Final Fantasy VII Remake TGS Trailer Shows That Voice Acting Isn’t Always a Plus

To sell a game from 1997 on a modern console, you pretty much have to fully reboot it. And as the trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake that premiered Wednesday at the Tokyo Game Show demonstrates, that approach can make flaws in the original material painfully obvious.

[BABI-PANGPANG]

I honestly think you're nitpicking a bit too much..

[paradigmfellow]

My only complaint is the voice acting, I will be using the Japanese voices since the English ones are just plain weird and so out of synch.

[Jman1553]

The sync at least gets fixed by release. Same thing they do with kingdom hearts.
Japanese dub-> japanese lip sync->english dub->english lip sync

[Lionsguard]

The lip sync issue is more than likely an encoding problem.

[RememberThe357]

The voice acting has been terrible in the movies so we shouldn't be surprised. But I agree, the voice acting is really my only complaint so far and I'll probably just play it with the japanese voice overs and subtitles, as well.

[fr0sty]

I think Barret's voice is a bit cheesy... his "toughness" is a bit forced, but other than that, it's good, especially knowing Mark Hamill is involved.

[Teflon02]

Only bad part in the whole thing was Aeriths moan thing when getting hit. Apart from that it was perfectly fine. Nothing amazing, but nothing bad. What I don't understand is. Someone can do the exact sam voice acting in a cartoon and an anime for someone acting exactly the same and they'll never hhave anything to say about it when it's a cartoon. But the moment it's Japan related, it's super horrible cringe ear bleeding stuff

[rainslacker]

I wouldn't take quippy sound bites within a trailer as something indicative of the final package. Plus it's a japanese game, where they like to use a lot of exclamation during fight actions, and dialogue has a different center than English typically does. The best localizations dont try to match the english voice overs to the japanese ones, but the battle cries tend to remain in tact, and even if your used to gaming or anime, they still feel kind of weird to an english speaker.

I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary in the trailer. Seems about the same as any TV show commercial you here on the radio which is trying to sound interesting with sound bites. Plus, square Enix tends to make some of the worst trailers in the industry, and japanese trailers in general for the japanese market tend to be much different than the movie style ones we see in the us. Most square enix trailers for the west are the japanese on with english text or voice overs. This one seemed to be somewhere in between

[AK91]

That's all games journalism is nowadays.

[AnnaDea]

I think the english dub is kinda cheesy to be honest, not bad, but I´m gonna go with the japanese voices as always.

[PhoenixUp]

Really now? Would you prefer they handle this like Dragon Quest in Japan where there’s initially no voice acting?

[CrimsonWing69]

I’ll admit that I cringed with the voice acting in the trailer but I feel it’s the way they edited the trailer. It reminds me of the E3 2018 Kingdom Hearts trailer where the cringe was strong due to how they edited grunts and weird snipets of dialogue.

I’ll probably switch to Japanese audio given the choice.

[ninsigma]

"they edited grunts and weird snipets of dialogue"
Yeah I think that's the case here. Japanese games have strange dialogue at the best of times so when it's cut up like that it's super weird.

[rainslacker]

Yeah. These are Japanese trailers dubbed into English. Japanese games and anime have a different center to their dialogue, and the grunts have more significance to how the Japanese language works for expression. It feels off to the English speaker, but games in general nowadays often have more expressive sounds throughout. I've been playing borderlands, and most of the characters cant even do a basic jump without sounding like they're trying to pass a load after being constipated for a week. It's a bit unsettling with the female characters.

[CrimsonWing69]

Well that’s the thing, I don’t know what bad Japanese VAs are to good Japanese VAs. So, when I first saw this new trailer it was in Japanese and I’m not gonna lie I got chills watching it.

I wanted to post the trailer on my GroupMe chat and waited for the dub one but when I heard the voices and specifically anything Barrett or the part where Cloud takes off on the motorcycle with Biggs and Wedge talking in the background I was embarrassed from it sounding super cringe. Still, in the final
Build it might work out better?

