I don't think Japanese voices would alleviate this very much. I'm of the opinion that I can go without voice acting for the most part. Cutscene direction and writing usually aren't strong enough to carry voice overs to my innocent ears, regardless of what language it is in.
Other common issues I have with JRPG voice acting are:
- using the same few voice actors over and over again from the same narrow pool.
- overacted characters. This is the big one. This is usually written into the script and it's the prime example of why I often don't feel invested in important cutscenes. People scream and flip their shit at the drop of a hat.
- people clearly "doing voices". This might be an odd complaint, because "doing voices" is what voice acting is pretty much all about, and I agree with that. When done correctly, I should just immediately associate a character with a voice and accept that this is what this person looks like. However this basic level of immersion is broken so often with child or monster-like characters. When I'm stuck thinking 'this is clearly a grown woman pretending to sound not a grown woman', you've messed up.
- characters that repeat what others just said, but phrase it as a question. Those lines drive me up the wall, and the annoyance is amplified when spoken. It's patronising and makes me feel like the characters are "slow".
- the timing between lines often contributes to it feeling stiff and unnatural.
- characters who only change poses between spoken lines. This is something seemingly little that goes unnoticed for me when it's just dialogue. When it's voiced, it is weirdly distracting and irritating.
With the exception of the seemingly shallow voice actor pool, all of these are still abundantly present in Japanese dubs. Preferably I'd just like a well-done localised dub, but since that turns out to be harder than expected, the ability to turn voices off is invaluable to me.
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