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

[Musashidon]

I would encourage them to have the English localization team rewrite the Japanese scripts and then have the Japanese staff rewrite again for cultural localization. Whoever is in charge of the English localization is just a much better fiction writer than anyone else there, and also know when to make and when to pull back on juvenile humor...

koji fox does both himself, he is lore master and makes sure that both the JP and NA are the same. ( i mean he isn't literally the only one) but he is a major part of it all.

[Nestama]

I dont understand whats so bad about having one character in the game that has the outright hots for the WoL and shows it? (And they have made the HW Haurchefant in the english version more in tune with the japanese one, at least thats what I heard) In a game with so many mature themes why is that so uncomfortable for NA? Its not like the majority of the characters are that way and no he was not constantly just trying to get into our pants, he was also still trying to be a good friend and to help us.

We'll never know (probably. It might not have translated well into English). Like I said before, this was before all localisation teams worked closely with the author.
Also I never really got the impression that 2.5 Middy was bad. Just that he wasn't impressed or something.

[Clover_Blake]

I feel you OP, this has been annoying me as well. Limited as my Japanese is, even I noticed all the unnecessary liberties the translators were taking. And the changes are beyond "things that sound similar" or "things that need to be adapted to a different culture". Sometimes characters say the opposite, or something simply unrelated, or the differences are enough to change their personalities.

Almost every sentence was butchered, but here are some examples that I remember:
-Minfilia asks you, all worried and a bit shy, if you're feeling alright and need a rest, translated as her being calmly interested in knowing what's crossing your mind, which also made her sound like any other Scion. Was it too hard or culturaly unacceptable to make her sound concerned when she is?

-Lyna openly cursing how unfair and awful things are, translated as her saying "I'm fine", because apparently, English Lyna tries to be less open about her emotions instead of just throwing them at whoever is there to listen.

-The Exarch waking from a dream, confused and disorientated, and saying something strange like "Eh...? You...? Why?", translated as "the future is where my destiny awaits : DDDD"

-But my favourite was, without a doubt, Urianger or Estinien (can't remember which) saying a long sentence that was translated as "mhph...". Sorry, man, one cares about what you've got to say.

There's no excuse for any of the mistranslations. It simply feels like the translators wanted to write their own story. I personally want to know what the original story is telling, and I want to know the characters' real personalities. Would it be possible to stick to the script one of these years please?

[Nestama]

I feel you OP, this has been annoying me as well. Limited as my Japanese is, even I noticed all the unnecessary liberties the translators were taking. And the changes are beyond "things that sound similar" or "things that need to be adapted to a different culture". Sometimes characters say the opposite, or something simply unrelated, or the differences are enough to change their personalities.

Almost every sentence was butchered, but here are some examples that I remember:
-Minfilia asks you, all worried and a bit shy, if you're feeling alright and need a rest, translated as her being calmly interested in knowing what's crossing your mind, which also made her sound like any other Scion. Was it too hard or culturaly unacceptable to make her sound concerned when she is?

-Lyna openly cursing how unfair and awful things are, translated as her saying "I'm fine", because apparently, English Lyna tries to be less open about her emotions instead of just throwing them at whoever is there to listen.

-The Exarch waking from a dream, confused and disorientated, and saying something strange like "Eh...? You...? Why?", translated as "the future is where my destiny awaits : DDDD"

-But my favourite was, without a doubt, Urianger or Estinien (can't remember which) saying a long sentence that was translated as "mhph...". Sorry, man, one cares about what you've got to say.

There's no excuse for any of the mistranslations. It simply feels like the translators wanted to write their own story. I personally want to know what the original story is telling, and I want to know the characters' real personalities. Would it be possible to stick to the script one of these years please?

That's localisation and once more, what makes it into the product is given the okay by everyone. So what you may have issues with was even given the okay by the person who wrote the story and script.

Anyway, I'm going to nitpick your examples. Lyna is complaining about how awful and unfair things are, but in her own way. She's spiraling into depression by stating how she's alive to mourn those who were lost, whom she failed to protect. If you have not heard this scene in English, I highly recommend you do. Spoilers, naturally.

The Exarch is quoting a certain someone from his dream. Once again, spoilers.

I have no idea about Estinien, as I do not remember when it played. If all he said was "hmmph" then it's probably nothing important.

I also don't recall when Minfillia calmly asks us X question, but depending on when it plays, chances are it could be due to character development reasons.

It's not mistranslations.

[seida]

I think it's important to remember that neither the Japanese or English version is more "valid" than the other. They're developed together, by essentially the same people. If you don't like the phrasing of the English version, feel free to go become fluent in Japanese and study localisation/translation, then maybe you'll finally understand why they made the choices they did.

[xxSouxx]

That's localisation and once more, what makes it into the product is given the okay by everyone. So what you may have issues with was even given the okay by the person who wrote the story and script.

I don't know about that.
Can we assume that the original authors are familiar enough with English to notice minor localization mistakes?
If most of the scripts seem correct, they are bound to miss discrepancies here and there since even professional translators mis-translate on occasions.

[Nestama]

Considering what has been said in the past, I think we can.

Over the months since, we have taken many measures to ensure that similar problems do not arise in the future, and I am proud to say that the LOC team works more closely with the scenario and cutscene teams than ever before.

For our quests, we pore over plot outlines and character profiles as they become available, even if the quest text itself is not to be written for months or more (oh, the things I could tell you about 3.2 and 3.3...). We share our thoughts with our scenario team counterparts, raising concerns and working through problematic issues together. If we strongly believe that a significant deviation is warranted, we consult with the team leads beforehand, and then we do our utmost to minimize the complications.

I don't expect everyone to agree with our decisions. Quite frankly, I am glad to see so many fans willing to voice their opinions, because it shows how invested you are in our story─that you care as much as we do. However, I do hope that everyone understands that these decisions are not made lightly─that we carefully consider the consequences of our actions. And when we do make controversial choices─for FFXIV, FFXV, or any of our other games─I hope you will all bear in mind that we do so in service to the Square Enix philosophy: to create incredible, moving, unforgettable stories that can be shared with our fans throughout the world.

[Eclair_Xysha]

Yeah there are some parts in MSQ where it doesn't match up to the translation. Like, its just way off. I forgot what parts but its a very minor part of the dialogue. They didn't miss the main ones at the very least and isnt totally off the scale.

[PharisHanasaki]

Considering what has been said in the past, I think we can.

Thanks for quoting them, I was going to point at these. Koji san is involved in the story.
This has been raised many times since 3.0, and a certain NPC. There's a reason why they do it, and honestly it's a hard task.
Nothing is perfect, but I for one think they do an amazing job.

[Gula]

I'm so thankful this game isn't X-seed tier. My primary complaints extend to mostly non MSQ related dialog like Khloe minion and the fat cat mount descriptions.