ARR needs two simple fixes until an actual revamp

[Artemiz]

I've no idea if changing the voice acting in ARR will change much, I suspect not. I did look back at some of the early cutscenes recently though having not seen them since I played through them at launch and some characters are..... challenging. I have finally convinced my Brother to try the game again after we both started playing at launch so I watched them to see, and hope they would pull him in. Compared to newer cutscenes the quality is very poor and some character are like nails down a chalk board. I hope he accepts my promise it gets better, but from a new player experience its not a great opening act.

[Lanadra]

I've no idea if changing the voice acting in ARR will change much, I suspect not. I did look back at some of the early cutscenes recently though having not seen them since I played through them at launch and some characters are..... challenging. I have finally convinced my Brother to try the game again after we both started playing at launch so I watched them to see, and hope they would pull him in. Compared to newer cutscenes the quality is very poor and some character are like nails down a chalk board. I hope he accepts my promise it gets better, but from a new player experience its not a great opening act.

Advise him, if he's at all open to the idea, to try the JP voice overs, it'll vastly improve the voiced experience at the very least in ARR.

[van_arn]

Advise him, if he's at all open to the idea, to try the JP voice overs, it'll vastly improve the voiced experience at the very least in ARR.

"The voices are great if you don't understand what they're saying" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, you realize.

[Shurrikhan]

"The voices are great if you don't understand what they're saying" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, you realize.

I understand both just fine (I play on the JPN client as often as not, and finish the MSQ once each in either version across this char and my main alt), and it's still a mixed bag. With some exceptions across ARR specifically, overall, some VAs seem to fit their alleged characters a bit more than others, or just have more attractive (or, less grating) voices outright, in either direction -- some better on the ENG version, some on the JPN version. For instance, I prefer JPN Cid (not as cocky-sounding as his words sometimes imply) and ENG Tataru (JPN being grating, for me). Most, though, they're just different, more so than one being "better" than the other.

(Though Shadowbringers ENG Gaius, Ardbert, and maybe even Ranjit, for instance... it amazes me how well they fit while also seeming to uniquely fit. Whereas many of the JPN voices felt like they could have been reslotted/recast any which way, something about the ENG voices there felt right and right for that character only.)

Tbh, one of the huge marks of quality for me is that the lines themselves are often so well adjusted to those different voices. At that point it just becomes a matter of which personality you prefer (e.g. ENG Alisae vs. JPN Alisae) and, honestly, even while different they tend to be equally good, imo.

[Lanadra]

"The voices are great if you don't understand what they're saying" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, you realize.

I'd rather hear Japanese voices and get the gist of what's meant to be said through the English text than to subject myself to the cruel and unusual punishment that is English dubbing in this game.

[wereotter]

Advise him, if he's at all open to the idea, to try the JP voice overs, it'll vastly improve the voiced experience at the very least in ARR.

I mean that's a pretty subjective matter... to me a lot of Japanese voice acting, even without being able to understand the actual words said, sounds terrible. Over-acted and some with high nasally pitches that actually are physically painful to listen to.