FINAL FANTASY XVI | Behind the Voices Discussion

[@rynfarron]

The voice acting was one of the best parts of the game. I love the various regional dialects they chose.

[@raikoh121]

Yeah honestly caught me off guard hearing geordie being spoken by one of the main characters of the game lol never thought I would hear the word "howay" in a final fantasy game(i'm geordie myself)

[@NTWoo95]

@@raikoh121 hearing someone say “if you need owt” in a mainstream game like final fantasy was wild lmao

[@Pinkaholic2009]

​@@raikoh121I'm geordie too. Absolutely loved Gav.

[@rubemevangelista3868]

Gav is a treasure

[@SpoiltLittlePrincess]

@@raikoh121 I'm from Hexham but haven't been back up north for years and I spent the entire game just fangirling to all my friends about Cid and especially Gav!!!!

[@tade219]

|spoiler| Nina’s delivery of “Where is Garuda?!” Caught me so off guard. I was just fighting this character, certainly an enemy, but in that moment her fear and panic was so viscerally obvious. They all kicked ass, phenomenal acting.

[@VectoredPromise]

I agree. That line sounded so genuine as if she truly lost her identity and purpose.

[@ovum]

Add one or two more spaces. Your "spoiler" is still visible

[@gateauxq4604]

Absolutely. Her whole performance after she lost Garuda was so manic and genuine. Even when crazed Garuda was trying to eat my face off I still thought about how she was such a victim of circumstance.

[@tade219]

@@ovum So don’t read it.

[@Bahamut998]

Her character stole every scene she was in, just stellar unique voice acting, made her character so intriguing and memorable.

[@drakhoon]

oh jesse cox must have been so thrilled to do this :) so happy for him

[@jessecox]

I was.

[@deployed246]

@@jessecox I kinda wish you were introduced using a clip of your freakout when you were playing Lightning's Return, partly because it was funny and would put people that didn't know you on edge, but also because you were right and this project seems to have learnt everything that needed to be learnt from those older games as far as VO direction is concerned.

[@Neer-yy5nm]

Remember seeing him years ago, didn't care for him, weird how SE chose such a low profile KZbinr.

[@jaybee4288]

He played one game and acts like he’s a guru of FF or something. He looked so out of place here and added nothing to the discussion. He really looked like a fat streamer next to all these actors 😂

[@jaybee4288]

@Neer-yy5nm I think he just made friends with FF14 team because he was hugely sycophantic about that game. He does seem to have quite a few viewers but it’s a shame that some of the major FF KZbinrs/streamers got overlooked for variety streamers and FF14 fans.

[@Arcane_Archer]

Clive's "I'll fucking kill you" is the rawest line ever, I love it.

[@kclc7]

Ralph Ineson was absolutely superb. The depth of his voice, how authentic his voice felt and his voice acting was nothing short of charming.

[@DecayedPony]

Yeah, he Won the gene RNG for voice, and thank goodness he took it to voice acting. a gift to gamers.

[@cody3335]

The mans voice is ear candy. He is such a talent. The whole cast as well crushed it.

[@Bahamut998]

Best cid in a final fantasy game ever.

[@supersoupy4709]

@@Bahamut998without question

[@Leon8937]

Gotta give massive shout outs to Torgal's VA too. Absolute best boy, made me cry a few times with a great performance.

[@elchit6635]

This is a really special cast in terms of ff history. Acted their goddamn hearts out from the tiniest dialogue in side quests to huge cinematic scenes. So much love for the game.

[@sam.246]

Please SQ, this should be the new FF standard of voice-acting going forward. All the actors were absolutely incredible.

[@Bahamut998]

It’s square enix and the ff franchise. Trust me if when they go with ff17 it will be bigger. Each game is about going more and more. Don’t expect it for years though. I believe they will make ff16 dlc because game is very popular.

[@PlagueJ]

ff7r had great voice acting too to be fair. Tifa and Barret especially. The other just didn't really have that much opportunity to show their range yet. Rebirth will really open that up though.

[@egateqa1351]

@@PlagueJI’d say the FF7 Remake’s voice cast are a mixed bag. On one hand, some of the voice actors like Briana or John Eric Bentley do a great job at voicing Aerith and Barret, but on the other hand, Celeb and Cody Christian don’t do an amazing job as Cloud and Zack, compared to Steve Burton and Rick Gomez.

[@vincentoni.]

