LogFAQs > #881580495

NeoElfboy posted...

Nelson_Mandela posted...

I really don't understand the hate tactics, VII, and Xenogears get. The subtext is rarely if ever lost.

Wait, Xenogears, really? That one's decidedly above average for a PSX translation. It's not flawless but there are far fewer gaffes than FF7 or FFT (and, as you said, rarely if ever is meaning lost, and that's no small feat considering the volume of plot/text Xenogears contains).

Both PSX Wild Arms games and both PSX Suikodens would be other examples of badly translated RPGs on that system, though of course they're not Square.

Xenogears' errors are subtle but not unimportant. For example, Miang being Elly's antithesis is foreshadowed by their names in the JP version, because they're mirrors of each other (Myyah vs Elhayym - remove the 'el' prefix that is being used to indicate 'of god' as in hebrew names and you get a perfect mirror). Urobolus should obviously be Ouroboros. Kahran Ramsus is Carlin Ramses. Citan Uzuki is actually Shitan (which is why you get Shion in Xenosaga). Etc. etc. etc. Subtle things that slipped past Richard Honeywood because the project was fucking immense and no challenge a single translator should ever handle, but they're there.
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Shine on, you crazy diamond.