Voice acting so bad

I have tried using the English voices on and off since HW released.

I just can't do it any more.

They're so terrible. None of the voices match the characters faces or personalities.

I hope they change in the next expansion.

I wish they used American voices or at least good English ones.

I do t understand why some people actually really like them.

It's at the point where I'm actually embarrassed to have audio enabled while people are around me because it sounds so bad

It's not even just that the voices themselves are so bad.

It's that they're horrible actors.

Everything sounds so forced and scripted.

None of the emotional scenes feel natural.

It's just absolute garbage and square should be ashamed for releasing it.

I think the voice actors actually sound like the characters and IMO they're good at it ( though some are bad but there's always a few)

The only English voices I had issues with in Heavensward were Merlwyb and Urianger. Everyone else is decent.

If this is bad voice acting to you, you may be overly picky. There's nothing wrong with them.

That or you're one of those people who thinks japanese voice acting is always better than english voice acting.

Do not forget some of the voice actors are actually different in HW, not sure if the previous ones just were not happy or what, lol

I like em.
Alisaie is bae

It's bad voice acting because it sounds like a terrible anime dub.

I almost never like Japanese voices.

FF has always had good English voice acting.
The problem isn't as much their voices themselves.

I like English voices.

The problem is they put the wrong emphasis on everything they're saying and absolutely nothin sounds natural.

Good VAs will actively act out their part in the studio while they're recording.

These people just sound like they're standing In front of a mic twiddling their thumbs.

It doesn't help either that the vocal recordings themselves are garbage.

There's no directional audio. Nothing soft spoken.

It's all very flat.

No reverb.

Nothing.

It's just crap. And not worthy of being in FF

I like the dub

But I'm really really biased towards Sam Riegel so when he stopped doing my precious child I cried a little.

It's okay though he's gone to voicing Ky Kiske so I can live with that

Most of the budget went to FF15; shame we can't have Sean Bean, Lena Headey, etc as the voices in Heavensward like they do in FF15... oh well.

Kidding aside ... the voice acting is passable. In 2.0 it was not too good, but as patches went on it's gotten much better. 3.0 was jarring since the VA changed, so we had to get used to them again.

I can make a recording in my cellphone sound better with twenty minutes in FL studio.

I actually like the voice cast for Heavensward; most of voices suit the characters (though they keep changing Lucia's voice, lol). The side/background characters however does seem like the voice actors are just trying too hard XD (For example: The lady that drugged us in the latest patch-her voice made me cringe a bit) The main characters are perfect, they should keep the voice actors for them (they better not replace Ser Aymeric's voice actor or I'm gonna have a fit X[)

OOOOOOO I think the OP is a tad salty for some reason "holds out popcorn"

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Originally Posted by DreamAngel-Ren

I actually like the voice cast for Heavensward; most of voices suit the characters (though they keep changing Lucia's voice, lol). The side/background characters however does seem like the voice actors are just trying too hard XD (For example: The lady that drugged us in the latest patch-her voice made me cringe a bit) The main characters are perfect, they should keep the voice actors for them (they better not replace Ser Aymeric's voice actor or I'm gonna have a fit X[)

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That's actually what just pushed me over the edge.

She has the voice of some burly ugly mean Scottish lady tat weighs 200LBs and the face doesn't match at all.

Aymeric is fantastic yes. So is Lucia. The only two whose VAs actually do well and suit the characters.

yeah they suck

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Originally Posted by KeluBehemoth

That's actually what just pushed me over the edge.

She has the voice of some burly ugly mean Scottish lady tat weighs 200LBs and the face doesn't match at all.

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LOL! Her voice did sound out of place for the character XDD

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Originally Posted by KeluBehemoth

It's bad voice acting because it sounds like a terrible anime dub.

I almost never like Japanese voices.

FF has always had good English voice acting.
The problem isn't as much their voices themselves.

I like English voices.

The problem is they put the wrong emphasis on everything they're saying and absolutely nothin sounds natural.

Good VAs will actively act out their part in the studio while they're recording.

These people just sound like they're standing In front of a mic twiddling their thumbs.

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This is often a sign of bad direction, more than bad voice acting. Many VAs record all their lines in isolation over a couple of days without other actors to bounce off of. This leads to issues where emphasis is placed on the wrong words due to not knowing how the line you're responding to was said. It's down to the directors to make it clear to the actors how they should enunciate and emphasize what they're saying in order to maintain natural flow and consistency. It is indeed a common problem in English localization in general.

