This is surely going to be tl;dr for most people. If you never plan to be involved in and have no interest in the workings of a translation group, skip it.
Dear anyone-who-thinks-this-is-picking-on-them,
This isn’t about you. You are a small part of a much greater problem. You are a product of the community, so while I may not respect that, I really don’t put the blame on any individual. But if you think a particular comment is directed at you, it probably is. If you recognize that you’re part of the problem, you can join me in searching for the solution. I’m not posting this to tear you down. I wouldn’t waste my time like that. I want all of us to strive for a higher standard. I want all of us to be better. So before anyone jumps on me for what I’ve said here, I hope you’ll bear in mind that we all should be after the same thing.
<3 throughhim413
Introduction
People are probably wondering why I think I have any right to write this. I don’t, really. I’m still very new to the scene with only about five years under my belt. I started out at ROMhacking.net before creating my own blog. I certainly don’t consider myself to be some kind of source of emulation (no pun intended). Still, I’m not sure any translator has been as blessed as I have when it comes to partners. I’ve been spoiled rotten having worked with Gemini and now Kingcom. Both of them made life so easy on me as a translator. My only limit was my imagination. They really let me dream big with the projects I’ve worked on and I’m truly thankful for that. With such a high standard set by the hacking, I couldn’t help but feel that I had to provide a translation that could do it justice. I don’t know if I accomplished that goal, but I learned a lot from my experiences up until now to be sure. I just want to share some of that perspective today.
I really love romhacking and I really love the people I’ve met doing it. But lately, I’ve been a bit frustrated by what has become of the community. We live in a world where translators can’t translate, editors don’t know what real English sounds like, and programmers don’t know their hex from their Tales. And you know what? We’re all to blame for it. Translators, editors, programmers, and even fans have made this community what it is today. That’s why we’re the only ones who can fix it.
The same thing has happened in other communities. New technology has paved the way for more people than ever before to participate in subtitling anime, scanning manga, and patching games. What was once a closed community of elites who possessed the skill and knowledge to get things done has become a public effort. But we have to ask ourselves what we sacrificed in getting here.
The answer, I’m sorry to say, is excellence. Modern fans don’t just tolerate mediocrity, they demand it and laud it. It used to be that when we released a 1.0, it meant everything in the game was complete. Now when we release a 1.0, it means that we’ve released a 1.0. This feels more like the Tautology Club than the ROMhacking community. In this world, speed is king and quality often has to take a back seat. “I don’t care if it’s good as long as I have it now!” is the battle cry. Anime has speedsubs, manga has speedscans, and now games have these ridiculous patches thrown together with DSlazy and Google Translate. I’m not talking about people who work quickly and do good work, I’m talking about people who are willing to sacrifice quality for speed. Is that really the kind of legacy we want to leave behind?
As long as we hold ourselves to a lower standard, the community will never improve. To quote the great king Mufasa, we are more than what we have become. I always believed that more accessibility would open up the door for us to do more in the fan translation community. I refuse to believe that there’s less talent out there today than there once was, but by lowering the barrier to entry, we’ve effectively removed the test that ensured quality. Years ago, there weren’t many people who had the skills to hack the games, so it made sense that they wanted to pair up with proven translators. These days, there are exponentially more “hackers” who believe that premade programs and tools are the ultimate solution and possess little programming knowledge themselves. With easy access to so many games (particularly NDS games), they’ll take most any “translator” they can find. The quality of patches has significantly dropped. Often, patches are released long before they should be with many destined to die before reaching completion. And unfortunately, without discerning fans, there’s no separating the wheat from the chaff. What is the incentive for a team to go to great lengths to provide a quality translation when an average one will get them equal recognition? I’m reminded of the rather apt commercial:
You shouldn’t announce a translation project with the motivation of learning how to translate, hack, or program. Before I ever started translating for a real project, I worked on a text translation of Tales of Phantasia. It was awful! Thank goodness that text never made it into a game, but still, the things I learned from it were to my benefit when I started my first project. My point is that it’s very easy to gain experience without getting people’s hopes up with a formal announcement. By prematurely announcing a project, you’re only setting the stage for potential disappointment and frustration if you fail to see it through. It’s important to have the experience before you begin. You have to be sure that you’re capable of handling everything the game will require. Hacking is much more than just dumping and inserting text and graphics. If you rely too heavily on programs made by others, you have an uphill battle to fight. Most translations incorporate hundreds if not thousands of changes, most of which will go unnoticed by all but the most observant. Still, each and every one is an important part of making the final product feel as natural in the target language as it did in the original one. If you want a great translation, you have to make the game work your way, not the other way around. You can only accomplish so much if you restrict yourself to the limitations of the original game. That’s true in terms of both the text and the code. You have to have patience. Some things might take hours, days, or even weeks of work. You have to properly plan and execute them. It’s essential that you are able to organize and plan ahead if you want to succeed.
