New to this trailer is the English theme song for the RPG, "My Hands" by Leona Lewis. "When Square Enix approached Leona about including her song 'My Hands' in Final Fantasy XIII, she was honored to be partnered with such an iconic and groundbreaking video game series," RCA Music Group's Tom Corson said in a press release. "Leona is a natural fit with the game's powerful themes and strong female protagonist." Y'know, themes like being able summon a giant ice motorcycle-robot-thing while falling from an exploding dragon airship-thing.
Final Fantasy XIII 'International' trailer introduces English theme song
by Andrew Yoon 
on Jan 13th 2010 11:00AM
181
New to this trailer is the English theme song for the RPG, "My Hands" by Leona Lewis. "When Square Enix approached Leona about including her song 'My Hands' in Final Fantasy XIII, she was honored to be partnered with such an iconic and groundbreaking video game series," RCA Music Group's Tom Corson said in a press release. "Leona is a natural fit with the game's powerful themes and strong female protagonist." Y'know, themes like being able summon a giant ice motorcycle-robot-thing while falling from an exploding dragon airship-thing.
Reader Comments (181)
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 1:51PM bigE said
The odds of this are slim but, what will happen if by some miracle the game actually looks better on the 360 and has faster load time? My recent time with JRPGS other than Valkyria Chronicles and Demon's Souls, has been less than satisfactory. I think the traditional JRPG may be bankrupt. Mistwalker and Square's output on the 360 has been underwhelming, though I did enjoy Blue Dragon for some strange reason.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 3:09PM Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar said
There was pretty much no loading screens in the PS3 demo I played about a year ago. I also remember reading somewhere that they want to keep them to minimum and hide them behind cutscenes.
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Posted: Jan 14th 2010 1:01AM leahsegovian said
Okay FF13, one of the most sought up games on PS getting a "not so elegant" welcome.. Maybe their same old trailers are the reason. Fair enough. Best or worst: http://bit.ly/final-fantasy-xiii-trailer-best-or-worst
Although this video was really elegant
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Although this video was really elegant
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:11AM shrimpsauce said
It JUST worked for me.. maybe its you.
Needless to say, I definitely can't wait for this game now, that video MOVED MY SOUL!
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Needless to say, I definitely can't wait for this game now, that video MOVED MY SOUL!
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:10AM (Unverified) said
That's awesome! I.... I..... am actually looking forward to a FF game for the first time since 9!
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 1:24PM aristokrat said
For some reason, this reminded me a lot of 7, which makes me interested. I just don't know if I can afford to start a game that will inevitably suck hours from my life.
Also, those cut scenes look amazing.
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Also, those cut scenes look amazing.
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 1:45PM (Unverified) said
@Altairio Yes, just watched the trailer and the song doesn't match it... (do they use the same music in the Japanese version?). Also, the dialog sounds... a bit... "kiddie" (cocoon, cloud, snow?). Well, I haven't ever played a FF game, so I want to play this one because it looks interesting and graphically impressive.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 1:50PM liam said
I've never played an FF game, i figured i'd pick this one up on 360 when it dropped in price after a few months, but this trailer sold me completely.
I'm truly shocked by how amazing the trailer is. Might actually be my favourite video game trailer of all time.
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I'm truly shocked by how amazing the trailer is. Might actually be my favourite video game trailer of all time.
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 2:52PM deathxrebirth said
Not a Leona Lewis fan at all, but I thought the song actually fit fine. If you didn't gather, the good first half of the trailer was pretty dramatic. It only got busy towards the end (when the song was hitting the climax).
And no, they don't use this song for the Japanese trailer, but do use a similar pop/jpop sounding artist.
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And no, they don't use this song for the Japanese trailer, but do use a similar pop/jpop sounding artist.
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:12AM (Unverified) said
I don't think this is an 'International' version like you are thinking. I just think this is the English version of the game (the one we will be buying in March).
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:21AM Mayor West said
While I would never rock out to it on my ipod, I think the music worked. It gave the trailer a heart felt emotional feel. That's typically a big part of FF games.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 12:07PM (Unverified) said
A lot of times, the English version has improvements that are then brought back to Japan in an "International" version.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 12:07PM SSUK said
I think the song meets the tone of the Japanese version's theme. I don't particularly like the song, but like every FF theme, it'll be used about once. At the credits. So I think I can endure that much.
As for the 'international' part of it, it doesn't really match up to any Japanese trailers. They already dubbed the TGS 2009 trailer with English voices (and screen text, amazingly) but it still used the Japanese theme, as they hadn't announced who was doing the theme at that point in time. This is the first 'complete' English-language trailer we've had, features a lot of clips that haven't been in trailers before. More exposure to this bearable voice work is always good, raises my hopes for the game.