This should really be a new AAA game standard! Especially the localization aspect of it was of such a mindblowing quality! ❤️‍🔥😭

[@sam.246]

@@PlagueJ it's more the style that I like less. FFVIIR is too anime, with plenty of unnecessary grunts in-between. FFXVI feels more mature and its characters are easily relatable. Barely a single line felt cringy, which is also merit of the script.

[@Rockalanche]

I was not expecting to see Jesse Cox's face on the thumbnail for an official Final Fantasy video today. Ecstatic that he was given the chance. Jesse puts so much love and care into his work.

[@dog_of_myth4650]

Man, Jesse Cox must have had a smile on his face for weeks after doing this.

[@tade219]

Legend says it’s still there to this day

[@Atlink]

My man Koji gettin the credit he deserves. That man does so much for us, and I feel he’s always overshadowed. I also want to listen to a radio drama with all of the cast. What a wonderful thing.

[@lukelmaooooo]

a radio drama is a brilliant idea, I hope they do something like that at least if we dont get XVI-2 or a DLC

[@yusivishnu]

As expected from the man who thought "Thal's Bloody balls".

[@Daniel_D-bo]

im kinda new to the final fantasy world but is koji fox known as like the godfather of final fantasy in the west?

[@ckwi2245]

@@Daniel_D-bo no, he was the English Localization Lead on FFXIV for a good decade, and worked in the later end of FFXI so a lot of FF fans have been seeing him talk at the Fan Fests over the years, so we kind of attached to him. That and when he turns around and does lead vocal for essentially screaming metal/rock really throws ya for a loop.

[@waffleboy159]

Seeing Jesse on my frontpage on the official Final Fantasy channel as soon as I open youtube is quite a way to begin lunch.

[@apocalypse9199]

Barnsbus's evil laugh during the 3rd phase really got to me. Astounding work from all

[@AzureViking]

I will say the voice actors and the characters are fantastic. Crazy to hear David Menkin sound so normal after getting used to his incredible work as Barnabas. Glad to see all the attention and praise being directed towards the voice actors. They are too often underappreciated.

[@Bahamut998]

I was legit surprised by how Barnabas got emotionally in his fight with Clive 😂

[@Guil_P]

As an aspiring voice actor and huge Final Fantasy fan too, Ben Starr is such a huge inspiration. Also, FF8 fans rise up!!

[@gateauxq4604]

FF8 hells yeah!

[@Karanagi]

The localization and voice acting is an absolute treat in FFXVI. The entire team did a tremendous job. Ralph Ineson and Ben Starr in particular have a very compelling dynamic that grounds both characters. I'm certainly looking forward to hearing these voice actors again and I hope Koji and the localization team will work on future FFs so we can all enjoy it.

[@JustNardo]

The voice cast in this game was stellar, the graphics were stellar, the story was great, the gameplay was fun. Just a dtupendous achievement. My favorite game so far this year and one of my favorites in a long time. Just hit everything right with me. My only criticism is that i wanted more haha. Looking forward to any dlc stories that may come.

[@inanimatesum4945]

Man, got to 1 million subs finally and spend time interviewing such an amazing cast that really elevated the story with their performance alongside getting to talk to Koji Fox. Cox really deserves it all.

[@MotherCereza]

120 hours later, 100% the game and in all that time I still find myself wanting to play this game. It truly is a masterpiece. Thank you Ben for bringing us a truly wonderful performance as Clive, and to the rest of the cast you deserve just as much praise. Love you Final Fantasy!

[@Daveguitar]

@@I-Will-Destroy-U Seriously? Lol. I loved the game.

[@raze_6474]

Except for the cinematics and and cool combat theres nothing groundbreaking. Its a one & done game with very little replay value.

[@MotherCereza]

@@I-Will-Destroy-U Idk for me it left a lasting impression post playing it. I grew attached to the world that was created and the characters in it. From a gameplay standard, Clive’s arsenal is pretty diverse. If you think the game is “boring and generic” I’d like to know what games you are comparing it to.

[@Bahamut998]

@@I-Will-Destroy-Ugo play Spider-Man it’s your type of game. Final fantasy franchise isn’t for you.

[@Daveguitar]

@@I-Will-Destroy-U I’ve played enough and still love it. It’s okay if you don’t like it. I just don’t care.

[@XIII_Lightning_]

Omg I’m in love with Ben. He’s a super fan and now he’s probably the greatest VA Final Fantasy has ever had. And I want to say how refreshing it is that they chose to prioritize the English voices first and the mature rating really allowed for a more rich story and rich characters.

[@Bahamut998]

Yes…finally characters in a gritty mature world that actually act like humans in such a world would. Was getting honestly tired of the classic kind of fantasy jrpg world and characters.

