hey what are you two doing here

having had some time now to adjust to ffxiv's english VAs and not being constantly jarred by every character having a totally different voice from what i spent 7 years getting used to, i do still find it has its... quirks. the voice direction is just really strange a lot of the time, with intonations and emphasis that often feel unnatural. and several of the actors - koana, thancred, and urianger in particular - feel like they were so fucking close to their mics they were nearly swallowing them. like it's sometimes almost hard to actually comprehend thancred with how deep and breathy and overly resonant his lines are. it... feels strange that the quality of those clips passed muster

but one performance (well... two actually) that has stood out to me even despite the awkwardness is bakool ja ja. like, he's just such a fun guy to hate and the VA slathered just the right sauce on to carry that. he's big and mean and childish and hotheaded and the performance is emotive in a way that really sells it for me

(lv95 msq spoilers below)

(that's as far as i am rn so if you spoil anything from the 95 dungeon or beyond in the comments i do certainly kill you)

I'm once again appreciating Ramuh's voice acting in the cutscene introducing him in FF14. Love that righteous anger and contempt.