I want to help this community grow. Even now, I still believe in its potential. So I’m going to offer some unsolicited advice.
Translation
Let’s go through translation one step at a time. We’ve got some Japanese text. What should we be asking ourselves? I’ve boiled it down to four fundamental questions.
- What does it say?
- What is it trying to say?
- What would I say?
- What am I trying to say?
1) What does it say?
Do you understand what it says? Yes? Great! Go on to step 2. No? Okay, stop right there. Don’t put it into Google Translate. Don’t slap one word after another into a dictionary. Don’t guess. Don’t say you’re just using the project to “practice” or that “it doesn’t matter that I’m not fluent in Japanese” or “it’s better than nothing.” If you don’t know Japanese, it’s not time to translate yet. Go study up and come back when you’re confident in your skills. A good translator will always be able to find work online.
2) What is it trying to say?
This isn’t the same question as the first. We have to look at multiple things here – nuance, tone, and character personality just to name a few. Most translators won’t be surprised when I say that this question is far more important than the first. We’re not only trying to pick up on the subtle details of the text, we’re trying to understand their implications. Context, my friends, is king. If translation were a simple equation of X Japanese = Y English, we wouldn’t spend so much time laughing at Google Translate.
3) What would I say?
A great man once posed the question, “ENGLISH, MOTHERF*CKER: DO YOU SPEAK IT!?” My point is that too often, translators, even good ones, get stuck in Japanese mode and forget what real English sounds like. Don’t let it happen. Re-read your translation and ask yourself if you can imagine a real human being saying it out loud. If you can’t, it’s time to rethink that translation. This is where we separate the men from the boys, the would-be translations from the localizations. Have you ever seen a translation note slapped in an official localization? Games don’t get the privilege of writing off certain phrases or jokes as impossible to translate. We are here to entertain and we only get one shot at it. Don’t just translate jokes literally, make them work. If you can’t make them work, you’re probably not cut out for translation. I don’t mean you need to make with the funny in the exact same spot as the original text, but if you’re not capturing the feel of it, you’re not localizing. Also, remember that you’re writing in English, not Japanese. If your translation mirrors the sentence order and punctuation of the Japanese text, you’re probably doing it wrong.
4) What am I trying to say?
This is the last question I ask and it’s probably the most important. Read your dialogue. Don’t look at the Japanese. At this point, it no longer matters what the Japanese said. It doesn’t matter if your translation was right, not that it shouldn’t be. We, as translators, have to release our death-grip on the Japanese text and learn to walk on our own. As of this moment, your translation is the gospel truth when it comes to this game. Does it read like a real conversation? Does it read like the conversation that you want it to? Say what you will about DeJap or Ted Woolsey, but there is a reason that they’re remembered. Their scripts might not have been the most accurate translations ever produced, but they were vibrant, living creations. We should all be so lucky to produce such memorable translations. But while we’re at it, why don’t we make them memorable for quality rather than quirks?
Conclusion
No doubt I am perfect and always produce a translation that would make even the original author weep at its beauty, right? Of course I don’t. I do the best I can, but there are times when I fall short. That’s the proof that I’m still learning. We can never stop learning as translators. I won’t lie to you – localization is not easy. But honestly, what do we have to lose by striving for excellence in everything we do?
