Lots of new info incoming from the NicoNico Chokaigi 2 event

[Rowyne]

Where did I say that people aren't entitled to listen to whatever track they choose?

It's just that you seem to be trying to push that preference onto people. If someone says they wonder who the English cast will be or that they hope the voicing will be good in their language, you respond with...

Unfortunately I doubt they'll be on the same level of the JP ones, but oh well.

If it's so bad there's always the JP track anyway

And then you say...

If the other tracks are bad and hearing people speaking in Japanese hurts your ears so much (for some mysterious reason), you can just mute the speech.

For some mysterious reason? You sound incredulous, like my personal dislike of something just isn't conceivable. That's like telling me I'm a freak if I don't like strawberry ice cream. You have to realize that not everyone has the same preferences.

I'm really not trying to be rude, so I apologize for having to point this out. But I think everyone here is already aware that Japanese voicing is an option. It doesn't bear anymore repeating.

[Kiara]

This is a very thoughtfully worded post, so much so that I could have quoted the entire thing. I personally don't care for the Japanese language, to me it sounds like a fast slew of mushy consonants and grunts (no offense intended to anyone, and I'm sure English is an ugly language to some, also). But that's really beside the point. I would prefer not to hear any foreign language with subtitles. I want to understand the nuances and inflections of what's being spoken, as it's being said. I want it to instantly create a response within me, which just doesn't happen otherwise. And when you are trying to immerse yourself in the game world (as I am, given that I am a RPer), hearing the characters speaking a foreign language only reminds you that you aren't part of that world. I prefer my native language, and if that's not possible, I'd rather have no voicing at all so at least I can imagine their voices in a way that is familiar.

Hi Rowyne and All,

I definitely empathize with your RP angle, and just anyone who wants an option in their native language. That's why I hope Square and Yoshi P make good on their earlier promise to allow the players to *choose* what Language and Subtitles they want, whether it's Original Japanese Language with English Subtitles, or English Dub, or French, German, etc.

Options are good. Everyone's happy.

I've definitely heard and appreciate great English VAs (e.g., Cowboy Bebop Dub, Nolan North (Nathan Drake) and the rest of his Uncharted crew, etc.). But IMHO, Square-Enix USA has had a horrible track record of Dubbing Talent in recent years:

Who can forget the horrific / annoying English Dub of Hope and Vanille and Final Fantasy XIII? I also though the English Dub voice of the Lalafell "Scientist" in Gridania's opening was horrendous, sorry.

On a side note, how do you feel about English Dubs if they decide to incorporate a "Southern Texas" accent? Or have a stereotypical Brooklyn Thug accent? Or an Irish accent?

Wouldn't those accents draw one out of the immediate world, and make one think of the Deep South, "Y'all come back now, ya' hear?!" or pull one into New York and Brooklyn of the 1930's "Howz uh' you all, uh' doin'?!?"

That's one area I dislike with some English Dubs I've heard where the English Localization Team decides it'd be "cute" to turn a character into someone from New Orleans, or Texas, or New York or Ireland.

Ultimately, though, I just hope we all get Language and Subtitle Options to Mix and Match as we please!

[Vilhem]

Hi Rowyne and All,

I definitely empathize with your RP angle, and just anyone who wants an option in their native language. That's why I hope Square and Yoshi P make good on their earlier promise to allow the players to *choose* what Language and Subtitles they want, whether it's Original Japanese Language with English Subtitles, or English Dub, or French, German, etc.

Options are good. Everyone's happy.

I've definitely heard and appreciate great English VAs (e.g., Cowboy Bebop Dub, Nolan North (Nathan Drake) and the rest of his Uncharted crew, etc.). But IMHO, Square-Enix USA has had a horrible track record of Dubbing Talent in recent years:

Who can forget the horrific / annoying English Dub of Hope and Vanille and Final Fantasy XIII? I also though the English Dub voice of the Lalafell "Scientist" in Gridania's opening was horrendous, sorry.

On a side note, how do you feel about English Dubs if they decide to incorporate a "Southern Texas" accent? Or have a stereotypical Brooklyn Thug accent? Or an Irish accent?

Wouldn't those accents draw one out of the immediate world, and make one think of the Deep South, "Y'all come back now, ya' hear?!" or pull one into New York and Brooklyn of the 1930's "Howz uh' you all, uh' doin'?!?"

That's one area I dislike with some English Dubs I've heard where the English Localization Team decides it'd be "cute" to turn a character into someone from New Orleans, or Texas, or New York or Ireland.

Ultimately, though, I just hope we all get Language and Subtitle Options to Mix and Match as we please!

Japanese is not the "original" for this game -.-

Papalymo's acting was good as far as 1.0, its just the false strained sound that was annoying, though the miner twins suffered from the same thing.

There's nothing wrong with accents either, as long as they fit the character. As far as ARR, I don't think we'll be hearing any of the accents mentioned, since they wouldn't necessarily fit the lore. British, and of course, "pirate" accents would be more acceptable.

And even if they did decide to incorporate different accents, if they were convincing enough (ie. not flipping back and forth like Vanille), then there's really no problem.

[ArkhamNative]

... Original Japanese Language with English Subtitles, or English Dub, or French, German, etc.

I used the term "dub" in reference to films, but for this game the actual creators have scripted it in English, French and German, as well as Japanese. I consider the game's original language to be all four. (OK, I've never played it in French or German, but based on last month's all-points call for German-native beta testers on all the fan forums, I'd say they're serious about the quality of translation.)

