The fact there's no anime voice acting tropes you usually find in English dubs for this game is so insanely refreshing. The English voice cast absolutely killed it.
As incredibly talented as all these VA are, I think that particular aspect is probably the result of the writing, localization, and direction. If the devs wanted anime tropes in the performance they would be there as that’s a VAs job if that’s how they’re directed or the role is written. I hope that makes sense. I say this not to correct you or diminish the excessively talented VA but to give credit to the equally talented people behind the scenes writing, directing, and creating a rock solid foundation and environment for the VA to excel
@peen2804 yeah the Final Fantasy development teams do their best to present a feel different from anime. FF14 is a Japanese take on European medieval lore so the vibe fits
@@peen2804 Well a big part of that was that they ditched the mainly US VAs they had in ARR and replaced them in Heavensward with British VAs that i would assume have theatre backgrounds, FromSoft also use those types of VA and the difference is very apparent, they actually sound good instead of the kids cartoon character performances that usually come from US VAs in Japanese games.
Rene Zagger's voice acting is probably 70% of why I fell in love with Emet-Selch. "Oh, don't look at me like that..." "I believe you would like it, having witnessed the things you have."
Voice actors really do deserve more credit, at least in the west. I remember reading in Japan that lots of voice actors are pretty much treated like celebrities. Here we would rather stan the characters instead of the people who give those characters their... well, character.
I would guess it's probably because in the west, there's a lot of competition with voice actors. We have a lot of really big film and movie stars to compete with. As far as I'm aware, Japan doesn't have anything even comparable to Hollywood, Disney, Marvel, and the American cinematic juggernaut. America also has sports of international fame. It's not that people wouldn't treat voice actors better, but rather there's like a billion other people who just seem to outrank them in popularity. In a lot of animated Disney movies, the voice actors do get some pretty great recognition. Or you get big named celebrities playing voices. It's not uncommon for people to talk about the famous voice actors in an animated Disney movie. The thing is, most American movies aren't animated.
Think a little bit of it as well is that the western VAs aren't as involved with the community either, watched interviews with a few of them and it's pretty obvious some of them aren't really aware of the impact they have on the fans (in a good way)
I think AndyVal's comment has a really good point. Japanese voice actors often get work in the series they voice in with radio shows and staged events exactly like the Fanfest one we had last year and radio mog station on the ffxiv youtube channel. Quite a number of the jp cast play ff14 too. YoshiP was even a guest promoting the game on Thancred's jp voice actor'sentertaining
How about we go back to the Roman thinking where we see actors and celebrities the same way we see prostitutes? All they do is preach politics at people in the west. They wouldn't do that if people rightly saw them as the irrelevant dancing monkeys that they are.
I really appreciate the different accents, like how all of the Viera NPCs are played by Icelandic/Nordic actors. I only know a little bit of Japanese but I can't detect too many different accents in the JP dub.
@@kse3 super late comment but hancock's JP accent is styled after the 'foreigner speaking japanese' trope, in which they put emphasis on the last syllable of the word. another example of this is Yu-Gi-Oh's Pegasus' jp voice
"...aye, I can't deny it. I've grown since then, though. I started out just... wanting to see next hill, and the next... nothing beyond just seeing what's next. And though I've taken to my responsibilities and obligations, my duty to this star, it wouldn't be honest to say that the challenge isn't a part of why I do this. I do this because it's right. Because the people of this star need help. And... because it makes me feel alive."
I'm biased cos I myself am British but it's nice to see a JRPG dub performed by thespians/experienced stage actors and not the usual Californian crowd. Which is very appropriate given the more grandiose dialogue that Koji Fox and crew gives us. It worked well for Xenoblade (in which many of XIV's cast also performed) and it works well in this! Thanks for putting this video together! It serves as a wonderful reference point.
Hell, that's not bias at all. The quality of voice acting in this games Western dub is several cuts above any other game I've ever played. It's just absolutely primo. And I'm FROM California. My bias shows in the way that Hilda's and Lady Icehearts voice just make me melt.
I agree, and while I watch anime subbed and love the Japanese language, this is one of the few times I prefer the dub purely because the British English works so well. Also, for a world with so much culture in game, English as a language works well for it as it is so widely spoken and has so many accents that the subtle use of regional accents and global accents in the game give the characters a distinct feel and culture. Like the Yorkshire accent for ala mihgan's and the nordic one for the Viera. I'm sure it's the same in Japanese, just I can't hear the differences in accents as I'm not fluent, but because of that I actually choose the English VAs. Anime's tend to use American accents only, which often can detract from a character's depth, but that is often due to the writing and my own personal bias. I still remember a sub of Attack on Titan that was almost poetic in it's description of what the character was thinking - only for it to be dubbed as "she looks pissed" which made the character seem basic and very much detracted from the feel of the original. Japanese often makes the fantasy anime's also feel more 'otherworldly' because I only understand the basics of the language. However, this game keeps that otherworldly feeling even in English.
The reason why I consider Alisaie among my favorite characters is hugely because of Bethan's performance. She speaks with such conviction and heart that you can't help but love her.
@@ssjtigre243 See, I feel the exact opposite. I feel like the JP VA, while a perfectly good performance, sounds far too young. Alisaie is a young woman, not a little girl.
@@nimuesnow see, this is what’s tough for me. I’m split evenly amongst the characters. Alphinaud I am the opposite when it comes to the voice actors. But Alisae … I like both, but the Eng voice actress is just SO good.