Few things frustrate me more than seeing the term localization used by people who clearly aren’t localizing. It is an insult, quite frankly, to those of us who are striving for true localizations. I understand that new groups have a need to promote themselves, but I beg you not to do it at the expense of the community. I’m not trying to claim I have any rights to the phrase (certainly Cless of Phantasian Productions has been using it far longer than I have), I just ask that you respect it. Find a localization that inspires you. I’m talking about something that really makes you step back and appreciate what it did. I was talking to Tom (of Persona 2: Innocent Sin fame) about localization at one point. When it came to the topic of favorite localization, we both named the same game – Odin Sphere. That localization left me in awe and changed the way that I looked at my job as a translator. It made me want to strive for more. At the same time, I suggest you find a translation that you want to surpass. It might be a game off the shelf or it might be an old translation of yours. Either way, set goals. Reach for the stars.
Most players will never understand everything that goes into a patch. And that’s fine. It’s really easy to make most people happy with a translation, but I encourage you not to settle for less than your very best. Create a great translation, not a good one. As impossible as it is, try to give players an experience that everyone can enjoy. Remember that at the end of the day, our job is to make a game fun in English (assuming you’re translating into English). A stupid line in Japanese doesn’t have to be stupid in English. A game-breaking bug in the Japanese version doesn’t have to stay game-breaking. There is no reason that we can’t improve upon the raw materials we’re working with. I’m not advocating making things up or altering the fundamental elements of the game, but don’t be afraid to bring the game to life. The truth is that we have the advantage over localization companies. We don’t have to worry about time or budget constraints. We don’t have to worry about any kind of censorship. Don’t just live up to the original text, surpass it! We truly have the freedom to produce anything that we dream of if we’re just willing to make the effort.
Programming
Anyone who has ever asked me about hacking knows that I don’t know the first thing about it. I’m certainly not any kind of authority, so I asked Kingcom to share his thoughts on the state of the community from his point of view. He laid out the following process when it comes to hacking:
1. Be able to program both in a high level language and assembly of the specific system. It is often a necessity and always to your benefit. The complexity varies from game to game, but there’s nothing as big a waste of time as inserting or dumping text manually, and formatting it on the fly can save a lot of time as well.
2. Take a look at the game. Do you like it? Well, be prepared to be sick of it before the project’s over. Analyze all of the data. Are there compressions? Reverse engineer the format. Text embedded into scripts? Reverse engineer the format. Any other obstacles, weird protection schemes, encryption, whatever? Reverse engineer. Create any programs that you need to handle the basics. There will certainly be more obstacles down the line, but you have to start somewhere. Are there any issues in the code? Is each text box limited to 3 lines of 16 characters? Reprogram it. Does it lack a VWF? Add one. Don’t rely on other people to do the work for you. It doesn’t help you learn and it leaves you at their mercy if any problems arise down the line and they aren’t there to help.
3. Once you have cleared any major hurdles, have dumped the text, and are really certain that you can pull it off, start thinking about getting other people involved. Take quality over quantity. A single qualified individual will produce a much better translation than a group of weeaboos. Multiple hackers are almost always a bigger burden than gain. As with translators, it is unlikely that multiple hackers would have the same level of skill and have the same vision of how things should be done. Coordinating a group becomes exponentially more difficult the more people are involved and creating a piecemeal patch can often be more work than creating one from scratch. One person should take the lead, preferably the main hacker. It’s very difficult to run a project when you aren’t contributing an equal share of the work. Unless you can play a role in directly shaping how the game will come together, it’s unlikely to turn out. In the end, someone barking orders will only slow a project down and make it more complicated and difficult than necessary.
4. When the translator is willing and able to translate the game (and, preferably, you are convinced that he is capable of the job), it’s time to start planning out the rest of the project. What does the translator need? Will the game need new control codes because the Japanese language often doesn’t differentiate genders or plurals? What are his preferences? Does he want to worship the holy Japanese script without changing a thing? Then better return to step 3. You have to trust each other and you have to work towards the same goal. You have to push each other as you both strive for excellence. The translator shouldn’t have to work around artificial borders just because the hacker doesn’t feel like redesigning the menus or rewriting part of the game.
