/vr/ - Retro Games

Yes

No

Maybe

I don't know.

I FUCKING LOVE IT HERE

Alundra has been my favorite game since it came out. At age 5, I watched an older cousin play it. At 7 I got my own copy and began playing it, nowdays I speedrun both Eng and Jap versions. Being able to read the Japanese, I think Working Designs did an incredible job, and I wish more companies today handled translations like they did. They kept the important story elements, they did a good job with giving each character their own personality, even in little mannerisms. For example, Bonaire. The surfer talk fits his personality, and was one of the better options they could have done for him. Jess is a doting father figure, who takes pride in Alundra, but knows he has a job to do, and he deals with his own conflicts in Jess' own way.

Also, ronan is a cunt, and they did a good job of,portraying that in the translation, too.

Working Designs is the worst thing that ever happened to video games. They fucked up so many great games with their retarded difficulty changes and they did it out of greed.

>>4147545
t. butthurt cuck for 20 years and counting

When publishers improve a game

>>4147552
>our usual "wish list" of changes
mistakes were made

Games shouldn't be translated in the U.S.

>>4147563
Games shouldn't be written in Japan.

>>4146205
Vic Ireland should die in a fire.

>>4147570
My sides!

A ton of epic rpg games was made in Japan, such bullshit you're talking. Even the artwork can't compare when you take whatever game that the muricans converted.

>>4147582
>japan
>epic rpg games (role playing games games? retardo)
More like epic borefest.

>>4147582
>>4147587
>epic

hi leddit

>>4147582
>A ton of epic rpg games was made in Japan, such bullshit you're talking.
"Epic" to annie may fans that is.

>Even the artwork can't compare
Because spiky-haired pretty boys with big swords are definitely a pinnacle of the Japanese artform.

>>4147542
Wow, faggot speedrunner and praises Working Designs trash. 100% cancer

>>4147595
If you don't like Japanese tropes, why play Japanese games?

Allow me to lol at all you bickering EOPs.

>>4147698
the joke's on you because the Japanese version is the worst one.

>>4147679
>why play Japanese games?
Because the ones actually worth a damn take inspiration more from international sources rather than domestic ones.

>>4146205
Fuck off Victor.

>>4147371
>>4147495
>>4147496
>>4147498

Can you repeat the question?

>>4147552
Bosses were such a fucking joke, you never needed magic in the dungeons, so you could just blow it all on the boss and kill him with zero effort.

>>4147574
Vic Ireland is the best thing to ever happen to RPGs

>>4150232
But wasn't the original too tedious with boss health?

>>4147545
Localized version of Elemental Gearbolt is way better baka. Are you the 100% anon who is triggered that hard mode is too hard?

>>4147542
But what about my fellacious belief in purity??? :(

>>4148114
...unless your japanese

>>4147552
>we compiled our usual "wish list" of changes

FUCK

OFF

That is NOT your job! You are paid to translate Japanese to English, NOT to re-interpret the designer's intent. It is not YOUR game, you are just a cog in the development, you don't get a say in what you should or should not change. At this point you're just making your own rom hacks and not delivering the true product fans want and deserve.

>>4151054
I don't think cocksucking has anything to do with purity anon

>>4151090
You must be really mad about not being able to play Doki Doki Panic in its original unmolested form.

>>4151090
They weren't hired translators.
They bought the license to it.

>>4151090
The games weren't going to come out until WD paid to license them. They technically got the rights to alter them as they see fit.

Are you equally triggered over Mario 2 having Mario characters added to it instead of the original ones for the US release?

>>4151523
>>4151652
I just thought it was weird they felt like they NEEDED to change something. Did the base game really suck that much or did they just made pointless changes to stroke their own egos?

>>4151669
I think it's more that they made changes to gameplay that they thought would better reflect the tastes of their target audience, which was within their remit of 'localizing' beyond simply translating the original.

I don't really mind that they changed the giant HP sponge boss enemies as I think that's a boring design choice. I can't think of any other significant changes.

