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FFT War of the Lions translation sacrifices readability for pretentious prose
- Thread starter fvng
- Start date
lol, touche.
D
Deleted member 59090
Unconfirmed Member
I should play FFT War of the Lions.
Rats Off To Ya
Banned
This is where you have a fundamental disagreement with myself and many others in this thread. Like, I don't think about "having to parse" any of those sentences. I'm delighted by how colorful and expressive they are. It literally gives me a pleasant feeling to read the stuff people have posted in here. I think to a certain degree WotL is a game written for English nerds, and if you don't have that kind of proclivity it's not going to speak to you.
Stilton Disco
Member
Now I'm reminded that I'm disappointed more games aren't written with the same fantastically flowery prose as TWotL.
Honestly OP, you finding it hard to read is fair enough, but there's nothing inherently wrong with any of the lines you're struggling with beyond your own lack of familiarity or ability to adapt to a perfectly acceptable, established style of English that flows naturally for others, myself included.
Honestly OP, you finding it hard to read is fair enough, but there's nothing inherently wrong with any of the lines you're struggling with beyond your own lack of familiarity or ability to adapt to a perfectly acceptable, established style of English that flows naturally for others, myself included.
FlutterPuffs
Member
Some people get annoyed when I speak English instead of Manglish. ¯\_(ツ_/¯
Haha yeah, that happens too. Not that I am not guilty myself when I was younger. Was shocked when I started reading English translated mangas in the past to find the translators give characters a southern slang to emulate Osaka-based ones. (Malaysian language mangas keep everything neutral)
So I dont mind if the OP dislike the prose. Calling it pretentious however, is itself in a way pretentious.
FFXIV will in the upcoming expansion.
Crantius_Colto
Member
I for one like those contrafibularities, and interphrastically so. To the point I get all frasmotic, even compunctous at times.
Do you read Dickens or anything of his comtemporaries? Most of the text are not archaic in any sense. Only those like "I am come" legitimately counts.
That's right, it was the best they could do with l.i.t.t.l.e. .m.o.n.e.y.
pillowtalk
Member
I don't mind War of the Lions or FF12's translation. But FF14 had the worse of it I think.
Speaking of ff14, why does everyone except beast tribes speak in an english accent? It's such a diverse continent.
Speaking of ff14, why does everyone except beast tribes speak in an english accent? It's such a diverse continent.
Team Filler
Member
This is the way!
I like both, but after playing FFT on my phone with the new translation, I found new appreciation for it that I hadn't felt the first time on the PSP. I'd say I'd prefer it now. There's plenty of games with boring as shit writing, generic one liners and whatever, like most typical cinematic games. Garbage like FFXIII and XV.
KainXVIII
Member
Which is awesome.
I do think the language is a bit excessive, but it's still very well written. The only reason why I may prefer the original is because I played it first, and thus I have memories of the original lines.
The new translation isn't bad, and I'd say it's actually enjoyable most of the time, but I can see how some people may be turned off by the type of prose.
Yes it's a bit ironic, because most of the examples in the OP are quite good.
The new translation isn't bad, and I'd say it's actually enjoyable most of the time, but I can see how some people may be turned off by the type of prose.
Yes it's a bit ironic, because most of the examples in the OP are quite good.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Incomprehensible? Exaggeration much. I can only assume you're not familiar with old English literature, which is fair enough if English isn't your first language. But even then, it's not that difficult to understand, especially the conversation you're talking about.
Stay far away from Shakespeare, OP.
Didn't 8-4 do those? Those guys are great, but this is Smith and Reeder's territory.
Didn't 8-4 do those? Those guys are great, but this is Smith and Reeder's territory.
Conversely, I might recommend the OP to read more, and expand his/her vocabulary beyond gaming.
One questionable localization choice in a remake of a single DQ title turned you off the whole series? ...You should really give it another chance. That's a whole lot to miss out on based one one little hang up.
As for the topic at hand, it's certainly more purple than most game prose, but it doesn't bother me, and it's grammatically sound. I'm much more bothered by a shoddy translation than something like this. Plus, reading a lot of English lit will make this sort of thing second nature.
In days of yore, verbs of movement used to be used with the verb To Be. Hence why the line "Thunderbirds are go!" is technically grammatically correct.
Sometimes they even removed the lexical verb. For instance, "I am to Rome", meaning "I go to Rome".
Source: I'm an English philologist.
SURRENDER OR DIE IN OBSCURITY
that line that has such a great touch of bravado and badassery, so it's always stuck with me. i absolutely love how it ends up being this magical bit of irony considering the events of the game and how the story is presented in context
there's a lot of fantastic brevity in fft's original translation, though whether it's on purpose or not is quite arguable given the quality of a lot of the script there
that line that has such a great touch of bravado and badassery, so it's always stuck with me. i absolutely love how it ends up being this magical bit of irony considering the events of the game and how the story is presented in context
there's a lot of fantastic brevity in fft's original translation, though whether it's on purpose or not is quite arguable given the quality of a lot of the script there
In all seriousness, absolutely.
I couldn't appreciate FFXII for a variety of reasons at launch. But I reconnected with it after I got way into Shakespeare in high school. Let us Cling Together released around the same time and that's just as wonderfully written.
Honestly, I'd go so far as to say Smith and Reeder do some of the best writing in games period (and obviously that's on top of Matsuno).