5. Now… and only now might be a good point to start thinking about announcing it. Don’t announce it too early, unless you know what you are doing. Clear any major problems and have something to impress people. Be prepared that not everyone will like it. A big part of the job at this point is public relations. Don’t lose your temper. If every little comment online is going to bother you, you might want to rethink announcing the project. You could always release it when it’s complete to avoid having to deal with ongoing commentary.
6. Start the finer parts of hacking. Change menus when needed, fix any problems that the translated text will cause, and if the text doesn’t fit in the space provided, compress it. This step will likely go on until long after the translation is finished. You never know when problems might arise and you have to be ready to deal with them.
7. Stay in close contact to your translator and continue fixing problems. When everything is done, test it. Test, test, and test again. If you think everything is ready, test it again. A game can’t ever have enough testing.
Playing
Fans, the only thing I ask of you is that you demand more of fan translations. If the fan translations that you’re playing aren’t as good as what you’d find in a store, we have failed you. As long as you accept and praise mediocrity, we will never get any better. We are capable of producing work that is on par with official localizations and we have no excuse not to. The world isn’t going to change overnight, but it’s time for you to expect more.
KFabioT was just one of my friends screwing around. Don’t worry about him. *Laughs*
@Saloma: The whole Tales series is a cheese fest, but I don’t think that should exempt it from being a well-written cheese fest. By most accounts, Tales of Legendia has some of the best characters and one of the best stories in the Tales series, but it still did far worse than Tales of Symphonia. Why? Okay, yeah, the battle system was a big part of it, but I know that failing to provide voice acting for the more important second half of the game was a big complaint. So I do agree that it’s not necessarily the job of a localization to “fix” a crappy game, but just because I’m not translating a literary masterpiece doesn’t mean I should cut corners. If a game is really so bad that it isn’t worth localizing properly, it probably isn’t worth working on at all. Once I’ve decided to work on something, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.
KFabioT was so unreal, i was laughting when i read his post x)
And go read your pm throughhim i have something to tell you ^^
@Sadie: If you didn’t notice because of your righteous indignation at what you perceived as a desire for recognition in Absolute Zero, that remark about what to people want out of a translation was about people like you. To reiterate: if you care more about just playing the game NOW, why don’t you do so? A menu patch has been released by someone else and a script translation is on GameFAQs, so if the effort from Kingcom and throughhim413 working in their spare time doesn’t matter to you, why not go that route?
And by the way, saying “it’s the truth” doesn’t automatically make a statement factual, how do you know that the amount of time taken to do what they’ve done is “stupid”?
I don’t know, maybe because this translation is DONE and has been for some time. It’s just some weird OCD nitpicking and stalling going on right now and that’s why it’s so irritating. Just release the damn thing, already. sheesh.
Legendia is my fave one of the series… It’s way more original than most, and the main char is a fist fighter… xP
Btw, what’s the average play time for Innocence?
How do you know they are stalling? Even if they weren’t doing things like subtitling the opening and fixing bugs, how do you know how long it takes to do all the hacking work to actually insert all that translated text? Did you think it’s something as simple as cutting and pasting in word processor? Out of translating text and hacking the game, which do you think is more difficult and which do you think takes longer?
It’s understandable to want things on time, but you need to understand that things don’t just magically happen. But I suppose most consumers of anything in general don’t give a shit about things like that and are just “I want it now, gimme gimme whine whine, I’m allowed to bitch and you’re not”.
I fully agree with Sadie. It is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous that throughhim413 is delaying the patch to ensure it is quality instead of releasing what he has right now. Hell, he should have released what he had six months ago! Who cares if a few skits are in Japanese and there are a few bugs, what’s most important is that every last fan gets what he wants ASAP. There is ZERO excuse for throughhim413′s behavior, which is clearly only to gain fame on the internets, because a doing a quality fantranslation is obviously the easiest way to do that.
I demand an explanation right now (Yes, get out of bed, right now! How dare you sleep when the ToI we devoted so much efforts to isn’t in our hands, you lazy guys!!), or there will be serious consequences
@Kaji/ you are being sarcastic right? If not, why do people think that doing a favour is a must responsibility? I don’t understand. Creators of this project can simply ignore and drop this project anytime they want and you people still wouldn’t have the rights to demand it. I’m sure they love to see you people whine and piss about a free project.
why are u still here? didnt i see u complaining b4 about the same thing if u dont like the wait go outside and get some sunshine u probly need it
Those of us who appreciate what hes doing ON HIS OWN TIME (not getting paid) will support and patiently wait.