During our most recent battle with Zenos, you can practically hear his VA smiling while belting out some of his lines. You can tell he seized the moment to have maximum fun with the character.
As somebody only play japanese I always love the English voice Zenos !!!! So handsome! and omg he is also sicard????? today I listened to somebody play through MSQ (english, but I only do JP) so hearing first time sicard I thought "wow he sound way too good for npc........" now I know why!!!!!
This entire cast in both languages just knocks it out of the park. I feel bad for people who skip cutscenes or just don’t listen. The delivery on every line has so much thought, I’m honestly never disappointed.
@19:20 The voice actors for Fandaniel/Asahi are different, in the Japanese version there are two Fandaniel and they change depending on the scene, the voice in the video is Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. It would be difficult for a non-Japanese speaker to distinguish between Matsuoka-san and Yanagida-san in the voice sequence of the end walkers. The voice line of Jun’ichi Yanagida of Stormblood, Asahi is easy to understand. ファンダニエル/アサヒの声優が違っています。日本語版はファンダニエルが2人居て、シーンによって変わっています。動画中の声は松岡禎丞です。エンドウォーカーの台詞で非日本語話者が松岡さんと柳田さんの区別をつけるのは難しいでしょう。柳田 淳一の台詞はストームブラッド中のアサヒがわかりやすいでしょう。 The more difficult it is to distinguish between the two, the more in tune their performances are.
Changing the voice cast after ARR was a genius move. I miss the old Merlwyb, but even her new VA is an improvement purely from a dramatic standpoint. Employing VAs with theatre backgrounds can make the dialogue feel VERY "theatrical" (because of course it would), but you also get VAs that give so much more emotional heft to the part. Jesus Christ, Rene Zagger (Emet-Selch) alone could teach a master class. 1.0/ARR's voice cast has a lot of famous names that have done excellent work. I'm not trying to diminish their abilities, but as the story of FFXIV changed from a video game narrative to something more akin to a stage play, it only made sense to cast actors for whom stage acting comes second nature. Again, it was a genius move, and it changed FFXIV into something that stands out from most other video games. When I played ARR, I felt like I was playing a video game; when I played HW/SB/ShB & EW, I felt like I was playing an interactive theatre play, or an opera. The difference is fucking incredible.
I've seen so many of them on TV or on stage, in some cases since I was a small child. I remember when we farmed Hades EX and I was just going "I can't believe the little policeman has come so far!" I'm still amused my little pup Springer is Zenos... I've also seen John Heffernan (Nero, Barnier) in several plays and he's just a delight.
Couple things: G'raha's ENG VA (Jonathan Bailey) is also Growingway the loporrit. Montichaigne's ENG VA (Philip Jackson) was also Conrad in Stormblood. That said! I think the two VAs in Endwalker who had the greatest challenge were Jeremy Ang Jones (Hermes/Fandaniel/Amon) and Rosie Day (Meteion and her sisters, the Endsinger). These two people had to be, in truth, several different characters while also maintaining a certain consistency between these roles, as they are part of a single being each. Handled with enormous skill and range!
It's really telling that NO ONE could guess he and Sicard are the same VA. Some are really clear like Gosetsu and Vrtra, but I had no idea about this one, such good performances for both to make them sound so distinct.
While Alphi is my favourite character of all time...holy shit Ali's voice actresses both in english and japanese put everyone into their talented shadow. Like just hearing her voice lines even without the game make me tear up
What blew my mind was learning Zenos and Sicard shared a voice actor. But after relistening to Sicard's voice lines I can definitely hear the similarities.
Nakamura Yuichi is soooooo good as Thancred. Especially during E11s (I know that's not Thancred but the vo is the same), the power in the vo worked perfectly in sync with how hard the mechanics hit lmao. Also the range of emotions he expressed, from regret/sorrow to convinction and determination is amazing.
He is also a long time FF fan. His live stream with Yoshi-P last year acctually got me into FF14. They raided E11s on the stream with a group of randos, and he talked about when he was told to record some new voice lines, because he knew Eden was FF8 theme, He immediately asked if he was going to be a raid boss as the strongest figure imagined. And they cleared at 3rd try.
7:26 Blake Ritson also in Dark Souls. Boy, he's got quite a range. Also, appreciate the fact that the English voice actors for the Viera are Nordic, just like the original voice actress for Fran was. The voice actors for the Matanga are also Indian / Arabic, just like how they appear in game.
RIP Motomu Kiyokawa (voice actor of Louisoix in japanese) I always played in japanese and his tiny amount of cutscenes already brought me to tears. excellent
I normally will watch media and play games in their native language and use sub-titles but the FFVIX English cast is so good that I played in English but it's cool to hear the Japanese voice actor too.
Hydaelyn's Japanese lines were recorded twice at the performer's own request. She said, "When I look back at the first performance, I still lack strength and intelligence. Could you please let me record it again?"
I greatly prefer the English voices for the main reason that they're of similar ability to the JP ones (since most seem to be stage actors), but also that they're a lot more fresh. Too many of the JP voices are the same I've heard dozens of times in various anime series (and thus, a lot of prior associations), while the UK voice actors are, aside from a few Game of Thrones and Xenoblade voices, ones I havent heard before, and wind up as far more unique because of it Also, the regional accents add a lot of flavor
While I do know that JP has accents too, definitely a not knowing the difference kinda thing. I agree with ya, the EN actors sound so varied and unique to my ears.
Exactly. I feel like there's more variety into he accents that they can do in the English dub and it really makes the world feel broader to me. Some of the Japanese ones feel too similar to characters from other shows for me. While there are a couple of voices that I might prefer in Japanese, in reality, the entire cast on both sides did excellent work!
