Final Fantasy 16's Clive "Made A Point Of Not Reading The Script In Advance"

Final Fantasy 16 stands to be one of Square Enix's most ambitious entries into the franchise yet. Set to release on June 22, Final Fantasy 16 follows the story of Clive Rosfield and companions, on a journey through the world of Valisthea where tensions between its six nations have escalated after a disease known as the Blight has swept the land. 

Inspiration for the game's narrative was drawn from early seasons of Game of Thrones, and dialogue was first recorded in English despite the script being initially written in Japanese. As the central protagonist of Final Fantasy 16, the story largely revolves around Clive Rosfield, whose English voice and facial capture was performed by actor Ben Starr.

Speaking to GINX as part of The Games That Made Me, Starr said, "I didn’t know how long I’d actually be recording for. It ended up being four years of work. And I didn’t prepare for it, because you can’t. You are constantly dealing with unknowns."

Production for Final Fantasy 16, like a lot of titles, was effected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw Square Enix staff move to remote working. For the actors, who had grown accustomed to working closely with each other, they were suddenly operating more independently. 

"I was fortunately given a huge amount of runway to shape this character," Starr continued. "Because we recorded it first in English, this isn’t like a dub where I’m listening to someone else’s performance and I have to move it to that — it is entirely what we came up with. I was allowed to make some choices that probably, wouldn’t normally, be made for this character."

I had to kind of improvise on the fly. I made a point of not reading the script in advance, so some scenes in the game I am reading those blind.

The game marks a significant shift for the franchise, moving to a more mature Final Fantasy than what we've perhaps seen over the years. The emotional weight carried in certain scenes was made even more impactful by how the actors chose to approach them. "I had to kind of improvise on the fly. I made a point of not reading the script in advance, so some scenes in the game I am reading those blind," Starr revealed.

"And some of them are some of my favorite performances, of myself, in the game. I hate watching myself, but I was like ‘Wow, Ben. You really went for it.' But there were also moments I would come back, day after day, thinking 'I’m absolutely terrible.' Because the weight of this game is so huge on my shoulders, because I understand how important it is to lots of people and I didn’t want to let them down."

You can catch the full interview with Ben Starr for The Games That Made Me on Tuesday, 20 June via YouTube and on Saturday, 24 June via GINX TV.