Differences between English and Japanese MSQ Dialogue (bit of a rant)

[Callinon]

Some things cannot be directly translated, and in some other cases the translation will be tailored to their intended audience. A Japanese (native) speaker playing the game with English voices would be very surprised by the use of the language, mostly because it's something they may not be used to hearing (i.e Shakespearean type words), and there may not be a direct equivalent in their own tongue. It does specifically state in the settings that having audio different to your client may not always match so it's to be expected that is not entirely the same in all languages (because it's just not always possible to do that).

I pity a non-English speaker listening to Urianger say just about anything. Good f'ing luck.

[Granyala]

I pity a non-English speaker listening to Urianger say just about anything. Good f'ing luck.

Uriangers English is the best of them all! He always cracks me up.
And I am saying that as a German.

As for the differences: they exist between German and English as well and at times are quite pronounced.

[Maverick_Haas]

There are also issues with vocal timings. Things said in Japanese tend to be longer or shorter based on the phrase being said, and the dialogue needs to be able to fit within the same timeframe or talking animation windows. If you're interested, you should look up The Logistics of Voice Acting.

[Allegor]

There are also issues with vocal timings. Things said in Japanese tend to be longer or shorter based on the phrase being said, and the dialogue needs to be able to fit within the same timeframe or talking animation windows. If you're interested, you should look up The Logistics of Voice Acting.

I have Jap audio with Eng subtitles and there are a few moments where the character says a single word or just gasps but the dialogue is a whole sentence - or vice versa. Rather funny.

[Alucard135]

There are also issues with vocal timings. Things said in Japanese tend to be longer or shorter based on the phrase being said, and the dialogue needs to be able to fit within the same timeframe or talking animation windows. If you're interested, you should look up The Logistics of Voice Acting.

As far as I know, they already use lip syncing features in all their cut scenes. It's not an advanced one, but it still does the job.

You can notice in these two clips from 4.4 MSQ that there are differences in the timing for both the when English and Japanese voice actors are talking. And the lips are moving accordingly. You can also notice there's a part that was said in Japanese, but since it wasn't said in the English version, it was filled with "...." instead if you were using English text and Japanese voices.

https://youtu.be/Nii1n7CHNgc?t=199 (English)
https://youtu.be/Frqy5nGAOKw?t=5267 (Japanese)

The difference the OP points out is just unimportant chit chat and does not change the story. So I don't see how it matters.

Every language has words and meanings that may not even exist in other languages. a 100% translation is not even possible.

The problem is, a majority of the Japanese text can be translated into English without a problem. An example is this dialogue from ARR MSQ with Midgardsormer https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...ersus_english/

And of course we all know Haruchefant's change lol.

[Krotoan]

As far as I know, they already use lip syncing features in all their cut scenes. It's not an advanced one, but it still does the job.

someday I want someone to actually lipread what we're saying when we "explain" things to NPC's.


Personally it seems like we go. "Pwawowaawohwiiwowowowowah" to pretty much everyone.

[Lersayil]

Yeah, I think we've had more of these... cant even say mistranslations? They seem intentional. Anyways, after I noticed it, I made it a point to listen to the audio first, then read the english text just so I dont miss any small details relevant to the lore. I don't think there was anything major, but I do recall some peculiar wording differences that muddies the waters for some lore speculations.

One that did stick in my mind particularly was a Feo Ul conversation after Il Mehg, before the last area (being vague for spoilers). While mostly inconsiquantual it changed the intent behind her words a lot.

[NebulaStarsong]

You're ranting over words that are said differently but mean the same thing, in a way, that several people can understand.
They mean the same thing but are just said differently. The outcome is still the same and it's said with understanding and spoken in a way
that would have been said. You hear two phrases, one in Japanese, one in English, those two will be said differently
but mean exactly the same thing. "You've gotten bigger, since the last I saw you!" still means the same as "You've blown up since I saw you last!" stuff like that.

[Krotoan]

Localization is more than just directly translating things word for word. You need to take into consideration culture, dialects, history and more. As someone else also mentioned there is only so much animation done, it has to fit within those animated frames so sometimes it gets abbreviated or changed so people aren't talking when nobody's mouth is moving.

[Rongway]

Localization is more than just directly translating things word for word. You need to take into consideration culture, dialects, history and more.

This.

A lot of cultural features of the Japanese language just do not make sense in English. It would be a grave error to translate things literally.