Lunar: Harmony of Silver Star

[Keith]

I know there are some Lunar fans around here, and the news just broke today that Game Arts is working on a new PSP remake of Lunar The Silver Star. Better yet, Game Arts proper is working on it.

-Will we get a series that leads to a 3rd game conclusion this time?

-Will the shame of Dragon Song ever be lived down?

-Will we still be surprised when Ghaleon bitch slaps the white dragon & kidnaps Luna?

I personally can't wait to find out.

[Einherjar]

I'm definitely looking forward to more quality games for my PSP. I had a hard time finding any of the Lunar games for the PSX, limited run and $60-$80 prices before ebay, and hopefully this is worth it. There is a Gameboy version but how's the quality of that port?

[Keith]

The gameboy advance game was actually a really good, but miniturized port.

[Warmaker]

Ah, Lunar. Spent alot of good playtime with Silver Star and Eternal Blue on my trusty 'ol Sega CD back in the day.

[Black Valkyrie]

Still have the original Sega-CD ver. but sold the PSOne ver. for a good amount of cash.

[Keith]

Ah, Lunar. Spent alot of good playtime with Silver Star and Eternal Blue on my trusty 'ol Sega CD back in the day.

I did too, my backup is probably dead now, but I had all my SS characters leveled up to 99.

[danth]

My god, Lunar 1 and 2 were my favorite games ever. I even have the two artbooks. Anyway, a new Game Arts-developed remake for PSP is interesting news, but I really want new NEW Lunar game. And it's gotta have the same character designer and game engine.

[JB0]

I know there are some Lunar fans around here, and the news just broke today that Game Arts is working on a new PSP remake of Lunar The Silver Star. Better yet, Game Arts proper is working on it.

Game Arts is the same people responsible for the Silver Star Story remake that missed the point of the original game and fundamentally breaks the sequel,

the EB remake that completely wrecked the game's playability and can't even maintain continuity with ITSELF,

Grandia Extreme and Grandia 3, both of which I've heard are execrable...

Should I continue?

...

Actually, I think that's pretty much everything they've done since 1999(Project Sylpheed being licensed out to Seta. As if anyone would notice it was missing from the list, between being sold in America as a Squeenix game and being a very low-profile release).

There's a REASON that they've remade/ported Lunar so many times*. They're creatively bankrupt, and their glory days are behind them.

At this point, as much as it pains me, I'd rather they let the franchise die.

They won't give Silver Star a remake that expands on the original game rather than crapping on it, nor one that actually works with Eternal Blue rather than totally breaking it.

Even if they DID plan to do it, I have no faith in them turning out something decent.

But Silver Star Story is the only thing making them money these days, so of course they intend to whore it as hard as possible.

But hey, at least Gideon Zhi is almost done with Lunar: Strolling School.

There's still ONE Studio Alex game yet to get an english release, though it's a rather different kind of beast than the main 2 games.

http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=lunar

If I sound bitter... well, the Lunar games were my first "modern" RPGs, and Eternal Blue is one of my favorite games of all-time. I take my Lunar seriously, probably far more so than is healthy.

But hey, I just finished a Silver Star replay, and I'll be heading into EB soon.

*How many times?

SSS was originally a Saturn game, then adapted to use the Saturn's MPEG card for better FMVs and rereleased. Then it was ported to PS1. Then ported to Windows 9x. Then remade for the GBA. And now ported to the PSP. That's six right there.

Plus the Saturn and PS1 EB remakes, and the Saturn remake of the Game Gear's Lunar: Strolling School.

Edited May 14, 2009 by JB0

[protostar8]

I'm definitely looking forward to more quality games for my PSP. I had a hard time finding any of the Lunar games for the PSX, limited run and $60-$80 prices before ebay, and hopefully this is worth it. There is a Gameboy version but how's the quality of that port?

Well, if you have a modded psp, you can always play the game on the PSP and cut out the nutty ebay prices (since the company isn't actually benefiting from Ebay anyway). All you need is the ISO and the proper custom firmware applications on your psp.

[Keith]

I didn't htink the remakes were broken at all (story or otherwise), well, aside from some wonky translation choices on both versions.

[Einherjar]

Well, if you have a modded psp, you can always play the game on the PSP and cut out the nutty ebay prices (since the company isn't actually benefiting from Ebay anyway). All you need is the ISO and the proper custom firmware applications on your psp.

I tried looking that up for a while now, it seems like a hassle with the unstacking and ongoing unofficial updates needed to get it to work forever. Plus, I got one of the old PSPs. Guess I'm just lazy.

