Heavensward Voice Acting in a Nutshell

[@MrTasian]

That title drop was so fire, it injected +5000 British stat points into Alphinaud.

[@hufflepuffler2575]

Puberty hit Alphinaud harder than my dragoon hitting the floor

[@Shizukuthedragon]

😅😅😅

[@seasaltcosmos]

i think the voice change is actually perfect for alphinaud's character development. arr alphinaud has that Stuck Up Redditor voice and then he's humbled tf down in heavensward. it wouldn't hit right if the voice actors were the same.

[@FF-tp7qs]

Does anyone remember when Nanamo changed from having a really high pitched voice in 2.0 ARR to having a much more mature sounding one in the patches?

[@passthepeace]

That Shb Nanamo was completely out of left field with her low voice.

[@trigunner6968]

F F, i had that experience when came the scene where Nanamo has both Kan-E-Senna & Merlwyb around the table talking about dismantling the Monetarists, yep i remember that and it was sooo weird it gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it

[@HaddaClu]

@@passthepeace ShB Nanamo been hitting the liquor and cigarettes.... not that anyone would blame her with having to deal with the politics in Uldah.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Nanamo has also had attempts on her life, so yes, Nanamo has reasons to not sound as chipper

[@AdiG1]

I honestly didn't notice. I tuned her out up until the poisoned wine

[@rhyssterling7289]

Going from the climax of post ARR had me hyped as fuck. I started HW and I was like "C'mon Aplhinaud we have to sa-WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"

[@ilputridumediyoutube7972]

Same, started heavensward 2 days ago and I immediatly missed the old Alphinaud's voice. I don't think I'll ever prefer the new one. I won't forget the arr scene where he finds Cid in the church with that soundtrack

[@Starlitsoul0359]

My experience was basically. *Record scratch in the middle of heavensward as I pause, slowly turning to Alphinuad with a squint.* “Wait… How havent I noticed yet?! You went through puberty didn’t you?!?! Your voice sounds so different! Why is that?!”

[@cainprescott4937]

I've heard someone describe the change in Alphi's voice as him taking British HRT, and now I can't unsee that.

[@aberrantapocrypha]

@@cainprescott4937 britosterone

[@melissas4874]

The most disappointing VA change is ARR Merlwyb to HW.

[@ryansistryinghisbest]

AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH

[@ProfessorHanger]

It's a shame and they barely utilized Gideon Emery when he was Urianger

[@sariarosegold]

@@ProfessorHanger he was also Nabriales

[@Lawliet127]

She was voiced by Meridia from skyrim. A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON

[@ArinaSoulpumpkin]

@@Lawliet127 not this again nooo

[@NaitomeIya]

I liked Sam Regal Alphi, I really do, but hearing the BotW style faux Brit accents side by side with real Brit accent (which I remember hearing first in FF14 from Ser Aymeric in post ARR) was rather weird.

[@bakubread9308]

fortunately as an american, I can't tell which accents are fake!

[@LucasVieira-fr9cu]

the best part is that he's credited with a typo in his name on ARR credits, his actual surname is Riegel

[@alyssaayy]

@@LucasVieira-fr9cu This was likely done on purpose. Some American union actors use different names in non-union voice acting gigs, like how Taliesin Jaffe was credited as T. Axelrod for his work as Thancred in ARR or Mary Elizabeth McGlynn was credited as Lucy Todd for her work as Hydaelyn. Same goes for Sam Riegel using Sam Regal.

[@spacegremlin9972]

I just got to heavensward, does taliesan still voice thancred?

[@omgpeachsnapple]

@@spacegremlin9972 No, everyone who was cast before HW was recast. Peter Bramhill makes a good Thancred though.

[@natebroadus8474]

I had the opposite reaction. Only ARR voice I missed was Merlwyb. The rest felt like when someone obviously talented gets miscast for a role. The old VAs were clearly talented with a lot of quality work under their belt, but FFXIV quickly evolved from a more cartoony game to a far more dramatic one, at times, and that largely started in Heavensward. The roles needed more dramatic voices. It's common knowledge that the new VAs tend to come from theater backgrounds. That better fit what the characters and story eventually became. Even the new Merlwyb nails her dramatic parts, especially in post-SHB.

