a good film actor? More than likely the same thing that makes a good voice actor, just with some small differences. I won't go into greater details because that is more so for talk between VA's discussing and bouncing the fundamentals around, which probably would bore most people with the wall of text .

 

As for the CASTING aspect, THAT falls DIRECTLY onto the casting director/producer. NOT the actor themselves. So if the casting was bad, it isn't on the actor for that fuck-up!

 

 

 

I have zero trust for english voice acting in games like these nor for anime either. I immediately chose Japanese VAs for this game without even sampling the english. I was very satisfied as usual, Japanese VAs never disappoint I find.

 

I recently played a cutscene with the english voicing just to torture myself though. I chose the scion scene to hear each of them. Needless to say I was horrified.

 

 

What makes good voice acting? When the tone and accent actually suits the character. It is especially bad with females but I swear that english VAs just never take their job seriously outside of big franchises/console games.

 

Thancred is meant to be a youthful, desirable male but he sounded nothing of the sort from what I recall.

 

Papalymo sounded like a jolly, little leprechaun whose voice would never serve me any immersion in any respect that I can imagine.

 

Yda sounded a bit annoying I think. Granted she's kinda meant to be a bit eccentric but the VA didn't do her justice and made her seem more insufferable than anything.

 

Mysterious Elezen might have been 'okay'.

 

Y'shtola certainly wasn't the worst but, as with so, so, many english female VAs, she sounded too old. Minfillia was the same but to a much greater extent. The sentences were far too solid and unemotional, totally lacking anything that says "I am not reading from a script".

 

 

Its not about having high standards. I don't sit in front of a cutscene for the first time, waiting to critically judge the work of the VAs. I hear the voice and wince and recoil in horror as I listen to what the developers are trying to pass as 'quality acting'(in cases where I didn't like it). I don't know how these people have earned themselves jobs outside of fan-made games/productions. I simply can't imagine how people could take it seriously, let alone subject themselves to it.

 

 

I have a question though. How many of you heave heard the English VAs and find them bad/questionable/lackluster or simply 'okay' and still choose to listen to them over a different language that could easily offer a better experience? Not once have I found the Japanese language lacking myself. The VAs are incredible. They are emotional in their dialogue, TOTALLY suiting their characters' personalities and age and just brings everything to the table that you'd come to want and expect. I don't understand why anyone would say:

"Oh, well English is my language so I best listen to it even though I don't really like it". Why are subtitles so bad, especially when you spend 90% of the game reading what the characters say anyways?

 

 

K'nahli may have very strong opinions, but that just may mean he has a calling to become a director or casting agent! Severity CAN breed quality after all, but not without the indispensable ability of tact. 

 

To which I ask again to all that have an opinion on the matter, if people do not understand the language, do they tend to have a more biased opinion in favor of foreign languages sounding 'better'?

 

 

I am not saying K'nahli is wrong by any means, but I would be interested in hearing any clarification of their statement of 'does the voice suit the character'. What does that mean exactly? Does the voice not fit the face? I can guarantee you I have had MANY people say my voice does NOT match the way I look. Or is it simply the voices are not believable? Those would be two entirely different things. Again, not a slight on you in any way shape or form. Harnessing that critique and shaping it to be constructive can actually be a very good thing if you were to say get into the entertainment industry. Like a psuedo-Simon Cowell

 

 

 

 

Since I've been re-playing through the early levels and have had to suffer through some of the cut scenes again I've actually switched the VO language to German. Which I understand on a fluent level, but am awful at communicating. 

 

And I'm having the same sort of 'eh' reactions to a lot of the voices. Like Papalymo? WAY more tolerable in German. He actually sounds like a funny sort of annoying instead of just... ohgodwhy annoying. Yda? Maybe because I'm accustomed to the amount of DERP coming from the English voice actress, but she just didn't sound right. Y'sholta I kinda wasn't sure how to feel, because she was one of the ones I didn't overly mind in English and I missed her cheery British accent. And Raubahn? I just... I would recommend go rolling a new character on some throw away server and re-leveling just to hear his German voice acting. I can't even really give you an opinion, you just gotta hear it... 