@@TheSilverwing999 No need to be rude about it. I've been to Japan and studied Japanese as well and still share this opinion. People are allowed to have their own opinions and for that opinion to be different than yours.
I've said this before but this is one of the very few instances wherein Eng VAs absolutely killed it. All of them did an amazing job in bringing the characters to life. Also, if I remember correctly, the voices in the game is also in Soken's scope as a Sound Director? More like the job between the Sound Team, Writing Team and the Localization Team. I remember him saying this is one of his responsibilities during a panel with Koji back in fan fest pre HW and he mentioned five languages. Also in ShB era where he answered a question regarding PC voices. Them and the casting team did an amazing job as well.
The people who bring the characters to life. They deserve so much credit. Sometimes the emotions felt from the words they speak make the game what it is. It's why we feel so connected to the characters. Thank you all for the great work! 👍
@@kaihedgie1747 Yup It was edited but 2 days ago. i didn't see any notifications from this comment since that day until i saw your comment 32 minutes ago. Looks like i need to give a space between sentences later so thanks.
Pretty sure the line used as Matt McCooey as Fandaniel/Asahi was actually Jeremy's voice as they switched actors very quickly into the expansion and Fandaniel begins speaking in "his" voice instead of Asahi's.
It's weird seeing that some of these VA's are from my favorite TV shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood or Casualty and The Bill. It blows my mind how talented these guys are. If they ever need a Yorkshire accent, I'm your lass. xD
So many these voice actors deserves so much more credit and acknowledgement of the work they have done to really bring out the best in many of these characters that have been apart of our journey and story in FF14. It takes away nothing they may have done on other projects, but sometimes you just wish you can sit and chat with the real life actors and just tell them how much you appreciate the work they each have done on many these characters we each love and appreciate.
Never heard the game in JP voices and now I can say that the English voice actors nailed it. (I'm someone who can't rl say that ANY voice acting can come close to JP voice acting) This shows how much effort and search is put into this masterpiece!
I've noticed an increasing trend of actor reunions on Zoom, from Avatar The Last Airbender to Smallville. Wouldn't it be great if someone hosted a English VA reunion for FFXIV on a live Zoom video call? Maybe they could read through some scenes together.
All of these actors did an absolutely amazing job. Even the ones not listed here who were deserve praise for the wonderful performances they gave over the years.
Fantastic. Some of the quotes I wouldn't of used, but still amazing to see the faces to the voices. And its amazing to see some big names amongst the voice cast on both sides.
As a western player I'm obviously biased towards the English voices, but it fascinating hearing the JP voices, as well as putting faces to so many voices. Also seems funny that certain characters actually sound better in one, but others sound better in the other.
Doctor Who actors on the other hand - 3:13 - 3:22 - Yvonne Hartman, head of the Torchwood Institute at the end of Series 2 10:53 - 11:00 - Claire Brown from Doctor Who: Flux 13:41 - 13:47 - Toshiko Sato from Torchwood. *YAY TOSHI!!!* If I've missed out any others please let me know!!!
I played all of the way in english and i love most of them ( Zenos VA is S-tier ). Meteion EN VA is pretty good but man.. her JP VA would've made me cry for sure.
I have a few, it's really noticeable when they put in the budget and effort to get the localisation right. Nier Gestalt and Dragon Quest VIII for example. Otherwise it often feels like a fandub
So true. I feel the japanese voices are somewhat exaggerated for some. But with english it sounds more natural. Maybe its because i only know english but hey.
Why do so many of the English VAs look like their character? Also maybe it's because I'm less sensitive to accent in JP but I actually love the range of accents in EN.
Thank you so much for doing this! I found your video during the interminable 24-hour 6.1 maintenance and it was definitely a welcome diversion. Less than 12 hours to go! 😁
Fact: Fourchenault EN Actor, Anthony Howell, is the same person who encarnates Jonathan Reid in "Vampyr" videogame. I'm never tired up of hearing his british accent.
Just as a note, Matt McCooey is Asahi/Fandaniel's voice, not Hermes/Fandaniel. I know they actually sound very similar, but the voice line you picked for your Fandaniel/Asahi is actually Jeremy Ang Jones' voice (Hermes) instead
I just wish some of the side quests like the Werlyt have VA, or to the other extremes like Hildibrand. Tho I had a voice in my head of how Godbert sounds like.....
My friends and I often like to joke about how Hildibrand should be voiced by Markiplier (none of us are fans per se, but we feel it would be fitting in a stupid sort of way.) How do you feel that Godbert should be voiced?
![The Wall Song ร้องข้ามกำแพง | EP.213 | กรีน อัษฎาพร | 3 ต.ค. 67 [1/5]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3KrlLbCsadI/mqdefault.jpg)
The fact there's no anime voice acting tropes you usually find in English dubs for this game is so insanely refreshing. The English voice cast absolutely killed it.
As incredibly talented as all these VA are, I think that particular aspect is probably the result of the writing, localization, and direction. If the devs wanted anime tropes in the performance they would be there as that’s a VAs job if that’s how they’re directed or the role is written. I hope that makes sense.
I say this not to correct you or diminish the excessively talented VA but to give credit to the equally talented people behind the scenes writing, directing, and creating a rock solid foundation and environment for the VA to excel
@peen2804 yeah the Final Fantasy development teams do their best to present a feel different from anime. FF14 is a Japanese take on European medieval lore so the vibe fits
On top of this the British voices are unique as far as English language dubbing of Japanese media goes.