You should definitely explore this stuff, OP. Also, while we're on the subject of plays, find some stuff by Sam Beckett. You seem to like Nier, so he's right up your alley.
TheWhiteWolf
Banned
I am come.
What?
What?
FFXIV is horrible with non-VA'd dialogue. I find the VA'd dialogue is pretty decent, probably since they want to keep that a bit more manageable from a length-POV to save on VA costs, so it doesn't just go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on without any notion of pacing or anything interesting going on most of the time.
or to directly quote King James Bible since people may need examples to be convinced:
"I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" - Luke 12:49
(That was just the first examples I could think of)Matthew 5:17 said:
I do read a lot of fantasy.
(though not really the bible )
)Orakio Rob
Member
OP, you actually got me interested in playing this ^_^
I played the original on my PSX at the time and loved it, but the translation was reeeeeally bad. Looks like it's much better now. But I see what you mean, it's a matter of preference. Maybe it's because English is not my native language: I'm a Brazilian, and I hate it so much when this kind of language is used in Brazilian Portuguese.
I played the original on my PSX at the time and loved it, but the translation was reeeeeally bad. Looks like it's much better now. But I see what you mean, it's a matter of preference. Maybe it's because English is not my native language: I'm a Brazilian, and I hate it so much when this kind of language is used in Brazilian Portuguese.
Starwolf_UK
Member
8-4 did Dragon Quest VI and they stuck with what DQIV and V had done for consistency (which in turn kept the new localised canon used since DQVIII). This of course means some things were different to how they would have approached it. They did talk a bit about in one of their podcasts.
It is also worth noting the accents got seriously dialed back (but still exist) after DQIV which is the one everyone complained about the accents being too much (but even there only the "Scottish" first chapter was really bad, the "Russian" second chapter can be a bit hard for people and I don't recall anyone complaining about the "French" fourth chapter).
Yes you should.
fvng
Member
It is a mortal sin not to play this game. I don't care which version you have
The new translation looks to be more competently written.
Have you read any classic English books? Shakespeare of course but stuff like A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Pride and Preduice, Wuthering Heights etc.
"Tough... Don't blame us. Blame yourself or God"
Sounds like something out of a cheesy action film.
Have you read any classic English books? Shakespeare of course but stuff like A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Pride and Preduice, Wuthering Heights etc.
"Tough... Don't blame us. Blame yourself or God"
Sounds like something out of a cheesy action film.
Donniewahlberg
Banned
I really enjoyed it, but admittedly, War Of The Lions was the first chance I ever received a chance to play the game. So there isn't much point of comparison for me. In a bubble though, I really enjoyed the localisation.
To be fair, Hokuten Knights always gave me a mental image of a band of roaming knights of Kenshiro look-a-likes (100% serious here) so it's all right in my book.
What a strange topic...nothing in the OP is remotely difficult to understand or bizarrely written. It's absolutely the same kind of dialogue you'd read in your average fantasy novel or hear spoken in random medieval type films or tv shows.
Now, don't ge tme wrong, I haven't played the game (only the PS1 original) so I don't know much about the newer translation, it might still suck, but those lines on their own seem perfectly fine. I would go as far as to say that anyone has to even remotely 'think' while reading this is order to parse it should probably read a bit more in general. I don't mean that as an insult, so much as that this is not what I expected based on the thread title and it's bizarre to me that any native English speaker could actually have to consider the meaning of these lines.
Now, don't ge tme wrong, I haven't played the game (only the PS1 original) so I don't know much about the newer translation, it might still suck, but those lines on their own seem perfectly fine. I would go as far as to say that anyone has to even remotely 'think' while reading this is order to parse it should probably read a bit more in general. I don't mean that as an insult, so much as that this is not what I expected based on the thread title and it's bizarre to me that any native English speaker could actually have to consider the meaning of these lines.
TheWhiteWolf
Banned
Huh. Interesting.(That was just the first examples I could think of)
I do read a lot of fantasy.(though not really the bible
Not sure how many would get this reference. I sure found the grammar weird.
KnightimeX_Legacy
Banned
LMAO!!!
That dialog is super corny and sounds like they're trying way too hard.
It's so bad it's almost good.
That dialog is super corny and sounds like they're trying way too hard.
It's so bad it's almost good.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
A lot of people seem to be attacking the OP for not appreciating archaic English. That's unfair. He's not appreciating badly done archaic English, which is different. For example, "you speak false" has never been a meaningful English sentence. You could have "you speak false words" or "you speak falsely" or "you speak falsehoods", but not "you speak false". The translation in question is filled with examples of this, and if you actually have had any kind of appreciable exposure to Renaissance English literature, it's rather jarring. Very few stand up for Engrish, so why are we defending the functional equivalent that is Engrisc?
You mean as the old way of saying "Thunderbirds have go"?
TurboKiller
Neo Member
I've heard this argument before and I don't get where they are coming from. All the quotes in the OP are perfectly understandable and they make a lot more sense than the original translation ever did. Arguing that you don't like it is one thing, arguing that the OG translation is better is just wrong headed.
Also that style of writing fits the setting of the game quite well.
Also that style of writing fits the setting of the game quite well.
I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on English literature, but most of those lines I've heard in other media with similar settings. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
WotL's translation isn't as good as Vagrant Story or FFXII, but it gets the job done just fine I think.
SlipperyFishes
Banned
This guy are come.