EoFF interviews Orion Acaba, the voice of Nine in Final Fantasy Type-0 HD!
Eyes on Final Fantasy has the distinct pleasure of being able to interview Orion Acaba, the voice of Nine in Final Fantasy Type-0 HD! You may know him from one of his many roles such as Ivar in Tales of Xillia, Gerome and Kellam in Fire Emblem: Awakening, Apollo Justice in Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Duel Destinies, and many more!
With the release of Type-0 HD being right around the corner, we decided to ask Orion the questions you've all been sending us from around the web about his thoughts on Type-0 and Final Fantasy in general. He's been very kind in giving us this opportunity and we're very happy he took the time out of his schedule to answer our questions! Without further ado, here's a written transcript of our interview. The full audio can be found at the end, including a shout out to Eyes on Final Fantasy in Nine's voice!
What have you seen of Type-0 so far? I got to see a lot of the cinematics while recording, so I got a little sneak peak at a bunch of scenes and events that are going to take place. The HD remix that they did looks incredible versus the PSP version that I initially saw. It looks amazing!
How does the recording process work? Do you get to spend time with any of your fellow voice actors, or do you record separately? Does it vary by what game you're doing at the time? I was alone. 90% of the time you will be alone doing voiceover. Every now and then they will throw the cast in with eachother. I believe they did that for Final Fantasy XV, I'm not sure. It would have been nice to have other people in the booth, but most of the time when doing voiceover work, it's always one person doing solo performances.
How do you work up the energy for a highly intense scene if you're alone in a booth, and there's no one to work off of? You literally have to rely on your imagination. That's what all voice actors do in any scene. Whether it's funny, high intense, or drama, it's always you versus the thought in your head of who you're reading against. That dictates a lot of the energy you'll put into it and that's what the voice directors are there for. If we're missing something, they're there to push us along to where we need to be.
What is your favorite moment in Type-0? Is there anything you can tell us without giving away spoilers? My favorite moment in Final Fantasy Type-0, without giving anything away, is the character Nine gets to throw a moogle across a room. I believe that's a first in Final Fantasy history for a character to do, and it's hilarious!
You've said in the past that you're a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series and have played and beaten all the games, with the exception of the MMOs. Is that just main entry titles, or have you also played spin offs and side stories such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Crisis Core, and Dissidia? I am a huge fan of all the Final Fantasy games and have played them, even the offshoot ones like Tactics, Dissidia, and Crisis Core. Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the best games ever made! Crisis Core kicked so much ass, and Dissidia was amazing. They're all fun, and I've played all of them til my thumbs have blistered.
That's kinda the thing I find funny about Type-0 is it seems to be getting a little bit overshadowed by XV, which kinda pisses me off, but what people fail to realize is that some of the best Final Fantasy games have been the offshoot games such as Tactics and Crisis Core.
As a fan, what are your thoughts on the upcoming Final Fantasy XV? Will you play the demo like everyone else when Type-0 comes out on the 17th? I will not be playing the demo of Final Fantasy XV because I will be too busy playing my game, Type-0. I'll wait for XV to come out on its own, thank you very much!
Do you play any of the games you're a voice actor in? What it's like hearing your own voice like that? I play all the games I voice in. It's super fun and it's one of the reasons I got into the business to begin with. I am one of a handful of my fellow voice actor peers who actually are gamers. I know some of them dabble in games here and there but they're not actual gamers. I am an actual gamer, that's all I do with my spare time.
Again, we'd like to thank Orion very much for taking some time out of his day to answer our questions! You can check him out online at orionacaba.com, or send him a tweet at @orionacaba. Let him know you read this!
Are there any questions you'd like to see in a future interview? Let us know in the comments and we'll see if we can get more of them in the future. Don't forget to play as Nine when Final Fantasy Type-0 HD releases on March 17th!
03-14-2015, 11:45 PM
Psychotic
Orion seems like such a down-to-earth guy and I think it's great that he has an interest in the games he works on. Oh, and that voice is incredible :love: It's also fantastic he took time out to talk to a fansite - great job securing an interview with him!
I think Nine just became my favourite Type-0 character for the EoFF shout out he gave in the video!
03-15-2015, 12:36 AM
Fynn
I loved him in SMTIV!!! :love:
03-15-2015, 01:20 AM
fat_moogle
Great interview.
I find it interesting how a lot of voice acting is done solo. I remember an interview once with Vanille's VA, saying how she'd never met Ali Hillis (Lightning). That gave me a new appreciation for VA's, it must be really tough to get a scene just right without fully understanding the context and other characters emotions etc.
Enjoy playing Type-0, Orion!
03-20-2015, 12:11 AM
Loony BoB
Finally remembered to listen to this while at home now that I'm playing Type-0. Genuinely cool sounding guy, he sounds even cooler in his normal voice than he does with his Nine voice (although his Nine voice certainly suits the character better). Also, that name. Orion Acaba. That's just generally badass to begin with.
Muchos thanks to Orion for answering our questions!