@@muslimmetalman I say most JRPGs are European medieval or European inspired fantasy if it's not Japan. Xenoblade is one example
@@peen2804 Well a big part of that was that they ditched the mainly US VAs they had in ARR and replaced them in Heavensward with British VAs that i would assume have theatre backgrounds, FromSoft also use those types of VA and the difference is very apparent, they actually sound good instead of the kids cartoon character performances that usually come from US VAs in Japanese games.
Rene Zagger's voice acting is probably 70% of why I fell in love with Emet-Selch. "Oh, don't look at me like that..." "I believe you would like it, having witnessed the things you have."
Meh
Yes
RIP Sian Blake the EN VA of Yugiri Mistwalker from HW to SB 3.4
and steve critchlow, Edmont's VA.
There’s also Archie Lyndhirst, Honoroit’s VA. It’s really such a shame cos he was only 19.
@@lara.......... A simple google search will show how 100% wrong your comment is
Voice actors really do deserve more credit, at least in the west. I remember reading in Japan that lots of voice actors are pretty much treated like celebrities. Here we would rather stan the characters instead of the people who give those characters their... well, character.
I would guess it's probably because in the west, there's a lot of competition with voice actors. We have a lot of really big film and movie stars to compete with. As far as I'm aware, Japan doesn't have anything even comparable to Hollywood, Disney, Marvel, and the American cinematic juggernaut. America also has sports of international fame. It's not that people wouldn't treat voice actors better, but rather there's like a billion other people who just seem to outrank them in popularity.
In a lot of animated Disney movies, the voice actors do get some pretty great recognition. Or you get big named celebrities playing voices. It's not uncommon for people to talk about the famous voice actors in an animated Disney movie. The thing is, most American movies aren't animated.
Think a little bit of it as well is that the western VAs aren't as involved with the community either, watched interviews with a few of them and it's pretty obvious some of them aren't really aware of the impact they have on the fans (in a good way)
And their woke acitivist who didnt even make rhe source material. Fuck that
I think AndyVal's comment has a really good point. Japanese voice actors often get work in the series they voice in with radio shows and staged events exactly like the Fanfest one we had last year and radio mog station on the ffxiv youtube channel. Quite a number of the jp cast play ff14 too. YoshiP was even a guest promoting the game on Thancred's jp voice actor'sentertaining
How about we go back to the Roman thinking where we see actors and celebrities the same way we see prostitutes? All they do is preach politics at people in the west. They wouldn't do that if people rightly saw them as the irrelevant dancing monkeys that they are.
I love that they have so many different accents in the EN version. Lyna, Feo Ul, Erenville, Nidhana... it adds so much flavour to the voices.
I really appreciate the different accents, like how all of the Viera NPCs are played by Icelandic/Nordic actors. I only know a little bit of Japanese but I can't detect too many different accents in the JP dub.
I'm no expert on Japanese, but I could tell Hancock's JP voice had a very deliberate accent.
I guess a UK person can notice all the different accents, but I can't honestly.
@@kse3 super late comment but hancock's JP accent is styled after the 'foreigner speaking japanese' trope, in which they put emphasis on the last syllable of the word. another example of this is Yu-Gi-Oh's Pegasus' jp voice
Don’t talk of EN Feo Ul, she’s HORRIBLE ! Even german is better
Hearing that "is this not so, Adventurer?” is an instant spike of adrenaline - man, I'm looking forward to NG+
That, I cannot deny.
😳
me immediately remembering how chaotic that fight was on SMN, cant wait to run DRG/RPR on it
"...aye, I can't deny it. I've grown since then, though.
I started out just... wanting to see next hill, and the next... nothing beyond just seeing what's next. And though I've taken to my responsibilities and obligations, my duty to this star, it wouldn't be honest to say that the challenge isn't a part of why I do this.
I do this because it's right. Because the people of this star need help. And... because it makes me feel alive."
@@FragariaNoKami777 man that fight was glorious as a smn though, tossing akh morns at eachother was a blast
The VA for Hythlodeus looks exactly like he'd have that voice. It fits them both so perfectly that I was actually taken aback when I heard it
And then you see the Japanese voice actor for Vauthry and die laughing because it was just too perfect!
I remeber seeing him in the series Reign where he played a prince. That really fits him lol
Me and my partner met him at mcm london comic con last month
@@PandaSenpai That's so cool!
I'm biased cos I myself am British but it's nice to see a JRPG dub performed by thespians/experienced stage actors and not the usual Californian crowd. Which is very appropriate given the more grandiose dialogue that Koji Fox and crew gives us. It worked well for Xenoblade (in which many of XIV's cast also performed) and it works well in this! Thanks for putting this video together! It serves as a wonderful reference point.
Hell, that's not bias at all.
The quality of voice acting in this games Western dub is several cuts above any other game I've ever played. It's just absolutely primo.
And I'm FROM California.
My bias shows in the way that Hilda's and Lady Icehearts voice just make me melt.
It's far better
I agree, and while I watch anime subbed and love the Japanese language, this is one of the few times I prefer the dub purely because the British English works so well. Also, for a world with so much culture in game, English as a language works well for it as it is so widely spoken and has so many accents that the subtle use of regional accents and global accents in the game give the characters a distinct feel and culture. Like the Yorkshire accent for ala mihgan's and the nordic one for the Viera. I'm sure it's the same in Japanese, just I can't hear the differences in accents as I'm not fluent, but because of that I actually choose the English VAs.
