Life of Clive: Ben Starr reflects back on FINAL FANTASY XVI

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Clive Rosfield has made quite an impact. The “Eikonic“ protagonist of FINAL FANTASY XVI has quickly become one of the most beloved in the series, thanks in no small part to his English voice actor: Ben Starr.

Now it’s been more than a year since the launch of the game on PS5, and with the game’s arrival on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, we thought it the perfect time to catch up with the talented actor, look back on the role of Clive, and Ben’s new life as a FINAL FANTASY protagonist.

Hi Ben – how has your life changed since the release of FINAL FANTASY XVI?

Oh, massively so! How hasn’t it changed!?

My greatest wish going into this was that people didn’t hate me. But there’s been this wonderful outpouring of love for the character. And I feel like I’m just kind of riding off the back of the love for the character to be honest (laughs).

It’s been amazing how the fans have embraced Clive, embraced the game, and embraced me.

As a fan, you’re always worried that you’re going to be ostracised from the one thing that you love the most, but it’s been quite the opposite. It’s been super-wonderful, and the support has been overwhelming.

I think people understand that I love this franchise as much as they do, and just being able to nerd out about FINAL FANTASY VIII with people has been the coolest thing.

You know, I think I probably have more FINAL FANTASY VIII memorabilia given to me by fans than I have FINAL FANTASY XVI! I’m starting to collect the original action figures of FINAL FANTASY VIII because people give them to me!

I’ve signed original copies of FINAL FANTASY VIII, I’ve been able to show my appreciation for every one of these games, and it’s been really, really awesome. And now I get to do other games outside of this!

When we spoke before launch, you predicted that ‘Come to me Ifrit’ would be the thing you’re asked to say for people most. Did that turn out to be prophetic?

I never stop saying it (laughs).

Also “Accept the truth” and “The only fantasy here is yours, and we will be its final witness!”

(Thinks) No wait, is it “I shall be its final witness?”

I mean, I’ve played through the game at least three times – I should know this…

I was in it!

Oh my God, the fact that neither of us can suddenly remember… I mean I’ve written this on people’s arms (laughs). It’s tattooed on people’s arms!

No, it is: “The only fantasy here is yours and we shall be its final witness!”

It’s an amazing line…

It’s very cool. I love watching streamers do it and I can’t wait to watch people encounter it again on PC.

When the game first came out, I would nip into people’s streams when there are points of high drama or moments I particularly enjoy, and I always seeing their reactions to it. It’s really fun.

Making FINAL FANTASY XVI was a big part of your life for years…

Yeah, four years!

Now that it’s all in the rear-view mirror, how do you look back on that experience?

I look back on it in stages.

There was the secret period of me working on it with my friends. Well, colleagues who then became really close friends.

And then I had the year that it came out.

And now it’s kind of basking in the glow, the glory of having survived that year, because it was just so intense. I threw myself into it, maybe unhealthily so. But I did that because
I really loved it. I saw that this is an amazing opportunity, and they don’t really come around very often.

I’m really glad I survived at the other end, and this sounds silly, but it was a lot. It was a lot of responsibility to become a kind of figurehead for a game and then by proxy a franchise as well. Because I really loved talking not just about FINAL FANTASY XVI, but FINAL FANTASY as a whole – and celebrating it.

I was turning up to award ceremonies in FINAL FANTASY VIII T-Shirts. I turned up to the Game Awards with my favorite FINAL FANTASY party on it. I wanted to at all points feel like I could be a vector for this franchise, for people to experience this franchise and almost give them permission to talk about the things they love.

I wanted to be very front-faced in the video game community and say: “FINAL FANTASY is cool, let’s talk about it.”

Yes, my favorite is FINAL FANTASY VIII, but I want people to feel like they can share their love of Terra or Vivi, or Rydia or… whoever you love, you should be able to love them in the way that you love them.

If I can be the person who’s opening the door for someone to talk about it, then let’s go!

But that’s a lot of pressure to take on and I felt like I put that on myself. But now, a bit like Thanos at the end of Infinity War, I can relax a little bit and it’s all been worth it (laughs).

Have there been any particularly memorable moments?

Oh yeah. People love a meme, and I made a load of them.

There was one where me and some of the cast were doing a livestream, and in the hotel room we all put on the bathrobes and joked we were at a spa day. And, I think, within an hour there was artwork of all our characters respectively dressed up in those clothes.

And then about two weeks later, some amazing fans turned up and met me dressed as the characters in those clothes!

It’s such a unique and brilliant thing and the joy and playfulness with which fans have received our characters is amazing. There have been so many examples it feels awful to leave things out.

Such as when you dressed up as Tifa, and then later met her actor, Britt Baron?

(Laughs) I actually messaged Britt a couple of days afterwards apologising!

That’s been a real treat, actually – having two FINAL FANTASY games come out in such a short period of time means I’ve had the opportunity to interact with people whose performances I really admire.

I think what the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE and REBIRTH cast have done is really remarkable – to take these characters who are so beloved and to put their stamp on it and allow fans to fall in love with them all over again.

So Britt’s amazing, and so is Brianna White (Aerith) and Suzie Yeung (Yuffie) – I got to spend time with them. And John Bentley (Barret) is one of the most outgoing, charismatic individuals I’ve ever met in my life!

Yeah, I love all their enthusiasm and I feel lucky to even exist in the same space as them.

Now that you’ve played the final game, are there any scenes that stand out to you as particularly effective?

There’s obviously the ‘accept the truth’ scene, which is iconic.

But there’s also a scene that when we recorded it, I didn’t think it would have the effect it has. I mean, I knew it was good, but I didn’t think it would have that effect on people. And that’s the scene when Clive meets his mother again for the first time after the prologue.

It seems to have really stuck out to people – Clive almost regresses into a child again, he’s less controlled. He’s like a child shouting at his mother, and it’s really aggressive and unleashed and it seems to really resonate with people.

What’s the most important thing you learned working on FINAL FANTASY XVI?

Be nice. The big thing I realised is: be nice and allow for collaboration.

This whole project has been a labor of love for so many people and it was that generosity of spirit that meant we were able to create what we did.

I’m very fortunate to play Clive, but so many people went into that process with the intentions of making this one of the most interesting protagonists that FINAL FANTASY has ever created.This is a collaboration at heart, the work of multiple people, and it’s only through the appreciation of everyone’s work that he exists.

So even though I’m talking on behalf of him right now, there are so many people that went into this and hopefully I will take that same generosity of spirit into every project I do.

Many thanks to Ben Starr for his insight and look back at this incredible game.You can experience it, and Ben’s powerful performance as Clive, right now on both PS5 and PC.

Two editions are available:

FINAL FANTASY XVI Standard Edition

This includes:

It’s available now:

FINAL FANTASY XVI Complete Edition

This includes:

  • The base game

  • Echoes of the Fallen, DLC chapter – the discovery of an artificial Mothercrystal leads Clive to the treacherous Sagespire, a ruin of the mysterious, and long since gone, Fallen civilization. It’s an action-packed ascent to the top that features some truly spectacular boss fights!

  • The Rising Tide, DLC chapter – Clive and his allies are drawn into a new adventure involving the hidden village of Haven, and the lost Eikon of Water: Leviathan! This is a longer adventure that takes you to a brand-new area with blue skies, new quests, new accessories, weapons and – uh-oh – tonberries aplenty!

It’s available now:

A free demo is also available. It lets you play through the opening prologue of the game and carry your progress over to the full game.

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