[@seijusmoke8672]

That’s ray chase

[@Rebekah_Rosfield831]

You took the words right out of my mouth. 😊

[@adriencoudray2585]

FFXVI gave the best voice acting I have ever witnessed in a video game, by a large marging. I don't say that to diminish the work other voice actors did on other games, but I truly believe FFXVI team went above and beyond and gave us the best voice acting ever made. I am not even a native English speaker but I was blown away by the quality of the English dubbing. You achieved the impossible, every character and its voice is now engrained in my mind and I will never forget them. Thank you so much, really.

[@ZYaruru]

I love that cast. SO MUCH. They did such an incredible job!!

[@Xshinobi2k8]

I wish they did more with Benedikta. Her character deserved better.

[@Temperance_XVII]

Yeah she died way too quick, Barnabas could’ve been way better too

[@ikwilgeenkanaalzeur]

I thought i read you could romance her,…then it happened 😢

[@crowevil4658]

The dog got what she deserved. She was stubborn to the bitter end.

[@Bahamut998]

Cid and benedikta dlc please

[@JPrescottQ]

She kind of didn't though? She was a horrible person. Without a second thought she would kill her own men and tortured prisoners. She chose to reject Cids vision for a pluralistic society in favor of the dystopian zombie future of Barnabas. She is just an early game villain that you can find in many other games. That she could evoke any sympathy is kudos to the writing team and VA.

[@TataruTaru]

It's our boy, Lil JC, Jesse Cox!

[@Pravaification]

I'm so happy that Jesse got to do this interview! He's always been a big Final Fantasy and voice acting nerd and I imagine this was a dream come true for him!

[@Drakengard65]

Benedikta and Barnabas voice actors are Norwegian! LOVE FROM NORWAY! YOU ROCK!

[@Bahamut998]

They’re honestly amazing, the Nordic touch they add to the Kingdom of Waloed is so cool.

[@danielmunroe1423]

75 hours into what i can only describe as a masterpiece. Ben starr is the goat what a performance, come to me ifrit!!!!!!!!!!

[@Zetasphere]

I haven't seen Koji Fox look and sound so excited about a game in so long.

[@adamkmet8936]

Ben is to Final Fantasy what Henry Cavill is to the Witcher.

[@gateauxq4604]

Hopefully SE will be a lot nicer to Ben because he’s a keeper

[@Ilyak1986]

Don't jinx it! Hopefully squeenix knows what kinds of gems these people are! MFW the writers of The Witcher cocked it up so badly that The Witcher left The Witcher and now The Witcher dies because they don't have The Witcher.

[@kjh4496]

Oh no. Henry was a terrible Geralt. The man can’t act.

[@teysa.k]

I love Ben calling Yoshipi Yoshipi. The game is amazing, it has become my favorite FF game.

[@_foodwrap_]

Finished the game the other day, a absolute masterpiece, one of my most favorite games in a long time, and one i certainly won't forget anytime soon.

[@Masaru702]

1st FF game, the English VO is the main language. Great cast they had me engaged in the story. Congrats to Jessie for being part of this.

[@inunarugo]

I love that Ben expresses his love for the games. You are the best and we fans love you!!

[@matthagen67]

Each one of them deserves all the awards. They absolutely nailed it.

[@Heaven_Angel52]

They're all were spectacular in their particular characters.

[@rausicca1610]

Yay! For Jesse, this mustve been truly exciting. Barnabas' VA was not whom I thought he'd look like. Its always nice to see the faces behind the voices and compare them to your own imagination. 😄

[@lukelmaooooo]

this game was absolutely brilliant! the Eikon battles would only hold a fraction of the weight and spectacle that they do if not for all the beautifully acted conflicts and character moments that lead up to them. Also heres my obligatory DLC begging pls thx SPOILERS: a few of my favorite moments were Clive and Jill in the barn at Eastpool, Clive and Annabella at Twinside followed by Clive and Joshua's reunion, Jill and Clive on the shore of Ash, pretty much every scene Cid was in, Barnabas and Clive atop Reverie, Hugo and Clives confrontation in Rosalith, and of course the ending which was beautiful beyond words

[@cody3335]

Since I saw Ralph in the witch I was blown away by his unique voice and acting.

[@coolfangs]

The voice cast all seem like wonderful people, and it shows in their performances, they really poured their hearts into it. Also really happy for Jesse getting the opportunity to host this interview, he deserves it!

