Final Fantasy 15 Voice Actors Sing 'Stand By Me'
By AJ Caulfield 02 February 2017
In a Twitch stream last night, a few Final Fantasy 15 voice actors got together for playthrough, a question-and-answer session, and to sing the game’s theme tune, “Stand By Me.”
Square Enix’s wildly successful sci-fi RPG series Final Fantasy made waves late last year with the release of its latest installment, Final Fantasy 15. Recently, the title has been making major headlines, with exciting announcements rolling out one after the other over the past few days. Such news includes details on the game’s upcoming expansions, the Booster Pack and the “Episode Gladiolus” DLC, and director Hajime Tabata’s statement of his desire to bring the game to PC. Final Fantasy 15 has yet again popped up in the news cycle, this time for a adorable, light-hearted reason.
On February 1, the actors who bring the boys of Final Fantasy 15 to life took to Twitch to take the game for a spin and answer some fan questions — and to further prove just how great their voices really are. Three of the four main FF15 actors had what appears to be a gaming boys’ night with fellow voice actor Max Mittelman (who gave Tredd Furia his English voice in the 2016 Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV film). In attendance were Ray Chase (who voices Noctis), Adam Croasdell (Ignis), and Robbie Daymond (Prompto), who quickly (and fittingly) broke into song during a playthrough of Final Fantasy 15.
A stand-out number on the set list was “Stand By Me.” Made famous by Ben E. King in 1961, the soulful number was picked up by Final Fantasy 15 as its opening title song and given a modern twist in the official cover by English indie band Florence + the Machine. The blues-y track seems to fit well with the game’s themes of togetherness and companionship amongst epic adventures in an open world. Chase, Croasdell, Daymond, and Mittelman seemed to think so too, as they belted out the lyrics to the Twitch audience of nearly 800.
This wasn’t the first song the actors sung during the livestream, though. About an hour earlier, they made use of their pipes to give a high-energy, a capella rendition of the game’s iconic Chocobo song. Unsurprisingly, the fans watching approved of the impromptu singing. It seems most of them have come to expect goofy antics from the voice actors, as Chase, Daymond, and Mittelman host an anime and pop culture variety show called “Loud, Annoying, and Very Annoying,” or “L.A.V.A.” for short.
Final Fantasy 15 seems to be constantly at the forefront of news in the gaming industry as of late, but it hasn’t been completely flaw-free. While the game has topped many “best games of the year” lists and has done well in terms of its sales performance, it’s 13th chapter has been a pretty major point of contention amongst players and critics. Meant to serve as an interesting juxtaposition to the game’s surrounding story, Chapter 13 has felt like too great a deviation for some.
Thankfully, however, Square Enix announced it is bringing an update to Chapter 13, set for release on March 28. Combine this news, long-awaited by many players, with the carefree fun had by the game’s voice actors last night, and all appears to be on the up-and-up for Final Fantasy 15.
Final Fantasy 15 is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
