Voice acting killed Final Fantasy

[Theron Julius]

Voice acting? I had no problem with voice acting. Everyone was portrayed well enough. The only person I found annoying was Vanille. It wasn't her voice (though it was annoying) so much as the noises she made. Too many grunts and moans... Any scene with her sounded like porn if you weren't looking. But overall I think the voice acting was good enough.

By the way, how can you make a point about voice acting when the only previous examples of voice acting in Final Fantasy were games you didn't like? I think your argument was more about story or gameplay rather than voice acting.

 

[Raziel_Likes_Souls]

I think its more like BAD voice actors killed final fantasy think its more of the games have just gotten steadily worse overall.

Concurro.
But to tell you the truth, I only liked 1 to 7 and 9. You can see why I like 10. [/sarcasm]

*Cringes horribly* I barely made it through the clip and i had to keep muting my speakers.

Im now very happy i never played a final fantasy past 6.

I think its more like BAD voice actors killed final fantasy think its more of the games have just gotten steadily worse overall.

Concurro.
But to tell you the truth, I only liked 1 to 7 and 9. You can see why I like 10. [/sarcasm]

Both of you are taking the video out of context...

Watch the whole scene and see why they are laughing ridiculously

Look I know he's laughing to get rid of stress, but for fuck's sake did he have to do it so bad, ON PURPOSE? Yelling the word HA does not count as fake laughing. That counts as being fucking nuts. I say that scene in 2004 and I couldn't sleep that night.

 

[shemoanscazrex3]

Vanille's voice was just loads of WTFable why can't, at least the PS3 version get a Jap dub? I might don't state popular opinion but I have always found FF games long tedious and boring(I have gotten into the snes ones). 12 was just such a snooze fest in the beginning, also the fact that I could move but its still turn based annoyed me. I did like the little bit of 10 and 10-2 I've played. I love Final Fantasy 13 though and the linearity(according to firefox thats a word) didn't bother me at all.

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Look I know he's laughing to get rid of stress, but for fuck's sake did he have to do it so bad, ON PURPOSE? Yelling the word HA does not count as fake laughing. That counts as being fucking nuts. I say that scene in 2004 and I couldn't sleep that night.

Considering the boy has been sucked through time by a squidly diddly... yeah.. your justified a few moments of whackjob

 

[Aura Guardian]

I thought graphics killed it. FF6 is the best.

That was the complaint before. Seven came out and everyone clamored about how the graphics where going to be the downfall of the series. Seven brought more people into the series then any previous game.

Ten did the same with the current generation of game players who grew up on the PS2, even if they all like to claim they got their start with the PS1, but even someone 20 now would have been 10 when the PS2 came out.

That is a good point.

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Ugh, I remember that clip...

Yeah I think that's true. With 7 I had Cloud and Barret and Sephiroth with the voices all in my head, and it sounded pretty good up there. Tidus makes me want to stab my eardrums with a screwdriver.

I didn't get much into 10, but I may join you there after watching that video... Everyone said Tidus was a very whiny, crybaby character. I didn't think they would mix things up that much. It's like Squall if he was outwardly emo rather then the lone wolf type.

Tidus very much was the whiny boy of that game

Auron was the badass

 

[Tony2077]

Ugh, I remember that clip...

Yeah I think that's true. With 7 I had Cloud and Barret and Sephiroth with the voices all in my head, and it sounded pretty good up there. Tidus makes me want to stab my eardrums with a screwdriver.

I didn't get much into 10, but I may join you there after watching that video... Everyone said Tidus was a very whiny, crybaby character. I didn't think they would mix things up that much. It's like Squall if he was outwardly emo rather then the lone wolf type.

Tidus very much was the whiny boy of that game

Auron was the badass

For some reason i don't mind that stuff hm odd

 

[Lullabye]

Look, I don't know about you all, but I liked FF7. Not because everyone else loves it, but because it was the first FF that I played. It was also the first 3d game I had played on the PlayStation.
I liked it.
Fun characters....except for, you know, the main hero and villain. They were terribly emo. THen I tried FF8 later, and thought it was fun too. Then I played the awesomeness that was FF9. I could've done without Kuja wearing chaps, but that's just me.
I skipped 10/10-2 because it had everyone in tears(by this time I had discovered the internet and other people that played games). Mind you, not the good "omg that was beautiful!" tears. No, more like the....well, watch the above clip of Tidus and Yuna "laughing".....*shivers* I know right? Terrible.
Then I played FF12.
......yes, it was not good. But at least the voice acting didn't bring me to tears of pain and suffering. Plus, I found a character I fell in love with. Balthier.
Then 13 rolled around and never had I felt the urge so bad to kill a virtual character before. Vanille, I'm talking about you. Seriously, she single handedly ruined the game for me. I mean, the whole thing was hard to watch, but for christs sake what made them think making her narrate the story was a good idea!?
*sigh*
oh well, whats done is done and unfortunately can never be undone(short of gathering all copies up and burning them).
Still, even after all the terrible cut scenes and voice acting, I still don't agree with the OP. Because there is one exception in the FF series that sticks out so much that it seems like an almost whole other series.
I'm talking about, of course, Final Fantasy Tactics. As far as motivation, relatability, and voice acting are concerned, this is perhaps one of the top games ever.
The style, the language, the cutscenes animation, none of it in any way came off as cheesy or overdone. It all came together, including the gameplay itself, that I was almost moved to tears by the whole experience.
Plus, it had Balthier who is easily my favorite character of all time as far as FF is concerned.
So yeah, I'll wait and see what FF Versus brings, because as far as I've heard, it's supposed to be a return to roots. Hopefully this means back to when playing FF and watching the cutscenes became a chore.

