Dark Sage Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Basically which games do you think had the best and worst localizations? Personally I think Sacred Stones did. It's prose was good, the writing was solid, the translation was faithful and had some wit to it, and the gameplay tinkering was very minor and inoffensive. It goes under the radar in terms of good localizations but I think it's because it's so natural it makes you forget it was localized. Radiant Dawn had the worst imo. For starters, there's the debacle with the difficulty names. There's also the choice they made to use only the smaller script and not the larger one already in the game, which cut out a sizeable chunk of characterization, motivations, explanations, and world building. The script's translation itself was fairly good though. It probably got the most gameplay changes out of all the localized titles too. Some of them are for the better, like Edward and Leonardo's better bases and giving them plus Nolan their own prf weapons while others like the forging system are a mixed bag (and makes one of the base convos really odd since it references mechanics that no longer exist). It's a lot easier to get DB units up to par now since they can get their forges pretty early but it also allows for mass production of stuff like forged Hand Axes, which is absurd. Awakening is probably second worst in terms of changes to the script and the tone. Characterization is often exaggerated or even completely different from the original and rarely is it for the better. There's some good lines though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Shadow Dragon did amazingly with what little they had to work with. The most quality writing the series has actually seen, the main lament is that there is so little of it in comparison to other games. Radiant Dawn meanwhile. Cut entire scenes and such as you mentioned already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topazd Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) Shadow Dragon's lozalization can't get enough praise. I don't have a strong opinion on the latter, but I'll say FE9 since they actually bothered to omit a higher difficulty setting. Edited July 13, 2015 by Topazd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I'm not familiar with the changes made, but I'll go based on what has been said. Sacred Stones is really good, and I'll give worst to 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaMonkey Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Best: Radiant Dawn. Worst: I'll go with Shadow Dragon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightBow Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) The best is definitely Awakening. Even the German localisation put in a bit of effort this time around, instead of mostly literally translating the English script. The worst is Radiant Dawn. The mere fact that we only got the abridged version of the script would be more then enough for the title, but they also had to completely rewriting the final exchange between Ike and Yune into some nonsense that had nothing to do with the rest of Part 4 or the rest of the Telius saga for that matter. It's downright epic how they messed this one up, with our version having Ike tell Yune how humans need gods as inspiration... in an arc which was all about how the gods are just as flawed as the humans they created. It's like they just inserted some stock moral because they couldn't be bothered to actually pay attention. Edited July 13, 2015 by BrightBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Removing the hardest difficulty on PoR is unforgivable, so that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cymbalina's Revenge Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) Best: Shadow Dragon runs away with this one, but props to FE8 for a solid job there. Worst: FE10 cut out actual chunks of the script including an entire mode which developed Ranulf in a way that his joint ending with Ike doesn't come out of left field, so that one merits a thrashing on those grounds alone. Edited July 13, 2015 by Cymbalina's Revenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 But in Radiant Dawn, Muarim is Ike's sister, clearly this is the better canonical choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Banzai Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Best: Was hard to decide between Awakening and Shadow Dragon. I had to give it to FESD for doing so much with so so so so little. Worst: FERD. I don't even care about the cut scenes. The writing is just awful, it is unpleasant to read, I cringe at every forced simile in the too-dramatically-narrated chapter opening narration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refa Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Best: Shadow Dragon, for being the best. Worst: Radiant Dawn, for being the worst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jave Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Best: FE11 is great and despite not being a fan of the game itself, I have to admit they did a great job at translating the dialogue and being quite faithful to the source material. FE13 comes second due to the great liberties it took with the dialogue yet still managed to remain faithful. It only doesn't beat FE11 for some cuts here and there and some personality changes, but nothing too big to affect negatively my enjoyment of the game. Worst: FE10, no contest. HUGE chunks of script cut out, gameplay changes to dumb down the game, changes that cause inconsistencies (like how Micaiah getting the mark of the Blood Pact is cut in the localization yet casually mentioned later in a base convo). Honorable mention to FE9 for cutting a whole difficulty, resulting in the easiest game in the series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJWalker Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Best: Shadow Dragon no contest whatsoever. The localisation is superb. Worst: I'll, admit, I forgot about FE10's script being cut and I voted for FE7 because it seemed quite unremarkable to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jagen Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Best: Shadow Dragon without a doubt. Sure there is very little dialgue to be had with anybody who isn't Marth, Nyna, or Minerva, but what they do with that little dialogue is astounding. Worst: Radiant Dawn, for same reasons others have pointed out. Entire scenes were literally just cut out from the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irysa Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 (edited) I have to echo the love for Shadow Dragon's localisation. I don't think I could have come to appreciate that game nearly as much as I do currently without the english script. I would also echo the distaste for Radiant Dawn's localisation. Part 1's general moment to moment dialogue is full of really jilted, awkward to read writing. It does improve from there, but I think they neglected to go back and edit their earlier work. Most would focus on the extended script debacle, but whilst I agree that it's deplorable that much of the script was cut, the base game itself has plenty of problems that even a fixed localisation wouldn't help. Edited July 16, 2015 by Irysa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 But in Radiant Dawn, Muarim is Ike's sister, clearly this is the better canonical choice. This was so funny to me when I was younger. I was like "What" and just proceeded to burst out laughing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgjvjavgjvfewgjevfagjwvxsg Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Worst:Haven't even played Radiant Dawn but from what I've seen the localization seems terrible. Best: Haven't really beaten many games but I really like FE7's localization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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