Guys Kaji is just joking hes actually on the team i think (timing the subtitles for the opening or something?)
@Kaji Obvious sarcasm is obvious
Hey GUYZ OF DA TRANSLATION, is there romance in this game? i like stories with romance, i just want to know if it will en uncomplete (almost like tales of simphony) or “complete” like tales of the abyss…
though i need to see the ages of the characters first… everything depends on that as well
I think there’s no romance in it. The game is more about racisme, war, overcoming oneself and topics like those. I’m not sure because I could only read the manga.
You should take what Kaji is saying with a pinch of salt.
I don’t agree completely with throughim413′s philosophy but I don’t think he’s delaying everything for becoming famous. (Well, I recognise that’s tempting however)
You should all shut up and wait like good boys because that’s what we have, and there’s no use complaning. You’ll only have throughim413 get angry and forget about translating for free forever. Just keep sucking him up until ToI is released
geez, that’s been said several times by now, yurifoi. That’s nothing new.
“Too lazy to read all the comments”
Does anyone get the feeling this is going to be another one of those donate, then 1 yr later, fuck it it’s too hard kind of projects?
@yurifoi – Kaji knows throughhim. He post’s ridiculous stuff here every few months just for fun.
@ >. – Totally. That’s exactly what we all think too. That’s why the project has been going as long as it has, because throughhim is just moments away from giving up and taking all the donated money.
@thoughhim
Finnaly someone who agrees with me. I find Tales of Legendia characters, and story the best of “Tales series” too. I never saw the emotional part of characters being so well explored, in a RPG. But whenever I tell this to my friends, they tell me that this game is crap.
I haven’t played Tales of Legendia, but according to the reviews I’ve read it doesn’t innovate in anything regardind the previous releases. And the characters are very “bizarre”, like Arc Rise Fantasia’s. >n<
People play the Tales series looking for innovation?
I like the Tales games because they’re old school… xP
Tales series, Dragon Quest series and Chrono Trigger are my fave games among rpg’s… But nowadays most people are too concerned about graphics… =(
In my country games like rpg’s are considered trash because there’s just too much text in it… x.x (Yet they all like Pokemon games)
Where do you live, Skelletonike? It can’t be worse than here in Portugal.
Top 3 for 7 years straight:
- Counter Strike
- Pro Evolution Soccer
- Random Car Game ( usually Gran Turismo )
@Skelletonike Btw, what’s the average play time for Innocence?
From 40 to 45 I think, I was at the last boss with 36 hours and was seriously underleveled (like everyone on the 40)
“In my country games like rpg’s are considered trash because there’s just too much text in it… x.x (Yet they all like Pokemon games)” This happens here too.. is just…. absurd >_<!
@throughhim413
I think every series should innovate. Even Megaman innovate (Zx, Battle Network) and so do Namco with the Tales of series. There’s a change between each release and normally each game is remembered by one aspect (ToI’s aerial combos, Vesperia’s music and Hearts’ soundtrack). The best proof of that is the continuous attempt to innovate and test new battle systems (Tales of Graces?). So, do we wait innovation in the Tales series, you ask? Well, maybe Tales of releases takes after the previous one, that’s what represent a Tales game (Real Action gameplay, tons os skits and anime openings), but life is a competition and you must always create something new if you want the public’s acceptance.
So, if you repeat the same formula, the SAME thing that was what happened with Tales of Legendia, “stop worrying” because the only ones that will play that shit in the end will be the inconditional fans out there. Innovation is necessary, you must risk everyday if you want to succeed.
By the way, don’t you think that J-POP songs in the Openings has become a little tiring? I mean, what do a militar soldier like Asbel, in a game based on an epic period of time, has to do with a couple of girls singing this kind of music (talking about BoA)?
Am I the only one that thinks the Instrumental version of Tales of Symphonia was better than the shitty J-POP version?