Anime's tend to use American accents only, which often can detract from a character's depth, but that is often due to the writing and my own personal bias. I still remember a sub of Attack on Titan that was almost poetic in it's description of what the character was thinking - only for it to be dubbed as "she looks pissed" which made the character seem basic and very much detracted from the feel of the original. Japanese often makes the fantasy anime's also feel more 'otherworldly' because I only understand the basics of the language. However, this game keeps that otherworldly feeling even in English.
Professional thespians?
@@lotharschramm5000 Theatre actors.
I swear, Tataru's English VA has to be just as insane as her.
Metion's line always gets me. Poor girl needed a hug and the line was delivered perfectly.
The reason why I consider Alisaie among my favorite characters is hugely because of Bethan's performance. She speaks with such conviction and heart that you can't help but love her.
Superb voice acting. However she makes Alisae sound way too old. Prefer the JP VA for her 100%.
@@ssjtigre243 See, I feel the exact opposite. I feel like the JP VA, while a perfectly good performance, sounds far too young. Alisaie is a young woman, not a little girl.
@@nimuesnow see, this is what’s tough for me. I’m split evenly amongst the characters. Alphinaud I am the opposite when it comes to the voice actors. But Alisae … I like both, but the Eng voice actress is just SO good.
English version of Alisaie sounds like she’s either yawning or chocking on sum 🤢
@@nocksar744 L opinion
Unimportant fact: Ysayle's JP VA is G'raha's VA's older sister.
Zenos’ EN VA is the best of the bunch, he’s almost singehandedly responsible for my love of the character
During our most recent battle with Zenos, you can practically hear his VA smiling while belting out some of his lines. You can tell he seized the moment to have maximum fun with the character.
Oh man, i need your fckin profile picture XDDDD
The voice actor was definitely hamming it up LOL
As somebody only play japanese I always love the English voice Zenos !!!! So handsome! and omg he is also sicard????? today I listened to somebody play through MSQ (english, but I only do JP) so hearing first time sicard I thought "wow he sound way too good for npc........" now I know why!!!!!
Yeah, he really nailed it.
Okay but both english and japanese graha are cute as heck
This entire cast in both languages just knocks it out of the park. I feel bad for people who skip cutscenes or just don’t listen. The delivery on every line has so much thought, I’m honestly never disappointed.
Also not me crying bc Elidibus is absolutely perfect in both languages.
@19:20
The voice actors for Fandaniel/Asahi are different, in the Japanese version there are two Fandaniel and they change depending on the scene, the voice in the video is Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. It would be difficult for a non-Japanese speaker to distinguish between Matsuoka-san and Yanagida-san in the voice sequence of the end walkers. The voice line of Jun’ichi Yanagida of Stormblood, Asahi is easy to understand.
ファンダニエル/アサヒの声優が違っています。日本語版はファンダニエルが2人居て、シーンによって変わっています。動画中の声は松岡禎丞です。エンドウォーカーの台詞で非日本語話者が松岡さんと柳田さんの区別をつけるのは難しいでしょう。柳田 淳一の台詞はストームブラッド中のアサヒがわかりやすいでしょう。
The more difficult it is to distinguish between the two, the more in tune their performances are.
Thanks for pointing it out! Upvoting this for better visibility.
To add onto this, even in the english portion of this section it should be Jeremy Ang Jones listed as the voice instead.
isn't the fandaniel voice the same as hermes (at least in the english version) while asahi (and early fandaniel) have a different one?
@@ashitakaharuo Yeah that's correct. Specifically in this video as well however the sample used is Jeremy Ang Jones.
should probably just replace it with an older voice sample where it’s asahi’s eng/jp va speaking, as jeremy is credited later in the vid.
8:20 RIP Mr. Stephen Critchlow
Changing the voice cast after ARR was a genius move. I miss the old Merlwyb, but even her new VA is an improvement purely from a dramatic standpoint.
Employing VAs with theatre backgrounds can make the dialogue feel VERY "theatrical" (because of course it would), but you also get VAs that give so much more emotional heft to the part. Jesus Christ, Rene Zagger (Emet-Selch) alone could teach a master class. 1.0/ARR's voice cast has a lot of famous names that have done excellent work. I'm not trying to diminish their abilities, but as the story of FFXIV changed from a video game narrative to something more akin to a stage play, it only made sense to cast actors for whom stage acting comes second nature.
Again, it was a genius move, and it changed FFXIV into something that stands out from most other video games. When I played ARR, I felt like I was playing a video game; when I played HW/SB/ShB & EW, I felt like I was playing an interactive theatre play, or an opera. The difference is fucking incredible.
I've seen so many of them on TV or on stage, in some cases since I was a small child. I remember when we farmed Hades EX and I was just going "I can't believe the little policeman has come so far!" I'm still amused my little pup Springer is Zenos... I've also seen John Heffernan (Nero, Barnier) in several plays and he's just a delight.
Couple things: G'raha's ENG VA (Jonathan Bailey) is also Growingway the loporrit. Montichaigne's ENG VA (Philip Jackson) was also Conrad in Stormblood.
That said! I think the two VAs in Endwalker who had the greatest challenge were Jeremy Ang Jones (Hermes/Fandaniel/Amon) and Rosie Day (Meteion and her sisters, the Endsinger). These two people had to be, in truth, several different characters while also maintaining a certain consistency between these roles, as they are part of a single being each. Handled with enormous skill and range!
the japanese meteion was absolutely amazing, especially in the last cutscene where she's crying, my god she broke me
Zenos English voice actor went IN on that character
It's really telling that NO ONE could guess he and Sicard are the same VA. Some are really clear like Gosetsu and Vrtra, but I had no idea about this one, such good performances for both to make them sound so distinct.
