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

[Bhearil]

On ShB instead of Master Matoya in japanese we have Big Sis or Big sister Matoya which imo is far better since it shows respect AND how liked she is between the community.

[Enla]

On ShB instead of Master Matoya in japanese we have Big Sis or Big sister Matoya which imo is far better since it shows respect AND how liked she is between the community.

Sadly that's another thing that just doesn't translate well to English. Big Sister Matoya is really, REALLY awkward in English and not something most native English speakers would say to someone in that position. At least not if they were older than five years old. There's really no natural equivalent in English for it that doesn't come off as forced.

Mind 'Master' isn't a good equivalent either as while it denotes respect it's also cold. I'm not quite sure how they could have translated that better honestly, except maybe 'Miss Matoya'.

[Mahoukenshi]

Sadly that's another thing that just doesn't translate well to English. Big Sister Matoya is really, REALLY awkward in English and not something most native English speakers would say to someone in that position. At least not if they were older than five years old. There's really no natural equivalent in English for it that doesn't come off as forced.

Mind 'Master' isn't a good equivalent either as while it denotes respect it's also cold. I'm not quite sure how they could have translated that better honestly, except maybe 'Miss Matoya'.

Pretty much. In such cases, cultural notes are bound to get lost in translation. Especically in JP where there's not always a fitting equivalent correspoding to every finer nuance, like using onee-sama/nee-san or whatever after the name. I know it, for example, from countless of Visual Novels where the female role model student is called "Nee-sama" or her name + nee-sama. Where I am from, this kind of adressing someone simply doesn't exist. If we know someone by first name, we call them so, unless requested otherwise. In a professional environment or at school / university, it depends on the teachers / professors if they offer their first name to be used etc... Important persons excluded

[Bhearil]

Exactly, "Master" denotes respect, but often also detachment, which is certainly not the case here (Also remember that she should be near or over 30 already)

[Dualblade]

Exactly, "Master" denotes respect, but often also detachment, which is certainly not the case here (Also remember that she should be near or over 30 already)

She's Forever 23.

[Krotoan]

There is one thing that stood out in all the stories I've ever played in FFXIV as jarring. I can't even remember exactly which encounter it was.. but I remember the English text for an enemy I had just defeated was bravado and cursing, while I could hear the japanese voice lines screaming for help and forgiveness. It was a little weird, but understandable since usually badguys in english media have to be hateable not pitiable. I grew up with a mix of japanese and english media since where I live is an amalgamation of cultures, so I like being able to experience both to a certain degree and appreciating both stories in their own context is fun.

[Reap00]

To those who play in English with Japanese voice and can understand Japanese, has anyone else noticed the major differences between the English and Japanese dialogues in Shadowbringers? There has always been some differences but this time around, as I'm playing through the MSQ, it just feels very strange as what the Japanese voice is saying and the English dialogue is completely different.

While there are many instances of this throughout the MSQ, one is when the Exarch meets Vauthry; In the Japanese version, the Exarch says something along the lines of, you've gotten really big since I last saw you. Where as the English version is something like your as "enormous as ever". Differences like this are all over the MSQ this time, especially during CS of past events or when a character is explaining something deep, it feels like they are saying/implying two completely different things.

This doesn't really matter unless you are someone who plays the English Version with Japanese voice and can understand Japanese but just think for a game where the story is so deep and hints in dialogues play a important role in foreshadowing, they should make the dialogues more similar.

End of Rant.

You are nitpicking.

[Rongway]

[Big/Little] [Brother/Sister] is one of the most visible cases of Japanese not correlating well to English, for reasons:

• The term is not meant literally, and the relationship is one that would not be viewed as fraternal/sororal by an English speaker.
• The term is not meant literally, and while the relationship might be viewed as fraternal/sororal by an English speaker, one would be more likely to say someone is "like a [brother/sister]" than to address them directly as such.
• The term is meant literally, but English speakers generally don't care to differentiate between "big" or "little" [brother/sister] except when the distinction is relevant (or perhaps unclear).

The Japanese language (and the culture it expresses) is just far more liberal with the terms "brother" and "sister" than English is; and the language requires when a sibling term is used, it specifies the direction of seniority, a feature that is required for other words in this class of words--far more than English speakers are used to. To translate these words literally would be, in most cases, awkward.

This is just one example of why we have a localization team instead of a translation team.

[Alleo]

I am fine that each language has to adapt the text a bit different. But I am also not a fan of the english translation. Yoshida himself was even quite surprised when people told him how much they have changed Haurchefants character in the english version, since in the japanese one he truly showed how much he wanted to be in our pants. Heck they even changed some of his movements in the scenes with him too. They also changed quite a bit with Middy, so much that some people believed that he was an enemy, while it was quite clear in the japanese version that he simply tests us.

I just dont like how this opens up too many wrong interpretations of certain characters or story parts and I wished they would stay more similiar to each other.

[Nestama]

I am fine that each language has to adapt the text a bit different. But I am also not a fan of the english translation. Yoshida himself was even quite surprised when people told him how much they have changed Haurchefants character in the english version, since in the japanese one he truly showed how much he wanted to be in our pants. Heck they even changed some of his movements in the scenes with him too. They also changed quite a bit with Middy, so much that some people believed that he was an enemy, while it was quite clear in the japanese version that he simply tests us.

I just dont like how this opens up too many wrong interpretations of certain characters or story parts and I wished they would stay more similiar to each other.

The Horsefart and Middy examples you've mentioned are why the localisation teams now work closely with the author now. They localise, show it to the author and if they get the okay, it's what we get. I think there was an official dev post about this back when this was an issue.