For those of us who prefer the Japanese VO.

[Vilhem]

Spoilers: The story originates in both English and JP, so things like "original" and "dub" need not apply.

[Lukha]

Spoilers: The story originates in both English and JP, so things like "original" and "dub" need not apply.

The fact that the writing is a collaborative effort actually makes the occasional major differences between languages a worse problem, at least in my opinion. It's not the typical localization, which must be done well after the original text is complete, and usually with no input from the original author...the writers of the different versions of this game have the unique privilege of being able to communicate and hash out a unified narrative, but the just don't care enough to use it.

And some of the comments regarding literal translations are perplexing. 'A jumbled mess?' Do you imagine a literal translation would ignore the grammatical rules of the target language?

[Aphel]

And some of the comments regarding literal translations are perplexing. 'A jumbled mess?' Do you imagine a literal translation would ignore the grammatical rules of the target language?

Perhaps you might want to do a search on what it means to Literally Translate.

[Cynfael]

And some of the comments regarding literal translations are perplexing. 'A jumbled mess?' Do you imagine a literal translation would ignore the grammatical rules of the target language?

You don't have to use poor grammar to have a ridiculously literal translation. Think of stock pre-battle lines like "I won't forgive you!" that are cringe-worthy in English but acceptably dire ("yurusanai/yurusan zo" etc.) in Japanese.

Tons of little things like that are why it takes time and effort to make a decent translation and why we won't get a track B.

[Viridiana]

And some of the comments regarding literal translations are perplexing. 'A jumbled mess?' Do you imagine a literal translation would ignore the grammatical rules of the target language?

Having done ample amount of translation work, going from language A to language B and making it sound like something a real human being would actually say takes a hell of a lot of effort; and by the time you're done making it make sense, it is not going to be a literal translation anymore (depending on the languages and the input, obviously).