I dunno, it’s just this trailer had voice samples all over with one liners and just awful delivery all around like when Reno says, “Now it’s my turn!” It just sounds dorky.

Regardless, everything else is godly!

[rainslacker]

There are bad Japanese VA's too. I think because people don't understand what they're actually saying, that they're just good because of it. Some are just as annoying as an 80-90's anime VA, who usually weren't bad, as they did other work just fine, but the directors for many translations were just piss poor trying to keep everything synced up or whatever. It's gotten a lot better in recent years, and I think there are some localizations which are actually better than their Japanese counterpart.

I'm not fluent in Japanese, but I know enough to understand a lot, and recognize when things are being overacted or just done more naturally like you'd expect from a good actor, even if over the top.

My only problem with Barret so far is that they've been using the quippy one liners, instead of the more meaningful things he had to say in the original game. The thing with the recent trailer is that it just seemed like they threw in a lot of one liners, instead of plot dialogue which you'd see more in western style trailers.

[NoneYuh]

I’m literally playing borderlands right now as Amara and it’s not unsettling lol that’s so extra to say. It’s generic jump grunting that’s been in the series for all characters. I’m not sure why it’s unsettling to you that it’s a woman. That literally sounds childish as hell.

Also, this trailer was fine but a bit awkward just because of the anime style conversations. All the smirks and cheesey one liners. But that’s to be expected and I think it works just fine.

[rainslacker]

Relax, saying it's unsettling is just exaggeration. Gaige in Borderlands two grunts heavier than any man, and it's more funny than unsettling. I was just setting up a bit of a joke afterwards, and the only reason I cited borderlands is because I have been playing the games the past few weeks. I'm sure I could find other games which do similar things....like any number of anime styled games which is what my comments were talking about to begin with. But I wanted something that contrasted that.

[TricksterArrow]

The VA is fine, IMO.

[Fraggle1987]

How the hell can u think they are fine? Cringe anime crap.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Complaining about anime cringe on a game that is heavily steeped in anime style, I don't think this franchise is for you some how.

[DerfDerf]

Cringe Anime Crap? You say that as if Anime isn't ridiculously popular.

[goldwyncq]

It's a japanese game for f**** sake. It's like complaining about pizza having cheese on it.

[rob-GP]

What should they sound like? Like the Gears of War cast?

[BlaqMagiq1]

It's a Japanese game dumbass. They SHOULD sound this way.

[Juusterey]

I wouldn't be using the word cringe if i were you
makes you look like you have no self awareness

[ninsigma]

Seems a bit cringey at times and I'm not sure I'm a fan of barrets voice (not for "omg that's stereotyping!!!" reasons) but we're only hearing them as part of cut up snippets in trailers so I won't judge it properly until I'm actually playing it.

[CrimsonPheonix]

Same Barret just sounds kind of weird too "grumbly" and Tifa might be a bit off, But visually it looks on point!

[Butters360]

Slate full of shit as usual. The new voice cast ACTUALLY have life in them and don't sound like zombies delivering their lines. Cody Christian emotes and delivers his Cloud's dialogue with passion in which Steve Burton never could.

[djaparatic]

I agree. I like the sound color of Burtons voice, but his way of delivering was always one note - be cool and uninterested. In my opinion not relatable at all considering Clouds quirky side.

[TheColbertinator]

Steve Burton sounded like he was selling cheap cologne the whole way through.

[Harkins1721]

People make the same mistake with these games all the time. The last trailer should off great banter between characters

[CrimsonPheonix]

no they don't look at FF XIII and Advent Children sometimes Square gets it wrong.

[Harkins1721]

Yes they do. They take parts from other parts of the game that and mesh it together and FFXIII is a prime example. The Vanille/Sazh part of a trailer many years ago showed it to be cringe and then in the final game it was way better done. Never said SE doesnt get it wrong. But fans/people make these same mistakes when trailers drop all the time.

[Kaedro]

For me the voice acting is perfect. No complaints. I just hope this game is not like FF corridor XIII

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

Barret's voice actor has already said that he just did voice over work for a trailer so that confirms all these voices for the trailer are placeholder. People need to chill. This is not how any of the characters sounded at E3 or the current gameplay that was released. The game has amazing voice acting.