[@GayLPer]

"The only ARR voice I missed was Merlwyb" ... Bud. Merlwyb is like the ONLY ONE that didn't change voice actors XD She's the same one from ARR onwards.

[@NokoFace]

Same. Looking back on it, I absolutely DESPISED Alphinaud in ARR and it was purely due to his voice. The Sam Regal himself is talented, but he was NOT a good fit for Alphinaud. Like you, the only one I miss is Merlwyb.

[@NokoFace]

@@GayLPer No? Merlwyb was voiced by Jean Gilpin in ARR, and then Tracy Ann Oberman Heavensward onward.

[@snaffu1]

The ARR cast was absolutely talented, but ARR was also a rush job and held together with string, tape and faith--and it WORKED, oh my lord did it work in the end, but we have to remember the crappy circumstances(1.0->2.0) which that miracle came from. They didn't have the huge budget and the company/industry pull they do now, so even if you've got Sam Riegel and JCMiller and Jean Gilpin and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in the studio, if you don't let them get comfortable with the characters then of course the lines will be stunted and awkward. I honestly kinda dislike everything in the world being Burtish, rather than having different regions sport different dialects and accents. That is one thing ARR did better than the rest, I'll be honest.

[@Letham316]

@@snaffu1 That's the thing. While ARR came out 3 years after 1.0, much of that time was spent trying to fix and salvage the original game. It wasn't until much later that Yoshi-P was given the go-ahead for his plan to reset the game. This means all the new content, including the entire MSQ line was probably rushed out in 12-18 months. Guess that's why the voiced scenes are so sparse. BTW, I'm still working through late ARR content, can someone confirm for me whether they increased the amount of voiced lines in the expansions?

[@SuikodenGR]

LMAO! I was not expecting her to speak Spanish 😂😂

[@QwerkPerk]

I remember the old voices sounding so dull and emotionless. I was glad to hear that they changed their VA in Heavensward.

[@Wintd1]

The voice acting for ARR did gradually improve during the patch quests, but after they introduced Aymeric you could tell they weren't going to stick with the old cast forever and that they'd need to make changes.

[@nightplaymc]

Idk, I kind of preferred arr va stuff for aplhi especially

[@SadBirbHours]

The voice acting in ARR was so bad most of the actors chose to use fake names.

[@WanderingNerd21]

The english voice actor for raubahn was pretty good, in my opinion he was one of the best performances towards the end of ARR

[@ChipotleKanetsu]

@@WanderingNerd21 Raubahn and Merlwyb

[@djunkeyth]

For those who don't know spanish Alisaie says: "What's up? C'mon speak to me, what do you want? Hey! If you're going to call me at least-" hope it helps xD

[@SirKata]

Thank you!

[@soldierorsomething]

I just got flashbacks to the year 2005 when you would download DBZ episodes illegally from the internet and everyone would be speaking spanish in the episode :S

[@EnchantedSmellyWolf]

Follow by a badass boss music. ​@@SirKata

[@LerineCrises]

The "...respectfully" sent me 😂

[@althelor]

I had gotten so used to the voices after hw that it completely freaked me out last week when I finally tried to go through the coils of bahamut unsynced since those things are impossible to do through the duty finder. I swear, the twins voices in the final coil blindsided me and made me feel like my ears were about to start bleeding because they were suddenly so high pitched.

[@AnaseSkyrider]

I'm still fond of ARRphinaud, but Alisae sounded so awful.

[@NokoFace]

I started doing NG+ with ARR because it's been almost a decade since I last did it, and my God do all of the voices sound wrong. Especially Alisaie's.

[@jubjub897]

My favorite Alisaie voice ♥

[@sephjnr]

0:37 Tataru's actual soul speaking

[@EnchantedSmellyWolf]

Especially wearing that scary helmet.

[@grizzlybear6377]

She's done being the cutie pencil pusher

[@tunah.z4983]

I can't wait to watch the HW cutscenes for the first time and hear the wacky voices.