I can do that or find burn ISO for the PSX version. But like when they brought Star Ocean: The Second Story to the U.S., I don't know if I can play it without getting pissed off with the dubbing choices. Anyone remember the English theme song?

It's decent, but it sounds like Robotech Minmei sang it. There's also the bosses that adapted to your current level. Sucks if you need to level grind.

[JB0]

I didn't htink the remakes were broken at all (story or otherwise), well, aside from some wonky translation choices on both versions.

EB had an FF-style item bag, for pete's sake!

The crest system was a trainwreck too.

Far as SSS breaking EB...

Althena's planned retirement doesn't work for EB.

Ghaleon's god complex doesn't work for EB.

But then, EB Remake breaks ITSELF by relocating the "magic capacitor" so that Zophar destroys it, rendering the completion of Lucia's mission impossible... then she forgets totally and heads off to do it anyways! Whoo!

I could dedicate an entire thread to ranting about Silver Star Story.

I mean, they go out of their way to turn Nash into a retarded monkey. They even take his shining moment of badassery away, make him into a traitor, and then just to add insult to injury, they throw him into a robotic chicken suit. How is that POSSIBLY an improvement?

And not a fan of WD's translation style?

There's a good bit of merit to the complaints, I admit.

I tend to cut them some slack anyways, because they generated some of the best scripts I've seen.

Yes, they included a lot of 4th-wall jokes, but they ALSO produced quality translations that didn't read like Babelfish or a block of wood. And that's depressingly rare even today.

I can do that or find burn ISO for the PSX version. But like when they brought Star Ocean: The Second Story to the U.S., I don't know if I can play it without getting pissed off with the dubbing choices.

Aww, c'mon. It's nowhere NEAR SO2 levels of bad.

WD actually CARED, which is a LOT more than you can say for SCEA.

Anyone remember the English theme song?

It's decent, but it sounds like Robotech Minmei sang it.

The original was better!

...

Okay, maybe not.

Man, I remember when that was actually impressive.

[danth]

I wasn't a super big fan of the remakes. I still remember the subtle difference between the character designs from the original to the remakes. The designs from The Silver Star are still so beautiful. The SSSC designs are goofy looking. I'll just play the Sega-CD Roms if I want to play some Lunar. No need for the remakes, although I did play both when they came out.

I really liked Tempest and Fresca. Tempest was a bad-ass and Fresca was f*cking hot...she always reminded me of Miria, actually.

[Keith]

EB had an FF-style item bag, for pete's sake!

The crest system was a trainwreck too.

Far as SSS breaking EB...

Althena's planned retirement doesn't work for EB.

Her "retirement" still wasn't planned, she just prepped things for Lucia to take over this time.

Ghaleon's god complex doesn't work for EB.

There's no difference as far as that goes, he still finds Althena unfit to handle things. The only good thing Dragon Song did for us, was pretty much solidify that Ghaleon is one of the Vile Tribe, i.e. those forsaken by Althena's influence on the moon. Whether or not he knew the full brunt of the Zophar thing at that point is still unknown, and somewhat moot. Ghaleon in his own way would have united humans/vile tribe under one rule, regardless of which one was enslaved.

But then, EB Remake breaks ITSELF by relocating the "magic capacitor" so that Zophar destroys it, rendering the completion of Lucia's mission impossible... then she forgets totally and heads off to do it anyways! Whoo!

I honestly don't remember about any magic capacitor, but his goal moreover was to steal Althena's aura, either to prevent others from stopping him, or to boost his own power. Lucia's mission was to watch over earth wihle it was rehabilitating, and to help in the migration back. Nothing Zophar did prevented that from happening (once defeated).

I could dedicate an entire thread to ranting about Silver Star Story.

I mean, they go out of their way to turn Nash into a retarded monkey. They even take his shining moment of badassery away, make him into a traitor, and then just to add insult to injury, they throw him into a robotic chicken suit. How is that POSSIBLY an improvement?

He was always a traitor, it was just the scene that changed. He was always an ass, the extent of which again fallls back to the dubious nature of Working Designs translations.

And not a fan of WD's translation style?

There's a good bit of merit to the complaints, I admit.

I tend to cut them some slack anyways, because they generated some of the best scripts I've seen.

Yes, they included a lot of 4th-wall jokes, but they ALSO produced quality translations that didn't read like Babelfish or a block of wood. And that's depressingly rare even today.

Go watch Robotech.

Aww, c'mon. It's nowhere NEAR SO2 levels of bad.

WD actually CARED, which is a LOT more than you can say for SCEA.