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As for the 'international' part of it, it doesn't really match up to any Japanese trailers. They already dubbed the TGS 2009 trailer with English voices (and screen text, amazingly) but it still used the Japanese theme, as they hadn't announced who was doing the theme at that point in time. This is the first 'complete' English-language trailer we've had, features a lot of clips that haven't been in trailers before. More exposure to this bearable voice work is always good, raises my hopes for the game.
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 12:24PM thisredengine Tweet me said
@Bradwart: I think there was a recent interview that stated there are no plans for an International version.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 1:02PM Vcize said
Honestly I thought that was perhaps the worst job of using music in a trailer that I think I've ever seen.
How you decide put a song with constant vocals on top of a trailer that's based mostly on dialog is beyond me. Plus the beats from the song just fit in horribly with what was going on onscreen, almost like they created the video first and then just plopped the song down on top of it (which I'm sure is what they did, which is pathetic for the trailer for a huge game like this).
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How you decide put a song with constant vocals on top of a trailer that's based mostly on dialog is beyond me. Plus the beats from the song just fit in horribly with what was going on onscreen, almost like they created the video first and then just plopped the song down on top of it (which I'm sure is what they did, which is pathetic for the trailer for a huge game like this).
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 1:25PM Mazrael said
The song was really ruining the trailer for me.. her vocal mudding up the characters speech.. need an alternate theme that's more FF with no vocals, or aren't so up front in the mix, or even FFX's direction of having a track with balls..I want an option to never have that song played at any part.. now I'm gonna listen to Belphegor or something to get that crap (imo) out of my head..
Could Joystiq get a vote on, or something.. get SE to sort something.. I'm sure it won't be long til custom trailers are up on youtube
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Could Joystiq get a vote on, or something.. get SE to sort something.. I'm sure it won't be long til custom trailers are up on youtube
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 2:29PM (Unverified) said
I really hate the song. She's all talking about looking in mirrors, putting on makeup, bitching about her day. Terrible Choice. I think the Japanese song is perfect, they should have just stuck with that. And I'm not those people who think that games should only have japanese language with subtitles like a lot of people, I want english voice acting and music, but that song is horrible.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:12AM Mayor West said
That was great. Nice to finally be able to understand what the characters are saying.
I've been following this game for what seems like forever. Can't believe it's almost here.
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I've been following this game for what seems like forever. Can't believe it's almost here.
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:12AM fadeoutagain2784 said
I'm not THRILLED with the song choice, but it's not all that bad, could grow on me. The English voice acting, however, is top-notch. Melodrama aside, FF13's story sounds pretty intriguing... The visuals are still a highlight of this game, and hopefully I'll feel the same way about the battle system when I finally get my hands on it. Less than 2 months away from release!
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 1:47PM mywhitenoise said
The song ruins the trailer, doesn't fit with what's going on. And it's stupid to have vocals almost as loud as the dialog of the characters you're trying to hear.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:13AM Wonderflex said
Do these screenshots look rougher than the Japanese version? Maybe it's just me but it doesn't seem to look as smooth.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 12:17PM (Unverified) said
Dude... Just contact me if you want to know. I already have the japanese version. I'm getting the western version for both 360 and PS3... Yes, I want FFXIII to sell well :-/ . I'm also curious as to whether there are any noteable differences. And I want to investigate that myself ^^ .
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:16AM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said
I want my Japanese voice track with English subtitles. Ahh, it's Final Fantasy though. I really can't complain.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:22AM The Monarch said
Not this brain dead bullshit again.
I suppose you would watch The Seven Samurai with a voice over if it had one.
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I suppose you would watch The Seven Samurai with a voice over if it had one.
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:30AM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said
Why all the hate? I am an avid watcher of anime and foreign films prefer the original voice track with subtitles because the voice actors were hired specifically for the character's emotions and personality. Besides I never stated it was I refuse to play because of an English track. Some people just need to grow up...
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:46AM (Unverified) said
Guys, the PS3 version DOES have the Japanese voices with English subs...
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:49AM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said
@Brad
But not on 360 :(
@Jacen
I don't think anyone said the American voice overs were bad. It's just preference. Pick up some anime and foreign films and see the comparison of English dub vs original voice track. It's atrocious most of the time. Translations are butchered along with the personality of characters, because it appeals more to the American audience. Again, it really is just preference.
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But not on 360 :(
@Jacen
I don't think anyone said the American voice overs were bad. It's just preference. Pick up some anime and foreign films and see the comparison of English dub vs original voice track. It's atrocious most of the time. Translations are butchered along with the personality of characters, because it appeals more to the American audience. Again, it really is just preference.
Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:51AM HighFiveJesus said
foreign films are one thing, but anime uses the same process of finding characters in english to portray emotion as well, given not all are created equal. but fine, eat your pocky, continue to order anime figurines off the internet and i'll just sit quietly for being such a BAKA.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2010 11:53AM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said
@HighFiveJesus
You are not stupid. And please don't start with stereotypes =\
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You are not stupid. And please don't start with stereotypes =\
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