Square Enixhas been one of the biggest publishers globally ever since its inception in 2003, and even before this both of its parent companies were making waves in the videogame world. A majority ofSquare Enix’sproduct has been based around Japanese audiences, but it is then translated and sent out worldwide. While before voice acting was a thing most of this was in the form of subs, over the last 20 years dubbing videogames into English has become a huge deal.
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Tons of the biggest games out there have English dubs, and it’s a huge deal as voice acting is so important in not only conveying the basic plot exposition, but also to delivering emotional dialogue in stories. Even beyond that, basic screams and grunts that are littered in nearly every game can easily become a chore to listen to if they aren’t of the proper quality. With that in mind, English dubs have gotten better and better over the years and Square Enix had had some of the best ones.
5Nier Automata
Nier Automatawas an extremely successful game, and for good reason. Everything fromthe incredible gameplayto the solid story and the unique characters was working in its favor. It also has a superb dub and 9S' English voice actor’s performance was incredible, probably the highlight of the whole dub. Overall, considering how much content there is to dub in a game such as this; with tons of interactions during battle as well, this stands out as one of the best dubs Square Enix has had.
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While there are some fans who believe the original voice acting perhaps captured the essence of certain characters, such as 2B, better, this largely boils down to personal preference, and the English dub has no clear weaknesses to it.
4Dragon Quest XI
Dragon Quest XIdebuted without any Japanese voice acting at all, and the English dub actually came first, but it still holds up. The English dub, to be fair, exceeded all expectations.
JRPGs have a history with English dubs being not so good, and sometimes even comical,but this dub was incredible. The entirety of the cast was spot on and there isn’t much to criticize at all. Some of the additions of each character calling each other by their name every time they interact may get old quick for some.
3Final Fantasy XV
Final Fantasy XVhas an excellent English dub, with the voice acting for Ardyn being particularly being great. There are some concerns, such as the English dub’s quality at the start of the game not being that great, but it was pretty apparent that the voice actors grew into the roles as they went along.
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A key selling point for this game was the interactions between the four ‘main’ characters that players follow for the entirety of the game andthe party system. The voice acting and chemistry between the four of them was great, and more importantly it did not feel phoned in. Overall, this was a high quality dub with some inconsistencies at time that hold it back.
2Tactics Ogre Reborn
The newTactics Ogreis essentially a remaster ofTactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together.The original game stands out as one of the greatest turn-based strategy JRPGs out there and the new version has made a ton of quality of life changes including complete voice acting for everything. Along with this came, of course, an English dub for western audiences.
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The Japanese voice acting was extremely impressive, considering how long this game is and how text heavy it used to be. Moreover, thestory is a big focusas the game discusses tons of moral dilemmas and is based in an older society. It often resorts to flowery language. Fortunately, this was all dealt with really well. Similarly, the English dub is also incredible and portrays the tone and message appropriately. Most of the main characters, such as Vyce and Catiua, have brilliant English dubs, but, unfortunately, there are some dub fans who feel they didn’t accurately capture the characters, which holds this game back from having the best dub from Square Enix.
1Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VIIis one of the most iconic RPGs ever made and is widely considered Square Enix’s crown jewel. A remake for a game this popular and with this much hype around it needed to be spectacular in terms of presentation. Admittedly the remake is not perfect,but it’s pretty closeand the English Dub is actuallyexceptional, for the most part.
Most of the main characters, such as Sephiroth and Cloud have good dubs, and the voice-overs are all largely pretty good too. In fact, most of the supporting cast, such as Aerith and Tifa are excellent. Barrett’s voice, in particular, suits what fans envisaged him to sound like. The only shortcoming is that some of the NPC dialogue can seem a bit over-the-top at times, and fans' initial introduction to what Zack sounds like wasn’t that great. Aside from that, though, this is an incredible English dub which helped this game live up to theimmeasurable hype for it.