Luke Allen-Gale is damn good at what he does, and has also said that he greatly enjoyed voicing Zenos
Rene Zagger has unreasonable amounts of power over me, I pray we never meet.
He looks like an older Taika Waititi and I cannot unsee it.
I would listen to any audiobook he read.
"A smile better suits... a hero." Breath caught, eyes teared up. Damn it.
i will have to reach that point in story still. :(
@@rivenoak Have tissues ready.
@@ShivaServer2009 i know i have to brave it :)
It's still too soon
While Alphi is my favourite character of all time...holy shit Ali's voice actresses both in english and japanese put everyone into their talented shadow. Like just hearing her voice lines even without the game make me tear up
True passion! Hot blood fueling incredible compassion and empathy. A fiery woman when done right is always a blast!
Hell no her English voice is garabge it way too deep for such a young girl
it's a testament to their work that I teared up a few times just listening to this.
graha's line still giving me chills
What blew my mind was learning Zenos and Sicard shared a voice actor. But after relistening to Sicard's voice lines I can definitely hear the similarities.
Same with me and Gosetsu/Vytra, now all I hear is the dragon going "And now... I take... my leave..."
And it continues with Papalymo and Jullus sharing a VA, and not noticing at first but also not being able to
unhear it once you know.
One I'd like point out that I didn't realize until watching someone else's playthrough. The English VA for Thordan is also the VA for Seto.
Nakamura Yuichi is soooooo good as Thancred. Especially during E11s (I know that's not Thancred but the vo is the same), the power in the vo worked perfectly in sync with how hard the mechanics hit lmao. Also the range of emotions he expressed, from regret/sorrow to convinction and determination is amazing.
He is also a long time FF fan. His live stream with Yoshi-P last year acctually got me into FF14. They raided E11s on the stream with a group of randos, and he talked about when he was told to record some new voice lines, because he knew Eden was FF8 theme, He immediately asked if he was going to be a raid boss as the strongest figure imagined. And they cleared at 3rd try.
@@zach604 He is also the voice behind the first two or sometimes even three male battle voices:3
He is...
Ravus
Cid Raines
Trey
7:26 Blake Ritson also in Dark Souls. Boy, he's got quite a range. Also, appreciate the fact that the English voice actors for the Viera are Nordic, just like the original voice actress for Fran was. The voice actors for the Matanga are also Indian / Arabic, just like how they appear in game.
He's also Alvis in Xenoblade. Which is why I absolutely freaked out when I first heard his voice in ARR.
RIP Motomu Kiyokawa (voice actor of Louisoix in japanese) I always played in japanese and his tiny amount of cutscenes already brought me to tears. excellent
Every day I'm thankful they didn't give Lala's the cutesy anime voice in English
Sameeee! Makes them sound more like people and less like cartoons.
I normally will watch media and play games in their native language and use sub-titles but the FFVIX English cast is so good that I played in English but it's cool to hear the Japanese voice actor too.
fascinating how many actually look like the characters
IKR? Krile’s and Hien’s English VA are spitting images of their characters!
@@MajereKibbles Also, Joe Dempsie looks like Ardbert
Agreed! Rene Zagger could definitely play a live action Emet-Selch with a wig on.
@タピオカ Dude, Joe Dempsie looks about as close to a live-action Ardbert or Derplander as you could possibly get
@タピオカ Its not assumption, its fact
"Such a heartless thing our sapling is! Cold and cruel and HEARTLESS!!!"
Hydaelyn's Japanese lines were recorded twice at the performer's own request.
She said, "When I look back at the first performance, I still lack strength and intelligence. Could you please let me record it again?"
japanese venat was everything
Deeply appreciate the inclusion of Moen, since her VA casting for EN is part of the transitional period.
Joe Dempsie and Junichi Suwabe both bring out all I love and adore about Ardbert.
i love Emet selch english VA looking up everything he's in
I greatly prefer the English voices for the main reason that they're of similar ability to the JP ones (since most seem to be stage actors), but also that they're a lot more fresh. Too many of the JP voices are the same I've heard dozens of times in various anime series (and thus, a lot of prior associations), while the UK voice actors are, aside from a few Game of Thrones and Xenoblade voices, ones I havent heard before, and wind up as far more unique because of it
Also, the regional accents add a lot of flavor
While I do know that JP has accents too, definitely a not knowing the difference kinda thing. I agree with ya, the EN actors sound so varied and unique to my ears.
Exactly. I feel like there's more variety into he accents that they can do in the English dub and it really makes the world feel broader to me. Some of the Japanese ones feel too similar to characters from other shows for me. While there are a couple of voices that I might prefer in Japanese, in reality, the entire cast on both sides did excellent work!
I heavily disagree and I honestly think that you just know nothing about the Japanese language if this is your take.
@@TheSilverwing999 No need to be rude about it. I've been to Japan and studied Japanese as well and still share this opinion. People are allowed to have their own opinions and for that opinion to be different than yours.
I've said this before but this is one of the very few instances wherein Eng VAs absolutely killed it. All of them did an amazing job in bringing the characters to life.
Also, if I remember correctly, the voices in the game is also in Soken's scope as a Sound Director? More like the job between the Sound Team, Writing Team and the Localization Team. I remember him saying this is one of his responsibilities during a panel with Koji back in fan fest pre HW and he mentioned five languages. Also in ShB era where he answered a question regarding PC voices. Them and the casting team did an amazing job as well.