 

I think the voice acting in this game is just internationally 'meh'

 

 

Also, we have voices for random people yelling in the background for the memorial services... and why don't the respective leaders of the Adventure's Guild branches have voice acting!? Those are the first important characters you meet in the game! I am shocked and offended they didn't think Baderon Tenfingers was important enough to voice. And I am doubly offended he isn't voiced by Tom Kenny. Simply unacceptable Square. 

I ALWAYS read all of Baderon's dialogue in my head with a 'Patchy the Pirate' voice ;;

 

 

 

Raubahn in German, eh? I'll definitely have to check it out on YouTube once I get through him via the English version Admittedly, I always had the bias of, "Oh it's German. Well...it'll automatically sound like two things: angry and epic"

 

 

 

 

 

I also think Tobias makes an interesting point. 

 

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.

 

 

 

That is very interesting! I can imagine you finally like getting how English sounds and all that, and you're ready to play a game with English VA, you're amped to hear it and when you finally hear them you are just like, "Da fuq is dis?!" I also started when the NES was still in it's prime, but I guess I had a much easier time when the shift of 'silent heroes' went to 'voiced heroes' so to speak. Maybe because I used to watch Anime often when I was young, so perhaps that helped with me accepting it? I have no clue lol.

[Aeslyn Grey]

I don't like most of the voice acting in this game. It sounds like American actors trying to do an English accent to me. I haven't looked them all up, but I know Thancred at least is an American voice actor.

[Tobias Nightbringer]

I don't like most of the voice acting in this game. It sounds like American actors trying to do an English accent to me. I haven't looked them all up, but I know Thancred at least is an American voice actor.

 

Damn, maybe I am just deaf I didn't think Thancred's accent was TOO forced, but I can definitely hear the 'American' when I really listen to it, if that makes any sense?  Accents...pitfall of so many actors!

[K'nahli]

I may have strong opinions but my standards are anything but above par. Granted I cannot make too many claims and presumptions being that I sampled but one single scene, but past experience leads me to not expect anything different. Once I get my laptop back I would happily make a video for you offering comparisons and trying to explain my point(s) more clearly with examples if any of you would like.

 

My recollections of the voices are vague at best, given that I was nowhere near impressed enough to allow them to be burned into my memory (>w<), but I don't think I've gone amiss with any of them other than under-explaining them.

 

 

As for yourself, Zyru, I won't combat your personal opinion but if you'd care to watch the cutscene for the Scions('Where the Wild Rose Blooms' I think it is called), where they all introduce themselves, can you honestly tell me that the voice acting in that scene is in any ways believable or impressive? Minfillia's voice in particular was so old and mundane to me. For the record, I think I listened to 'most' of it up until after everyone introduced themselves.

 

And if you still think its fine, then try listening to the japanese version and comparing the standard of work, emotion, tone and youthful sound and let us know which you think best represents the characters' personalities.

 

 

To which I ask again to all that have an opinion on the matter, if people do not understand the language, do they tend to have a more biased opinion in favor of foreign languages sounding 'better'?

That is an incredibly good point and one that I could never answer myself unfortunately, but it is certainly interesting. However, regardless of 'literal comprehension', I feel the acting itself in all other senses is rich with life in comparison to English.

 

 

I am not saying K'nahli is wrong by any means, but I would be interested in hearing any clarification of their statement of 'does the voice suit the character'. What does that mean exactly? Does the voice not fit the face?

 

Not quite. It plays a partial role indeed, but as you say, voice-to-face presumptions can be quite inaccurate. Rather I am thinking of a direct correlation between the voice, the way things are spoken and the actual personality. I must apologise though, being without my actual laptop completely demotivates me to type as much as I'd like to on the issue, so until then I'll just give a brief example that I think may help explain my point better.

 

 

Thancred is young, flirty, enthusiastic, happy and confident. Now he could have an absolute range of voices that could do that personality justice. However, would you really think that the likes of Morgan Freeman, David Hayter or Liam Neeson could suit him even though they all have great voices? No, of course not... or at least I'd hope not. Aside from the age thing that I mentioned, their types of voices just don't suit his energy nor his charisma. It'd be like(to use an extreme example) trying to justify a suicidal character having a super optimistic voice full of bubbles and rainbows. VAs, like any normal actor, should tune themselves with the character they are playing, their personality, their traits, everything. Not just think:

"Okay, relatively young male... thats enough for me".