The original was better!

...

Okay, maybe not.

Man, I remember when that was actually impressive.

Working designs cared about:

-Making games harder than they eneded to be by screwing with the levelling system/boss levels

-playing pinball

-playing on the internet

-pretending they were making their own games by taking large liberties with "translations"

-ruining the Rayearth opening theme

-occasionally releasing games every couple years or so

-Oversizing mpeg video cut scenes

-badly remixing soundtrack cd's

-and in the end, ruining games by overdubbing the freakin' battle magic attacks!!

Admittedly, they had the most kickass packaging & advertisements around, but their translation practices were archaic then, let alone now. Which reminds me, Irelandi s back with a new company, Gaijinworks...

[JB0]

Her "retirement" still wasn't planned, she just prepped things for Lucia to take over this time.

Did you PLAY Silver Star Story?

It WAS planned in SSS. Rather than the regular human reincarnations of TSS, she only had ONE, and that was a willful act of suicide.

Which also made Alex a freaking booby prize instead of the reason for her retirement. You have no idea how much this disgusts me.

There's no difference as far as that goes, he still finds Althena unfit to handle things.

Ummm...

There's HUGE differences in his goals and motivations.

The Silver Star: His mancrush on Dyne is ruined when Dyne gets his clock cleaned by the black dragon. He seeks revenge against the world for taking his friend, and Althena for sending men to do what she could do herself. Along the way he gets posessed by a demigod, eventually losing his humanity entirely.

Silver Star Story: He thinks the world needs a diety to rule over it and that humanity can't be trusted to control it's own destiny. So he wants to be a god.

The only good thing Dragon Song did for us, was pretty much solidify that Ghaleon is one of the Vile Tribe, i.e. those forsaken by Althena's influence on the moon.

WHAT?!?!?!

Let me get this straight... one of the four heroes of Althena was a member of the Vile Tribe?

The SAME Vile Tribe that was banished to the wastelands of Lunar and forsaken by Althena?

WHAT THE ALTHENA-FORSAKEN HELL?!?!?!

I honestly don't remember about any magic capacitor, but his goal moreover was to steal Althena's aura, either to prevent others from stopping him, or to boost his own power. Lucia's mission was to watch over earth wihle it was rehabilitating, and to help in the migration back. Nothing Zophar did prevented that from happening (once defeated).

There was a large ball that was collecting magical energy to be used in the reformation of the Blue Star.

In the SegaCD version it was stored in the Blue Spire, and a tiny portion of it's energy was siphoned off to break Ghaleon's curse and unstone Hiro.

In the remake, it was placed in the tower under Pentagulia, and Zophar ate it.

In both versions it is an unavoidable plot element, and Lucia takes time out to explain what it is, what it's purpose is, and that it is isntrumental to her task of reviving the Blue Star.

He was always a traitor, it was just the scene that changed.

Did you play The Silver Star?

He was NOT a traitor. He PRETENDED to betray you to find out how to get to the Frontier.

In SSS he ACTUALLY betrays you, and you have to hunt him down and kick his ass for it. And he fights you in a robotic chicken suit.

He was always an ass, the extent of which again fallls back to the dubious nature of Working Designs translations.

He was elitist, but NOT an ass in the SegaCD version. And he was a lot less of an elitist than everyone else from Vane, Mia excepted.

As far as WD's translation practices...

Saying they were archaic then is incredibly bizarre, given the translation quality of video games in the 90s.

They're widely considered to be one of the first companies to actually give a damn about quality.

Compared to the engrishy cardboard messes that were the standard at the time(and persisted through the PS1's life)...

[Keith]

Did you PLAY Silver Star Story?

It WAS planned in SSS. Rather than the regular human reincarnations of TSS, she only had ONE, and that was a willful act of suicide.

Which also made Alex a freaking booby prize instead of the reason for her retirement. You have no idea how much this disgusts me.

Truthfully, it's been years since I've played either version, but I believe there was still the bit about her occasional human re-incarnations in SSS, to experience human "life" every so often. Thinking back, I do think you're right in intending that particular one to be her last, but I wouldn't necessarily call that suicide, nor winding up with Alex a booby prize, life as a god has to be tough. Considering at that point in the game, the storyline of EB already existed, meaning the Althena of SSS had precognition of Lucia's existence, it could be just as easily assumed that she felt secure enough in Lucia's abilities to finish the job of migrating everyone back to Earth, without having to continually watch over everyone. At that point, she also believed in humanities abilities more than her own.

Ummm...

There's HUGE differences in his goals and motivations.