I also think it's not necessarily worth putting Japanese game design on a pedestal as being masterful in all things.

>>4151673
You don't even know if they were health sponges, you haven't played the original. I still think it's more like Vic Ireland was playing backseat game designer with someone else's game.

Vic Ireland is probably living the dream life on a tropical island right now and the man deserves it. If not for Vic, the majority of you wouldn't have ever touched a JRPG.

>>4151717
You mean, the majority of Segafags. Most of us were playing jrpgs since the NES.

>>4151057
Never heard of Westaboos have you?

What IS Vic Ireland doing now, anyway?

>>4152509
arguing with people on the internet, mostly

he's probably shitposting in this thread

>>4152509
More cocaine

>>4147542
>I speedrun

Please commit sudoku

>>4146205
it's interesting that it's usually non-jap speakers or early-intermediate learners of japanese that are most militant about "authentic" translations.

people with a firm grasp of japanese tend to be more in favour of more liberal or interpretative translations.

my money says that it's a weeaboo thing. it's based on some idea that "superior japanese cultural expressions" can only be bastardised or otherwise ruined by the meddling of "inferior, unrefined westerners".

>>4154230
>>it's interesting that it's usually non-jap speakers or early-intermediate learners of japanese that are most militant about "authentic" translations.
Gosh, it's almost like they want to experience a work without having to learn the language and think that creative liberties take away from the source material.

>>4154230
Oh but working designs was different though, they included made a main character gay and transformed an entire village into inbred hicks because they thought it was funny. They added Clinton and Hollywood references out of nowhere when the original script played itself straight.

>>4154230
But what really kills Working Designs for me was how they tinkered with gameplay to make games "more challenging".

Well, regardless of anything else, what happened with Silhouette Mirage was unforgivable

>>4154509
I can't really blame them for trying to fix it since it was broken to begin with. Not that they were successful, though.

>>4154230
that's not true at all.
Undertale's Japanese translation caused a lot of controversy in the Japanese community after changing how a certain characters refers to himself

>>4154587
Not that guy you're referring to, but I'd love to hear more about this controversy.

>>4154597
seconded

>>4151630
>>4151652
At least Mario 2's changes were done officially by Nintendo and contributed greatly to the lore. The series wouldn't be the same today if we never got shy guys, birdos, etc.

>>4151042
Probably not really, if you could nuke almost all of it with spells.

>>4152730
I speenran this sudoku in 13 seconds!

>>4154597
>>4154657
Late as fuck and also not retro but whatever.
Basically in Japanese, there are a lot of different ways to say "I" that have really strong personality connotations. Japanese fans were arguing over whether sans should use the pronoun ore (cool and casual) or boku (more boyish), but the localization chose oira, which sounds quaint and rural. Not exactly a change per se because that kind of extremely clear-cut connotation doesn't exist in English in the first place, but a similar idea.
The only english source i could find was fucking kotaku, so here's a Japanese source that includes a bunch of whiny tweets. http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/20014882.html

>>4156050
Japanese Sans speaks in kansai dialect?

that's kind of amazing

>>4146205
It is all I knew. I guess I am simple enough to enjoy dick and fart jokes that I was amused by Bonaire. I still have not gotten the sequel yet.


>>4154587
I should play this Undertale someday. It seems to be the current kids generation of a Chrono Trigger.

>>4156134
Alundra 2 is an okay game but there's absolutely no reason whatsoever to call it "Alundra"

>>4156050
I wonder why they made him refer to himself like that in the first place.

>>4154485
What game changed the hero to gay? Was this some 90s early SJW-ism? Or they just thought it'd be funny too?

>>4157097
Vanguard bandits, I forgot which character.

>>4157120
I don't remember any gay characters in that game desu

Dionne maybe?

>>4154230
>people with a firm grasp of japanese tend to be more in favour of more liberal or interpretative translations.
Fuck off Vic, you're not fooling anyone.

