Final Fantasy XV: Cup Noodle XV Special Edition

[6souls]

Oh, my bad. This is the Mech version.

[arus2001]

Always fun watching dub hate.

As an aside, some would more than likely recognize Kari as Ashe from XII, while having done other anime work like Saber in the recent Fate shows. Doubting she'd use her more childlike voice, but was also Fuu in Samurai Champloo and also did the crazy chick in FLCL. Citing R&M and KFP probably seemed more a pop culture/recognition thing for not-quite-FF fans.

Nonetheless, doubt it'll be as horribad as the people not even willing to try would want us to believe. Just gotta do a better job with the lip flaps or CGI recoding.

[Silenka]

It's not even dub hate, it's the fact that the Japanese track is already there, and there are always subtitles available for the cutscenes regardless of the fact that the games are English voice-locked in North America. All they need to do is somehow make enough room for both vocal tracks, which admittedly may be an issue with a game this large but I know for a fact that enough people are interested in playing it with Japanese voice acting (based on the number of people who switched to Japanese asap with X/X-2 HD) that they could at least provide it as an optional download or something to cater to that part of the fanbase. I mean, Lost Odyssey had fully four or five language tracks on it, and it added a new facet of replayability because it was fun playing through the game in all the different languages.

And in case you were wondering (in case your remark was aimed at me), I personally don't think FF's voice acting is piss-poor or anything. FF12's voice acting was the best (although Ashe's VA didn't seem to know what to do with all the random noises the Japanese are accustomed to making and her imitation of them was pretty bad), but FFX-2's was definitely the worst and being able to play it in Japanese instead is a godsend. It's just good to have the choice available for the times when they do drop the ball.

[Tyrath]

but I know for a fact that enough people are interested in playing it with Japanese voice acting

Yeah this is where I think you're biased and think a lot more people want this than they actually do.

[Silenka]

It could be a case of a certain subset of fans complaining the loudest.

Regardless, it's not that much of a stretch in today's age to include both vocal tracks.

[TheDirtyHobo]

All they need to do is somehow make enough room for both vocal tracks, which admittedly may be an issue with a game this large

It wouldn't be if they learned how to compress their audio.

You could fit the first 3 FF games in the same disk space it took Lightning to say "Worst birthday ever."

[arus2001]

Yeah this is where I think you're biased and think a lot more people want this than they actually do.

Yeah, I've got no issue with people wanting to hear it natively, but the whole point of dubbing seems to get frequently overlooked in all the arguments of purity or weeabooism: It increases exposure. That means more people playing, more people talking about it, more money for SE, and more likely more JRPGs in the future. Lord knows past gen was sparse there.

Seriously, anytime I've had someone come in on me watching subbed anime, it's like, "You watch that ching-chong bullshit?" or some other similarly racist crap. Not understanding immediately injects a certain bias into people whether we like it or not. And no amount of, "WATCH IT LIKE THAT ANYWAY!" arm flailing is gonna change their mind. So, multi-tracks, downloadable, whatever? Fine. Just don't presume making it default would make the experience better for everyone, because that's 100% not true. If it were, I'd argue international cinema would be more of a thing in the US than the occasional Crouching Tiger or other "big hit" that does sneak in every year or two.

[Spira]

I agree. wanting the subtitles experience is to me complaining for the sake of it.

seriously, japanese VA are generally better, but they're not godlike the way a lot of people seem to make it out to be. And these are generally the same people who don't even understand a single word of Japanese. That's what pisses me off. They just want an unintelligible foreign voice so that they won't know better than to pass actual judgment on it. When you understand Japanese and play these games you'll realize that theyre every bit as cheesy and awkward as the english versions 90% of the time.. IF you understand japanese.

the relative standard of English VA has also gone up significantly since the early days of FFX. Take Lightning for example - i can say quite confidently that Ali Hillis does a better job voicing the role than the Japanese seiyuu. The common problem with Japanese seiyuus is that its actually very fake - every character archetype has a "style", but generally nobody actually speaks Japanese the way the seiyuus do.

...as to the point above about Crouching Tiger. Crouching Tiger 2 was shot in English. Talk about irony.

[Alkar]

Isn't this game dual-audio anyway? I'm pretty sure this was confirmed a long time ago...

[Tyrath]

I think so.

[Alkar]

Yeah, I just checked and even the Gamescom demo has that option so where are the dub complaints coming from exactly? lol

[Elcura]

Yeah, I just checked and even the Gamescom demo has that option so where are the dub complaints coming from exactly? lol

Same place most complaints come from; nowhere.

Though it seemed to me that people were also bitching that the VA weren't famous enough as well. Long as they do a good job and it isn't distracting or painful ('kay) it should be fine. Ever since FFX the dubbing has been getting far better and these days is comparable to other general media.

I mean I don't often complain about hearing English anywhere else...

[Destinye]

Yeah, I just checked and even the Gamescom demo has that option so where are the dub complaints coming from exactly? lol

I'd assume the quality of the dub they've experienced so far? I don't think it's people complaining for the sake of complaining like "oh no there's dubbed va!" and I don't think it has to do with being a 'weeaboo' (still surprised this term is even around) but the simple fact dubbing tends to be not the best. So while there is a dual option, people probably just overlooked it, which a lot tend to (especially when it comes to certain games where people will willingly overlook stuff.)

Like if all I could get is the english VA if I picked up FFXV..am I not allowed to complain about the fact Noctis in english sounds..kind of flat so far? I know his personality is "ugh whatever" type, but there's something off about it, and if I so happen to like the Japanese VA more why would that automatically make someone a weeaboo? It seems whenever it comes to English vs Japanese is when people seem to draw certain conclusions, but if someone said they like the Spanish VA better (if applicable) no one cares lol.

