'Final Fantasy 15': Voice Actress Kari Wahlgren Talks Aranea Highwind

Final Fantasy XV is almost here, and fans still want to know everything there is to know about the new cast of characters. A new face to the franchise is Aranea Highwind, a mercenary willing to fight for the highest bidder. While Aranea may be new, the voice behind her character, Kari Wahlgren, is well-versed in the Final Fantasy world.

Kari Wahlgren has been in a number of Final Fantasy projects, including Final Fantasy XII and the just-released World of Final Fantasy. According to her, it’s a big privilege getting to be a part of such a storied series of games.

“It's always great to be part of the Final Fantasy universe,” Wahlgren told iDigitalTimes. “It's such a powerful, beloved franchise. I'm honored to be a part of it!”

Speaking of her latest character, Wahlgren hinted Aranea might not be who fans expect. “Aranea is a mercenary fighter, which means not only her fighting skills but her allegiance is also for hire,” said Wahlgren. “That makes her a little bit more of a wild card. The players will find out during the game whether or not she can be trusted.”

Wahlgren says she feels Aranea is a badass based on the character designs and in-game fighting demo she has seen so far, and is a big fan of the character herself. “I hope the fans like her as much as I do,” she said.

Video game voice over recording is traditionally done individually, with all of the recordings mixed together once finished. This was the case for Wahlgren and Final Fantasy XV as well, something that Ray Chase talked about when recording for Noctis. “It really highlights the importance of a good voice director. You have to trust that the director will give you the context and backstory you need to create the character,” Wahlgren said. “Luckily, we had a couple of amazing directors for FFXV.”

While recording for Aranea, Wahlgren was allowed to play around with the character a bit instead of doing a straight English translation of the Japanese dialogue. “I was able to make her my own, which was nice,” she said. “They definitely showed respect for the original interpretation, but I didn't feel like I was locked into a characterization during the recording process.”

As for the final game, Wahlgren has been trying to stay away to keep herself as excited as all the fans. “I haven't had a chance to play it yet, I've only seen some of the demonstrations of the in-game fighting and a few trailers,” she said. ”I'm just as excited as the fans to see how it turns out!”

For those looking to hear more of Wahlgren’s voice in upcoming projects, including Ketta in Skylanders Imaginators, Mevia the Enforcer in Telltale’s Minecraft Story Mode and Shelke in World of Final Fantasy. For you Rick and Morty fans out there, Wahlgren will be back in Season 3, reprising her role as Jessica, Morty’s love interest. You can also follow along with Wahlgren on Twitter at @KariWahlgren and Instagram at @kari_wahlgren.

So what do you think? Are you excited to find out more about Aranea Highwind once Final Fantasy XV releases on Nov. 29? What other roles of Wahlgren’s have you enjoyed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.