Debate about his voice aside, there is some surprising amount of complaints from some "fans" of Final Fantasy VII who are of the opinion that Barret looks too white for a black guy in the Remake:
Other quotes from Twitter:
Also on Reddit:
I've even seen complaint about this on ResetERA itself. What do you think? Should Square Enix have made Barret's skin darker and his hair more curly in the Remake?
Did they fucking whitewash Barret? #FFVIIRemake
Wait a second. I just rewatched this several times in a row and why TF does Barret look white? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Is it my phone screen? What is going on here?
Also, what is up with Barret's hair? That shit looks relaxed and ain't no way Barret would use a relaxer or press. And I'm not even gonna get into his voice. That shit sounded like a white man try'na do a 'Yo, yo, yo!' black man's voice.
My self being a black man only concern with the trailer was why did they made Barret less black than he is. I want Barret to be a gruff black guy. Thats how I remember him.
Other quotes from Twitter:
Why is Barret white?! Highly upset
Am i crazy or did they make Barret white? #ff7 #StateOfPlay
Im pretty upset about white guy pretending to be a black guy Barret... Square you can do better...
So, you're really telling me Barret wasn't BLACK this whole time!!!?
In like ALL the final fantasy games you had a black dude as a character and when you bring that back you do this
wait why is barret white, lmao I always thought he was black lul
Is it just me... or does Barret look..... not black? His flattop looks like its just straight hair... among other things...Am I going crazy?
I would say from a visual perspective Barret doesn't even look that black, but my guess is that Japan is still struggling to portray black people in such a way that isn't, you know, basically Mister Popo.
Also on Reddit:
I've even seen complaint about this on ResetERA itself. What do you think? Should Square Enix have made Barret's skin darker and his hair more curly in the Remake?