Japanese Audio is Outrageously Bad

[OatBran]

Usually I love to play with original Japanese audio in any game that has it, as the actors feel more dramatic and authentic to me, plus I do enjoy reading the script and trying to saturate myself in the Japanese culture...

But this game has got to be the absolute worst I have ever heard. Balthier and Vaan both are orders of magnatude more bland and uninspired than their american counterparts. None of the female voices I have heard yet outside of Ashe have any character to them either...

Anyone else feel this way?

[Radiosity]

Original FF12 was the first game where I realised dubs could actually be good. It was still extremely rare at the time though. And after trying the JP voices... yeah, English all the way.

[kurosov]

Audio in the game is weird. The annoying voices on the English dub are much better in the Japanese one but the ones that are great in the English one use VA's that just don't fit the role.

[CAPTAIN CHUA]

FFX and FFXII are the only FFs I cringed at ♥♥♥ VA.

[ドラザラー]

I am not a fan of Vaans English dub. That is just my opinion. Everyone is welcome to their own.

[El Fuerte]

Its funny because weaboos often don't understand that the English recording is the intended audio by the developers. That happens since 1996 when RE came out, and its still a common practice in games like the Souls series.

they just record the japanese audio later without caring

[Vayne]

JAPANESE voice is way more natural and superior

[Hinnyuu]

I feel amazed how many people feel it's necessary to point out that a topic labeled "xyz is outrageously bad" is about subjective opinions.

What are you expecting, absolute truths?

OF COURSE everything in here is just people's opinions.

[Vayne]

Postat inițial de Dwight:

Postat inițial de Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca:

JAPANESE voice is way more natural and superior

Opinion, "Lady ashe".

Since OP is asking a question, I answer it

[Radiosity]

Postat inițial de Dwight:

Postat inițial de Radiosity:

English all the way.

yey! there we go.

Don't get me wrong, normally I despise English dubs and always go JP if available (like P5, thank god Atlus pulled their fingers out on that one). But for this particular game the English works much better. It gives it a Star Wars feel tbh (original Star Wars, that is).

[a.j]

I love the Japanese dub and I've played the game in English on my first playthrough!, after that I haven't touched the English dub ever again, I don't consider it bad or anything... is maybe one of the best in any game ever but for me is Japanese all the way at least in my Japanese games also I studied Japanese for 10 years so it's not a big deal to me, and English is not my native language and that means a lot as I don't like to play to play games that are not American in English just like I played the Witcher series in Polish

[Inssengrimm]

I think a great deal with this is on the fact if you are acustomed to japanese VA in general and if you can take off the nostalgia glasses when making a judgment.

TZA gave me the chance to finally heard in game the Japanese VA and ill give my opinions on the main cast, of course, there are opinions of what i FEEL coming from the VA in both versions, this is a completely subjective matter.

Vaan: Japanese just fits him so much better, to the point of changing the whole character, giving him a more realistic voice to his part in the story as a point of view character that is childish but is watching all these historic events unfold before his eyes and he goes growing up with each experience, its really for me the better voice as it gives much more value to the character. English is not bad, but its a huge responsible in his "annoying" nature. Also, the japanese deliveries are very diferent, Vaan is REALLY diferent with the japanese VA.

Penelo: Japanese again is the better voice here, but by a smaller margin, gives Penelo an adorable girl tone, but also keeps her "mom-like" caring nature and more mature lookout on things that complements Vaan so well, that is amazing, The english VA is really good at both these things, but Japanese really is a bit better, more natural, her deliveries are somehow more "sensible".

Balthier: Ok, the VA for Balthier in Japanese is no unknown guy, Hiroaki Hiyata is the voice of several "cool guy" anime characters, most famously for Sanji Vinsmoke in One Piece. He is one of the better possible choices for the japanese to pick the kind of "leading man" young guy who is both "cool and carefree and tries to show that doesn't care but deep down he cares and knows whats going on" (kinda long there...) and really you cannot do much better with the budgets for videogame VAs. Thing here is... Gideon Emery just does Balthier so well, is not even that Hiroaki Hiyata is bad, no way, he is amazing actually, but Emergy just steals the role, personifies and gives so much life and depth to the Balthier archetype, his deliviries are so amazing, the subtle tone shifts between serious and cooky. English is the better here just because pure outstanding performance.

Fran: Fran is another complex one, to be honest Fran is a complex character in herself because she is saw through 2 perspectives really, her own of herself and how the party looks at her. The japanese VA focuses more in the first, giving her a more "younger" tone, her deliveries are bit more soft too, that way it focuses in her goals of looking for freedom and growing wiser while still being serious and mature. The English focuses on the perspective of her that the party has, the party looks at Fran as the source of measure and wisdom, she is technically the "navigator" of the party too, so her English voice that really focuses her mature nature, her intengrity and her "wise" aspect also really favors her, in the end, the choice is more in what kind of Fran you wanna see develop than the quality of the VA itself.

Basch: Ok, this is Balthier the other way arround. The english VA fulffills its roll perfectly, the soldier-veteran guy who has seen some things, hardened, and needs to fulfill some other stuff and nails it, really does, is really a good pick for this character and a good performance. But japanese voice acting in this case, with Rikiya Koyama is just superb beyond reason, Rikiya has a folio of VA that basically incarnates the role of the "hardened veteran" both in anime and games, and even in movies, he is the voice of Boromir in the lord of the rings DUB, in animes he is the voice of several amazing characters that fill this role, most notably Kiritsugu Emiya from the FATE series and Yamato in Naruto. He just steals the voice here exactly like Emery does with Balthier, pure outstanding performance.

Ashe: My more complicated character to reflect upon. The Japanese VA is a bit more soft, she is like the revenge looking mid age woman but with a more motherly hint to her, also, the few scenes i've seen with her, there is also a more immaturity to her that makes her look far less stoic and vulnerable than her english counterpart. The English voice is also good, but focuses a lot on her revenge wanton, her roughness in general and makes her look really really strong sometimes, now that i reflect upon it, making her feel very less human... But i really need to listen her a lot more in japanese to really make a call, right now i'd say english has the edge tho here.

-----

In the end, is all about tastes, and what you expect form the voices from each character, in general i'd say the japanese voice acting is more solid overall, but english has like, diferent spins to some voices that opens new interpretations of the characters. Honestly, i think ill just go switching between them along the story till Cid. At Cid ill make my final call. Enemies are also important, and honestly the Japanese really steals it with them tho, Vayne and Gabranth unff.

[WickedRequiem]

Can I change the language during middle of the game without starting over?
I want to try both.

[Inssengrimm]

Postat inițial de WickedRequiem:

Can I change the language during middle of the game without starting over?
I want to try both.

Yes you can.

[Shirakani]

As someone who speaks both languages, I fully concur with Alexander's post above.

[Broseph Stallion]

It depends. If i play a game set in Japan, then yes i enjoy the Nihongo. But a game like FF is not in Japan so i dont give 2 s*h*i*t*s. Same goes for anime, set in Nippon, Nihongo sounds awesome. Set in the future on some crap planet or with robot vagina monsters, i dont care what tongue they speak.