hurricanes
Member
Yeah no... I am not even a native speaker and I found the translation to be clunky. There is a difference between authenticity and Google translate.
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PS.Blog: "Keeping it authentic: Atlus on the localisation process for Persona 5"
- Thread starter LordOfLore
- Start date
Hades Hotgun
Banned
Making the untrue accusation that people are trying to deceive others through selective examples doesn't help your argument. It undermines it.
I played for about 3 hours last night and the dialogue was poorly localized throughout the beginning of the game. Not in a few isolated instances. It was endemic.
I posted a few examples in the topic on the subject and others have posted more, which were not out of context or cherry picked. If you're going to keep insisting that everyone is lying then maybe you should consider the possibility that you are just wrong. That isn't cherry picking, it is acknowledging reality.
I'd say most of the people in here like Persona maybe even more than I do. And they think it's bad. So what's the point of that? I'm not trying to be a fanboy here.
There are some parts that are rough, but they're some genuinely good sections where the characters sound like they are talking to one another like actual humans. It's not all bad.
I have a friend who games shares with me, who tried out Persona 5 when I bought it. He's about as far in as I yet doesn't have any complaints about the lines. He usually never plays anything other than western RPGs or shooters so...
The quality has increased significantly since getting Yusuke. My biggest pet peeves with it before that though are just "wordiness"; who calls them "psychotic breakdowns" or "mental shutdowns" every time those specific subjects are brought up.
Human Trashcan
Banned
The main characters in your posse are mostly okay-ish (though I wouldn't call it great dialogue). It's the side characters, especially characters they tried to write in a formal kind of style, that are really terrible. The principal, the prosecutor, Igor, even the gym teacher - pretty much all their dialogue is terrible. I'm over 12 hours in and still find a lot of the writing to be pretty bad. There's no cherry picking. This is a bad script overall. I think this would've been a pretty poor localization by late 90s standards tbh. In 2017, it's downright inexcusable and a super embarrassing effort. It reads like part machine translation, part non-native English speaker who's still in college doing his first freelance translation job.
The next 'villain' is a lot better than those and Kamoshida. I didn't imply cherry picking, I thought it was rough at the start but it's gradually getting better here (25 hours).
The translation isn't much of a concern to me who is just playing the game and liking the sound of voices i understand. My own preferences in word use and pronouncation could turn out to be completly false at which point i declared languages a lost cause on me back in highschool.
I do appreciate people with more knowledge in that field breaking down what good translations are and the philosophy behind it. I can go that's cool and keep on trucking along with what i have.
I do appreciate people with more knowledge in that field breaking down what good translations are and the philosophy behind it. I can go that's cool and keep on trucking along with what i have.
What's the context that explains this line?
This is an example of phrasing i don't seem bothered by, but apparantly a native english speaker can shed some light on more naturaly sounding lines.
StarSketch
Banned
What's weird is that this guy has been staff at Atlus for ages...Pretty sure he was involved in the first Arena game, for instance, and that was totally fine. Maybe there were just too many cooks in the kitchen this time?
It works, but the issue is it's a bit stilted... "Serious about killing us" is clearer.
Nah, google translate is SAO Hollow Fragment. Now that was terrible.
It works, but the issue is it's a bit stilted... "Serious about killing us" is clearer.
Nah, google translate is SAO Hollow Fragment. Now that was terrible.
Things that go beyond grammar and into speaking experience are things i have been slacking on since i mostly talk to people who speak in broken english in person.
People can demand better, it's when people get way into the nitty gritty of word meanings of the japanese into english where i get weirded out and just nod to who ever seems to know what's going on.
Rudimental
Member
My grammar isn't the greatest, but I think it's the use of a gerund, 'making', instead of a to + infinitive, 'to make'.
So, it ends up meaning that during each of the countless nights the English version was made a reality, rather than over all of them.
Serious about killing us would work. No one would ever say "serious to kill us".
Another example of a small change that would make it sound natural, but perhaps they ran out of room in text box.
"...and are seriously trying to kill us."
cripterion
Member
iunderstoodthatreference.gif
It's super stiff. I would have probably gone with
"It means they aren't holding back at all! It's do or die!"
But I don't really know about the character's personality or the exact context and both of those matter.
PixelatedBookake
Junior Member
Tbh I've been playing for like, 30 hours and barely noticed anything. Considering the game's scope, I'll let a few things slide all things considered. This shouldn't ruin your enjoyment of the game.
StarSketch
Banned
I swear, if this is the problem, I'm gonna eat a hat.
Based on how the text boxes are designed, I wouldn't be surprised there's a hard limit or something.
On the other hand, some of the text boxes look like there's too much text, so....
BassForever
Member
It should read "serious about killing us" or "seriously trying to kill us"
This sentence is fine.
What's the context that explains this line?
What's the context behind Incubus' giant red dick?
That's my impression after about 12 hours of gameplay. 1 or 2 that I had to re read. Nothing offensive or completely out of line though.
Who knows, maybe it gets worse.
LastOne2100
Member
Seems like they should've had one exclusively English speaker just read over all the lines at the end to clean up the odd phrasing into actual normal English sentences.
Still, most of these are still very understandable, just...strange.
Still, most of these are still very understandable, just...strange.
What's the context that explains this line?
I've been more annoyed at some line deliveries that totally fail on intonation because they're reading them all individually, without any context of the previous or following lines.
I expect a talking cat to talk funny.
Ryuji has been the best VA thus far. I like the Papa Nier/Ovan VA too, but he's had some clunker lines.
Giolon
Member
It's an incubus. That's the context.
Rudimental
Member
You can just shift the word order to get something that at least sounds better:
It means they're serious and are
holding nothing back to kill us!
Transistor
Banned
I personally like the localization. There's just something about the way it sounds that I enjoy
benicillin
Banned
I haven't had any problems with the localization. Game is great.
eyeball_kid
Member
It can really be shortened further, as "they're serious" and "holding nothing back" are saying the same thing.
So more like "It means they want to kick our ass!" or "It means they want us dead."
My feeling is Atlus did not do an editing pass on much of this text after they got it back from the translation house they use.
Trigonometrize.
Member
I wish we'd stop posting those dialogue boxes with no regard to who said it and what context. The "answer your expectations of me" line is bad, but it's a semi-professional conversation between a teacher and the principal, the teacher pretty slimy. So it isn't the worst thing in the world. It's not like the MC is talking to his friends.
The use of the word 'serious' is awkward and is the real issue in that line. You can still glean the context and intent, but it's improperly phrased. "They mean to kill/attack/harm us"or "are serious about killing us" would be more ideal.
I've run into far worse stuff so far than that. Someone needs to screen cap like the entire initial interrogation sequence and responses. That was a true mess and I don't see it posted yet.
StarSketch
Banned
So the issue seems to mostly be with the characters with more serious/formal speech patterns?
Ah okay, yeah, that is not important for lore/story/dialogue and this kind of stuff. There needs to be a good balance. between interpretation and accuracy.