Final Fantasy 14: Friend and Colleague of Late Heavensward Voice Actor Reaches Ishgard for Anniversary of his Death

gamerant.com:

Just two weeks before the one-year anniversary of his death, one of Stephen Critchlow’s former colleagues has reached Heavensward after a near-200-hour journey through Final Fantasy 14 to hear his old friend welcome him to Ishgard. The beloved Final Fantasy 14 voice actor passed away on September 19, 2021, due to health complications.

In the English version of Final Fantasy 14, Critchlow voiced Count Edmont de Fortemps–a major character in the Heavensward expansion and its narrator besides. After his death, the Final Fantasy 14 community held vigils of remembrance outside the Fortemps manor in Ishgard and sent love and support to Critchlow’s friends and family. Robert Harper, one such friend of the late voice actor, saw this support and decided to pick up Final Fantasy 14 to hear Critchlow’s voice one last time.

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Harper, also known as anOldVideoGamer on Reddit and thePoetPlays on Twitter and Twitch, was hooked immediately–he spent 194 hours in Final Fantasy 14’s free trial meandering through the critically-acclaimed MMORPG, leveling his crafting and gathering classes. As the one-year anniversary of Critchlow’s death neared, Harper put his nose to the grindstone so he could reach Heavensward before the date–a feat he has just recently succeeded on.

Critchlow and Harper first met doing work for the BBC’s Radio Drama company, where they became fast friends. Harper himself has been a long-time gamer, but he never got into Final Fantasy 14 due to its daunting size and popularity. However, after Critchlow’s death, he decided to give the game another try, in no small part due to the warmth of the Final Fantasy 14 community last September. Needless to say, Harper