Interview with Ray Chase; Final Fantasy XV’s voice actor

We enjoyed a lot Final Fantasy XV, so we tried to contact Ray Chase, the voice behind Noctis, our favorite videogame prince. He also has worked on animes like One Punch Man and Hunter X Hunter, and videogames like Xenoblade Chronicles X, NieR: Automata and Fire Emblem Heroes.

Read the Spanish translation here.

TodasGamers: First of all, what is your opinion about Noctis as a character? Was it easy to get into character? Do you struggle to get up in the morning too?
Ray Chase: First off – definitely struggle to get up in the morning.  I love to sleep!
But other than that, being able to play Noctis was such a delight.  I got to work with an incredible team who were able to answer any questions I had about what was going on.  Keythe Farley, the director, comes from a theater background, so he was able to talk to me like all of my theater teachers from before!

TG: Final Fantasy XV is a game full of little details and interactions between the characters, what was your favourite sentence?
RC: There are really so many in this game that it’s hard to pick just one, but a stand out serious line to me was “Off my chair, jester.  The king sits there.”  As far as a funny line, I certainly enjoyed saying “I’ve come up with a new recipe!”

TG: One of the best parts of Final Fantasy XV is the friendship between the guys. How was it like to work with the other voice actors?
RC: Unfortunately we didn’t ever get to work together on the game due to the nature of working on a dubbed project.  It’s just too difficult to match the timing of the Japanese while speaking with someone in the same booth!  Nevertheless, Keythe and Dan, the localization lead, made extra sure that each conversation sounded natural.  After we had all recorded every single piece of multi-character dialogue, they would listen from top to bottom and re-record anything that sounded awkward.  It’s because of that level of attention paid that we have it sound like we were recording in the same room!

TG: We love the chocobros, but we also love the girls. Do you think a roadtrip with Luna, Aranea, Cindy and Iris would make a good game?
RC: I’m a big fan of X-2, and I think that would be a really cool idea!  I’m not entirely certain that these four would do well together in a group, there might be another “Paine” you’d have to make up to balance it out.  But this is a really cool idea that I’d love to play!

TG: Are you a fan of the Final Fantasy series? Which character, besides Noct, would you like to dub?
RC: I actually had the good fortune to play Edgar from FFVI in World of Final Fantasy!  At this point, having played two kings in the FF canon, I think I should let someone else voice something!

TG: You have been recently working on Fire Emblem Heroes (as Alfonse) and NieR: Automata (as Eve) What can you tell us about both experiences? Do you prefer acting as good guys or bad guys?
RC: I love playing all types of characters!  Definitely villains have their own appeal simply because they usually get more crazy and “out there” in the performance, but it’s fun to play more subtly a character like Noctis in all of his different shades.  I guess I just like acting!

TG: You have worked on a lot of videogames, including a lead role. Which one was your favourite job so far? In what kind of projects would you like to take part?
RC: Noctis was definitely my favorite simply because I got to know him so well after so many years.  But I also like doing silly parts like Duncan in D4 or L in Xenoblade Chronicles X!

My dream roles at this point are to get into the performance capture projects at the level Naughty Dog does, but that might take a while at this point!

TG: Ok, this one is really relevant. When you played Final Fantasy XV, what did you name your chocobo? Does it have any fun colors?
RC: I named my chocobo Fripp (no idea why!) and I change his color every time I go to Wiz’s post.  I do usually go for the orange colors just because they show up so well against the green of Duscae.

TG: We are huuuge fans of the Promptis ship, what do you think about it?
RC: Well, they do spend a lot of their time sleeping together…!  That’s all I’ll say about that.

TG: And last question, have you ever come up with a new recipe? No, seriously, all the food in Final Fantasy XV looks delicious, have you tried to cook something from the game?
RC: I am not a very good cook myself, but my girlfriend Julia McIlvaine (a VA herself) has some plans to recreate them in a youtube channel herself!  “I can’t wait to try them”!
Thanks for the interview guys!