I'm all for clever localization but please don't just leave out important story.

[DarkStaoneDragon]

I read the translations of the text, it's not a localization thing, it was leaving out key points, I have been through a (unique MMO) game before (Phantasy Star Universe) in that game the JP players got new weapons new story lines while the western market got reskins of old weapons with new names and no new story lines, so I'm seeing a pattern here, favoritism to JP speaking/reading people and to heck to those who can't (it's like the non-JP players arn't intelligent enough to understand the story), I know SE is a JP company but I think it's only fair to give everyone the same story, look at the reddit post the person did the translation for us, and it is clear a big chunk of the story was left out or changed to the point it made no sense in the EN ver. this is probably a prequel to 3.0 so how much of that story would be changed for the western market? this just makes me sad.

edit:
I'll go and get caught up on the story, and post again and let everyone know if the crypicness was understandable, sorry if my post came accross offencive to SE or any players I was going by what was posted on reddit, well off to finish 2.1-2.5 stories.

[Renik]

To anyone that claims that a translator doesn't have the right to make such a change:
What if the change was made by someone on the lore team, and given the OK by the head of said team? Because that is exactly what has happened here!

In case you don't know, the head of the lore team and the main scenario writer are not the same person, the lore head may gave OK to some ideas, they are part of the same team, and both have power over the lore, but not over text, information given and personalities, stop defending their mistake, as the humans they are, they make mistakes, an our feedback in the matter should be appreciated not criticized.

Different cultures?

You don't believe that right? i found how some people here believes that Japaneses are some kind of feudal male chauvinist, nowadays these cultural differences are almost non existent, between Japan/NA/ and most EU countries i mean.

[Delily]

I read the translations of the text, it's not a localization thing, it was leaving out key points, I have been through a (unique MMO) game before (Phantasy Star Universe) in that game the JP players got new weapons new story lines while the western market got reskins of old weapons with new names and no new story lines, so I'm seeing a pattern here, favoritism to JP speaking/reading people and to heck to those who can't (it's like the non-JP players arn't intelligent enough to understand the story), I know SE is a JP company but I think it's only fair to give everyone the same story, look at the reddit post the person did the translation for us, and it is clear a big chunk of the story was left out or changed to the point it made no sense in the EN ver. this is probably a prequel to 3.0 so how much of that story would be changed for the western market? this just makes me sad.

In this case, it's subjective. The Japanese version basically told the players what Midgardsomr was up to, whereas the English version is a lot more cryptic. I much prefer our version, as it has lead to a lot more speculation and adds an element of mystery to the plot.

[Shougun]

Still curious why people say it is an attack on our intelligence or bias to Japanese... Ours takes more wit to read, certainly its not rocket science but the Japanese one spells it out for you - you don't even need to know about the game to understand it. If anything its the other way around, Japanese get the verbose classic anime "This is how I did everything, and my world plan" monologue and we get the cryptic role play to character speech where not everything was revealed at once.

Sure the information is easily disseminated in the Japanese version, and perhaps people prefer that - but I didn't feel troubled when I watched the cutscene and and when I read the Japanese version it didn't shock me. Just clarified some things that could have been naturally clarified through further development if I had been patient or studied further.

[Fiaryn]

I like how some people still believe there is an "original Japanese" script, when we've been outright told this isn't the case.


While you can choose to infer that this is the case, the notion that this is what the EN narrative lays out explicitly is entirely false. What Middy said is essentially the same as "They started this war [which we as reader KNOW is ongoing, not long passed] and we're going to finish it."

Furthermore, both versions beg precisely the same question. Whether it's the sins of the fathers (which implicitly suggests a capacity for repetition in that the sons deserve to be punished) or stating that an ancient sin is about to be repeated, the player is left with precisely the same question:

What ARE the dragons so buttmad about from the days of yore? Again, there are no meaningful differences between the versions, only in delivery.

[Illya]

In this case, it's subjective. The Japanese version basically told the players what Midgardsomr was up to, whereas the English version is a lot more cryptic. I much prefer our version, as it has lead to a lot more speculation and adds an element of mystery to the plot.

There's not supposed to be a mystery to the plot. Why do the Japanese, German, and French speakers get the "normal" plot and the English speakers get the "abridged" plot? I mean, you can't say "cultural differences" if ONLY the EN script deviates so dramatically from the other 3 languages. If all 3 languages in the West were different from the JP script then maybe you would have an argument. As it is, only 1 of 4 languages gets the butchered Midgardsormr and that is a problem.

[Fiaryn]

I'd rather not have the Japanese version of Midgardsormr's dialogue, personally. It's ham handed and treats the player like a child. Anything not laid out explicitly in the EN version can be readily inferred with just a hair of reading comprehension.

[Delily]

There's not supposed to be a mystery to the plot. Why do the Japanese, German, and French speakers get the "normal" plot and the English speakers get the "abridged" plot? I mean, you can't say "cultural differences" if ONLY the EN script deviates so dramatically from the other 3 languages. If all 3 languages in the West were different from the JP script then maybe you would have an argument. As it is, only 1 of 4 languages gets the butchered Midgardsormr and that is a problem.

You know I can't answer those questions. At this point, all I can reiterate is my support for the translators to make our story more cryptic. The top comment on the reddit post gives a good breakdown of why I think we got the better version.

[AlphaSonic]

That doesn't change the fact that English Midgardsormr treats you as rubbish and the Japanese/French/German does not.

[Vetaro]

About the thing with the sin that is an easy guess. We might have no clue in what way the isgards sinned back then but when they are about to sin again right now it is probably because they are under the control of the ascians. But then again if that would be true that would mean the dragons kinda have the same goal we have.