[@MrClockworkable]

For everyone in the comments saying 'I dunno why the voices changed' Agencies. All the voice actors for Realm Reborn were under one acting agency, Heavens ward onwards were part of a different acting agency, So most likely the contract they were under expired and they didn't want to renew the contract because multiple different reasons (One possibly being money) Meaning they effectively had to get new voice actors for everyone.

[@Jeezes718]

They didn't know if realm reborn would actually save the game as they intended so they only gave everyone short term contracts, when it got renewed most actors, despite being heavily affiliated with other Square games, weren't available, so they hired a new cast under long term contracts. The only character who was recast more than once was yugiri, and that's because her heavensward actress was murdered.

[@althelor]

@@Jeezes718 oh holy shit, she was murdered??

[@Jeezes718]

@@althelor regrettably yes, she broke up with her boyfriend and he responded by taking an axe to her AND both of their children. He's in jail now.

[@WanderingNerd21]

@@Jeezes718 dang....

[@SirKata]

@@Jeezes718 Rest in peace, Sian Blake . You were an amazing person, and we're all the lesser for losing you.

[@elduardo2496]

I play in Japanese and the voices never changed there, but the voice changes are talked about by the EN community so much that sometimes I feel like I missed an in-game event 7 years ago.

[@wolfspledge1762]

Because the voices went from absolutely horrible to fantastic within the space of 1 quest, it was monumental

[@SirKata]

@@wolfspledge1762 Quite literally, too.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Furthermore, Alphinaud got humbled, and his ARR voice actor sounds stuck up and ivory tower-related while his other actor sounds very much like an actually humble(d) person. It has the eerie feeling that ARR Alphinaud may have been affecting a knowledgeable accent or something.

[@redwitch95]

I genuinely laughed for ten minutes when the voices changed because it was so wildly different, even though I knew it was coming. Every time I progressed the voicelines I just kept breaking up, it was way too funny.

[@liamizuki6787]

"¿Qué pasa? A ver, hablad conmigo ¿Qué quereis? Oye, si me vais a llamar por lo...."

[@edwardelric4975]

I liked his old voice. He always sounded smart, confident, and refined, which makes sense from his background. I'm used to his new voice now, but I was confused and disappointed when his voice changed.

[@wotwott2319]

most disappointing voice change for me was Tataru's. Her previous va fits her character a lot better than her new one.

[@ffffdsd]

@@wotwott2319 she had like 2 lines. She barely had a character for her voice to fit

[@xechrono5040]

I like the voice actress cause Xenoblade fan plus tataru was barely a character in arr that she barely had voiced lines of dialogue

[@lordkrauser]

I loved Pint's reaction to Alphi's new voice because he's from the same region where the VA is from.

[@blackfox4138]

I think Sam Riegal worked when Al was a bit of a prick who was full of himself and his abilities. Colin Ryan works better for Al going through a journey of personal discovery and growing from it. As great of an actor as Sam is, I couldn't imagine him making any of Al's speeches in ShB and EW.

[@RendMaim]

I HATED the voice change when I got to Heavensward but I got used to it

[@intelligentignorance]

I can't believe you didn't mention Raubahn and his "I've been eating glass since I tore my way out of a Bull's womb!" (yes, a bull's womb) suddenly being Irish and understandable.

[@ajp1282]

"SEVENTH UMBRAL ERA!!!"

[@m3dri]

he doesn't sound irish, his accent is northern english

[@wolfspledge1762]

No way did you just say Irish lmaooooooo

[@Jeezes718]

Fun fact, raubahns original actor is the guy who sings 'to the edge' in the 5.3 trial and 'rules of nature' in metal gear rising.

[@SubTonic]

@@Jeezes718 He also sings Close in the Distance in Endwalker. Dude evolved from voice actor to lead singer of some of the game's best songs. I'd call that a win.

[@cheeto3604]

immaculate video once again...frfr

[@juba1479]

Since I had a 6 months wait between ARR and HW I barely noticed the Scions voice changes. I can only immagine how weird must be for new players that just finished ARR and are starting HW.

[@imperialphoenix]

New Sprout here. YUP. DO NOT LIKE CHANGE.

[@wolflithay6380]

I absolutely despised alphinaud in ARR i thought his voice was nails on chalkboard and he sounded like a pompous rich asshole, but the voice change made me want to get to know him better as he didn’t sound snobby. By shadowbringers Alisae and Alphinaud were my babies!!!