[@malcovich_games]

My favorite Banedikta line is "You c--k!" Kind of shocking to hear that out of the blue... but was a big character establishing moment.

[@jacobteague635]

*If you're not in tears by the end of this game, you're not human.* Well, I must be a human because that ending destroyed me

[@UrickSan92]

Nina did such a great job as Benedikta ❤

[@Guckkasten85]

Thanks to all the voice actors who made the story feel so great. Thanks Square Enix to create experiences like Final Fantasy. All of you made my life better =)

[@unfinest]

Koji just sitting there giggling! 🤣 Haha I love him so much!

[@gateauxq4604]

1/3 of the CBU3 gremlin trio

[@Hengga]

This interview was great. I want to see more behind the scenes action! Such a great voice actors and characters in game, and the story is so mindblowingly epic rollercoaster of all kind of emotions and feelings it was very hard to stop at times! Im still so damn addicted to all the things around this game. Simply the best game I have played in years!

[@Mister_Superfly]

Being from UK it’s great to hear all the then different dialects even have a bit of Geordie in there too.

[@Stones223]

this was fantastic! I'm so glad Jesse got to talk to them. Great interview, incredible cast!

[@QuestText]

Hell yeah, love Jesse.

[@jessecox]

Thank you :)

[@cykurosaki1337]

The voice acting and direction in the game was exceptionally good. Dare I say, best in the FF series thus far.

[@slaynnyt8130]

The voiceovers for this game were so good! Congratulations to all the cast! Wish the person who voiced Mid was in the interview as well, I loved her acting :D

[@AerosDecree]

Bless this team for all the hard work that was put in, and it was a treat to have played this game.

[@Daniel_Rodrigues_89]

The fact that Ben is a fan of the franchise is just so cool. Of course this should not be a prerequisite for doing the job, but it ends up making Clive more relatable, even so subtly, as the main character that we, also fans, control directly. And tell me the absolutely expected "you're such a nerd" reaction from Nina in response to Ben's segment in 8:05 is not something every FF fan is very used to, hahaha. He's us! And I hope S-E gives us a new Dissidia some time soon, at this point even for the sole reason that our man Ben would be able to interact with all of his, and ours, favorite characters through Clive. Rooting for you, buddy!

[@ChristianBHJ]

Clicked for Fanboi Jesse, and stayed for the great interview!

[@Ma-Giik]

thank you for collabing with jesse! he truly deserves the world

[@bluedragon843]

I cried like a baby at the end of this game, im human!!!!

[@thufirck6734]

I love how Ben is wearing a Rosaria pin ❤

[@maureen_83]

I think he is also wearing a Torgal pin.

[@vander78]

These guys set a new standard for voice acting in FF games.

[@Bahamut998]

I doubt that standard will be matched again in a game for a long time. It’s just on insane level. I’m not sure even the next final fantasy will go with that level again.

[@duncancradle1002]

Finished it today. Well, you weren't lying: the ending was an incredible rollercoaster of emotions. You guys did such an OUTSTANDING job. I honestly didn't expect such a serious, deep finale... But the whole game is incredible. I love feeling like this at the end of a story, and very few games managed to get me in this state. Definitely a must-play.

[@fattmusiek5452]

I am literally blessed to have been able to absorb the experience of Final Fantasy XVI, even though I'm not able to play the game (currently). A profound experience for sure. Watching and loving this behind the scenes, I keep thinking about how cool Ben is, and how great Cid's performance was- how great the voice casting was. It was apparently English first, I believe they said, and I could REALLY feel that, as an English speaking person. Even though the dialogue is within a middle-ages, fantasy setting, with cool language touches, it still all felt extremely natural. I think everyone involved, everyone on and off the stage not shown, hit a home-run out of the park, into the parking lot. In my eyes, FF16 was a monumental success, and that makes me happy, man. Thanks everyone.

[@eshaybah5581]

one of the best ff series ive seen in awhile, love this game so much.

[@immortalvaash]

the VA was amazing, all of you, had me so emotionally invested. thnk you for your work and passion

[@FieryFlamingFajitas]

They all did such an amazing job, but my fave is definitely Cid. The way he voices that character is 👌👌👌

[@cherrymeraki]

I seriously think this game was one of the best games I've ever played and the voice acting was extremely well done and top notch. it's obvious to see how much work and care went into every part and we really appreciate it as fans.

[@flamepoint9275]

I'm so happy you chose Jesse Cox to do this!

[@Siul_987]

One thing the game shines is definitely the voice acting and voice direction, is amazing what they accomplished on that area. I am also very happy to see Jesse Cox here, he is so awesome.