I just appreciate how many voice actors they hired for 14. I spend a lot less time thinking "hey that's *****'s VA" in 14 than in other rpgs.
The people who bring the characters to life. They deserve so much credit. Sometimes the emotions felt from the words they speak make the game what it is. It's why we feel so connected to the characters. Thank you all for the great work! 👍
Many of Japanese VA in FFXIV voiced the characters from FF Series
*Merlwyb* : Ultimecia (VIII), Rosso (VII DoC), Arecia (Type-0), Amidatelion (FFCC Crystal Bearers). non FF, she also voiced Bayonetta.
*Thancred/Soroban* : Raines (XIII), Ravus (XV), Trey (Type-0)
*Minfilia* : Sice (Type-0), Agrias (Tactics), Quistis (VIII), Aranea (XV)
*Kan-E-Senna/Ameliance* : Faris (V), Emina (Type-0)
*Ardbert* : Seymour and male hypello (X), Nimbus (Type-0), Tseng (VII)
*Elidibus* : Kuja (IX), Kazusa (Type-0)
*Hythlodaeus* : Bartz (V). non FF voiced the pancake boy from Persona 5.
*Varis Zos Galvus* : Weiss (VII DoC). non FF voiced Kotomine from Fate series.
*Alphinaud* : Ramza (Tactics)
*Cid Garlond* : Basch (XII)
*Forchenault* : Emperor (II)
*Aymeric* : Noctis (XV)
*Ilberd* : Caius (XIII)
*Emmanellein* : Ciaran (FFCC)
You forgot one: Hythlodaeus is voiced by the same guy who does Bartz in the Dissidia games
@@kaihedgie1747 It's in my comment though. you didn't see it. 😐
@@airiyuuki Your comment's edited
@@kaihedgie1747 Yup It was edited but 2 days ago. i didn't see any notifications from this comment since that day until i saw your comment 32 minutes ago. Looks like i need to give a space between sentences later so thanks.
Here’s hoping the VA for *G’raha* would be proven accurate as Clive (XVI) 🙏🏼
Oh. I didnt know Ardbert was played by the guy who played Gendry in GoT. Never knew his name, but now i do. Well done Joe Dempsie.
Urianger's JPN VA , he sounds so much younger I love it
Pretty sure the line used as Matt McCooey as Fandaniel/Asahi was actually Jeremy's voice as they switched actors very quickly into the expansion and Fandaniel begins speaking in "his" voice instead of Asahi's.
Definitely that's the Hermes voice and not the Asahi voice.
Gemma Lawrence absolutely kills it. There isn't a better person who could be Krile's voice actor. Definitely one of my many favorites!
So many of the voice actors look like the characters, that’s amazing lol.
🙏🏾 Rip Stephen Critchlow 🙏🏾
Oh no, Hythlodaeus is the a-hole from Mercia in The Last Kingdom. :D Thought his voice sounded familiar.
Alisaie and Yotsuyu were in an episode of Torchwood together! 😂
どっちも良い〜🥲💕
セリフのピックアップも良い...
It's weird seeing that some of these VA's are from my favorite TV shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood or Casualty and The Bill. It blows my mind how talented these guys are. If they ever need a Yorkshire accent, I'm your lass. xD
Game of Thrones too I had no idea some of these people voiced them!
So many these voice actors deserves so much more credit and acknowledgement of the work they have done to really bring out the best in many of these characters that have been apart of our journey and story in FF14. It takes away nothing they may have done on other projects, but sometimes you just wish you can sit and chat with the real life actors and just tell them how much you appreciate the work they each have done on many these characters we each love and appreciate.
Losing my mind that Papalymo is voiced by Eri Kitamura in JP. She's so cool for voicing the best thaumaturge and a cool vocaloid.
Wait, which Vocaloid? First place I heard Eri's voice was in Madoka Magica as Sayaka.
@@TigerheartFire The Vocaloid CUL is voiced by her.
Uh...Tony Regbo, the guy who voices Hythlodaeus...wow...
Yeah I was just watching 'The Kingdom' and as soon as I saw him it clicked, and now I'm sad.
Both casts are so well casted they did an amazing job
can't believe graha is from bridgerton hahaha, not going to be able to unhear that when season 2 comes out!
Same. Now looking forward to it xD
Only reason I started to watch the 1st Bridgerton was Graha voice actor. Otherwise, it's not my kind of show. 😂
He's um... decidedly more wholesome as a catboy. Yeah, that's how I'll put it. :: sweats :: LOL
im so impressed by these talented actors.
0:50 Don't know if anyone else mentioned it, but this is the wrong surname. Cid Highwind is FFVII's Cid, FFXIV's Cid is Cid -nan- Garlond.
Dammit noooo! Why did I think it was Highwind geez! T_T
@@MajereKibbles There's too many Cids xD
Never heard the game in JP voices and now I can say that the English voice actors nailed it. (I'm someone who can't rl say that ANY voice acting can come close to JP voice acting)
This shows how much effort and search is put into this masterpiece!
JP voice acting sound like some generic anime shmack, EN is much much better with a variaty of voices, accents and more.
I've noticed an increasing trend of actor reunions on Zoom, from Avatar The Last Airbender to Smallville. Wouldn't it be great if someone hosted a English VA reunion for FFXIV on a live Zoom video call? Maybe they could read through some scenes together.
Kupocon did that I think. Check out their channel
Love Aymeric’s English Voice actor
Hien's English VA has me acting up
Oh you mean Andrew Koji from Warrior and Snake Eyes?