 

 

I'm not totally sure I understand your point of views either. What does a voice actor need for you? Just to sound the correct age?

[Zyrusticae]

As for yourself, Zyru, I won't combat your personal opinion but if you'd care to watch the cutscene for the Scions('Where the Wild Rose Blooms' I think it is called), where they all introduce themselves, can you honestly tell me that the voice acting in that scene is in any ways believable or impressive? Minfillia's voice in particular was so old and mundane to me. For the record, I think I listened to 'most' of it up until after everyone introduced themselves.

 

And if you still think its fine, then try listening to the japanese version and comparing the standard of work, emotion, tone and youthful sound and let us know which you think best represents the characters' personalities.

This is where we differ.

 

I don't think it's supposed to be impressive, particularly in something as mundane as an introductory scene, just believable, and I certainly felt the voice acting is believable in general (and I've played through the entire story in English, just FYI). I never once did get the impression that someone was just reading off their script.

 

Perhaps I will rewatch that scene later with the Japanese voice overs. Just listening to those in the Japanese dub of the Crystal's Call trailer, however, I already felt like Garuda's and Raubahn's English actors are superior, Cid's was miscast and Kan-E-Senna's was overacting. More than that, the English voice overs, even with their sometimes forced accents, feel appropriate for the time and place, and actually help to improve my immersion in the game. Somehow, going Japanese simply does not feel right.

 

When it comes right down to it, I feel like a lot of this is a matter of taste rather than ability. It's not like any of the actors outright fail at their jobs (at least that I've heard), it's just that you prefer a different sound and a different level of emotion than what, perhaps, the English voice director prefers.

 

Now, if there's anything we can all agree on, it's that the lip syncing is awful and that they really need to work on actually letting characters carry things in their hands instead of exchanging invisible objects. I found those a lot more jarring than any instance of voice acting in the entirety of the game.

[Dravus]

I just can't immerse myself in a game if I can't understand what's being said, no matter how exotic or beautiful the language may sound to my untrained ears.

[K'dath]

Raubahn in German, eh? I'll definitely have to check it out on YouTube once I get through him via the English version

 

 

 

 

Delivered.

 

Wj3uSgg9LoA

[K'nahli]

This is where we differ.

 

I don't think it's supposed to be impressive, particularly in something as mundane as an introductory scene, just believable, and I certainly felt the voice acting is believable in general (and I've played through the entire story in English, just FYI). I never once did get the impression that someone was just reading off their script.

 

Perhaps I will rewatch that scene later with the Japanese voice overs. Just listening to those in the Japanese dub of the Crystal's Call trailer, however, I already felt like Garuda's and Raubahn's English actors are superior, Cid's was miscast and Kan-E-Senna's was overacting. More than that, the English voice overs, even with their sometimes forced accents, feel appropriate for the time and place, and actually help to improve my immersion in the game. Somehow, going Japanese simply does not feel right.

 

When it comes right down to it, I feel like a lot of this is a matter of taste rather than ability. It's not like any of the actors outright fail at their jobs (at least that I've heard), it's just that you prefer a different sound and a different level of emotion than what, perhaps, the English voice director prefers.

 

Now, if there's anything we can all agree on, it's that the lip syncing is awful and that they really need to work on actually letting characters carry things in their hands instead of exchanging invisible objects. I found those a lot more jarring than any instance of voice acting in the entirety of the game.

 

Haha, unfortunately I am very bad at describing things(*indirectly scares away all potential RP meetings with this declaration*). I don't mean to say that every dialogue piece should make me go;

"Wooow! This acting is amazing!"

 

Not at all ;; Rather I mean pretty much what you said. I need the acting to sound believable and true to the character they are portraying so that I can take it even remotely seriously. I can't comment on those other voices you mentioned since I haven't heard them but to reflect on the one thing that comes to mind when I think about the 'tone' of the voice, then it'd be in that same cutscene. Minfillia meets you for the first time. She was enthusiastic about meeting you and came off as very friendly in the written dialogue, whereas I don't feel the English VA did that justice at all. She just sounded.. plain really.

 

 

In any case, its down to taste as you say and I just rarely find myself supporting English VAs in these types of games.