 

[technoted]

So far I've enjoyed every Final Fantasy except from XIII, I just couldn't get into it, I don't blame voice acting, even though I don't like it in Final Fantasy, I don't blame them upping the graphics because 7 is my favourite, I do however think after 9 they just started going downhill, not terrible games like 13 but not as good as they could be.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I know a lot of people feel the same way I do about the quality of recent FF releases. 7-9 are 3 of my favorite games ever, with awesome charactors, story and everything else, with enough variation between them to make each one uniquely special.

Then 10 came, which was ok, although everything seemed slighty worse, the charactors wern't as good, story was worse, and the plot and gameplay were annoyingly linear.

12 had the most boring one dimentional charactors ever, with an equily dull story to boot. They added some nice extra bits, and it wasn't as linear as 10, but I just didn't care. Without a compelling story or charactors it felt so empty.

And now 13, which I think Yahtzee nailed in his review. Exept Sazh, all the charactors were annoyingly smug and whiney, and everything just so damn linear.

Anyway, I'm gonna go ahead and blame voice actors above all, for filling everything with annoying phrases like "Heros don't back down!", and generally making everyone annoyingly optomistic and stereotypical. At least I could charactorise them myself without, but now they just take on the ultra bland persona projected by the voice actors, reciting optimistic phrases, and exactly filling the stereotypes I'm trying to imagine they arn't.

I was hoping this was a toke jopic, guess not and with the story well if you noticed they're all just running together, so yeah

 

[NoElixir]

I have to start by stating Final Fantasy IX and XII are certainly at the top of my favorite Final Fantasy.

Fans continue to lament over their nostalgic experiences never resurfacing back in the future. All they can argue about is trying to get their character archetypes and over world maps back which is something quite trivial given Final Fantasy's vicissitudes. Change in Final Fantasy has accrued in the past 20 years and retrogressing for the sake of the minority of maudlin "veterans" would be frivolous. Speaking of these so-called "veterans", some of them try to inculcate canards in the newcomers which is horribly wrong.

It's simple really. Those who claim they are done with the series still continue to show up in these same threads and argue over nonsensical aspects. Carry on all you want, but there's quite a difference between the fans. Those who play both old and new; those who play the older instalments and attribute bombastic judgment to the newest instalments without having played them.

Just leave the blasted series alone instead of trying to impugn the direction of the series.

 

[Swifteye]

I say it's less the voice acting and more the writing. I mean after all the voice actors can only say what's on the script although some people who are in the anime voice acting buisness have so much experience there two cents could actually improve the lines the character could say.

 

[Raziel_Likes_Souls]

Look I know he's laughing to get rid of stress, but for fuck's sake did he have to do it so bad, ON PURPOSE? Yelling the word HA does not count as fake laughing. That counts as being fucking nuts. I say that scene in 2004 and I couldn't sleep that night.

Considering the boy has been sucked through time by a squidly diddly... yeah.. your justified a few moments of whackjob

Here's another game with some squiddly diddly:
Hammy acting not included.

 

[Wounded Melody]

How do we know that the original Japanese VAs are any better? Since (a lot of us) can't understand Japanese, they could be terrible for all we know.
Also, aren't Fang and Vanille's VAs actually Austalian?

 

[Cinnonym]

I've never been a fan of voice-acting, so I'm inclined to agree with you. I think it peels away another layer of speculation from the audience perspective to have the inflections and even body language flung at you rather than superimposing it by your own right into your brain. Maybe that sounds silly--but I think as far as production goes, it's a waste of money. It only makes these sorts of things more obnoxious.

 

[KarumaK]

Remember the job system? They got rid of it.

That's what depresses me most, I loved the job system. Give me back my B. Mage/W. Mage/Fighter/Thief/etc.!

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

Hey, did you know that water causes cancer?

Think about it- every person in the world who has EVER had cancer has drunk water at least once in their lives. Irrefutable proof!

See also: You Fail Logic Forever. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouFailLogicForever]

 

[KarumaK]

Remember the job system? They got rid of it.

That's what depresses me most, I loved the job system. Give me back my B. Mage/W. Mage/Fighter/Thief/etc.!

It's still there:
Commando/ Ravager/ Synergist/ Medic/ Sentinel/ Saboteur

Perhaps my post wasn't clear... BLACK MAGE, WHITE MAGE, FIGHTER, THIEF, RED MAGE, ETC.

I want not this new affront to my memories.