Man, really, the last opening was like a knife in the behind (not the animation, that was well done)
@yurifoi: I know I’m not throughhim, but I’d like to give my two cents about the subject. I can, can’t I? Oh, I knew you’d be understanding.
I think the whole J-Pop vs. Non-J-Pop is pretty relative from person to person, really. For starters, I – think – they still do it because the fans still dig it, especially in Japan. It’s something that much traditional within the Tales series, since it was what made Phantasia (back on the SNES) to be so different and special; it’s kinda like asking them to get rid of the skits (!). And yes, there are people who prefer Starry Heavens to the orchestral opening of Symphonia, me included. Don’t get me wrong, the orchestral opening is AWESOME (it was made by Motoi Sakuraba, after all), but it’s more something I’d like to listen in-game than as an opening. Of course, this doesn’t mean everybody, but I’m sure a lot of people see it the same way. And notice that, while I also didn’t really like Mamoritai – White Wishes, I’m not entirely sure an orchestral piece would be better. It may be better. And it may be not.
And let’s face it, the orchestral variation is as hit-or-miss as the J-Pop songs. For example, ever heard the orchestral opening to the American version of Tales of Destiny (PSX)? I mean, yikes o.x
On the matter of what Legendia is remembered for, its music is pretty much considered the best in the Tales series. Most people I’ve talked to about it really enjoyed the story and liked the characters, but I certainly wouldn’t claim they were highly original. Legendia’s battle system did try some new stuff, but it didn’t change the fact that the system itself was slow and clunky at best. I’m not saying that the whole package was great, but a decent battle system and a full localization were all that kept it from being one of the best in my mind.
While in general, I prefer instrumental music to J-pop, I usually prefer the J-pop openings to Tales games. I have nothing against the instrumental openings. They’re just fine. It comes down to a matter of timing, really. The openings are directed such that they match up with the J-pop opening and although the instrumental openings are written with the intent of matching up with the music, it doesn’t feel quite as natural to me. Neither is inherently superior, but if I had to pick one over the other, I guess I’d say I prefer the J-pop openings.
I guess the two of you are right, but man, the lyrics sometimes have nothing to do with the game (Well, “Ring a Bell” in Vesperia do have).
I myself think that Instrumental versions suit better in the Tales games, while I recognise that in other games like TWEWY a vocal version is better. I think Namco Studio should start stoppinig the vocal tradition and do like Lost Odyssey (yes, it has chorus, but nothing more, it’s not J-POP).
By the way (2), the CG movie version of Tales of Hearts was disgusting. They tryed the Final Fantasy way and got only 20000 copies sold regarding the 120000(?) of the anime version.
In the CG movie, they should’ve used an instrumental version of the opening. Yes, I think J-POP suits better with cartoons xDD
They actually released a DVD that contained an instrumental opening for Hearts. It wasn’t an instrumental version of the regular opening, it was an original piece. You can see what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcbosfiDSos
Well, my problem with the CG Hearts opening went far beyond the mismatching of the song (well, there is that too). The CGI is, first, kinda creepy. Seriously, sometimes the characters look like corpses, especially Beryl (she looks like a villain!). The other is that the animesque designs just don’t translate to CGI… for example, Anime Shing looks normal, if not a little generic, while CG Shing looks like something out of a circus. A bad circus. The end result is very un-amusing.
The instrumental opening fits the CGI scenes quite well, by the way. I was quite surprised… this orchestral opening, added to the sole existence of the CG version, makes me think that Namco did this game with serious hopes of releasing it in the US… too bad it didn’t happen.
I actually prefer the look of the CG version to the anime. Guess it’s personal taste, which would be why both versions exist. Not sure what I don’t like about the anime version, but I just prefer the CG
“the orchestral opening is AWESOME (it was made by Motoi Sakuraba, after all)”
Of Star Ocean fame?
@master_tonberry: Oh yeah. Mr. Sakuraba composed most of the Tales’s soundtracks, including Symphonia, which explains why Tales soundtracks are usually awesometastic.
