After British actor Stephen Critchlow passed away last year, one of his friends took a 194 hour journey through Final Fantasy 14 to hear his voice again.
That friend would be Robert Harper, a fellow actor who first met Critchlow in the mid-’90s. “We were both contracted to be part of the BBC’s Radio Drama business for a year,” Harper told GameMe+, sharing that the couple would be recording “an enormous amount of radio together” during that time.
The duo teamed up with several famous actors of the era, worked hard on shooting all day, and then gathered for drinks outside office hours. “Stephen certainly held his own on those occasions, both in drinking and in storytelling,” Harper said.
“There wasn’t a day I spent with Stephen that wasn’t a lot of laughter,” the actor continues. “He could bring a room to tears with laughter wearing a hat.”
Stephen Critchlow passed away on September 19, 2021, aged 54. Known as the voice of Count Edmont de Fortemps in Final Fantasy 14’s Heavensward expansion, players from around the world gathered to pay tribute to Critchlow, with a massive vigil at Fortemps’ mansion in Ishgard.
Harper explains that he’s been an avid gamer for over 40 years, although he couldn’t make it into Final Fantasy 14 because the overwhelming number of players in places like Limsa Lominsa put him off. Earlier this year, however, something changed in Harper’s approach to the grandiose MMO.
“If Stephen’s Birthday [passing] I started thinking about him, our time together in the 90s, and I remember how fondly the Final Fantasy 14 community felt about him,” explains Harper. “I was reminded of the in-game vigils in September last year when gamers had heard that he had passed away. And I thought, ‘I want to experience what they all have. I want to search, find and fight my way through the story so I can hear my old friend deliver this amazing performance in Heavensward.”
And so Harper embarked on the colossal journey of playing through Final Fantasy 14’s A Realm Reborn storyline to hear the voice of his late friend in the Heavensward expansion. After 194 hours of adventure, the actor finally made it to the beginning of the expansion where he came across the opening movie pictured just below, narrated by none other than Critchlow.
After going to Ishgard for 194 hours, the biggest reward is? I hear my dear old friend Stephen Critchlow. #FFXIV pic.twitter.com/DnMlDZkjjFSeptember 6, 2022
Harper describes the experience of hearing Critchlow’s voice for the first time in the above sequence as “extremely emotional.” If you haven’t made it this far yourself, this is the first time you’ve heard Stephen Critchlow’s voice, and that’s before you’ve even seen his heartfelt character Count Edmont de Fortemps in-game.
Harper then decided to post about his experience with soldiers via A Realm Reborn on the Final Fantasy 14 subreddit, and the reception couldn’t have been better. His post now has over 5,000 upvotes on the subreddit, with over 200 commentators congratulating Harper on his achievement and celebrating Stephen Critchlow’s performance as Fortemps.
“99% of the comments here and on Twitter have been really great,” says Harper. “Even the 1% who accidentally dropped spoilers (without hiding them behind tags) were nice.” Players have offered to send Harper gifts such as the Wandering Campfire Minion, but since Harper is still playing the Final Fantasy 14 trial, he sadly had to decline such offers. And yes, he is now also aware of the fate of Fortemps’ son, Haurchefant Greystone.
I thought I’d record a short voice message to thank everyone for their kind messages about my old friend Stephen Critchlow. The #FFXIV community is indeed a very loving place. See you on the 19th. pic.twitter.com/l4cyZqgdtaSeptember 7, 2022
“I could never have imagined how many reactions I would get if I posted about my little trip,” the actors add, saying it was “quite overwhelming.” Harper believes the amazing feedback is “evidence of the love everyone has for Stephen,” and that it’s “wonderful for him to be remembered so fondly.”
With the first anniversary of Stephen Critchlow’s passing later this month on September 19, Harper plans to be outside the Fortemps mansion on the date at 8pm BST, on Chaos’s European server in the world of Phantom, for in case someone wants to join him.
“It’ll be great to talk about Critch’ in public again,” Harper says. “Oh, the stories I could tell you. But we’d be here all day.’
Square Enix says it’s a… “flashing” 10th anniversary event for Final Fantasy 14 in 2023.
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