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

[File2ish]

...the fact that the Japanese translation is superior and contains so much more information.

I don't think the Japanese version is superior to the English version by any stretch (that said, I can only go off of the JP unofficial translation, I don't know how it actually is in Japanese). If anything it reveals too much information in my opinion.

And if you think amount of information is the deciding factor, the amount of information presented in the Japanese version's dialogue is not indicative of it being superior to the English version we received. There's more to writing a story than presenting information to the audience, it's how the writer (or in this case, translator) wants to present it and how it is actually written.

The information is there within the story, just not explicitly stated in the immediate conversation with Midgardsormr. Why? It didn't need to be. All of what is outright stated in the JP version can be inferred in the EN version. Some may think the JP version is better, I'm not trying to argue if it is or isn't. However, it doesn't have the traits of good writing in my opinion (solely judging by the direct translation, as I can't read Japanese).

[Themis]

I don't think the Japanese version is superior to the English version by any stretch (that said, I can only go off of the JP unofficial translation, I don't know how it actually is in Japanese). If anything it reveals too much information in my opinion.

And if you think amount of information is the deciding factor, the amount of information presented in the Japanese version's dialogue is not indicative of it being superior to the English version we received. There's more to writing a story than presenting information to the audience, it's how the writer (or in this case, translator) wants to present it. The information is there within the story, just not explicitly stated in the immediate conversation with Midgardsormr. Why? It didn't need to be.

I think a big problem might be comparing only what Midgardsormr says directly, and not including what is said and implied by other supporting characters that actually further the information being presented. Nabriales fills in some information that further clarified things, for example (he's cottoned on to what happens and makes an effort to brag about our situation). We'll likely find out other parts of the whole truth in the next section of the story too.

A story isn't made up simply of what a single character says, but what the entire work says which includes other characters and inferred information from surroundings and characters' actions. Just because Midgardsormr doesn't go out of his way to explain every single aspect in great detail (which would go against everything that we know about dragons and their way of speaking) doesn't mean that information is missing. It's just not complete at the same time.

I'd almost expect that the JP version goes out of its way to be over explained (as you seem to imply/agree), and that certain elements of the plot would be repeated again and again in different scenes and possibly by different characters.

[File2ish]

I think a big problem might be comparing only what Midgardsormr says directly, and not including what is said and implied by other supporting characters that actually further the information being presented. Nabriales fills in some information that further clarified things, for example (he's cottoned on to what happens and makes an effort to brag about our situation). We'll likely find out other parts of the whole truth in the next section of the story too.

A story isn't made up simply of what a single character says, but what the entire work says which includes other characters and inferred information from surroundings and characters' actions. Just because Midgardsormr doesn't go out of his way to explain every single aspect in great detail (which would go against everything that we know about dragons and their way of speaking) doesn't mean that information is missing. It's just not complete at the same time.

I'd almost expect that the JP version goes out of its way to be over explained (as you seem to imply/agree), and that certain elements of the plot would be repeated again and again in different scenes and possibly by different characters.

Exactly. If you have played JRPGs you see things repeated often and many times are outright explained at the earliest convenient time. I don't know if that's just how Japanese writing for games is, if it's the translators, if they think the audience is too dumb to put two and two together, or if it's because the target audience is generally in the early/mid teens and may not be able to read between the lines very well (a 13 year old likely won't extract nearly as much out of a literary piece than a 20+ year old). But any way you look at it it comes off like it was a poorly thought out story when the information is presented in a way where the same information just flows out of characters mouths and actions multiple times. (Not to say the stories are bad, but it doesn't make them good.)

I've stated in previous posts that all of that information was implied in the storyline and can be inferred to to put the pieces together. Where is that information? It's from the other character interactions. As you said, the information isn't missing. It's just not complete at the same time. (\Because other character interactions/).

[Zantitrach]

I don't think the Japanese version is superior to the English version by any stretch (that said, I can only go off of the JP unofficial translation, I don't know how it actually is in Japanese). If anything it reveals too much information in my opinion.

Exactly. I think the English version is perfect. With just the right amount of teases of information. However the JP translation is, as I've said, literally beating you over the head with the information. Heck they reduced 3-4 lines of the JP translation to "Heh heh heh" because it was so redundant they could!

[Hyrist]

Exactly. I think the English version is perfect. With just the right amount of teases of information. However the JP translation is, as I've said, literally beating you over the head with the information. Heck they reduced 3-4 lines of the JP translation to "Heh heh heh" because it was so redundant they could!

You may think it is perfect, but your analysis leaves much to be desired. Information was lost in the transition, and the very tone of the relationship between player and Midgardsormr has been changed.

Fortunately, I'm down to the formatting part of my own assessment and will be posting it shortly.