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[Relaxed Muscle]

I approve this message. It's true indeed. Plus her charisma is hitting everywhere everyone... my partner (hates FFXIII) seen her in ARR: FFXIV just the other day and felt very sympathetic with her character and background story for LR. I mean... in the midst of all those anynomous characters Eorzea is wasted for, finally someone graced that world with some charisma and personality.

One Lightning to doom them all. And she got like what... 20 lines in total? She totally rocks. That's it.

Because unlike XIII games, Lightning shows some beams of a personality beyond being angry or just a narrator, in just a few lines. A triumph of the XIV team more than anything.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Yay!!! Lightning's voice is Aerith's, her voice is awesome!

Well it is Maaya Sakamoto. So any character voiced by her gets VA celebrity points.

 

[Regiruler]

Should be on the disk already.

 

[synce]

Nice. Next gen with both consoles having Bluray there's no excuse for every game not to feature dual audio. Anything that's dub-only is either getting imported or skipped by me

 

[Crimsonsky]

Wow, way to go Square. I don't have a problem with the English voice cast, but this is good for the people that do. Cheesy dialogue is cheesy in every language.

 

[Nocturno999]

Am I the only one that prefers English actors?
Lightning actress has a great voice.

 

[Sephiroth_VII]

Am I the only one that prefers English actors?
Lightning actress has a great voice.

Yes, and your opinion is wrong.

Spoiler

I'm sure lots of people do, but some of us really prefer the Japanese VA's, and it's a bummer we get to hear them so rarely.

 

[koutoru]

Wait, if they're doing this now, doesn't this mean that they'll probably do the same thing with FF15?

I would gladly pay for the JPN voices of that game.

 

[Alcahest]

"... mostly yes, they seem happy about it"

 

[Prelude.]

Wait, if they're doing this now, doesn't this mean that they'll probably do the same thing with FF15?

I would gladly pay for the JPN voices of that game.

AFAIK LR is the only XIII that hasn't an asian jap dub/eng sub version, so that might be the cause. But, yeah, I sure hope XV will be dual audio as well, I want Miyano in my games as much as possible.

 

[Ghost_Protocol]

The best news I've heard about anything related to this game, if only because it means the same thing could happen for 15. They are desperate.

 

[Sora_N]

Holy shit now I dont have to import! Will buy dlc first.

 

[Guess Who]

It's not on the disc because it's not just a separate audio track. Japanese lip sync means you also need separate versions of each cutscene, including prerendered, which would require much more disc space.

 

[Koozek]

What about the lip-sync? XIII had modified lip animation for the english voices. Do XIII-2 and LR have the same? You would need to change every single animation and not only the audio tracks in that case which I can't imagine SE doing.

Edit: LOL, we had the same thought at the same time, Guess Who

 

[kadotsu]

What about the lip-sync? XIII had modified lip animation for the english voices. Do XIII-2 and LR have the same? You would need to change every single animation and not only the audio tracks in that case which I can't imagine SE doing.

Here

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 21, 2013) – SQUARE ENIX, Inc., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in the Americas, announced today that LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII will feature the original Japanese Voice-Overs available as free downloadable content (DLC) during the first two weeks of the game being on-sale. After this limited period, the Japanese Voice-Over Pack will be available as paid DLC.

The Japanese Voice-Over Pack also includes lip-synching that differs from the English-language voice track already included with the game, to ensure a more natural and localized game experience.

 

[CrackPebbles]

Yay!

 

[dakkumauji]

Dynasty Warriors does.

They don't.

DW7's and DW8's both had free Japanese voice DLCs that came near or really later after the release.


Well at the very least I'll get the Japanese voices DLC when it's up on the store. Not so sure about the actual game.

 

[WeaponKnight]

This is a dream come true. February can't come soon enough.

And yet I was happy that I would save money when they announced that the chinese version wouldn't have subs

 

[Fularu]

So. You are saying the japanese audio wouldnt fit on a Bluraydisc?

Come on...

128kb unlock key

 

[falconzss]

Thanks for once S-E.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I remember importing the Chinese version of FF13 for the JP audio and Eng subtitles

 

[Koozek]

Here

Oooh, nice. Thanks!

 

[stargateheaven]

Does... does this mean FFX/FFX-2 HD will have dual audio? What about FFXV?? Is this a new beginning?!

you'd think so given the response of this thread. but this IS square enix we're talking about.