[@ilputridumediyoutube7972]

Instead I miss his old voice (started HW 2 days ago). I initially found him a bit annoying but then I liked his development and determination. His old voice really fits him in my opinion, at least in arr. The moment I started to like him was where he found Cid in the church

[@iantaakalla8180]

The point is that Alphinaud is a stuck-up upper class person who does think he knows everything as opposed to just a person with a very detailed grasp of politics since he studied it. Now he is somehow a very good leader and as dedicated as the Warrior of Light

[@Quaides]

its even worse with the german VAs LMAO

[@Crowens]

Elaborate

[@Majima_Nowhere]

The only ARR voice i miss is Urianger's. Went from nasally Shakespeare to something you could hear from a minor story NPC.

[@Keairan3]

Let's be honest about the changes, though. Papalymo's HW VA is far and away better than his ARR VA.

[@FF-tp7qs]

What about Yda, originally she sounded really airheaded in ARR. Like she barely knew which way the sky was, and not just because the voice was different. In patch 3.5 it seemed like she suddenly gained 50 IQ points

[@Keairan3]

ARR Yda isn't my favorite, but she's better than ARR Papalymo VA-wise. The difference in characterization between the two Ydas are quite big, though, yes.

[@FF-tp7qs]

@@Keairan3 pretty sure ARR Yda's va is the value for Rin Tohsaka in the Fate/Stay Night anime, the original one where Sam Riegal voiced Shiro

[@wolfspledge1762]

Papalymo's voice in HW is like butter, love when he takes over the narration in the patch quests

[@EightPhasesofTwilight]

Ilberd change made me sad. Brief as his new VA was, the older one left a mark cause of the banquet scene.

[@dr.arielfinch4316]

I miss a lot of VAs from ARR, Raubahn's, Alphinaud's, Merlwyb's, LOR'THEMAR, and of course Alisae's to the shock of most. I liked the 'For the future of Eorzea' part in Coils.

[@leisuregaming1335]

Thats squidward in the beginning

[@EnchantedSmellyWolf]

He sounded like a Squidward.

[@Reynsoon]

I loved the recast because a lot of Xeno and Last Story actors got picked up to fill roles. They're powerhouses.

[@joripien]

Man sometimes I think back and remember snarky Alphinaud... I miss that guy...

[@spirto1279]

Someone started putting DMT in the voice actors' coffee after main game HW because the quality difference between main and post is insane

[@bigsisderpina]

Given the fancier language written in the FFXIV script, it's more fitting to have British VOs over it. The ARR versions makes it sound like they have trouble and ended up reading a speech, therefore making things sound awkward.

[@HaddaClu]

*cough cough* Ga Bu.... if any character DIDNOT need a fancy voice actor it was kobold. Unless SQ is implying that leaving a small easily brainwashed child in the care of pirates / city guards will result in that.

[@Kfo221]

"I can't go a DAY without playing Blue Mage!" This video was so good. You deserve more subs.

[@nanachimakenshi2512]

I remember the voice transition was so jarring to me back then that I had to switch to Japanese for a while so it could reset my brain.

[@sharpsCASF]

Mf prefers americans pretending to be british over actual British voice actors? lmao the JP voices are generic as fuck

[@ghostinthecloset]

I'm surprised you didn't include Illberd suddenly becoming Scottish. That SHOOK me to my core.

[@brainwheeze6328]

He has a northern English accent, like nearly all the other Ala Mhigo characters

[@Lunar_Crescentfall]

Scottish? Illberd has a northern British accent to me 😂

[@ghostinthecloset]

@@Lunar_Crescentfall Man im american i dont know this stuff 😂

[@Lunar_Crescentfall]

@@ghostinthecloset fair enough

[@NobodyNaboru]

That "respectfully" killed me

[@TheBestDoorSkeelz]

His original voice was Teddie from Persona 4. Take that as you will.

[@aeryashe]

I agree with Tataru, she seems trustworthy

[@darshio8307]

I honestly never realized the voice changed xD

[@EnchantedSmellyWolf]

FR. Hell, this cute Lalafell is the only normal one.

