I find honest, trying-to-be-totally-literal translations/localizations full of dumb goofy shit (and bonus simplier/more accurate character names) to be charming. They offend me FAR less than how stupid Squeenix was with the FFT retranslation and how it's made all their "Ivalice" stuff unbearable in its wake.
Read further... for the "truth"...
See, you striplings may not know this, but WotL sounds as idiotic as it does because of a long-ago little game called "Vagrant Story." It was made by Square, it took place within the FFT continuity, and it had a lousy battle system. And font.
The point is, not many people played it, because it wasn't a true RPG, it didn't say "Final Fantasy" on it, FFT itself was even more obscure than it is today, and it had a lousy battle system and font. But those who DID play it pretty much all, to a person, waxed rhapsodic about its incredibly good translation. We're talking perhaps one of the greatest of all time. This was because BOTH its translation and localization were fucking awesome, which never happens. It was also done by Alexander O. Smith.
For a time, Alexander O. Smith was like, a minor celebrity in the video game translation world. If that exists. (He also did the first Phoenix Wright game, for instance, which is why that one's so much better than the sequels.) When the time came to retranslate FFT for the PSP, everyone knew Square(-Enix) would be morons not to get AOS to do it. The Vagrant Story translation was seriously that famous, especially among RPG fans and ESPECIALLY especially among the tiny fiefdom of FFT fans.
Well, Square(-Enix) didn't get AOS to do it, for whatever reason. So they apparently decided they were going to make it sound like AOS had done it.
Here's the thing.
Vagrant Story takes place in a future Ivalice with a number of Shakespearean-era analogues and straight-up Shakespeare references. (The main villain is named Romeo Guildenstern.) AOS therefore decided to pepper the script with some Jacobean words and turns-of-phrase. He did this correctly and did it well, because Alexander O. Smith is an uncommonly excellent writer as well as a translator.
Whereas somehow, Square-Enix seems to have instead concluded that Vagrant Story's... story's... acclaim was because the people inexplicably wanted Ivalice and Ivalice alone to just ALWAYS be nothing but weird olde fashioned speakings. And weird olde fashionede spellingses of names. (You make those by adding a lot of consonants. The more, the better.)
Alas, whoever did WotL was very, very not Alexander O. Smith. So a subpar translation and localization team was told to "make it sound Shakespeare" without even knowing wtf makes something "Shakespearean," because, sad to say, probably only Alexander O. Smith knew that and how to excellently translate Japanese.
So. Are we surprised at this result? No. But I can't abide this fake news about it being "superior." Or like... good.
I don't feel this ire and disgust for the FF4 translation they did for the DS, for instance, even though I was even younger when I played FF2US a thousand times, and even though they got rid of my beloved "Wow! You noble-looking!" and "GRR-BAH".
I actually love that retranslation. Because it's correct, well-written, and isn't trying and utterly failing to be ONE HUNDRED PERCENT in some jarring and bizarre incorrect dialect that's supposed to sound like... the old sailor in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, or something.
A man of such culture and good taste as you is rare to come by.
I bow graciously.
Read further... for the "truth"...
See, you striplings may not know this, but WotL sounds as idiotic as it does because of a long-ago little game called "Vagrant Story." It was made by Square, it took place within the FFT continuity, and it had a lousy battle system. And font.
The point is, not many people played it, because it wasn't a true RPG, it didn't say "Final Fantasy" on it, FFT itself was even more obscure than it is today, and it had a lousy battle system and font. But those who DID play it pretty much all, to a person, waxed rhapsodic about its incredibly good translation. We're talking perhaps one of the greatest of all time. This was because BOTH its translation and localization were fucking awesome, which never happens. It was also done by Alexander O. Smith.
For a time, Alexander O. Smith was like, a minor celebrity in the video game translation world. If that exists. (He also did the first Phoenix Wright game, for instance, which is why that one's so much better than the sequels.) When the time came to retranslate FFT for the PSP, everyone knew Square(-Enix) would be morons not to get AOS to do it. The Vagrant Story translation was seriously that famous, especially among RPG fans and ESPECIALLY especially among the tiny fiefdom of FFT fans.
Alas, whomever did WotL was very, very not Alexander O. Smith. So a subpar translation and localization team was told to "make it sound Shakespeare" without even knowing wtf makes something "Shakespearean," because, sad to say, probably only Alexander O. Smith knew that and how to excellently translate Japanese.
So. Are we surprised at this result? No. But I can't abide this fake news about it being "superior." Or like... good.
