Yoshida confirms Final Fantasy XVI uses British English only

Thread: Yoshida confirms Final Fantasy XVI uses British English only
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Vyse

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Final Fantasy XVI's producer has confirmed that the game uses British English only and no American accents, in order to channel the game's medieval Europe setting.

Speaking to Japanese publication Dengeki Online, Naoki Yoshida said that all of the game's voice and motion capture work was performed by European actors, so as not to break expectations from American players that the setting's characters should have British accents.

"This is especially true for our generation, but there is an image that 'Medieval fantasy = Europe' made popular by The Lord of the Rings," he said.

"Currently, there is no game that depicts a medieval fantasy world of this scale with PS5 class graphics. So we decided to focus on the scenery of medieval Europe and fused it with the fantasy we came up with."

Yoshida continued: "This time, the motion capture and voice acting are performed by European actors. However, since we Japanese designed the game, we first wrote the script in Japanese, then translated it into English, and then did facial capture in English after.

"But even though it's in English, we've been careful not to include any American accents. The decision was made to prevent American players from getting angry: 'I was looking forward to medieval European fantasy, so why are there American accents?!' (Laughs). Therefore, all lines are recorded in British English."

Final Fantasy XVI was announced last summer as a PlayStation 5 exclusive release. The game features a medieval-inspired setting and, going by its trailers, features a cast of mostly British voice actors.
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https://www.videogameschronicle.com...british-english-only-and-no-american-accents/
 
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It is very troubling to see concessions like this with Final Fantasy XVI. If they actually changed their doctrine on voice acting to appease "critics" it begs the question what else have they also also compromised?

Now I am weary that Final Fantasy XVI, and other upcoming titles like Dragon Quest XII will be far lesser versions of what they could have been.
 
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To be honest, I've never had a problem with American accents in medieval fantasy games. So long as it remains consistent with certain characters and races.

In Dragon Age, both the Elves and Dwarves spoke with American accents and the Humans of Ferelden with English Accents. Though they did change the accents of the Elves to Welsh in DA2, I liked that it made the nonhumans distinct in the world.

In The Witcher games, Doug Cockle doesn't even bother trying to attempt an English accent when playing Geralt of Rivia. And I liked that, as it made Geralt stand out amongst the nobility and peasantry of the Continent. Coincidentally, his fellow Witchers all speak with American accents, even Letho of Gulet. The only other characters not a witcher I've heard speak with an American accent are Triss and Dandelion, but I don't mind them because they fit their characters so well.

Back on topic though, I mean good on Square for going the extra mile with this (even hiring actors from Europe). My only concern is that the dialogue they originally wrote in Japanese may not translate well to English. You need a good translator to pick out the nuances and change them accordingly from one language to another.
 
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In games that have both, most of the time the British accent is for nobles and the American one is for the poor. FFXII comes to mind but there are others. So yeah, I'd rather not perpetuate that stereotype that somehow a British accent is "better".
 
So they will be british voice actors like Xenoblade Chronicles then? Out of the major RPG's, there's only Dragon Quest left that still has American voice acting and in that series, the main character doesn't even talk.
As consolation, at least code name steam had Abraham Lincoln in it though:
cGc
 
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It's fantasy, not fiction. Yoshida's excuse doesn't hold any water.

I don't have anything against British/European voice acting - I'd like to see more of it - it's the combo of poor writing, directing and acting that always annoys me. That often ruins good casting. SE doesn't have what I consider a strong track record in this regard, they couldn't even get FFVIIR right and I liked that cast.

While we're talking about voice acting, is excessive, awkward grunting expected by the American audiences he claims to be pandering to?

 
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