[Immorals]

The art style is awesome, but the trailer was so horrendously tacky and I think the voice acting is a major contributer in this

[Summons75]

It sounded fine.

[Tapani]

Correction: English voice acting isn't always a plus. Japanese voice acting is 80% of the time extremely good in Japanese made A, AA or AAA games. The Japanese voices in the Japanese FFVIIR trailer were actually pretty good and full of some of the most famous actors / actresses in the business there. Often times Spanish, French and Portuguese ones are pretty good as well.

[Fraggle1987]

Voices are terrible. Everything else looks brilliant.

[djaparatic]

I think the biggest troll of them all was the guy who wrote - why didn't you hire FF14 VA X'D. Anyway, compare FF7R VA and Dissidia or FF14 (base game) and u'll be happy with what u hear....at least I am.

[TeamIcoFan]

Uhhhhhhh...no, FF14 ARR's english VA is pretty bad, especially towards the end.
Quality picks up massively with the expansions though, with Shadowbringers VA being the best by far.

[Miss_Vixen]

Game is shaping up to look really good from what’s shown so far. The only issue I have is the voice acting (English Dub)

I don’t know why but it just sounds too generic like an average anime dub. It’s kind of lifeless with no actual emotion punch nor the high quality standards like the original Metal Gear Solid or The Last of Us.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

The voice acting was perfectly acceptable.

[bluefox755]

I thought it was pretty good, not like top tier, but good. I like a little cinge in English VA for Japanese games, gives it charm.

[lellkay]

The voice acting is okay at best.. I think the flaws just stand out when it is compared to some of the great voice acting we have seen in the AAA market over the last few years.

[Imalwaysright]

I watched it and all the way through I was thinking that the western versions better have the option to choose japanese voice acting because some of them voice actors were getting on my nerves especially the one that is playing Jessie.

[tombfan]

When there's not much to complain in a trailer... they always find something...

[Atomicjuicer]

I’ve played FF7 remake and I hate the way they pronounce Mako. I always felt it was “mayko” but they pronounce it “macko”

Small issue.

The game is freakin amazing btw.

[rob-GP]

They're saying it correctly. That's the thing with silent games vs voiced ones, you actually get to hear how things are said. Look at Aerith, for years we all called her Aeris due to a translation in the original western release - at least now we know for sure that it's supposed to be Aerith.

[Atomicjuicer]

Yeah it’s like Phoenix Down (it’s down feathers) or Feisar from wipeout which I always pronounced Fayzhar until they added a voice and pronounced it Fizar.

[pietro1212]

It's not that bad

[rob-GP]

"To sell a game from 1997 on a modern console, you pretty much have to fully reboot it" - no you don't. You can re-release, remaster or port it and fans of the game will still buy it. The reboot is because people have been asked for it for years and years.

"Voice Acting Isn’t Always a Plus" - not read the article, because I know it'll be really picky, but I thought the voice acting in the trailer was okay. Remember, it's a trailer which will have pulled in audio from random places to present a mini snippet of what's happening on screen. With the right scene and the music and ambience, I'm sure it'll sound very different in-game.

[Outlawzz]

Sounded good to me. The editing was off so the voices weren't really meshing well with wt was going on. But it looks good to me. I'll have to play through the original ff7 before I buy this. Are they doing it in pieces or will it be the full story in there ?

[Artemidorus]

All they have to do is offer an option to remove voices and keep the music in the background.

[SugarSoSweet]

Sounded fine to me............ Voice acting is infinitely better in 2019 then it was back in the 90's.....

[Immagaiden]

What people don’t seem to understand is that now that the entire game will be voice acted, videos like these hilarious as they are will soon become irrelevant

https://m.youtube.com/watch...

[ScootaKuH]

Well the English voices in the trailer sound terrible. I'd prefer Japanese with subtitles, or no voices at all

[Juusterey]

I really don't see the issue
fishy how this only started when this japanese trailer dropped
first in japanese
wonder if it's those "subs only" kinds of people