I'm actually OK with Heavensward's voice acting though. There are a few weak points but overall it's fairly good. Not perfect, but passable.

Yeah. These VAs sound like a bunch of nerdy kids LARPing trying to speak Old Timey English an epically failing.

Ifeel you all. French dub is worst. Actually most french dub are just awful and I don't even try to listen to them anymore. what a big relief it was when original voice were enable on the ffxiii steam version

You're trying too hard, Kelu. A good troll requires a bit of subtlety.

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Originally Posted by KeluBehemoth

I can make a recording in my cellphone sound better with twenty minutes in FL studio.

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Let's see you do it. Post it to youtube so we can critique it side by side with the actual cutscenes.

I'd say the voice acting - as of 3.0 - is incredible. It's easily in line with FFXII's brilliant style and quality. Asking for 'American' voices is pretty silly, really. I'll never understand the people who claim that Japanese voice acting is 'better' when they can't even understand the language.

I don't have an issue with the voice acting. ._. Sure, sometimes the characters sound a bit flat, or the emphasis is a bit odd... but I've heard MUCH worse.

Have you ever watched Anime, in Japanese, then the same anime in English, and said to yourself, man the English version was so much better!....?

I highly doubt it.


Just be happy the Garlean Empire doesn't rush us shrieking "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!!"

I never had any complaints about the voice acting. To me it all sounds fine.
If you call this acting like people are just reading emotionless from a page then you've clearly never heard a dubbed children show in dutch. I cringe each time I hear that bad school play level of "voiceacting"

Also claiming, like the OP, that the voice doesnt fit to the face is highly subjective. I've once heard a magnificent sounding opera quality loud voice, you imagine a well-build soprano to put it mildly :P To my surprise it turned out a lithe smallish singer.

Also using famous actors like Sean Bean or Lena Headly doesnt mean they would do a better job. It depends on how well they are directed and how well they can do a recording without actually acting a roll.

And as a closer at least we got a whole cast of voice actors, god forbid SE would go the way of some dubbed soap opera i've seen on polish television where each and every voice is dubbed by the same actor :D

SE have chosen quantity over quality with the entire production of the story, it would have been much better if they had cut down the number of cutscenes and story quests so they could have created something special. The old republic got it right, story missions are every 5 levels and are of a very high quality, equal to that of a single player game.

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Originally Posted by KeluBehemoth

Yeah. These VAs sound like a bunch of nerdy kids LARPing trying to speak Old Timey English an epically failing.

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Are you American, by any chance?

I think the HW characters have been cast pretty well - I especially love Estinien's voice actor, he has exactly the right balance of gruffness/ softness that suits the character perfectly. The only one I'm not fond of is Haurchefant, and I preferred Ysayle's ARR voice.

I'm glad Alphinaud got a new voice actor too, he sounded... odd in ARR.

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Originally Posted by Sucuri

Have you ever watched Anime, in Japanese, then the same anime in English, and said to yourself, man the English version was so much better!....?

I highly doubt it.

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Cowboy Bebop, Kill la Kill, FLCL, Gurran Lagann, Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood... A Certain Scientific Railgun. Most Studio Ghibli films.

I don't watch a lot of anime these days (and can barely remember the name of most), but I honestly prefer watching them with English voices. The only voices I ever have issues with are the high-pitched characters, who are equally as bad, if not worse, in Japanese (as they're higher-pitched).

I feel the same way for the most part. Just from my exp watching anime it always seems like english dubs are horribly flat and unenthusiastic compared to JP voice acting.

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Originally Posted by Sucuri

Have you ever watched Anime, in Japanese, then the same anime in English, and said to yourself, man the English version was so much better!....?

I highly doubt it.

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There's actually one anime where I'd like to say that the English dub is as good as the original voice acting, in a few places marginally better. Earthian, OVA1 (the only one of them I've seen dubbed).
One instance of "marginally better" is one place where a character reaches out to a dude sitting in an alley, going, "Are you o-" *slight gasp and pause of hand movement as the dude moves to look up* "-kay?" No such pause/gasp in the Japanese audio. It worked okay in the original, it's not that, but the dub actually gave that scene more emotion O.o I had not expected that one at all.