>>4154230
This is true, but Working Designs was a special kind of bad. There's a difference between taking liberties to more closely match the flavor and spirit of the original text and just changing things for the hell of it.

>>4147542
>The surfer talk fits his personality,

I haven't played this game and I know nothing about its story. But no it doesn't.

>>4159452
Then why do you even have an opinion, nutsack?

>>4159765
I've never met and I'm of the opinion you're a huge faggot.

>>4154230
>people with a firm grasp of japanese tend to be more in favour of more liberal or interpretative translations.
Source: my ass

>>4159854
do you even japanese?

>>4159854
it's true.

as you become more proficient in a second or third language, you also become increasingly aware that there are idioms and expressions that don't translate well between the languages, and that other cultural differences make direct translation impossible.

throughout all of the history of translations, translators have been aware of these dificulties, and have responded to them by re-interpreting the source from the cultural perspective of the target language. it's nothing new. and for some reason, the only ones who complain are weeaboos who obsess about their video games/animes staying "genuinely japanese".

>>4159854
Not that guy, but he's right. Once you actually learn the language you realize that a "literal" translation from Japanese to English isn't actually possible. The languages are way, way too different for that. You're doing a ton of interpretation and rewriting either way, and you'd be doing a disservice to the original text to translate it into something stilted and awkward.

If that bothers you, learn Japanese.

>>4159893
Don't try arguing with said weeaboos, they're at an age, mental and/or physical doesnt matter, where they think they know everything and on top of that that everything has to be the exact way the want it to be, regardless of rationale. You won't get a proper counter-argument, just insults. I don't even participate, I just watch.

>>4159894
There's a way to translate from Japanese, add enough to make it sound like realistic dialog, and still keep it faithful to the original. What WD did was take the original, convey the bare minimum of vital information, and fill in the rest with shitty Satuday morning cartoon writing. They're fucking hacks.

>>4159935
>You won't get a proper counter-argument, just insults.
Like "weaboo" when you mean "someone who cares about the source material", right?

>>4159936
Oh, I completely agree that WD was terrible. No argument there.

>>4159937
Clearly you must not care very much about the source material if you haven't even read it in its original language.

>>4156050
How much of this is a controversy, though? Most of the tweets just appear to be in shock, but not disgusted or enraged, just surprised.

>>4156050
This is literally an autistic level of granularity. It makes absolutely no difference.

>>4157120
Barlow, also his buddy. There was a really off colour joke about the nice girl saying he could work as a packer in a fudge factory CUZ HE'S GAY AND FAT LOL

Don't mind me just spicing up your game's boring dialogue

>>4160138
I'm pretty sure Barlow is too dumb to have any sexuality and Reina just makes fun of both him and Devlin for being virgins.

I have no idea if Reina was a turboslut in the original but somehow I think not.

>>4160204

>>4160210
>>4160204
I don't have a screenshot but I remember there being an NPC that lets you know that he pooped his pants and how squishy it is

>>4160206
They explicitly refer to Barlow and Devlin being lovers several times. There were other really low brow gay jokes at their expense but the fudgepacker one is the only one still fresh in my mind.

This is in addition to all the WWF references, Star Wars references, Triumph the Comedy Dog references etc. Basically just that really obnoxious style of "jokes" that aren't even jokes, just references, Scary Movie style.

>>4160208
Heh, that's pretty funny actually.

>>4152509
Has a small company called Gaijinworks. Mostly focuses on getting the Working Design portfolio on PSN and trying to release super niche games in the west.

>>4156050
This is the most pathetic excuse for a scandal I've ever seen.

>>4160204
>>4160208
>>4160210
REEE ALL TRANSLATIONS SHOULD BE AS FLAT AND LITERAL AS POSSIBLE

>>4161545
Well yeah. That's way better than fucking with plot, characterization and gameplay for the sake of some childish jokes.

>>4161553
None of those are plot-critical. They're random-ass NPCs that didn't contribute anything to the story. Working Designs didn't really fuck with stories.