On a side note, how do you feel about English Dubs if they decide to incorporate a "Southern Texas" accent? Or have a stereotypical Brooklyn Thug accent? Or an Irish accent?

They have used a number of "British" accents, both for voice actors and in NPC text, which is basically the same thing.

Ultimately, though, I just hope we all get Language and Subtitle Options to Mix and Match as we please!

Agreed. And that we can change settings before we replay scenes in our Unending Journey.

[Elexia]

Is it so hard to to believe that some people don't want to listen to the voicing in Japanese? Maybe we'd like the voicing in our native languages to be good.

Me personally, I wouldn't be playing a Japanese game if i expected solid (insert non-Japanese language here). Especially since his point partially points to the fact this is indeed a Japanese game which generally is known to have quality VO work. So if it's bad in (language), slap on subtitles and listen to the default track.

However, I think the whole "RP" thing is a bit silly. I know this is an RPG, but MMOs are so far from sticking to the RP elements that you can't really hold it in the same light as how the general playerbase will be perceiving. (The ones SE will actually get the most money from.)

[mbncd]

While I too generally (not always, there are a few good exceptions) prefer Japanese audio tracks, I can very easily understand why others would hate them.

Some want to be able to hear what's being said, rather than having to read it. If you can't understand the language fluently (and judging by the English NPC scripts, it may not even be modern Japanese but a modern/old-fashioned hybrid), you have to read what others tend to refer to as walls of text, which somewhat negates a major point in having voices at all. I personally read the full dialogue regardless and type in walls of text naturally so this doesn't bother me but I've had many people complain about it over my shoulder as they watched me play games or watch anime/dorama with subtitles.

Another thing some people dislike about Japanese audio seems to be the style of verbal sound effects. Little grunts and gasps can often be heard when someone comes on screen, or when they're watching or listening to someone/something, or when they're doing something ... It's pretty common LOL I don't know if it's just because Western voiced shows don't really have that so people aren't used to it or what, but it's kind of a running joke with anyone who's familiar with my anime.

Lastly, everyone has their own interpretations of what these mostly voiceless characters' personalities are like. Those personalities tend to be based on the ones they're familiar with, either personally or via Western media. Each voice has a personality that they bring to a character, regardless of the words spoken. A lot of personalities that are very common in Japan (usually the silly ones) are not as well received in the West by those who aren't used to them. If you're expecting a favourite character to be spoken one way but it turns out to be something very different, that can negatively affect your entire perception of that character, even if they're saying and doing the exact same things.

And I haven't even touched on disabilities such as vision impairment and dyslexia, things that would be much easier to deal with if you don't have to try to read what's being said all the time.

As I said before, I'm almost certainly going to use Japanese audio and English subtitles. I do however understand where others are coming from when they say they'd prefer to hear it in their own language. Japanese audio is great to those of us who love it, but that's a very subjective thing and it should not be assumed that it's great for everyone.

[Pwnagraphic]

How cool would it be if Ian McKellan and Hugo Weaving did VO's? Ian McKellan would obviously have to be Louisoix.. Assuming we see him again.. maybe in a flash back?

[Andreas-Lycaeus]

I still can't believe Nolan North played Penguin in Arkham City! I'd love a surprise like that. Him and Troy Baker certainly seem to be the go-to guys right now, and after playing Bioshock Infinite I did feel that Troy did a good job. Nothing groundbreaking, but it felt natural. As other people have said though, big names don't mean a thing if they're not necessary. It's about fitting the persona of the character. Whoever voiced the Luteces in Bioshock though.. they were brilliant! I think they'd fit right in with characters like Yda and Papalymo.

[Andreas-Lycaeus]

Stop winding eachother up! I'm sure Rowyne doesn't dislike the Japanese language, it's just the fact that she can't immerse herself in a game when she can't understand the language. It's simple. Just accept you both have different tastes and be happy the option will be available for both of you

[Abriael]

Stop winding eachother up! I'm sure Rowyne doesn't dislike the Japanese language, it's just the fact that she can't immerse herself in a game when she can't understand the language. It's simple. Just accept you both have different tastes and be happy the option will be available for both of you

I got no problem with people liking VA in other languages, I'm just not exactly sure why he feels entitled to go for the eyes of someone talking about something absolutely in-topic just because he personally doesn't like it, but oh well.

I'm all for options, as options bring in more people, and more people mean more people to play with.

No one here advocated that they should remove the options. Luckily SE isn't Sega and has plenty money to voice four languages.

I used the term "dub" in reference to films, but for this game the actual creators have scripted it in English, French and German, as well as Japanese. I consider the game's original language to be all four. (OK, I've never played it in French or German, but based on last month's all-points call for German-native beta testers on all the fan forums, I'd say they're serious about the quality of translation.)

There's a reason why the localization team is called localization team. Because they're doing a localization from an original language, which is Japanese.

It doesn't matter if the original script is heavily adapted (which it is, at least for English), if the translation is extremely high quality (which it is, at least for English), or if some limited input is sent back from the localization team and gets implemented in the original script.

The game is 100% a Japanese game, which means the original language is Japanese. This doesn't mean the localization is bad, but it *is* a localization. Hence why they have a (great) localization team working on the English/German/French versions and not a team of scriptwriters.