 

(And Theo, you made a very valid point I think ^^)

[K'dath]

I also think it might be easier to criticize voice actors of your native tongue, because you're familiar with the words in and of themselves. Each word and how it is articulated are subject to scrutiny.

 

Someone might not have a terrible voice, per se, but the delivery kills whatever sort of emotion it sought to evoke. With non-native languages where your exposure is limited, you're working from the general voice and not the subject matter. I don't know enough Japanese to listen closely and analyze the delivery of every word. I just know that the Japanese Kan-E sounds smooth and serene. Compared to the English where it sounds as though she pauses too long or says something too slow, and instead of sounding calm it just sounds bored.

 

I guess that's why I'm sort of middle of the road with aforementioned german dub. I understand it with less clarity than English but I'm able to make judgments on the contents of the delivery. Compared to the Japanese voices where, as long as they sounded calm, they could be telling me to go to hell and I'd nod and say "She sounds very pleasant, I like her."

 

But yeah. The lip synching is like... unforgivably terribad. No matter what language you have it on. I don't think they were even trying.

[Lament]

Honestly, and speaking as someone who isn't a native English speaker and understands a bit of Japanese - language doesn't have a whole lot to do with it. You may be more critical of things like pronunciation, pausing, word/syllable accents and such for words in a language you can understand (e.g. you can't tell if someone is mispronouncing anything in another language, or if they're stressing the right word when asking a question, or stressing the right syllable in a word etc).

 

Tone, pitch, emotion have more to do with it. You could have a sentence in utter gibberish and have it delivered in varying degrees of emotion that are universally understood.

 

That said, here's a list of the Japanese VAs: @dualshockers.com

 

Note how prolific most of these names are, and how long they've been acting.

 

Compare to the English version VAs listed here: @final fantasy wikia

 

A quick search for these names reveals you can't even find info on most of them.

 

Obviously, experience does not necessarily imply quality. There are plenty of amateur VAs who are more skilled than some professionals.

 

But experience does imply price, and it's pretty obvious that with this many inexperienced VAs, they were after something cheaper rather than be overly concerned with quality. If they were concerned with quality, they'd have screened better for talent. I mean, some amateur stuff is

 

...pretty damn awesome. |D

[Naunet]

But experience does imply price

 

Honestly? For this reason alone I am 100% fine with the voice acting. I don't give a rat's patootie how many fancy stars a video game hired to voice their characters' lines, because that kind of expenditure is a symptom of a serious problem plaguing the game industry: treating video games, a niche market, as though they were Hollywood blockbusters.

 

Spending millions upon millions upon millions on voice acting (or super fancy CGI, or whatever) is one of the reasons a game can sell over a million copies and still be considered a "failure". It is the cancer of the industry.

 

Now if only Squee had taken the money they saved on voice acting and spent it on developing actually interesting game mechanics.

[Tobias Nightbringer]

I'm not totally sure I understand your point of views either. What does a voice actor need for you? Just to sound the correct age?

 

Oh my views are basically the same as yours and the rest of the people that have been discussing in this thread thus far. As I posted to Zyrus, a VA SHOULD have at least some extent of inflection. However, more importantly is it BELIEVABLE when they talk?

 

I just can't immerse myself in a game if I can't understand what's being said, no matter how exotic or beautiful the language may sound to my untrained ears.

 

Do you mean as in a real foreign language, or like ANY language you don't understand like Elvish?

 

 

 

Delivered.

 

Wj3uSgg9LoA

 

 

 

Hmm, definitely an interesting voice! The 'urgency' in his voice is there, but it is surprising that he sounds so 'clean' if that makes sense. Which isn't a bad thing, but it all sounds very pronounced. Thanks K!

 

 

 

Honestly, and speaking as someone who isn't a native English speaker and understands a bit of Japanese - language doesn't have a whole lot to do with it. You may be more critical of things like pronunciation, pausing, word/syllable accents and such for words in a language you can understand (e.g. you can't tell if someone is mispronouncing anything in another language, or if they're stressing the right word when asking a question, or stressing the right syllable in a word etc).

 

Tone, pitch, emotion have more to do with it. You could have a sentence in utter gibberish and have it delivered in varying degrees of emotion that are universally understood.

