This frequency of English localization issues is unacceptable

[Telkira]

Then why are all of the in-game signs and even the map written in English using the Eorzean script?

Why are 95% of the songs in the game with lyrics sung in English and written by the previous English head localizer/lore guy?

Just because the game is made in Japan doesn’t mean the worldwide audience is secondary to the home audience either.

It's still done to appease a Japanese audience first and foremost. Using an obvious parody of English text for their fictional in-universe text, the use of songs with lyrics that are in English does not really change that. The game, from conception to production, is innately Japanese and designed primarily for the entertainment of a Japanese audience.

I'll ask you this.
If the revisions/deviations made by the English localizers are so good, why aren't they in the Japanese script?
Why are other languages which were translated directly from the Japanese script more well-received than when content is translated/adapted from the English script?
Why aren't Japanese users clamoring for a proper JP (re)localization of all the things that are in English text, but not in Japanese?

I can tell you this: It's not because Japanese culture is inherently different. It's because the Japanese script and text content is generally more well-liked and has less people complaining about it compared to the English one, which is probably why less people complain about the German and French scripts being so different.

It was also said somewhere that he recommended Japanese players to play the English version as well though I can’t find the source on that.

Probably because he never said that, and that it's just something people probably made up and something Westerners take as fact (for whatever reason).
I don't doubt that he had his staff screen Game of Thrones, that's actually what I'd imagine a game developer would do, since that's really just the type of research many game devs go through.

But it's still a Japanese product designed for a Japanese audience.

With regard to FFXVI, they tried to get away with some censorship by toning down the violence committed by one of the antagonists, but thankfully other narrative sources still commit to it (I'm not going to risk a ban discussing it on this forum, so do your own research). It's that type of 'localization' which borders censorship because it quickly goes from 'eliciting feelings the devs wanted to a Western audience' to appeasing the insecurities of a foreign market while also detracting from the weight of the narrative because certain people might think a villain is too triggering.
Those people shouldn't be playing 17+ rated video games, god knows how they'd react to classical literature that actually does commit to it.

[MikkoAkure]

It's still done to appease a Japanese audience first and foremost. Using an obvious parody of English text for their fictional in-universe text, the use of songs with lyrics that are in English does not really change that. The game, from conception to production, is innately Japanese and designed primarily for the entertainment of a Japanese audience.

This is an MMO that is made to market a global audience. In the interview with the localizers, Square-Enix themselves have said FFXIV is "a title aimed at a global audience". Unlike other single-player JRPGs or anime, non-Japanese players aren't some satellite demographic that they considered to be a bonus to their main target audience. Everything is developed with everyone in mind. And again, the head localizer for the English version was the one who wrote and even sang many of the songs in the game and less than a handful aren't in English no matter which version you play.

The localization teams are also directly involved with the devs in the making of the game as a whole:

The English team is actively involved in naming of skills and location names, etc. and the wider localization team is invited to provide ideas and concepts for new creatures from their various cultures. Then there are situations where we do culture checks and flag potential issues in the story to avoid misunderstandings or to cater to contemporary cultural developments.

I do often provide ideas for names we could use for in-game terms, bosses, attacks, NPCs, places, titles, and things like that based on parameters from the team.

Probably because he never said that, and that it's just something people probably made up and something Westerners take as fact (for whatever reason).
I don't doubt that he had his staff screen Game of Thrones, that's actually what I'd imagine a game developer would do, since that's really just the type of research many game devs go through.

But it's still a Japanese product designed for a Japanese audience.

Now, moving on…ah, yes. English voices! Do try playing with English voices on a second playthrough, perhaps. I have a feeling that you can really appreciate the realism conveyed by the English voices.

https://noisypixel.net/final-fantasy...nese-lip-sync/

And that the game was designed for English:

The Japanese audience critiqued the title’s lack of proper lip sync for their language since Final Fantasy XVI’s development utilized the English dub at its core. The staff replied that they could not make it work since the facial movements are based on facial capture data with those who performed the English dub.

As for Game of Thrones:

If we want to create something that has that kind of western feel, we have to look to the west for that kind of inspiration. And so things like Game of Thrones are things that we look to because that type of stuff does not exist where we live in Japan.

[Telkira]

This is an MMO that is made to market a global audience. In the interview with the localizers, Square-Enix themselves have said FFXIV is "a title aimed at a global audience". Unlike other single-player JRPGs or anime, non-Japanese players aren't some satellite demographic that they considered to be a bonus to their main target audience. Everything is developed with everyone in mind.

The localizers are not SE's development/writing team as a whole. Everything they do still has to be given the approval of the core production team. Having localizers contribute as much as they have is not unusual for game development, and trying to overstate this fact as a way to argue that the game is not 'JP First' is just dishonest.

FFXIV is most certainly a Japanese product first and foremost. The reality is that non-Japanese players are exactly what you said they weren't, which is a bonus. The game would not exist in the state that it is in without the support of their native market, which is impossible to ignore from an end-user perspective.

Originally Posted by Naoki Yoshida speaking to Japanese audience

I concede that he asked that Japanese players do a second play-through in English, but it's still a game designed with a Japanese audience in mind, but if by chance it lives up to the 'global audiences' intention, then hopefully SE will be able to pivot with whatever their next project is, otherwise they will risk losing much, much more than a few sales, which is probably why it did so poor in terms of both Japanese sales and worldwide sales.

The Japanese audience critiqued the title’s lack of proper lip sync...performed the English dub.

I strongly identify with the Japanese complaints against not having proper lip sync support for what is objectively their target demographic and most accessible language option, but I guess that's Square's bed and they've gotta lay in it.

I hope they'll put forth the effort to do proper facial animations for their native demographic, or use this as an incentive to at least translate the spoken language into a textual form, that way what's being heard lines up more closely with what's being read.

As for Game of Thrones:
Quote Originally Posted by FFXVI art director Hiroshi Minagawa

This doesn't really mean anything, and I said that I would have expected them to screen Game of Thrones to familiarize themselves with the medieval, grim and dark themes and all that which is something that they wanted to capture for FFXVI. Ghosts of Tsushima was developed by an American game studio (Sucker Punch Prod.) and is set in ancient Japan, but the game is primarily designed for a Western audience with Sony (a Japanese company) acting as the global publisher.