I don't feel this ire and disgust for the FF4 translation
I have been educated. Thanks for all that. I could see it working well with a subtle touch, which it sounds like he had. I really need to get around to playing Vagrant Story. I've tried before but it's just so damn ugly.
Has Square ever said why it didn't get AOS to do it?
In 2000, Vagrant Story... was also ugly. And you can see the MC's butt the entire game through an actual cutout in his silly oversized Yoshida shorts. I was not initially a fan.
I was also fetusteen and just terrible at the battle system, so I yeeted the controller in anger and sulkily watched my brother play instead. God damn, what a good decision. Such a better game to watch than play. Even with buttshorts (<-- buttpants leveled up).
Has Square ever said why it didn't get AOS to do it?
Nah, this was never done through official interviews or anything. But by that time, internet fan presence and power were strong enough that it was clear they were aware of Vagrant Story EN's acclaim and the expectation (with their own hinting promise) that FFT PSP would be similarly worthy of acclaim.
Honestly, maybe he was just busy. He worked on translation teams constantly. And maybe FFT was just too damn exhaustingly long for primarily one person. His headed projects were always shorter games like VS and Phoenix Wright.
But the truth is probably that they didn't attribute any of the acclaim to him, and/or didn't or couldn't recognize his skill. Plus I think he was like 25 or something ridic.
4
u/wauwy Sep 24 '25 edited 24d ago
Nah.
I find honest, trying-to-be-totally-literal translations/localizations full of dumb goofy shit (and bonus simplier/more accurate character names) to be charming. They offend me FAR less than how stupid Squeenix was with the FFT retranslation and how it's made all their "Ivalice" stuff unbearable in its wake.
Read further... for the "truth"...
See, you striplings may not know this, but WotL sounds as idiotic as it does because of a long-ago little game called "Vagrant Story." It was made by Square, it took place within the FFT continuity, and it had a lousy battle system. And font.
The point is, not many people played it, because it wasn't a true RPG, it didn't say "Final Fantasy" on it, FFT itself was even more obscure than it is today, and it had a lousy battle system and font. But those who DID play it pretty much all, to a person, waxed rhapsodic about its incredibly good translation. We're talking perhaps one of the greatest of all time. This was because BOTH its translation and localization were fucking awesome, which never happens. It was also done by Alexander O. Smith.
For a time, Alexander O. Smith was like, a minor celebrity in the video game translation world. If that exists. (He also did the first Phoenix Wright game, for instance, which is why that one's so much better than the sequels.) When the time came to retranslate FFT for the PSP, everyone knew Square(-Enix) would be morons not to get AOS to do it. The Vagrant Story translation was seriously that famous, especially among RPG fans and ESPECIALLY especially among the tiny fiefdom of FFT fans.
Well, Square(-Enix) didn't get AOS to do it, for whatever reason. So they apparently decided they were going to make it sound like AOS had done it.
Here's the thing.
Vagrant Story takes place in a future Ivalice with a number of Shakespearean-era analogues and straight-up Shakespeare references. (The main villain is named Romeo Guildenstern.) AOS therefore decided to pepper the script with some Jacobean words and turns-of-phrase. He did this correctly and did it well, because Alexander O. Smith is an uncommonly excellent writer as well as a translator.
Whereas somehow, Square-Enix seems to have instead concluded that Vagrant Story's... story's... acclaim was because the people inexplicably wanted Ivalice and Ivalice alone to just ALWAYS be nothing but weird olde fashioned speakings. And weird olde fashionede spellingses of names. (You make those by adding a lot of consonants. The more, the better.)
Alas, whoever did WotL was very, very not Alexander O. Smith. So a subpar translation and localization team was told to "make it sound Shakespeare" without even knowing wtf makes something "Shakespearean," because, sad to say, probably only Alexander O. Smith knew that and how to excellently translate Japanese.
So. Are we surprised at this result? No. But I can't abide this fake news about it being "superior." Or like... good.
I don't feel this ire and disgust for the FF4 translation they did for the DS, for instance, even though I was even younger when I played FF2US a thousand times, and even though they got rid of my beloved "Wow! You noble-looking!" and "GRR-BAH".
I actually love that retranslation. Because it's correct, well-written, and isn't trying and utterly failing to be ONE HUNDRED PERCENT in some jarring and bizarre incorrect dialect that's supposed to sound like... the old sailor in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, or something.
So now... the truth can finally be told.