Regional Accents Are One Reason They’re So Important
When Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age hits the west, it’s going to feature English voice acting for some scenes. And now, Square Enix’s Hokuto Okamoto has confirmed exactly what scenes will have them.
Okamoto claims that all of the cinematics, cutscenes, and battle scenes will feature English voices. In addition, some—but not all—of the “party dialog” scenes will have voice acting added.
In regards to the lack of voice acting in the Japanese version, Okamoto cites a lack of time. The team instead focused on developing the game’s scenario and script. By the time the deadline hit, they had no time for voice recording. But with the western release, the script was finished early and allowed more time for this facet of development.
Okamoto also stresses that the world of Dragon Quest XI is a vast continent, with each region possessing a unique regional flavor. The addition of voice acting gave the team the opportunity to continue distinguishing these flavors through the creation of different accents. This adds depth and context to each area players visit, which is one of the main reasons that the team wanted to add voice acting in the first place.
A previous statement by Okamoto back in March supports this reasoning. Here’s an excerpt:
“The game’s scenario amounts to one of the most epic narratives in the series. Much time was spent localising the game in an effort to properly communicate and deliver the rich localities that amass “Erdrea”, the world of Dragon Quest XI. But, reflective of the time spent, it is truly shaping up to become a wonderful game. Of course, it does not end with localisation, some arrangements are being made throughout the game to ensure greater accessibility for Western players, including voice overs and adjustments to the UI design such as the menu.”
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is hitting the PS4 and PC via Steam on September 4. A Switch version is planned for future release.