Producer confirms Final Fantasy 16 uses ‘British English only’ and no American accents

Final Fantasy 16’s producer has confirmed that the game uses British English only and no American accents, in order to channel the game’s medieval Europe setting.

Speaking to Japanese publication Dengeki Online, Naoki Yoshida said that all of the game’s voice and motion capture work was performed by European actors, so as not to break expectations from American players that the setting’s characters should have British accents.

“This is especially true for our generation, but there is an image that ‘Medieval fantasy = Europe’ made popular by The Lord of the Rings,” he said.

“Currently, there is no game that depicts a medieval fantasy world of this scale with PS5 class graphics. So we decided to focus on the scenery of medieval Europe and fused it with the fantasy we came up with.”

Yoshida continued: “This time, the motion capture and voice acting are performed by European actors. However, since we Japanese designed the game, we first wrote the script in Japanese, then translated it into English, and then did facial capture in English after.

“But even though it’s in English, we’ve been careful not to include any American accents. The decision was made to prevent American players from getting angry: ‘I was looking forward to medieval European fantasy, so why are there American accents?!’ (Laughs). Therefore, all lines are recorded in British English.”

Final Fantasy 16 was announced last summer as a PlayStation 5 exclusive release. The game features a medieval-inspired setting and, going by its trailers, features a cast of mostly British voice actors.

Further reading

Final Fantasy 16 will have wearable ‘AI assists’ to help less experienced players

Attachable equipment makes the game easier for players not used to action games

Yoshida recently claimed that the game is near the end of development. That’s after he said last December that Final Fantasy XVI’s development had fallen almost half a year behind schedule.

Yoshida also recently claimed that the game will have a unique approach to difficulty. 

In an interview with Famitsu, Yoshida explained that the game will have an action-based battle system, similar to something like Kingdom Hearts, rather than a traditional turn-based battle system as seen in most previous Final Fantasy games.