Final Fantasy has built a pedigree of good acting over the years, from the melodramatic Game of Thrones-esque drama of Final Fantasy XVI to the grimdark goofiness of Stranger of Paradise. But Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles presents a truly unique opportunity – a chance for Square Enix to further refine one of the most beloved RPGs of all time. That’s a daunting task on its own, but an actor stepping into the shoes of 28-year-old characters, fully voiced for the first time, can be especially challenging.
“I’m not sure it’s difficult, but having seen that Delita was such a loved character, and obviously, the franchise is huge. I felt a real responsibility to do the character justice,” says Gregg Lowe, the voice actor behind Delita Heiral, “The other challenge is his moral ambiguity. He’s a very complicated character, and it’s something I haven’t played before. I’ve played a lot of villains, some of them are very on the nose – but Delita isn’t.”
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Final Fantasy Tactics.
Lowe is one of a gaggle of talented actors brought on board to breathe new life into Final Fantasy Tactics, and he’s behind arguably the most important characters in the entire game. The British-Canadian actor has worked in numerous games before now, including Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Lies of P. But Tactics was a drastically “new” experience for him, largely, he says, because of how complex and ambitious its story is.
“I think this is Delita’s story, in a way. So he’s a tragic protagonist, but could also be seen as a villain.”
Interestingly, Lowe wasn’t all that familiar with Final Fantasy before being cast in the role, and had never heard of Tactics in particular – but he barely stops a beat to note that after this experience, he’d be more than happy to work on Final Fantasy again. In part because of the passion of everyone working on the game, but also the supportive fanbase.
Because of the game’s legacy, Lowe didn’t want to do a lot of research on the original game, and instead approached it from an entirely fresh perspective – fully embracing the game’s rewritten script.
Final Fantasy Tactics’ PSP version, The War of the Lions, was quite well known for its Shakespearean old-English slant, and while retaining that “feel” wasn’t an overall goal for the actors, it did tinge bits of this new version in The Ivalice Chronicles.
There was no direction to make it Shakespeare, but I think the writing lends itself to a certain pattern of speech,” Lowe says, “It’s very particular language, like Game of Thrones, it’s that vibe. The writing is so good in this game, and the localization, translation, all of that – we didn’t make it Shakespeare, but it comes through in the text itself.”
And that comparison is easy to make, as Final Fantasy Tactics is equal parts grand fantasy and tragedy, a game with a real ethos and message to impart. Delita is particularly interesting because of the different facets of his life and personality we get to see; a comforting shoulder to the main character Ramza at times, and an antagonistic force at others.
“We didn’t want to go too crazy on making him sound really young and then much older, but we tried to inject some youthful energy into it,” Lowe says, “The biggest difference with Delita is that as he gets older, he becomes much more cynical and dry. I worked a lot to not give him too much expression, but the gravity of his emotions comes through very cold and calculating. We wanted to show that with his voice, and not be too flamboyant with his words.”
“Delita breaks in that moment, and it sends him on a path that will be his story, life, and eventually his demise.”
Finding the right tone for Delita was a monumental challenge, as he’s such a p
Delita’s moral ambiguity has had fans debate his role in the story for decades, and while Lowe deliberately doesn’t want to label the character as either a hero or villain, he sees Delita has a “gift” of a character filled with nuance.
“He has this machiavellian rise to power, but he loses everything around him. He’s so blind with revenge and trying to put the world right in his mind. And there’s this hunger for power. It’s quite a good lesson, right? That hunger for power will destroy everything and everyone around you,” Lowe says, “I think this is Delita’s story, in a way. So he’s a tragic protagonist, but could also be seen as a villain. And like any good villain, he believes he’s doing the right thing. That’s something we really wanted to get across.”
Finding the right tone for Delita was a monumental challenge, especially because of how integral he is to the twisting puzzle of Final Fantasy Tactics narrative. Outside of Ramza, Delita is arguably the most important character Square Enix needed to get “right.” While Final Fantasy is no stranger to complex characters, even after 28 years, Delita stands out head-and-shoulders above the crowd. And even though there’s a lot to choose from, Lowe feels like there are a few key scenes that really dive to the heart of what makes Delita so special.
Lowe points out the War of the Lions cutscenes as something both he and the localization team worked especially hard on – although to view them, you need to manually select them from the Event menu. He also has an affinity for the secret meeting between Ramza and Delita in the church, partially because of it being his audition scene and the one that “got him the job.” But the truly pivotal, gut-wrenching scene is one that anyone who’s played Tactics will immediately be familiar with.
The end of Tactic’s first chapter delivers an earthquake of a twist, setting the tone for all the tragedy that’s to come. After fighting through hordes of enemies, the party is betrayed by Argath, who mercilessly executes Delita’s sister, Tietra.
“It’s such a pivotal moment for Delita, that then informs the rest of his story, that one moment. It’s such a cool scene,” Lowe says, “There’s so much going on, and then his sister is killed and his world crumbles before his eyes. To play that was great, and we tried it a lot of different ways. That’s my favourite dramatic scene, because Delita breaks in that moment, and it sends him on a path that will be his story, life, and eventually his demise.”
“Anyone can rise up against anyone – Delita is proof of that.”
And perhaps what’s most interesting about Delita is how he reinforces and plays into the very themes of Final Fantasy Tactics, the game’s commentary on social classes and oppression. It’s a game that wants you to think about its message, roll it over in your head, and dissect it piece by piece. And seeing the juxtaposition of Delita’s hopeful ideas and his ultimate fate is a huge part of that.
“There are two ways to look at it. Delita is common-born, but taken in by a regal family that has higher standing than him, and is then manipulated by those same people. But he then destroys them. So it’s a real commentary on class structure, and how people are treated because they are seen as lower – but anyone can rise up against anyone, Delita is proof of that, “ Lowe says, “But the flip side of that is, like I said earlier, that blind pursuit of power will destroy everything. There’s a lesson in that for the powers that be, and for people in general.”
