When the PlayStation 5 Showcase featured a trailer forFinal Fantasy 16in September 2020, it came as a shock to many. There had been no prior indication of the title, and it premiered at the very beginning of the showcase. Due to complications from COVID, the game’s director, Naoki Yoshida, stated in 2021 thatFinal Fantasy 16’sdevelopment had been delayed by half a year. Yoshida stated the game’s storyline was almost complete despite this and the recording of English voice lines was in its final stages. The team had focused on the English dub from the start, he said, and that’s an exciting development for the Japanese-developed title.
Final Fantasygames have delivered some of the richest, most engaging experiences in gaming. Their stories are larger than life, but they’re not exactly for everyone. The games have many quirky characteristics about them, and their combination of thebest elements of JRPGsand action/adventure games can be a turn-off for some. Focusing on the English voices in the newest title could be an effective way to offset these traits and appeal to a larger audience.
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Final Fantasy’s Infamous Voice Acting
Regrettably, theFinal Fantasyseries isn’t exactly known for its stellar voice acting. Performances have been hit or miss over the years, with some actors knocking it out of the park and others becoming notorious for their cheesy deliveries. The most obvious example of this is James Arnold Taylor’s infamouslaugh as Tidus inFinal Fantasy 10, which has since become a meme. As Briana White explained in defense of Aerith’s strange laugh inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, the writers, directors, and actors need to honor the intent of the project as best they can. With a focus on the English dub, there is a better sense of that intent so the voice actors have a better grasp of what they should convey. Plus, with the actors delivering a lot of these lines during motion capture, the smaller grunts and sighs will be a lot more natural.
Faster Development Thanks to Motion Capture
By focusing on the English dub ofFinal Fantasy 16, the development of the game will actually be faster, too. In otherSquare Enixtitles, developers have to sync the animation of characters' mouths to each dub by hand. As Yoshida explained in an interview with WasyaganaTV, utilizing motion capture with the English voice actors eliminates the tedium of animating each mouth by hand. It will also help with the rest of the animation process since the actors inFinal Fantasy 16will be performing a full-body motion capture, Yoshida said. This sort of recording aids massively when it comes to the minutia of animation in AAA cinematics.
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Matching the Medieval Setting of Final Fantasy 16
But perhaps the most obvious reason prioritizing English voice acting benefitsFinal Fantasy 16is because of the game’s setting. MostFinal Fantasygames occupy a space somewhere between fantasy, sci-fi, and maybe even steampunk. The sixteenth installment, however, is teasing a darker, grimier setting within a more medieval environment. Its teaser shows off towering castles, plain tunics, and bloody fights. As with shows likeGame of Thrones, it helps suspend audience disbelief when there’s some sort of harmony between the setting and how the characters in it sound. Dedicating attention to the English dub (and specifically hiring British English voice actors) will go a long way in tyingFinal Fantasy 16’snarrative together.
Voice acting can be a make-or-break addition to video games, and for this reason, many studios opt for text dialogue in its stead. Despite this, Square Enix has provided full-blown voice acting in everyFinal Fantasygame sinceFinal Fantasy 10. As the series continues to evolve in new and unexpected ways, so too will the game’s stories and acting. It remains to be seen whether the decision to focus on English dubs will be as rewarding for Square Enix as it is for fans, but if nothing else, it’s a refreshing change in a series that innovates in each of its games. If the success of the scenarios written by Yoshida forFinal Fantasy 14is anything to go by, then the story is sure to be memorable with or without dialogue.