[@KedemothThePaladin]

Why didn't see this before?!?!?! LOVE IT!

[@Minihood31770]

Leave the boy alone, he hit puberty.

[@puzzlejinx]

Alisaie's ARR voice actor was miserable sorry not sorry

[@TotemoGaijin]

Weren't her only lines the tiff she got into with her brother before she fucked off for the rest of ARR, lol.

[@PintVods]

is there a vod of this?

[@TheMaxCloud]

goddamnit I wish they had spanish translations. No one I know wants to play cause they dont speak english.

[@ThatOneGuy___]

Alphinaud got hit with the puberty truck

[@recjr7685]

The old voices sounded way too cartoony, they wouldn't have been a good fit for the emotional complexity of the expansions

[@verdantmischief7092]

Yeah, Sam Riegel was also the voice of Donatello, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Very cartoony xD

[@wolfspledge1762]

@@verdantmischief7092 And Teddie from P4, once you know the voice is ruined

[@sharpsCASF]

It's because the old voices are american VAs used to games and anime trying to sound british and the new ones are all British voice actors that work on live acted TV dramas and theatre so they sound way more like actual real people

[@recjr7685]

@@sharpsCASF I remember in ARR Minfilia was kidnapped and was being interrogated by an Imperial, and she said 'Nooo!' in what I'm sure was supposed to be a tense scene, but she just sounded like a high school drama student (a not particularly good one, not to say she didn't have her moments) with no understanding of the word 'direction' But I'll give Alphinaud's old actor a pass, he sounds close enough to his new voice that I can pass the change off as puberty His old VA was able to play his early arrogant and naive and believes-himself-to-be-the-smartest-person-in-the-universe (except for grandpa) personality off pretty well

[@iantaakalla8180]

Oh yeah, the infamous “Thancred! NOOOOOO!!” scene at the end of the escape from Castri Centrum. The scream was so much like a novice voice actor screaming quietly-yet-intensely, that the phrase might as well have been “Thancred! no!”

[@Scum42]

Am I the only one that actually preferred Alphinaud's old voice

[@cruelmellow4182]

He got British citizenship because he wanted free healthcare, workers rights and annual leave.

[@Icediamondsx]

I laughed too hard I was screaming at my bf saying the voice actors changed. Im glad they didnt change too much from SHB to EW I dont remember SB much though...

[@CalebNewbery]

The sudden voice changes were a bit jarring at first, but having now played my way all the way to about mid Endwalker, I wouldn't change any of the voices back to their ARR versions. Yes not even Merlwyb. I wasn't really attached to many of the characters in ARR, it was only when I played my way through Heavensward that I really started getting attached to a lot of the main cast, and side characters too. It was those versions of the characters that i fell in love with, and if they changed back now it would just feel weird and unnecessary.

[@michaelthorne4252]

OK when she started speaking Spanish I died

[@REVOLVERE]

Okay this was pretty good ngl 😂

[@jrreplays77]

Alisaie’s ARR to me was princess bubblegum with a horrible British accent

[@ethillis1093]

gotta respecc tataru's "respectfully" tho

[@brainwheeze6328]

They all changed for the better, aside from maybe Merlwyb. Y'shtola's voice was also pretty good.

[@Liltama]

LMAO spanish Alisaie is NOT what I was expecting lmao

[@KlaelDemon]

Holy cannoli, this is gold.

[@Caldara1]

lol I had the same thoughts about the voice acting between 1.0 and 2.0. Especially Ydah and Papalymo. Thank goodness they kept Gideon Emery.

[@AdamTheMan1993]

Timothy Watson voices Urianger since Heavensward taking over Gideon Emery

[@Bierzgal]

Aaand that is why I play with japanese voices :).

[@sharpsCASF]

HW voice is better because he doesn't sound like an entitled snob. His new voice fits him much better.

[@mabdam3799]

Pretty sure he has humbled by a lot after being betrayed a thousand times over by his own Grand Company 'Crystal Brave'

[@poro9084]

oh i remember that, i think also thancred voice changed

[@pumpkingamebox]

It’s puberty.