 

That said, here's a list of the Japanese VAs: @dualshockers.com

 

Note how prolific most of these names are, and how long they've been acting.

 

Compare to the English version VAs listed here: @final fantasy wikia

 

A quick search for these names reveals you can't even find info on most of them.

 

Obviously, experience does not necessarily imply quality. There are plenty of amateur VAs who are more skilled than some professionals.

 

But experience does imply price, and it's pretty obvious that with this many inexperienced VAs, they were after something cheaper rather than be overly concerned with quality. If they were concerned with quality, they'd have screened better for talent. I mean, some amateur stuff is

 

...pretty damn awesome. |D

 

 

 

Haha, that was amazing! Never played Persona 4 but was still funny to watch

 

And agreed, emotion, tone, and pitch is what makes or breaks the acting. Which that all ties into the 'truth' of VA. Like I said to K'nahli, the inflection/realism is what I seek from the VA. I think at the core that is what EVERYONE is listening for when there is spoken dialogue.

 

So bottom line, the very first lesson VAs are taught is 'truth'. Then their 'signature' follows along shortly after or during the same time.

[Lament]

But experience does imply price

 

Honestly? For this reason alone I am 100% fine with the voice acting. I don't give a rat's patootie how many fancy stars a video game hired to voice their characters' lines, because that kind of expenditure is a symptom of a serious problem plaguing the game industry: treating video games, a niche market, as though they were Hollywood blockbusters.

 

Spending millions upon millions upon millions on voice acting (or super fancy CGI, or whatever) is one of the reasons a game can sell over a million copies and still be considered a "failure". It is the cancer of the industry.

 

Now if only Squee had taken the money they saved on voice acting and spent it on developing actually interesting game mechanics.

 

Voice acting is expensive to the average person and for small indie localization companies - but it's in the tens of thousands range usually (especially since most games are not fully voiced), not the millions range. Here's an example of rates - scroll down to video games. This game has what, a couple of minutes of dialogue for each character, at most?

 

The price of voice acting is small potatoes compared to script localization and even smaller potatoes next to actually developing a game of FFXIV's magnitude. A single interesting game mechanic, depending on complexity, can cost more than the cost of voicing several characters.

 

Graphics are much more expensive. Trust me, the figures don't even begin to compare. Art assets are always much more expensive (and numerous!) than audio assets.

 

@Tobias: I know, right? It's still one of my favorite things on the internet.

[Naunet]

Voice acting is expensive to the average person and for small indie localization companies - but it's in the tens of thousands range usually (especially since most games are not fully voiced), not the millions range. Here's an example of rates - scroll down to video games. This game has what, a couple of minutes of dialogue for each character, at most?

 

Think of games like SWTOR, in which EA/Bioware hired over 200 voice actors for 200,000 lines of dialogue. The amount spent on that was obscene, but did it actually give any lasting power to the MMO? Nope. Voice acting is like the little sprinkles on top of the detailing on top of the icing on the cake. In terms of what it lends to a game in the long term, it really doesn't matter.

[Tobias Nightbringer]

 

 

 

Voice acting is expensive to the average person and for small indie localization companies - but it's in the tens of thousands range usually (especially since most games are not fully voiced), not the millions range. Here's an example of rates - scroll down to video games. This game has what, a couple of minutes of dialogue for each character, at most?

 

The price of voice acting is small potatoes compared to script localization and even smaller potatoes next to actually developing a game of FFXIV's magnitude. A single interesting game mechanic, depending on complexity, can cost more than the cost of voicing several characters.

 

Graphics are much more expensive. Trust me, the figures don't even begin to compare. Art assets are always much more expensive (and numerous!) than audio assets.

 

@Tobias: I know, right? It's still one of my favorite things on the internet.

 

 

 

Ah the interwebs, offering hours upon soul sucking hours of entertainment  

 

Now, just to clarify, are you saying because the voice acting is "small potatoes" in comparison to the other aspect of the games, they should be able to afford 'good' voice acting OR are you saying that because of the game's "magnitude" that they aren't really worried about the VA due it being "small potatoes"?

 

I think we are beginning towards a tangent Though, speaking of rates, you forgot the sweetest word to all VO artists--residuals. Though THAT is definitely off topic lol.