>>4161571
>Working Designs didn't really fuck with stories.

Vanguard Bandits says hello

>>4161553
You act like stories in these games are anything special.

Remember when they made a plot critical character fart a lot because he was a hermit and they thought that would be funny?

>>4161592
Exactly, so there's no need to make them even worse.

By the way, the PS1 remake of Lunar 1 had one of its more infamous botching of a puzzle. In the remake, you have to enter a number of doors in a certain sequence. It's not challenging at all, since the game just plain gives you the sequence right at the beginning. Well, the Japanese version does. The American version gives you... nothing. Absolutely nothing. You wanted a clue? Well too bad, it's trial and error for you!

>>4146205
I wished commiesubs translate animu gaimus.

>>4160781
they're just being bullied anon

even in the ruin branch they aren't explicitly outed as being gay

you've never called a bro gay before?

>>4161596
What's not funny about farts?

>>4161592
You act like the alterations are.

>>4160857
Ah, I wish they would bring over more obscure games. I guess there aren't as many niche Japanese games today that there used to be in the 90s.

>>4162152
Why? Do you want unfitting pop culture references and stuff cut because they couldn't be bothered? You got so many better options these days.

>>4151682
He might not have known but I can fucking confirm they take ages to fucking off it's absurd

>>4161665
Yes they are, did you even play it? That's like the second thing Devlin even says.

>>4162170
There was something about the way Working Designs presented the games they localized back in the day. From the packaging to the deluxe editions with all the useless goodies. You have to understand that what they did was not commonplace in the west back then and, even with the translation liberties, we couldn't take it for granted. Especially preinternet, when Anime and Japanese pop culture was still rare and magical, when other localizers were redrawing cover artwork with western style blandery.

Speaking of RPG, have you played Battle Goddess series?

>>4162376
I did, he never says that

>>4162376
Fuck off Vic Ireland you're making that up

>>4162435
Now every company and their mother does Limited Editions, WD lost the only differential they had going for them.

ITT Weeabos butthurt that an american company did a better job than their beloved Japanese devs ever could.

>>4163141
But muh dry, soulless Japanese dialog!!

>>4146205
Did this thread improve the board for you?

>>4163141
>>4163696

Like pottery

>>4163696
The thread is alright, both sides were criticizing and praising Working Designs. Fuck off.

>>4163696
Jackasses like you are what's wrong with /vr/

>>4159935
By localizing a work you create a dependency that wouldn't other wise be there. Lets say Mario was based on a Japanese super hero called Bob, Bobs a lot like superman but not quite, he has a few differences in how he acts. If you as a translator go "fuck Bob, he's basically superman so lets just call him Superman!" you create a shitty situation for all future translators. They now have to follow your lead and the people playing the game are less aware of Bob and what stories Bob has. As such you as a translator are directly making things worse because you can't be bothered to follow the original intent but "localize" it instead.

Don't assume your audience is completely stupid. It only creates a jenga game of bullshit when you can just tell the original story.

>>4160781
This is basic liberal humour which infests absolutely everything now. I have no idea why but it drives me up the wall that everything has to be a pop culture reference. It shows a complete lack of comedic ability but they're super smug about their pop culture knowledge.

It's even better when a product gets delayed or comes out late. You end up with the Power rangers movie making jokes which would be out of date 5 years ago.

>>4156134
Alundra 2 is shit. Do not buy it. Ever.

>>4165726
tried getting into it recently. I was surprised by how sluggish all movement in the game felt, and dropped it immediately.

>inb4 gitgud scrub
I honestly don't want to.

>>4156134
Because it's so shit people wish it didn't exist.

>>4156137
>>4165726
>>4167696
The sequel appears to be cheap at under $20. I have watched some youtube videos of it and it seems very different in tone, like slapstick comedy. The main surprise was that I don't even remember the sequel in any magazines or promotions at all whereas the original was promoted so much such that I got convinced to get the original when it came out. Does the sequel at least have good puzzles or fun to explore?