Translation - the process of translating words or text from one language into another.
Interpretation - the action of explaining the meaning of something.
Localization - the process of making something local in character or restricting it to a particular place.

Doing a strict translation from Japanese may not yield a story that would resonate with (or make sense to) Western players so it gets localized instead. Look at what you get out of Google Transale sometimes - it's an accurate translation but it seems like gibberish because it's been neither interpreted or localized.

If you want the original, use the original language.


Quote Originally Posted by Midareyukki View Post
However, the leader of the English localization is Koji Fox, who is not only directly involved in the creative process, he's in charge of making the game's lore.
When did Banri Oda step down and Koji take over for lore, especially since Koji is now committed entirely to the FFXVI project and has been for several months?

Koji worked closely with Oda-san on lore - he was not in charge of it. He had been the lead of English localization then was promoted to Translation Director before being moved to work on FFXVI. Kathryn (Kate) Cwynar (who co-wrote the Flow lyrics with Ishikawa) now oversees English localization.