This frequency of English localization issues is unacceptable

[NozomiJoestar]

Normally this would be true however the depth to the amount of discrepancies and flat out omissions of story elements between ARR-StB EN had to be course corrected with a change of localize lead in ShB. By omission I mean entire sections of story and lines are presented in part or not at all in EN, including core concepts (Transcendence, how Blessings work, the handling of the foundations of the Dragonsong War, the invention of the Twelve being seen as a common religion instead of like Idols, the fact that Primals as a term is actually Idols manifested by imagination not faith etc) and the nuances of goals of factions such as the Ascians. Entire sections of the game's writing, characterizations, & lore building present in all versions are missing in EN during the ARR-StB expansions. Only in ShB onward was the EN version of the story brought more in line with the JP version, which had concepts that manifest in practice first planted from the very beginning of ARR. An EN player, and Only an EN player, flat out would not understand or be confused by concepts that seem to suddenly appear or appear without a clear line of build up in ShB onward because of previous omissions. Think of whenever you've read the EN story or saw others who did ask why theres such and such logical plot hole no one can really explain between certain story beats. This implies a lack of quality control. There is a misunderstanding of the canon when viewed as a whole for EN players that doesn't exist elsewhere. There is no 100% confirmed way we can know how much the JP side was aware of changes that were made, though there have been times Yoshi-P admits he had no clue a particular thing about the game isn't the same in EN (including the names of dungeons being changed like Haukke Manor). However crosschecking does prove EN to be so drastically opposed to the foundational structure and prose presented in other versions, that it suggests there was no thorough QA done. It is impossible for a majority of regions to purposefully share characterizations or story writing and have one region which does not. You don't hold multiple regions of your product to a standard with carefully tailored variations of language accounting for localization and then decide "Not for that region over there though change everything for them specifically. For those guys just make something else altogether." the kind of chaos that causes is why you have a QA team. The differences are changes to the core of the story, to the core of the world building, not like inevitable changes made adapting localization. It makes zero logical sense from a business stand point to knowingly do what has been done here. It is very likely that someone flat out just didn't check or check with the necessary scrutiny in order for a split of this magnitude to occur. It is very likely the EN ARR-StB was at the creative mercy of one team. I am of course presuming you responded in good faith and not malicious intent.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

While it is much less present than it used to be in ARR-SB, there are still stylistic changes done by the EN localization team in the current expansion that are a little baffling.
I only started noticing it when I switched to Japanese audio and realized that not only do subtitles not always 100% match, but sometimes the intended meaning is completely lost too.

For example, in Living Memory, Wuk Lamat ends her conversation with Namikka by saying "And one day...we'll meet again!", Namikka doesn't say anything back, Wuk Lamat just leaves, and then there's a long shot where everyone crosses the bridge except Namikka. That's how she says her final farewell to her. It's incredibly awkward, especially with that long, silent bridge cutscene.

But in Japanese, she says "それじゃ、いってくるぜ!" (which roughly means "Well then, I'm off!", and is also commonly used by children to announce to their parents that they're leaving the house, which is especially relevant here considering the relationship between the two characters) and much better illustrates the metaphor that is going on: Wuk Lamat is moving forward, crossing the bridge towards a hopeful future, leaving Namikka and the past behind.

In English they speak of reunion, in Japanese they speak of separation. Considering the line is followed by a scene displaying a literal and metaphorical separation, which version makes more sense?

(also lore-wise they can't ever really reunite, right? iirc there were similar discussions around the scene where Erenville says something similar to his mother, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was another confusion caused by localization)

By omission I mean entire sections of story and lines are presented in part or not at all in EN, including core concepts (Transcendence, how Blessings work, the handling of the foundations of the Dragonsong War, the invention of the Twelve being seen as a common religion instead of like Idols, the fact that Primals as a term is actually Idols manifested by imagination not faith etc) and the nuances of goals of factions such as the Ascians..

I'm very interested in this, particularly the blessing/echo/primal/deity stuff because Endwalker left me very "???", is there like a written summary somewhere of all the differences? I've only read an old reddit post about how drastically different Midgardsormr's first speech in ARR is.

[DPZ2]

But in Japanese, she says "それじゃ、いってくるぜ!" (which roughly means "Well then, I'm off!", and is also commonly used by children to announce to their parents that they're leaving the house, which is especially relevant here considering the relationship between the two characters) and much better illustrates the metaphor that is going on: Wuk Lamat is moving forward, crossing the bridge towards a hopeful future, leaving Namikka and the past behind.

This is why literal translation to English doesn't work.

You may understand the "deeper" meaning of the Japanese, given familiarity with cultural aspects to which the rest of the world has little or no clue. The poignancy you see within the scene in Japanese doesn't resonate without cultural familiarity.

"And one day ... we'll meet again!" is equivalent in sentiment, as a child in Japan fully expects to return at the end of the day.

Even the English version Final Fantasy 1 was not strictly true to the Japanese original.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

This is why literal translation to English doesn't work.

You may understand the "deeper" meaning of the Japanese, given familiarity with cultural aspects to which the rest of the world has little or no clue. The poignancy you see within the scene in Japanese doesn't resonate without cultural familiarity.

"And one day ... we'll meet again!" is equivalent in sentiment, as a child in Japan fully expects to return at the end of the day.

I agree that a direct translation wouldn't work here for cultural reasons, but what I'm arguing is that the choice of words in English followed by that bridge scene I mentioned is dissonant, when it's a lot less awkward in the original version.
(I also... don't think a child or even any family member in any culture would leave the house saying something as solemn as "we'll meet again", so even if the same sentiment is conveyed to the player, the original stylistic choices that convey the personality of the character are not imo)

いってくる literally means "I'm going and I'll be back", so yes, there is an implication of meeting again.

Thanks for the correction. I still think that the idea of separation (or at least departure) is a lot stronger in Japanese, which, again, is important to convey due to the bridge scene coming right after.

[PorxiesRCute]

While it is much less present than it used to be in ARR-SB, there are still stylistic changes done by the EN localization team in the current expansion that are a little baffling.
I only started noticing it when I switched to Japanese audio and realized that not only do subtitles not always 100% match, but sometimes the intended meaning is completely lost too.

For example, in Living Memory, Wuk Lamat ends her conversation with Namikka by saying "And one day...we'll meet again!", Namikka doesn't say anything back, Wuk Lamat just leaves, and then there's a long shot where everyone crosses the bridge except Namikka. That's how she says her final farewell to her. It's incredibly awkward, especially with that long, silent bridge cutscene.

But in Japanese, she says "それじゃ、いってくるぜ!" (which roughly means "Well then, I'm off!", and is also commonly used by children to announce to their parents that they're leaving the house, which is especially relevant here considering the relationship between the two characters) and much better illustrates the metaphor that is going on: Wuk Lamat is moving forward, crossing the bridge towards a hopeful future, leaving Namikka and the past behind.

In English they speak of reunion, in Japanese they speak of separation. Considering the line is followed by a scene displaying a literal and metaphorical separation, which version makes more sense?

(also lore-wise they can't ever really reunite, right? iirc there were similar discussions around the scene where Erenville says something similar to his mother, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was another confusion caused by localization)



I'm very interested in this, particularly the blessing/echo/primal/deity stuff because Endwalker left me very "???", is there like a written summary somewhere of all the differences? I've only read an old reddit post about how drastically different Midgardsormr's first speech in ARR is.

いってくる literally means "I'm going and I'll be back", so yes, there is an implication of meeting again. It's what you say when you leave the house for the day intending to return later. We don't have a set phrase for that in English.