Ben Starr, the actor behind the best part of Final Fantasy XVI, steely protagonist Clive Rosfield, has been promoting the game for a hot minute. As you can imagine, he’s talked to a lot of people and has probably answered a lot of questions about his performance and the franchise. But it seems there’s one thing about him he wants people to know so they stop asking: His favorite Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy VIII.
At the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards, Starr won the award for Best Lead Performer. Upon accepting his statue on stage at the London event, his fit was, as Kotaku’s leading fashion correspondent Alyssa Mercante describes it, “how you do a blazer and a t-shirt,” with a velvet, “pumpkin spice-colored” suit, and a t-shirt underneath. That t-shirt was white, aside from one crucial detail: the logo for Final Fantasy VIII.
Starr gave a shoutout to the performers who voice Clive in other languages and to his tabletop group at Natural Six, and took a moment to make clear that the game on his shirt is his favorite in Square Enix’s long-running RPG series.
“What I do want to say is this: Firstly, Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite Final Fantasy,” Starr said on the Golden Joystick stage. “Stop asking me that question. And this series changed my life. It changed my life. This game has changed my life. Thank you so much to everyone. I really appreciate it. I will treasure this for the rest of my life.”
Final Fantasy VIII doesn’t rank quite so highly for me, and it ended up around the middle of our recent series ranking here at Kotaku. Still, I cannot help but stan a stan who is committed to the bit. Wearing a t-shirt for your fave underneath a blazer is a serve. It’s a bold statement to declare your love for something with all those eyes on you, and for that, I have to respect Starr’s decision to speak his truth. But Ben, I gotta know: what’s your opinion on Final Fantasy X-2?
For more on Final Fantasy XVI, check out Kotaku’s review.