Not only is Hien perfect, so is his voice actor.
All of these actors did an absolutely amazing job. Even the ones not listed here who were deserve praise for the wonderful performances they gave over the years.
14:45 OMG Now I get why the voice of Ardbert was so familiar to me, is Joe Dempsie, a.k.a Gendry Baratheon in game of thrones!
Fantastic. Some of the quotes I wouldn't of used, but still amazing to see the faces to the voices. And its amazing to see some big names amongst the voice cast on both sides.
Rene Zagger, THE true MVP. This game is a rare case where the English version sounds so much better, more grounded with almost every single character.
Thanks for make the comparisons video!!! Both of them are soooooooo nice 😭😭😭😭
As a western player I'm obviously biased towards the English voices, but it fascinating hearing the JP voices, as well as putting faces to so many voices.
Also seems funny that certain characters actually sound better in one, but others sound better in the other.
honestly zenos' voice is half the reason i love him so much.
Matsya was right Nidhana is hot
lol
Sam Riegel (Critical Role) was the voice of Alphinaud in ARR but they've since change to Colin Ryan. Still amazing!
I love Sam, but he and Taliesin just weren't right for Alphinaud and Thancred.
Doctor Who actors on the other hand -
3:13 - 3:22 - Yvonne Hartman, head of the Torchwood Institute at the end of Series 2
10:53 - 11:00 - Claire Brown from Doctor Who: Flux
13:41 - 13:47 - Toshiko Sato from Torchwood. *YAY TOSHI!!!*
If I've missed out any others please let me know!!!
Sorry but Graha's voice is so 🔥🔥🔥
I want to be friends with all these people,
And ffs I miss Ysayle i'm still not over it >.>
Yshtola’s Japanese VA is the sole reason why I wanna replay through MSQ in JP
That moment when you realize Russell Crowe voices Vauthry
And Estinien is Gerard Butler.
😂😂😂
I played all of the way in english and i love most of them ( Zenos VA is S-tier ). Meteion EN VA is pretty good but man.. her JP VA would've made me cry for sure.
her JP VA was absolutely stellar. Endearing and terrifying at the same time. Whew, what a performance.
FFXIV is the first JP game where I prefer English dub than Japanese.
I have a few, it's really noticeable when they put in the budget and effort to get the localisation right. Nier Gestalt and Dragon Quest VIII for example. Otherwise it often feels like a fandub
So true. I feel the japanese voices are somewhat exaggerated for some. But with english it sounds more natural. Maybe its because i only know english but hey.
i also prefer FFXII English dub than Japanese dub because of the characters accent.
Yoi really cant go wrong. At least after 2.0
@@airiyuuki ffxii en va is music and poetry. Best out there imo.
Why do so many of the English VAs look like their character?
Also maybe it's because I'm less sensitive to accent in JP but I actually love the range of accents in EN.
Ardbert is Gendry??
WHOAAAAA!!!!
OMG Thanks for putting this together, now I can listen to my FAV Heroes and Villains ALL I want to !!!
The voice actor of Thancred is the one who voice acts for gojo satoru in jujutsu Kaisen.
Wait...Hold up! 😀
@@anotherrandoontheinternet btw the Japanese one. His name is Yuuichi Nakamura.
So I have Anthony Byrne to thank for the "Sloppy" soundbite in my mind. Great voice acting!
i was today years old when i learned kan-e-senna (and naago) are voiced by gemma arterton's sister.
Both are great :)
Finshed it all in English, might go again and this time with Japanese for my replay lol
Such great casting choices, the VA have done such great job over the years. And wow some look like their game counterpart, haha
Thank you so much for doing this! I found your video during the interminable 24-hour 6.1 maintenance and it was definitely a welcome diversion. Less than 12 hours to go! 😁
Fact: Fourchenault EN Actor, Anthony Howell, is the same person who encarnates Jonathan Reid in "Vampyr" videogame. I'm never tired up of hearing his british accent.
The main reason why I loved every scene of Fourchenault. I adore Anthony Howells voice!
As i thought, the best mom (Venat) is voiced by the best mom (Kikuko Inoue, the VA of Belldandy from OMG).
And Kasumi Tendo from Ranma 1/2
Just as a note, Matt McCooey is Asahi/Fandaniel's voice, not Hermes/Fandaniel. I know they actually sound very similar, but the voice line you picked for your Fandaniel/Asahi is actually Jeremy Ang Jones' voice (Hermes) instead
Bro Hythlodaeus has a beautiful character model, beautiful voice, AND beautiful VA??
Jonathon Bailey...Viscount Anthony Bridgerton...his voice is in a Final Fantasy game.
I feel so nerdy right now that I know who every one of those characters are......
Some of these names are huge surprises. Gemma Whelan and Naoko Mori in particular, Game of Thrones and Torchwood
and Joe Dempsie as well
wow the vibes for eng soroban and jp soroban are so different :0!
I'd love to see recording booth footage.
Yugiris voice actor is Yumiko on The walking dead
It may be because I'm not good at hearing Japanese accents, but the English VA seems much more diverse
I just wish some of the side quests like the Werlyt have VA, or to the other extremes like Hildibrand. Tho I had a voice in my head of how Godbert sounds like.....
My friends and I often like to joke about how Hildibrand should be voiced by Markiplier (none of us are fans per se, but we feel it would be fitting in a stupid sort of way.) How do you feel that Godbert should be voiced?
Thank you for the nice trip down memory lane.