240°

Speaking in Accents and the American Ethnocentrism in Video Games

Voice acting has become a staple in gaming that helps flesh out characters and setting. Abandoning the text-box provided a more intimate way for the game to connect to the player by expressing emotion and ideas in a way that they are more familiar with. The quality of voice acting in games is, of course, an area of contention, but when done properly, it adds brushstrokes to the aesthetics of the game. This is especially true for settings that benefit from characters having accents to imply nationality. The cultural politics that voice acting implies, however, often escape analysis. The default English accent is General American and deviations from this tap into a subtext that assumes an American player. How accents communicate information to the player exposes the subliminal effects of American ethnocentrism.

Looking at the voices chosen for the later Final Fantasy games reveal how conscious the video game industry is in having voiceover resonate with American players.

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gamasutra.com
Optical_Matrix4555d ago

FFXII had the best voice acting in a Final Fantasy game. Ironically, the voice acting was meant to replicate archaic british dialect.

Canary4555d ago

You think? I had a hard time appreciating it due to how horridly compressed the audio was, and how none all of the actors always spoke in the exact same tone regardless of scene.

Apparently FFXII was made with some really crappy, low-budget mics that wouldn't properly record even the mildest of whispers or shouts.

MaxXAttaxX4555d ago

Mic quality aside. FFXII did have the best(and arguably the only good) voice acting of any of the FF games.

ATLUS, IMO, is many times superior to Square Enix when it comes to voice acting(at least for the English dubs).

Canary4555d ago

The only FF game whose voice acting really impressed me was XIII. Really great dub. Almost enough to make up for the absolutely awful gameplay.

Pozzle4554d ago

Oh man, I'm glad I'm not the only one bugged by the audio quality in FFXII. I would have loved the voice acting if it wasn't for the fact that they all sounded horribly distorted and echoey.

RememberThe3574555d ago

The issue of ethnocentrism is being played a little strongly here. It suggests more than is actually present. Like one commenter said, it's making a mountain out of a mole hill. This issue isn't any more ethnocentric than what is natural in all people. We're all a little ethnocentric and that comes across in our creative works. It can't be help and IMO it shouldn't be helped. It's natural and identifying. It allows different culture to have different perspectives and present them in different ways. Ethnocentrism can, IMO, help us as much as it can hurt us, and this this case I don't think it's hurting anyone who isn't overly sensitive.

120°

Final Fantasy 12 Has The Worst Cid, Says Ben Starr

Clive actor Ben Starr plays kiss, marry, kill with Final Fantasy characters, and decides to off Cid from Final Fantasy 12.

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thegamer.com
CrimsonWing6928d ago

I’d give it to 8, but whatevs.

mastershredder28d ago (Edited 28d ago )

Ew VO actors and their cringe core. Fiverr voice actors could out perform this chump.

70°

The 7 Best Final Fantasy Characters: Unveiling the Legends

While FFVII ranks highly, there's more to the series than one game. Here's Chit Hot's picks for the seven best Final Fantasy characters.

220°

The older it gets, the more I respect Final Fantasy XIII

Alex Donaldson: "Hindsight is a hell of a thing, however, and in the years since Final Fantasy XIII, my respect for the decisions its developers made has skyrocketed. In the two Final Fantasy titles since we see both the brilliance and the folly in alternative approaches - and in Final Fantasy VII Remake, we get a more nuanced understanding of what FF13 was trying to accomplish from many of the same development leads."

Einhander1972143d ago

FFXIII is actually one of the best Final Fantasy games.

I also sort of was disappointed at the time, never as much as the bandwagon. But really all the fantastic 3D rendered cutscenes and I actually liked the characters and the story though convoluted was actually fantastic and the ending was extremely emotional. So much budget and time were put into that game Square had such big plans, I actually have always felt kind of bad for how things played out.

I have been thinking for years how great it would be to get all three games on one disk for PS4 or 5.

Nyxus143d ago

I always liked this game, and I agree, a rerelease for current gen would be nice.

Shane Kim142d ago (Edited 142d ago )

Gotta take off the nostalgia glasses. It's the worst FF. Shiva as a bike, I mean come on.

Elda142d ago

Shiva as a bike is strange but saying FFXIII is the worst FF is not at all a fact, that's simply your opinion.

Terry_B141d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125142d ago (Edited 142d ago )

When I got my series X a year ago, I bought FF13 for nostalgia reasons but ended up being disappointed. When I first played it around the time it launched, I didn't have a lot of experience with final fantasy games, so I enjoyed it. Fast forward to when I played it again, I found that the game had many unnecessary filler moments instead of just giving us meaningful content.

The game is also very linear and a quote on the article said it best. "It is like a sewage pipe that leads to the ocean until it opens up on Grand Pulse."

The story didn't make much sense either and I believe it is my mistake as I played the FF7 remake on PS5 prior which is a night and day difference in terms of pacing, storytelling and likeable characters even though cloud is aloof.

FinalFantasyFanatic141d ago (Edited 141d ago )

Probably was a mistake to play any of the golden era FFs first (e.g. FF6 through FF10), it makes it harder to enjoy some of the FFs that aren't as good. I think FF12 was where major issues with the series started becoming apparent, and it just got worse from there.

FinalFantasyFanatic141d ago (Edited 141d ago )

I didn't really care for it that much, the only saving grace was that it had a better story than 15 (overall it was better than 15) and possibly 12, and even then, you had to read some of it through primers, like reading a book. Plus the battle system was reasonably fun for what it was, even if it was more the spectacle that was exciting for me (e.g. summoning). And to be fair, the 13 trilogy got better with every games, I still don't like Snow though.

Gamingsince1981141d ago

Ff13 is only good if you haven't played a ff before, or any other games that are decent for that matter.

-Foxtrot141d ago

It is in fact no way the best Final Fantasy game, it's one of the worst

Linear corridors, Cutscene, Fight, Cutscene...rinse and repeat

Dialogue and characters are pretty bad, especially Lightning as the main FF hero, they literally said they tried to make a "Female Cloud" and they failed.

Story was pretty awful

I could go on

I think the only alright thing that came from the game was the music.

Elda141d ago

That's not a fact that's your personal opinion. The game sold 11 million copies between its 2009 release up until 2014 including critically reviewed as an 8 out of 10 or an 80 out of 100. The game does have some issues but it's not at all a fact as one of the worst FF games.

-Foxtrot141d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy141d ago

N4G commenters such as yourself aren't the majority. The game was well received.

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gold_drake143d ago (Edited 143d ago )

i liked the game alot but i didnt like how they handled the terminology.

i dont mind reading data logs but it had soo many.

but i always loved the music and how it looked. the battle system wasnt too bad either.

but i like 13-2 more :)

i still dont understand why we never got a remaster of the trilogy

Eonjay141d ago

Xbox kinda did. Besides the video files of course which are still best on PS3 due to bluray.

Snookies12143d ago

XIII is a pretty solid game, but XIII-2 is WAY better. XIII-2 was one of the few games I decided to go for a Platinum trophy in, early on. Had so much fun the entire way through getting it too!

Eonjay141d ago

Totally agree. FF 13 was okay but 13-2 is my favorite FF game ever.

shinoff2183143d ago (Edited 143d ago )

I hated this to when it released. I haven't much liked a ff game since ff10 as much , aside from ff7remake. I decided to give it another shot on my series x since it's not on a current ps and was liking it quite a bit(just takes me some time to get over things ) until star ocean 2 remake came out I was all over that.

Square should definitely remaster it or something for ps4 ps5

KillerB142d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

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