[@martinormeno1]

Ben starr the GOAT

[@cambienvenu]

He’s handsome, charismatic, talented, it’s quite bullshit really 😅

[@seele_verloren]

The voice act are great in this game, even the many of the NPCs

[@JacobOlli]

I'm currently playing my first playthrough, and i love it so much. The voice acting is amazing

[@Pesola]

SO THIS IS WHY JC WAS AWAY FOR 2 WEEKS! Things click together now. Even with Ben being a visitor on Jesses 5 minute gaming news. 👍👍👍

[@SpectraLight]

One of the ultimate highlights of this game for sure, all the actors were outstanding!

[@alexschittenden]

The voice actors really elevated the material. Even the ones that didn’t last too long in the story. Very interesting how secretive the story was, even the main characters weren’t sure what they were a part of right away.

[@Philosophical24]

13:45 I completely and absolutely agree with that statement.

[@kiney4473]

Everyone nailed it. Top tier voice acting!

[@any4448]

Oh wow they recorded some lines together! That’s awesome

[@misaelnavarrete8031]

I'm only here for my boy Cox good job man

[@MukiMuki688]

Loved the dialog between Joshua and Dion when they first meet.

[@soraxis9285]

The ending made me crying so hard...... thx square for this masterpiece ❤ love this game this game will always be a part of my life

[@miqotesoulia8620]

Feels good to know their hardwork/amazing voice acting helped push this game to sell so much! grats all, love the vid

[@Blakobness]

Wow, so glad for the name changes on this game.

[@Ashtarte3D]

Ben and Ralph knocked it the fuck out of the park. It's honestly a shame we didn't get more of Ralph's work in the game.

[@Kormos17]

definitely the game of 2023 for me. Thanks for your hard work

[@terravisualsgfx]

Solid cast definitely feel like this is the closest final fantasy project which made the company stand out for decades!

[@vincentoni.]

Such a wonderful cast ❤️‍🔥 You all are a blast! An absolute blast!

[@fredrikaarrestad1571]

Haven’t experienced a game with better voice acting than FFXVI. Absolute masterpiece

[@GingerDrums]

For me it has to be one of the best games in terms of voice acting. The game of thrones inspiration actually translated very well, the quality is superb. Even down to the random villagers and back row characters. Congrats to the team

[@FlipFlab]

I don’t think I’ve been this captivated by a game’s narrative in a long time. And honestly it’s not that it’s super complex or a story I’ve never witnessed, but it’s all in the execution and this is absolutely PEAK storytelling and acting. That being said, it is incredibly jarring to go from the top notch acting to the mid ass in gameplay dialogue where they just BioWare dead eyed stare and shake their limbs as they talk. That sucks. 😅

[@HappyDianemartin]

The script from this game is gold and the VA were all amazing - the best I have ever witness. I am Still mesmerazed by the story, the characters, the music... epic.

[@francisco24slb1]

This gaming is... so special !!!! thank you all 🥰

[@wcanderton]

I love this so much

[@highwhen]

Love everything about this game. Just got my platinum trophy!! Last Final Fantasy that I finished and thoroughly enjoy was X. What a game.

[@GodsLoser]

This was amazing to watch! Thanks for being a good host as always Jesse.

[@PlagueJ]

I feel bad for Joshua's voice actor lol poor guy couldn't join them in all the fun otherwise it would have spoiled him being alive after the prologue.

[@gravenwolf6535]

I wanted to see Jill's VA.

[@Sith9890]

Ben the Kingsglaive watcher you love to see it (also ayy Jesse)

[@belld.s5276]

Ralph should have introduced himself with, "you know who I am." Lol. What a voice.

[@DarkJSN]

So that's how Jesse got Ben to do Five minutes news :D

[@AGamerDraws]

Fantastic interview, thank you so much for sharing this with us. Jesse cox was a fantastic host and I honestly got a little choked up hearing Ben talk about how much Final Fantasy means to him. This whole project really feels like a labour of love! ❤

[@synacky1911]

"If you're not in tears by the end of this game, you're not human". Well... that ending sure did a good job at breaking me in a million pieces 😭😭

[@jet44444]

I love that Ben is a fan and he always mentions FF8.

[@adjwindu70]

Koji's sweatshirt is bad ass. Id want an odin version

[@Bahamut998]

I literally love all the gear from this game, the Jewellery also. But damn I’d need like 1000 euros lol.

[@yobilllin9939]

The voice cast is incredible... They really nailed it🔥🔥🔥🔥