Sadly, he didn’t compose for Tales of Innocence, which instead had Kaz Nakamura (can’t seem to find anything else he did). Since I haven’t played it yeeet, I’ll have to wait and see if he’s good. After all, Legendia was also not composed by Sakuraba (instead by Go Shiina), and had a pretty darn sweet soundtrack.
He did the Golden Sun music too!
I too like Motoi Sakuraba’s work, but it’s seems a lot of people complain that OST’s of his work sound very similar to each other, his battle tunes in particular.
I pretty much agree with everything here. With your kind of mindset, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could provide a translation even better then the average localizations.
Though really, most people are okay with speedy translations and games from Japan generally have cookie cutter conversations already so they lend themselves well to that kind of laziness. It might be authentic but that doesn’t mean we can’t do something about it.
Legendia is my favorite of the series, with one of the greatest soundtracks period. No other soundtrack has been so evocative for me, though I really think Legendia’s world could have been fleshed out a little more, and the villains were also a little too cheese even by Tales of standards.
I’m not a huge Sakuraba fan. He’s okay. I usually like his battle and world map themes quite a bit and dislike his town and dungeon themes with equal fervor. I tend to like his work on other games more than I like his work on the Tales series. Those are generalizations and there are, of course, exceptions. I don’t hate his music or anything, it’s just that I wouldn’t list him among my favorite composers.
Sakuraba’s early work for Wolfteam back in the X68000 days was pretty great, but I’m gonna have to echo throughhim’s sentiments on everything else.
Hum, I know what you mean… well, I actually kind of agree, but I guess I judge mostly for the battle tracks. I know this is sort of lame (judging a game’s music for, what, 6% of the OST?), but… they usually dig deeper in my memory. And despite the fact that, yes, most of his tracks sound like each other, I’m stil a sucker for Sakuraba’s battle music.
Or maybe I’m just easy to please.
When I think of the Tales of Hearts Battle Theme, it always comes to my mind the Symphonia’s. I can’t help it! x(
@Yurifoi :”Am I the only one that thinks the Instrumental version of Tales of Symphonia was better than the shitty J-POP version?”
No, I think so too. I mean, it just feels so much epic and… you know, “serious”.
http://kotaku.com/5493934/how-to-break-into-the-video-game-translation-business
This article is relevant to what we’re discussing here. Well, to what I was discussing in the article, anyway. Near the end, he mentions some of the same things I talked about here. Specifically, look at the question “Q: What do you think the most important part of the translation process is?”. See, I don’t just make this stuff up. That’s how the pros look at things too.
@Slade:
I am from Portugal… xP
@throughhim:
In sites like romhacking most translations are like yours (most of them aren’t even announced until they’re about to be released), what they do often is add improvements later on…
Yours is pretty much the first one for DS going so deep into translating…
Most of the ones I saw so far were menu translations… Which is pretty much useless when I don’t understand the story… xP
On a side note, I pretty much like J-Pop openings, especialy the ones in the Persona and Luminous Arc ones…
However, the best game I’ve ever played in terms of music were the Ar Tonelico games so far… The music just captivates me… xP
i’m foaming at the mouth with antisipation.
please release the patch soon!
Speaking of pros, I’m disgusted at the quality of some professional games. The translation for HG/SS is the latest travesty. It is filled with bad translation. You’d think they could do a less terrible job for a game that prints money, but I guess not. Radio is the perhaps the best example.
Pokemon was the exact kind of game I had in mind when I said it doesn’t matter if you’re getting sub-par translations. I kind of doubt the original Japanese lines were deep and meaningful.
HG/SS?
@Skelletonike & Slade
Parece que já somos tres XP
(they understood)
@mater_tonberry: HeartGold/SoulSilver. You know, the Pokémon remakes? Yeah.
@Saloma: Well, to say the truth I agree with you (in mah country, everybody plays Pokémon without understanding a word and love it), but, as throughhim said many times, is doesn’t mean they can half-ass it just because…
Well, I say this, but I haven’t played HG/SS yet. So… can’t say much.
Besides, it’s not as bad as that that Keitai Denjuu Telefang ”translation” as “Pokémon Diamond” and “Pokémon Jade”… “for the clever opponent, Injure increase!”