The Silver Star: His mancrush on Dyne is ruined when Dyne gets his clock cleaned by the black dragon. He seeks revenge against the world for taking his friend, and Althena for sending men to do what she could do herself. Along the way he gets posessed by a demigod, eventually losing his humanity entirely.

No, Ghaleon was never possessed by a demi-god, that was all him the whole time. Between his demon form at the end of TSS, half scaley face in EB, and recruitment of the 3 vile tribe witches in SSS, it can be safely assumed that Ghaleon was always intended to be one of the Vile Tribe. Remembering a bit more though, in SSS, instead of losing his power fighting the Black Dragon, Dyne lost his power in the human incarnation birth of Althena. Still a similar grudge there.

Silver Star Story: He thinks the world needs a diety to rule over it and that humanity can't be trusted to control it's own destiny. So he wants to be a god.

WHAT?!?!?!

What's so outlandish about that? If Althena wouldn't do the job, he took it upon himself to replcae her.

Let me get this straight... one of the four heroes of Althena was a member of the Vile Tribe?

The SAME Vile Tribe that was banished to the wastelands of Lunar and forsaken by Althena?

WHAT THE ALTHENA-FORSAKEN HELL?!?!?!

-Demon/Dragon Form in TSS

-Scaley half form in both versions of EB

-Control over the Vile Tribe in SSS

-Similar appearance & powers to the main badguy in DS.

Not that hard to put together.

There was a large ball that was collecting magical energy to be used in the reformation of the Blue Star.

In the SegaCD version it was stored in the Blue Spire, and a tiny portion of it's energy was siphoned off to break Ghaleon's curse and unstone Hiro.

In the remake, it was placed in the tower under Pentagulia, and Zophar ate it.

In both versions it is an unavoidable plot element, and Lucia takes time out to explain what it is, what it's purpose is, and that it is isntrumental to her task of reviving the Blue Star.

Meh, mayhaps they got the power back after Zophar was destroyed... Or maybe the power of humanity turned out to be stronger than any stored energy!

Did you play The Silver Star?

3 times, many many years ago.

He was NOT a traitor. He PRETENDED to betray you to find out how to get to the Frontier.

In SSS he ACTUALLY betrays you, and you have to hunt him down and kick his ass for it. And he fights you in a robotic chicken suit.

He was elitist, but NOT an ass in the SegaCD version. And he was a lot less of an elitist than everyone else from Vane, Mia excepted.

All I remember was being pissed at him for stealing my blue dragon helmet!

As far as WD's translation practices...

Saying they were archaic then is incredibly bizarre, given the translation quality of video games in the 90s.

They're widely considered to be one of the first companies to actually give a damn about quality.

Compared to the engrishy cardboard messes that were the standard at the time(and persisted through the PS1's life)...

For entertainment value, sure they were cool, although they were starting to go a little too overboard byt he time of SSS. For a translation? Not so cool, far too many liberties taken with the script. Again, dont' see how you can be a Macross fan and not know the difference.

[JB0]

No, Ghaleon was never possessed by a demi-god, that was all him the whole time. Between his demon form at the end of TSS, half scaley face in EB, and recruitment of the 3 vile tribe witches in SSS, it can be safely assumed that Ghaleon was always intended to be one of the Vile Tribe.

Except there's repeated mention in TSS of the original Magic Emperor(who Ghaleon is emulating) summoning a demigod and less-specific references to Ghaleon's own ongoing transformation(save one fairly direct comment by Nash near the end).

And again, why would Althena have a member of the Vile Tribe as one of her 4 heroes?

The EB face I took to be representative of the total ass-kicking he recieved at the hands of Alex and company. That kind of abuse leaves some serious scars.

...

Could also be from the demonic cockroach ripping it's way out.

What's so outlandish about that? If Althena wouldn't do the job, he took it upon himself to replcae her.

Well, the WHAT?!? was part of the Dragon Song response.

-Demon/Dragon Form in TSS

-Scaley half form in both versions of EB

-Control over the Vile Tribe in SSS

-Similar appearance & powers to the main badguy in DS.

Not that hard to put together.

Former Hero of Althena.

Meh, mayhaps they got the power back after Zophar was destroyed... Or maybe the power of humanity turned out to be stronger than any stored energy!

Fair enough.

*Hiro Poe Swords the Blue Star back to life*

All I remember was being pissed at him for stealing my blue dragon helmet!

But the triple-cross was so badass!