 

 

Think of games like SWTOR, in which EA/Bioware hired over 200 voice actors for 200,000 lines of dialogue. The amount spent on that was obscene, but did it actually give any lasting power to the MMO? Nope. Voice acting is like the little sprinkles on top of the detailing on top of the icing on the cake. In terms of what it lends to a game in the long term, it really doesn't matter.

 

Are you talking about in regards to just MMOs?

[Lament]

Voice acting is expensive to the average person and for small indie localization companies - but it's in the tens of thousands range usually (especially since most games are not fully voiced), not the millions range. Here's an example of rates - scroll down to video games. This game has what, a couple of minutes of dialogue for each character, at most?

 

Think of games like SWTOR, in which EA/Bioware hired over 200 voice actors for 200,000 lines of dialogue. The amount spent on that was obscene, but did it actually give any lasting power to the MMO? Nope. Voice acting is like the little sprinkles on top of the detailing on top of the icing on the cake. In terms of what it lends to a game in the long term, it really doesn't matter.

 

Graphics, music, voice acting, none of that can make up for other problems or save a game from tanking. Films that have had obscene amounts of money invested into them can tank, too. Garnishing doesn't save the cake, but it sure makes it more attractive to customers. It won't keep them coming back, but it'll help draw them in the first time.

 

Either way, this game has a lot less voice acting than that - there's really no excuse for it to be this crummy, especially since obvious care went into the JP cast. If you're going to have poor voice acting, it's best to just not have any. It's really not comparable to SWTOR.

 

@Tobias:

 

Now, just to clarify, are you saying because the voice acting is "small potatoes" in comparison to the other aspect of the games, they should be able to afford 'good' voice acting OR are you saying that because of the game's "magnitude" that they aren't really worried about the VA due it being "small potatoes"?

 

I was saying the cost of VA is small potatoes next to development costs for a game of this magnitude.

 

So because the cost is small next to what it costs to develop a title like FFXIV, they should, undoubtedly, have been able to afford better VA. Or at the very least put a bit more effort into searching for amateur talent.

[Naunet]

Either way, this game has a lot less voice acting than that - there's really no excuse for it to be this crummy, especially since obvious care went into the JP cast. If you're going to have poor voice acting, it's best to just not have any. It's really not comparable to SWTOR.

 

Emphasis mine, because this may be the root of the problem.

 

Until very recently, I don't the Squeenix really appreciated just how large their NA base is. I'd hazard a guess it's far larger even than their JP base now, but Squeenix has never treated NA as a market worth special attention before.

---

Are you talking about in regards to just MMOs?

 

It's a small part of a much broader critique of the game industry, which is heading towards a very devastating bubble pop a la the dot com crash of the 90s. Budgets are getting bigger and bigger, and the industry is set on treating video games like Hollywood blockbuster films, but they're ignoring one very important fact: Video games are a niche market. They may be more mainstream than they used to be, but they can't pull in the same ticket sales that movies can to make back what they spend (and even movies are facing a similar issue with bloated budgets now).

 

I could write up an entire essay on the details of this, but then this thread would get way off topic.

[Lament]

Either way, this game has a lot less voice acting than that - there's really no excuse for it to be this crummy, especially since obvious care went into the JP cast. If you're going to have poor voice acting, it's best to just not have any. It's really not comparable to SWTOR.

 

Emphasis mine, because this may be the root of the problem.

 

Until very recently, I don't the Squeenix really appreciated just how large their NA base is. I'd hazard a guess it's far larger even than their JP base now, but Squeenix has never treated NA as a market worth special attention before.

---

 

 

Yeah, I agree. Heck, they didn't anticipate sales in the west for this game. A friend in Japan said that preorders there were limited. That they weren't limited elsewhere hints at them not thinking they'd sell more outside of Japan than within Japan, and that probably happened.

[Mooncalling]

What I am taking from all this-

 

I should be glad the VO in my game is bugged and I have never heard any of the actors. Hell, I didn't even know there was VO until reading about it here on the RPC. 

 

Apparently, FF doesn't like my speaker set up and will only play the VO if I have everything switched over to my headphones.

