I don't know the first thing about ROM hacking/patch writing, so unless I actually do finish and someone down the line wants to make it into a patch, it'll pretty much just stay "on paper".
Having given the whole Japanese script a quick once-over, I don't think those of us playing the NA version lost *quite* as much as we thought. Some nuances and curiosities were lost, but in many cases the English is just a more concise and less flowery telling of the information contained in the original. At worst, we lost some of the flavor of the original script. My respect for Ted Woolsey has only increased; he did an excellent job considering he was working against severe time constraints, and censorship, AND technical limitations.
Keep in mind, as the game was originally supposed to be on a CD, even the Japanese version was scaled down from what was originally envisioned. The large amount of content that was cut in the process of cramming the game into a cartridge will remain lost to the ages, unfortunately.
So bottom line, it appears as though very little in terms of actual plot was lost in translation. Still, I'll continue work at this bit by bit for anyone curious about the original wording.
Personal thought: As you know, they changed the "temples" to "palaces" in keeping with NOA's policy against religious references. "Palace" rolls off the tongue just fine, though I'm reminded that many other Square RPGs of the day used the term "shrine". Does that, too, not have religious connotations? My guess is that Woolsey was playing it as safe as possible.
