Japanese Voice Over DLC for Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII

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If you're one of those die-hards who always proclaim that the Japanese voice acting sounds better than the English version, then, we have some news for you! Square Enix have announced that during a 2 week window following the launch of Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII in North America and Europe, owners of the game will be able to download the Japanese voice overs, complete with the appropriate lip-syncs, free of charge. Yes that's right, free!

Of course this wouldn't be Square Enix if there wasn't a catch... The voice over DLC pack is only free during that 2 week window. Once the window has closed the pack will still be available, but at at an additional cost. Square Enix haven't yet confirmed how much it will cost.

So, follow Lightning's lead and put your cool glasses on Japanese voice acting purists. It seems Square Enix have listened!

Makes sense, I guess. It's understandable that they'd want extra money for it normally. In many cases, voice acting costs are based on the expected size of your audience, so having japanese voices available for everyone in the entire world could mean they'd have to pay a lot more for the voice acting, even though only a minority of the EU and US customers would actually try it, much less base their purchase on its inclusion. However, making it a separate and optional feature solves that issue. I hope this is something other developers and publishers would consider as well.

It is cool that they are doing this for people that would want it. I personally wouldn't want it just because I've grown accustomed to/familiar with the English voices. The voices wouldn't match how I view the characters.

I love listening to Ali Hillis, so I probably won't use this feature full time. I'll still download it during the free period just so I can compare.