 

Because when I first laid eyes on Thancred's glorious visage I knew he would sound like Crispin Freeman.  And in the sound stage of my imagination- he does.  Where he whispers sweet nothings, his breath tickling my ears....

 

/swoon

[Swift Nightclaw]

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Until very recently, I don't the Squeenix really appreciated just how large their NA base is. I'd hazard a guess it's far larger even than their JP base now, but Squeenix has never treated NA as a market worth special attention before.

 

I think you're probably 100% on the money here. They weren't expecting the game to be this popular overall after 1.0, but I think like you said, they REALLY didn't expect this much interest outside of Japan.

 

It's a small part of a much broader critique of the game industry, which is heading towards a very devastating bubble pop a la the dot com crash of the 90s. Budgets are getting bigger and bigger, and the industry is set on treating video games like Hollywood blockbuster films, but they're ignoring one very important fact: Video games are a niche market. They may be more mainstream than they used to be, but they can't pull in the same ticket sales that movies can to make back what they spend (and even movies are facing a similar issue with bloated budgets now).

 

I could write up an entire essay on the details of this, but then this thread would get way off topic.

 

It's not niche anymore, though.  Gaming seriously is not a niche market anymore.  Now, the division of gaming; PC, Console, and the new bulk being social or app games, divides the issue a bit more.

 

GTA V is not the fastest selling video game of all time. It is the fastest selling entertainment property of all time at 1 Billion dollars on sell through in THREE DAYS.

 

It made $800 million in ONE day.  The Avengers' 3-day box office take was just under 207.5 million.  The Avengers' total gross is 1.5 billion dollars worldwide.  Avatar sits as the highest box office gross of all time at 2.7 Billion over its entire theatrical release, but only 77 million its opening weekend.

 

And a video game has shattered those 3 day records.

 

The majority of gamers are in their 30s now, but the teens and 20s continue to enter the market.  Female gamers have exploded with apps and social gaming.  It's simply not a niche market anymore.

 

However, you're right that the "blockbuster" or AAA titles are stifling the industry. Studios want the biggest return, so they play it safe with sequels instead of trying something new. That's not bad in its own right. Uncharted 2 and 3 arguably improved from the original Uncharted. Despite some opinions, I thought the new Tomb Raider was fantastically well done, and it did make a profit, just not as much as SE hoped.

 

But then you have the Resident Evil series' downward slide, you've got a new Call of Duty every year. Both of which make money hand over fist, despite not being terribly well received.

 

But is playing it safe anything we haven't seen before?  Mega Man 2, 3, 4, 5 on NES?  Tweaks, but the same basic formula.

 

Fortunately, Sony and Microsoft seem to be realizing that AAA games can't carry the industry due to the high cost and risk of profit yield and are opening the doors to the indie games market more and more.  Android and iOS already offer a great platform for indie games as well.  With that opening wider, it gives a larger playing field to spread things out and even the largest studios might start trying their hand at smaller scope, simpler and less expensive games.  The indie market is also proving that gamers love simpler games as much as the AAA titles and it doesn't have to be a summer blockbuster every release.  (Seriously, Activision, you don't have the Bruckheimer us every year)

 

Then you've got Mega Man's creator having recently looked for $900,000 in crowd sourcing for Mighty No. 9, the spiritual successor to Mega Man, and in 30 days they raised over 3 million dollars.

 

I don't think we're heading for a dot com crash nor, more related, a video game crash of the 80s, but we're definitely going to see a different playing field in the next 5-10 years.

[DAISHI]

I think the issue isn't the actors themselves but what happens when you translate the script and then hand it over to the person directing the voice acting. It's going through two filters before it gets to the actor.

[Darien Cadell]

*throws in 2cent coins*

 

Didn't mind Yda/Papalymo. Wept bitter tears that Gideon Emery was so incredibly underused (let's hope that changes in the future). Pretty much found everyone else annoying as I usually do English VAs in Asian-style animated works (except Spirited Away and Howl's - Mononoke had great VA, but just didn't suit the story for me).

 

I did switch to JP voices, but only after I finished the entire story + city starters in their English versions. I've been curious to see if the mouth movements match up better or if they're actually just the default 'blahblahblah' animation we all get when we say something, but so far have pretty much only seen people with masks talking, ha!