But I agree, there aren't many dubs of that quality ^^;

Of course, my bf once watched a Thai dub (made in English, for some reason) of Sailor Moon, where the voice actors sounded like they were privately going, "Don't shoot, don't hurt me! I am dubbing, I promise! D:" So... there are extremes in both directions, I guess?

With regards to FFXIV audio, I prefer the Japanese audio, even when the audio clearly doesn't match the text given to me in the bubbles (and I understand juuust enough Japanese to catch some of those WTF moments, but not nearly enough to understand the entirety of what they're saying), and even when there are lines that aren't translated (like in the ending cutscene of 2.0 MSQ).

Edit:

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Originally Posted by Nestama

The only voices I ever have issues with are the high-pitched characters, who are equally as bad, if not worse, in Japanese (as they're higher-pitched).

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Oh, right. Yeah... Those tend to be painful ^^; Fortunately, I don't often watch anime with too many of that kind of characters in them.

I listen to the japanese audio and language and the voice acting is awesome. I'm glad to see they don't seem to have changed the japanese actors in the expansion, I was worried because SE said they had changed some actors, but I guess they meant the actors for the English audio.

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Originally Posted by Sucuri

Have you ever watched Anime, in Japanese, then the same anime in English, and said to yourself, man the English version was so much better!....?

I highly doubt it.

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Never! I find the original japanese animes much better. The grave and sexy voice of the demon Sebastian in Black Butler played by Daisuke Ono is top, I could hear him talk all day long with pleasure. The rest of the cast is awesome as well. I've been checking out some of the other animes he was in so I can listen to his voice again, and again, and again...

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Originally Posted by Theodric

I'd say the voice acting - as of 3.0 - is incredible. It's easily in line with FFXII's brilliant style and quality. Asking for 'American' voices is pretty silly, really. I'll never understand the people who claim that Japanese voice acting is 'better' when they can't even understand the language.

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I see, you probably never watch foreign international movies in their original language with subtitles then? Only movies in English coming from anglophone countries or dubbed in English are acceptable to you then? That is very wrong.

I like to watch international movies, and I prefer to watch them in their original language with subtitles, whether they're movies or animes, I don't make much difference between the two. The original version of the game is japanese, and we're allowed to listen to the japanese audio, which I'm very happy about, and it's the one I listen to.

You know what I find funny about people complaining about bad voice acting is when you do listen to the Japanese voices (and I am meaning for anime and other such too) sure it may sound perfect but for all we know on the other coin the Japanese watch and cringe at how truly terrible it is, most of us (I assume) don't even speak it but it just sounds better cus we can't tell.

Could you do better? :o

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Originally Posted by MrsFluffyButt

Could you do better? :o

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OP claims they can do better with a cell phone and 20 minutes in FT Studio.

I'm waiting to see the proof, if they bother providing any. :3

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Originally Posted by Ashkendor

OP claims they can do better with a cell phone and 20 minutes in FT Studio.

I'm waiting to see the proof, if they bother providing any. :3

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SE, hire this pro now! OP so darn good that you even need any other VA's!

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Originally Posted by Sucuri

Have you ever watched Anime, in Japanese, then the same anime in English, and said to yourself, man the English version was so much better!....?

I highly doubt it.


Just be happy the Garlean Empire doesn't rush us shrieking "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!!"

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In addition to everyone else's examples, Princess Tutu has the best english dub I have ever heard in an anime. It's not better than the Japanese, and it's not worse, it's EXACTLY THE SAME. The english actors sound almost exactly like the japanese actors. It's uncanny.

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Originally Posted by MrsFluffyButt

SE, hire this pro now! OP so darn good that you even need any other VA's!

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The entire cast of Heavensward voiced by the same person doing different accents.

Would pay to see this.

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Originally Posted by Sucuri

Have you ever watched Anime, in Japanese, then the same anime in English, and said to yourself, man the English version was so much better!....?

I highly doubt it.


Just be happy the Garlean Empire doesn't rush us shrieking "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!!"

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FMA
Engrish Waaaaaaaaaaay better than Jap. Couldn't even watch the Jap...made me want to drive to my friend house and punch him and his family. Never cringed so hard... Also a few of the examples Nestama Listed.

On the Subject of the thread, Im in the same boat some of the people of this thread are in...Not Pulling me in, but passable. Would also like to see how Boss the OP is with their Cellphone and FL Studio