The fans asked, begged, and pleaded, but Atlus for once will be able to deliver on the dual-language option. The North American release of Persona 4 Arena will include both the original Japanese voices as well as the English dub. I know that this has been a sticking point for some, so hopefully this will soothe fears, while others will no doubt get into arguments over whether Japanese or English Rise is more obnoxious.

the English voice actors are fairly well done in the person ps2 games so ill stick to english. Also us endurance run guys are way used to the english voices as well

Nice to hear that we'll be listening to both cast.

Hmm, I'm not sure what I would choose. I mean, the english dub is pretty close to the heart, with the ER and my own playthrough. But the original japanese is really good, and more recently ingrained into my mind with the Anime.

Meh, either way I win.

@TobbRobb: You mean we win.

It should also be noted that the game is coming out in Aug 7th, so sweet!

@metalsnakezero said:

@TobbRobb: You mean we win.

It should also be noted that the game is coming out in Aug 7th, so sweet!

Yeah, either way, I'm set. The English cast will be a little different, what with Chie and Teddie both having different actors and Yu sounding like (non-crazy) Adachi, but I could easily go either way.

I liked the voices in the english trailer except for Teddie but I think did good with what they had, I cannot stand Teddie in Japanese and most anime japanese girls so I think I'm good with the english soundtrack, it's nice though that Atlus decided to do this for those who like the Japanese voices.

The english voices are so ingrained in my memory that I don't know if I'll be able to make the switch to Japanese. We shall see.

Japanese Chie is the right Chie!

meh. Persona 4 up there with dbz in terms of heard the English voices so much that anything else sounds strange.

Cool, by doing this Atlus can do no wrong in terms of their fanbase. Like many of you, I have also gotten used to hearing the English cast because of ER. But I still know some die-hards whom swear by only Japanese VO.

Now everyone is happy! I personally could go either way on the voices, and hell, I'mma probably use both just for variety.

I've never understood why people who can't speak the language whine about not being able to hear games/tv shows in Japanese.

This is the way things should be for all localized games, no matter what country they came from.

Ever since games started coming out on DVD there has been no excuse for limiting audio or subtitle tracks in games. And now that we are exiting a generation of game systems with hard drives and entering a new generation with larger hard drives and more focus on downloadable content...

Any game that doesn't include this feature feels like its cheating the consumer out of his/her money.

The English voices are better anyway.

@Cloudenvy said:

Japanese Chie is the right Chie!

This man speaks the truth.

You know, the Persona games probably should have had this feature right from the start. I mean, one of the core concepts of the series is being immersed in Japanese culture, so yeah...

Either way, the English voices are the only right voices in my head, so I'll stick to them.

I just hope that the English voices won't be too obnoxious while fighting.

..Though I don't think anything can ever top Bang Shishigami's "HOW CAN THIS BEEEEE~!!"

This is the way things should be for all localized games, no matter what country they came from.

Ever since games started coming out on DVD there has been no excuse for limiting audio or subtitle tracks in games. And now that we are exiting a generation of game systems with hard drives and entering a new generation with larger hard drives and more focus on downloadable content...

Any game that doesn't include this feature feels like its cheating the consumer out of his/her money.

@Hailinel said:

@i8246i

This is the way things should be for all localized games, no matter what country they came from.

Ever since games started coming out on DVD there has been no excuse for limiting audio or subtitle tracks in games. And now that we are exiting a generation of game systems with hard drives and entering a new generation with larger hard drives and more focus on downloadable content...

Any game that doesn't include this feature feels like its cheating the consumer out of his/her money.

Because of the nature of various factors, this isn't always an option. It's great when it's offered, but if not, it's not that big a deal to me unless the localized voices are terrible or unsuited to the characters.

I remember in a Catherine interview that the reason a Japanese track wasn't included was because of how the localization may change the script and the the royalty fees of the actors involved, or something.

In terms of Japanese media Persona 4 had one of the best dub casts i've heard but japanese voice actors always seem to be able to deliver more emotion. They seem far more willing to get invested into there roles.

I don't get why they wouldn't, seems like a no brainer decision to me.....but then again I don't understand the industry very well.

I kinda hate the whole change it to Japanese because it sounds better sentiment especially when most people don't even understand what the characters are saying. Jap VO is mostly great but I don't think people should write off Eng Vo so quickly.

@Hailinel said:

while others will no doubt get into arguments over whether Japanese or English Rise is more obnoxious.

Japanese Rise, no question. If I play with JP voices, she will be turned off.

Both casts are, on the whole, good so I'll have a tough decision to make.

@mutha3: I'm still getting Persona 4 The Golden next week. So there's still pros with spending obscene amounts of money on importing.

After the anime I could go either way, probably English for ol' times sake.

At least it will maintain BlazBlue's pre-match dialogue letting you know whether or not you're about to get whipped. As soon as you hear moon language, you might as well put the controller down.

@Bocam said:

@mutha3: I'm still getting Persona 4 The Golden next week. So there's still pros with spending obscene amounts of money on importing.

There always is.

I think this probably has more to do with the fact that Aksys is making the game and they included dual voices in the BlazBlue games.

Sweet. Love having opinions.

Cool. I figured it would, but it's nice to have that confirmed.

So, uh... Does this mean we might have a small chance of it happening for Persona 4 Golden?

@i8246i said:

This is the way things should be for all localized games, no matter what country they came from.

Ever since games started coming out on DVD there has been no excuse for limiting audio or subtitle tracks in games. And now that we are exiting a generation of game systems with hard drives and entering a new generation with larger hard drives and more focus on downloadable content...

Any game that doesn't include this feature feels like its cheating the consumer out of his/her money.

Replace DVD with blu-ray and you would be mostly right. DVDs weren't always big enough for dual-audio tracks. Just take a look at Final Fantasy XII. Only one audio track, and they had to compress the shit out of it for the game to fit on only one disc; so much that some quality was lost in the process.

Well, English VO is closer to the heart I must admit, but in fightinggames they'll often repeat the same lines over and over and it can drive me nuts. So when I use japanese I mostly don't understand what they're saying wich is a little easier on the ears. After a while even they can get repetetive though =P

I'll probably change back and forth quite a bit :)

ENGLISH KANJI IS THE RIGHT KANJI.

@Phatmac said:

ENGLISH KANJI IS THE RIGHT KANJI.

troy baker is always the right option

I played the game in English, I watched the anime with Japanese voice actors...I'll probably switch back and forth. I prefer to watch anime with the original actors, but I'm flexible with games.

Thank god.

Awesome! Both the Japanese and English voice cast are exceptional. I'll probably end up setting it to the Japanese voices due to the cast changes, however.

I will be playing with the English voices on, but it's nice that they're giving us the option.

Well, that was reasonable of them. :)