Also:

seriously, japanese VA are generally better, but they're not godlike the way a lot of people seem to make it out to be.

They're not godlike, but a Japanese game tend to have Va that fits a bit more considering the game's design and writing. A lot of stuff is lost or changed in localization that makes foreign dubbing a bit worse than it is because they not only don't reanimate/resync the cutscenes and dialog to the foreign languages, but you miss a lot of injokes that makes so much more sense in Japanese that the JP VA nails better.

Idk though, I just always find it funny people seem to have a problem whenever dub vs original get brought up, especially when it comes to English vs Japanese. I've never seen much debate crop up when it comes to English vs Korean for example.

[Alkar]

Reading some of the recent comments it seemed like they had to listen to English VAs when it's obviously not the case. Why even complain about how "terrible" the dub is if you're not gonna listen to it anyway?

[Elcura]

Japanese VA are far more rigid because of their industry. They have voice types for every character, gender and age range (which ultimately boils down to like 5 different voices for each type give or take). The amount of unique voices you'll hear are few and far in-between.

They don't consider unique characters and game design at all, they consider archetypes that are present in everything (anime, TV, games, hell if light novels had voices, even idol/music groups...) and have a set of voices for them. Shy girl, glasses boy, student council present, big boobs women, cool guys, older guys etc. there is a voice profile for all that shit.

Western media doesn't really do that, so the potential for a voice to be hit or miss is huge, but usually it fits fine and there are some really good western VA but no one really gives a shit about voices here so...

[KuroTsuki]

When you understand Japanese and play these games you'll realize that theyre every bit as cheesy and awkward as the english versions 90% of the time.. IF you understand japanese.

I'd say you don't even have to understand Japanese to see that. Just watch shit in Japanese long enough and you'll see it.

I don't understand much and there are a few voice types in Japanese that I just fucking hate. If an anime has too many of those types, I just can't do it. Either I'll wait for a dub or just read it, if available in manga. A lot of them are cutesy types, which are the type of anime I avoid in general now, but every once in a while they sneak into shows I like.

[Silenka]

I don't understand much and there are a few voice types in Japanese that I just fucking hate.

And then there are the super odd ones like Goku in Dragonball. Who is voiced by a woman. A woman who modulates her voice to be as shrill and annoying as possible, apparently. Yeeuuuughhh.

There is definitely bad voice acting in Japanese but it is relatively uncommon compared to english voice acting in my experience. However, there are some dubs I loved (fullmetal alchemist most notably, also ghost in the shell:sac, the ff games aren't terrible either), and even playing through FFX in Japanese finally I found out that the Japanese voices are not much better than the English ones, and in some areas not even as good, which was honestly pretty surprising to me. The quality of English dubbing has more or less been going steadily upwards across the industry and it does make stuff a lot more accessible for people who don't understand Japanese/don't want to read subtitles, but people are allowed to prefer the other side too I think.

I didn't know the game was supposed to be dual-audio, that is a huge change from the usual with FF because they have never included the Japanese track (except for XIV I suppose) but it stands to reason that since everything is downloadable now they could offer it one way or another. I hope they continue the trend for the people who enjoy playing in other languages - like I said, it does add some facet of replayability for people who enjoy other languages and incentive for the "weaboo purists" too. But I still don't see why everyone who prefers to play in Japanese has to be stamped "weaboo". Some of them are but some of them aren't. As a non-weaboo who prefers to play in Japanese, I use it for language practice and reinforcement and to avoid any potential bad dubs. The Japanese is less likely to be terrible or way off base on certain characters than English for the reasons Elcura stated so I consider it the safe and default option. And I was never arguing that the game be offered with its default as Japanese, I don't think I saw anyone else argue that either, of course that would be a terrible idea...

(of course the term weaboo still exists, there are so many of them lol)

[Alkar]

Lightning Returns also had dual audio (had to be downloaded). It's been a thing for a while even on console FF games.

[arus2001]

As a non-weaboo who prefers to play in Japanese, I use it for language practice and reinforcement and to avoid any potential bad dubs.

Here's the thing: You've already set yourself up for hate with the presumption it's bad. That's the kinda weeaboo mentality I'm scolding, not so much language reinforcement or even curiosity. And since the JP wind up your first impression, even if you do go through a second play, they're now the standard you're comparing to and hoping they "fit" what you heard before. As someone mentioned with Goku, sometimes the VA choices are miles apart. And that automatically isn't bad thing.

Stuff getting lost in translation isn't something I'd say frequently happens in the FF franchise. It's not set in Japan, so things like their various festivals or even direct interpretations of myth are so much a thing. If anything, they usually wind up more western in aesthetic. Honorifics? Perhaps, but it's not something I lose sleep over.

[Ayn]

Japanese VA are far more rigid because of their industry. They have voice types for every character, gender and age range (which ultimately boils down to like 5 different voices for each type give or take). The amount of unique voices you'll hear are few and far in-between.

They don't consider unique characters and game design at all, they consider archetypes that are present in everything (anime, TV, games, hell if light novels had voices, even idol/music groups...) and have a set of voices for them. Shy girl, glasses boy, student council present, big boobs women, cool guys, older guys etc. there is a voice profile for all that shit.

Western media doesn't really do that, so the potential for a voice to be hit or miss is huge, but usually it fits fine and there are some really good western VA but no one really gives a shit about voices here so...

Good points. It depends on the game. Right now I'm playing Type-0. Some of the English VA's dodgy, but not bad. Been swapping back and forth depending on the mood.

Persona 4 though, is a good example that for me at least, the English VA is much better than the Japanese in my opinion.

Like people have said, we've come a long way from English VA, since the days of Star Ocean 2.