 

[t26]

So can you get the dlc without the game or does LR has ea in game store?

 

[Talax]

Wait, so the lip sync is gonna be with Jap VAs? If I don't use them, there is no lip sync? Or is it the other way around?

 

[stargateheaven]

Wait, so the lip sync is gonna be with Jap VAs? If I don't use them, there is no lip sync? Or is it the other way around?

sounds like you get both to me.
not sure what they did about the pre rendered scenes though, they have probably left those as they are since they'll be so big.

 

[Wookieomg]

Pretty sweet! I'll bite on this.

 

[BadWolf]

I'll grab it because it'll be free but doubt I'll use it.

Fang wouldn't be the same without her accent.

 

[Talax]

sounds like you get both to me.
not sure what they did about the pre rendered scenes though, they have probably left those as they are since they'll be so big.

Well if we get sync for both then I like this decision. At first I thought they were cutting corners by not doing the English lipsynch.
As for CGI, I think they tend to keep them less text heavy so that they have less trouble when lip synching for a different language. Just my observation though.

 

[Torraz]

Is it possible to download the DLC without owning the game yet?

 

[RangerBAD]

This is a small step in the right direction, SE. It needs to either be free forever or on disc from now on.

 

[Tohsaka]

That's really great news. Hopefully they'll do the same for FFX|X-2 HD.

 

[Wazzy]

Huh, I might actually consider getting this now. I despise Lightning's English voice acting while everyone else I'm fine with. If I would be playing as her constantly then having the JP audio would be preferable.

 

[Zoe]

It's not on the disc because it's not just a separate audio track. Japanese lip sync means you also need separate versions of each cutscene, including prerendered, which would require much more disc space.

If XIII-2 and the costumes are anything to go by, there will only be a couple of prerendered scenes. It should be mostly real-time.

 

[Nerokis]

Wow, that's awesome! I know other developers have done this in the past, but I hope SE doing it strengthens the precedent. Please do this with FFXV, as well!

LR is now a day 1 purchase for me.

 

[InfiniteNine]

For me, it just cements my decision not to get XIII-2 and skip straight to -3.

Well I own the Asian versions which have the Japanese audio and English text. You can get those if you don't mind spending a bit more.

 

[Edge_Maverick]

I'm very surprised with this. Good move, SE.

It seems all of those questions about Japanese voices helped a lot.

 

[Shinta]

For me, it just cements my decision not to get XIII-2 and skip straight to -3.

The English voice acting in XIII-2 is great actually. Serah is Laura Bailey, my favorite voice actress. Noel is actually one of the more popular characters in the series. Caius is Kain from FFIV, and Weiss from NieR. Lightning is barely in it.

You'd miss a lot of story skipping XIII-2.

 

[GayForMaster]

I hope we won't need the game physically to download this?

 

[Zonic]

Is it possible to download the DLC without owning the game yet?

Most likely, if it's listed on PSN or Xbox Live as an item. FF13-2 didn't make it so you had to have the game in order to download content.

 

[Bob Coffee]

+1 for maaya voiced waifu raitningu. Will buy at a slightly lo

 

[Flarin]

Slowly but surely a step in the right direction. Props to you, Square. I'm not buying the game, but I might DL this DLC just to show support because I know I'll want it for Final Fantasy XV.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

I like Alli's voice,but they should do this for the other games. In XIII, the language isn't the only difference.

.

Also, if you use Jap audio, do you get eng subs.

 

[Zoe]

I like Alli's voice,but they should do this for the other games. In XIII, the language isn't the only difference.

There were UI differences and control differences (smoke menu) as well.

 

[hirokazu]

Interesting. Looks like I can skip buying the Japanese version now. No Japanese subtitle option though, I presume?

 

[Tohsaka]

I like Alli's voice,but they should do this for the other games. In XIII, the language isn't the only difference.

.

Also, if you use Jap audio, do you get eng subs.

Yes, that's pretty much the whole point of this DLC. If you wanted Japanese text you'd just buy the import version.

 

[akaoni]

Thread got buried so I missed the news. Now I have to buy the game twice, fun times. News would've been great 24 hours ago.

 

[heiyu]

oh yessssssssss

 

[Zukuu]

WOW. Hope this will come for ALL japanese releases.

 

[BassForever]

After sinking 80 hours into the English version of 13 I can't imagine playing with the same characters in Japanese. I do hope this sets a precedent for all future JRPGs but as a whole I generally find most dubs to be well done.