[@Foxpawed]

Alphinaud was the most jarring by far, but everyone does a better job, except as other people have said, Merlwyb. Badass hard as nails pirate got all the edges softened out of her.

[@crittomato7043]

I miss Talesin as Thancred, I have not yet heard th new VA, but man I am not looking forward for it yet

[@sethalas]

This is gold :D

[@amundflakkenberg]

Can you please make more videos, they're all great

[@matthewwysong644]

Only ones I miss were Rabauhn and Merlwyb.

[@Slashunter90]

Garlean Tataru doesn't exist! Garlean Tataru can't hurt me!

[@Duskaria]

I play in german so the voices never changed for me... until 6.1 where Y'shtola suddenly got a new voice.. then old one WAS controversial however mhh..

[@milat9287]

At first I thought you had mader alisaie polish, because I mistook whatever she said first as kielbasa. Was kinda confusing in any case. Who just enters a room randomly and says sausage?

[@YouWillBeHappyOrElse]

Who? Alisaie, obviously.

[@BloodKitten_]

i play with JP dubs, i did noticed in ARR he was generally a bit more arrogant untill the end of it, also over the years all the voice actors had a slight change in how they voice a character.

[@FloraAnneFauna]

the bri'ishification of Final Fantasy 14

[@Mykenai]

This was great. Lmao.

[@Tailionis]

I thought it was just me. The voices kept confusing me

[@EmoEmu]

> DEAD

[@JustMe-wo6rv]

I died at Spanish Alisaie xD

[@captaincancer1736]

heh heh, small lala - big hat

[@HawkinaBox]

LMAO!!!

[@luminous8815]

SPANISH ALISAIE LMAO

[@ikari570]

I'll forever miss Tara Platt Lucia. The subtle Edelgard vibes were sublime

[@ladmclad673]

nidhogg sounds spanish ngl

[@1Kitsune1]

Gonna be honest, now that all the voice actors are British and sound exactly the same I have trouble focusing on anything they say or liking any of them. I just finished Stormblood's main scenario so I'm hoping it gets less samey.

[@TotemoGaijin]

Halfway through ARR I got so bored of the robotic sounding voice acting I switched to Japanese. Haven't looked back since.

[@TotemoGaijin]

Also, Alisaie who? lol. Just got through the Ramuh msq and still haven't seen hide nor hair of her, lol.

[@kenobo3884]

@@TotemoGaijin you have seen her, you just dont know you have yet. she there tho

[@zacharyhall7466]

Did Fandaniels VA change between ShB and EW? Cuz if not then the VA been sleepin

[@matthewbouman8155]

No, I don’t think so.

[@rodimus580]

For real!!! Lol

[@Ragnarock619]

Might wanna switch to JA-VA

[@suzukieparadox3469]

I thought there's gonna be a British person

[@sevoranffxiv6638]

Lmao yes!

[@toastdoggoo]

From where is the Spanish part? I'm so curious

[@RageQuitSon]

my favorite so far is the very last cutscene in heavensward cut off voice acting for 2 lines from alphinaud then rolled the credits.... 2 lines. i understand, multiple languages voice acting gets VERY expensive. i also understand this game is VERY profitable. my first playthrough i skipped everything (manually not buying a story skip) cuz i got so frustrated with the lack of voice acting for the MSQ. now i have a text to speech bot reading the hundreds of hours of dialogue. to put it into perspective, the amazon voice ai has used 85% of the MILLION character free trial, and I'm only just now on the first quests of 4.0. MSQ is amazing, but it needs voice acting.

[@squishy9178]

Tbh, I could put up with most of the voice acting, but Minfilia's voice is what drove me to swap languages. So I didn't know until later that the English voice actors were changed.

[@YouWillBeHappyOrElse]

I'm pretty sure Minfilia was a text-to-speech bot. Her cadences were off and not even in a way that someone reading them off a page would be off.

[@SemekiIzuio]

Was Alisae Portuguese lmao I do wish we had a Spanish option unless we do?

[@harrisonraycroft6531]

What’s that jacket?

[@TheSteelMagnum]

Worst part about the new VAs.. no one pronounces Y'shtola right anymore. RIP

[@FuryXDMGS]

Añisae