For entertainment value, sure they were cool, although they were starting to go a little too overboard byt he time of SSS. For a translation? Not so cool, far too many liberties taken with the script. Again, dont' see how you can be a Macross fan and not know the difference.

I believe it's been pointed out before that, for the time, Robotech was actually a pretty good effort. They didn't sanitize it for your protection, even if they DID tie a bunch of unrelated shows together. Much of the Robohatred stems from HG's treatment of the franchise and fans in the years since then.

WD's work tended to be more or less faithful, despite their sense of humor.

And they worked rather closely with Game Arts on the Lunar projects(Game Arts actually rejected localization offers on Silver STar from a few companies before WD made their offer because they wanted WD to pick it up.)

anime and video games are totally different markets.

Anime's got a good number of companies producing decent translations, and has for some time now.

Video games never really went through the total rework phase that anime went through(there's a few isolated examples), but they've had a lot of trouble getting out of the "I have a Japanese-to-English dictionary!" phase.

SCEA seems to have FINALLY gotten the point, though, and they were the last major non-translators I know of.

(Related note: I'm STILL impressed at the translation on the original Ninja Gaiden game. For an 89 release, it's incredibly polished.)

If the SCD Lunar games had featured the same quality translation as FF2US and Secret of Mana... I don't think they would have been half as well-regarded as they were. The scripts did a very good job making the characters feel like people that mattered.

I laugh at anyone that says they cried when Aeris died, but Lucia's return to the Blue Star got a reaction out of me. I actually just spent a few minutes staring at "the end" before moving on.

Then reset and started a new game to try and figure out how to fix the ending.

...

That silent epilogue save was either a work of sheer genius or the product of a sick and twisted individual.

But the point is that I actually cared. I think the only other game from that era to get a real reaction out of me was Chrono Trigger. And that was more because the silent protagonist routine worked well there. I took Crono's death personally, because, well, it WAS personal.

Oh, and Link's Awakening got one too. Hooray for genocide!

Ireland is on record as believing translations should be written so americans can "enjoy them, not just know what's going on."

Perhaps they went overboard, but it was a highly novel approach in the early 90s.

And Lunar was a pretty lighthearted game to start with, so when people gripe about jokes injected into it, I just raise an eyebrow and wonder if they can point to specific examples(I've yet to see the objection raised by someone that's actually played the J versions).

According to WD(who is, admittedly, a biased source), most of the jokes they inserted are replacing japanese jokes that usually fell into the category of puns that don't work in english.

I think the most visible example of this was the N64 Goemon game. There was a laugh track to call out the jokes... which were mostly puns that someone tried to translate directly. So all the humor was gone and you were left with a chaotically mis-cued laugh track in a script that wasn't really very funny.

Now, toss out a rant about how they totally broke Silhouette Mirage's gameplay, and I'm right there with you.

The ammo mechanic they introduced fundamentally altered the gameplay, and not for the better. I understand their goal, but it was possibly the absolute worst way they could have done it(Even ignoring that it's a Treasure game, and messing with those is a little like daring the fanboys to come disembowel you with a rusty spoon and then rape your mother.)

They also seem to have totally missed the point on that particular translation, but for a platform shooter that's a secondary issue.

There's also a fart joke in Vay that seems pretty out of place(and that's probably WD's biggest failing as a localization team... too many fart jokes. Which are higher up the comedy ladder than bad puns, but not MUCH higher).

...

I need to get back to Vay some day. It just got WAY too level-grind-y for my tastes. Then I had my save erased by a bad SegaCD-Genesis connection.

End rambling.

[danth]

I personally can't fault Working Designs too much for their translations. Like JB0, I deeply cared for the characters, and I'm sure that WD's Americanized translation was instrumental in that. I also thought the jokes were pretty funny. Lunar was the first video game to make me care about the characters and laugh at the dialogue. I think I had a pretty big crush on Luna, and I was totally pissed when Ghaleon stole her, and I cried at the end. I also cheered when

Tempest and Fresca came to the rescue towards the end, I believe they rescued Alex and friends from the Grindery

.

Although I was annoyed that WD made magic points necessary for saving in EB. Don't mess with the game play! I also wish they had actually made the Dark Scimitar possible to attain since it was in the game code. Any of you guys ever hacked the rom? Lots of cool items not normally accessible.

As reported by GamePro[40], Lunar: Harmony of Silver Star is a remake of the Sega CD version, which is currently set for release on the PSP in Japan. The game is featured in a recent copy of the Japanese game magazine Famitsu, with a two-page spread highlighting some of the upgrades the game will feature. Along with a new isometric view, the game will also feature a hand-drawn style for the characters and backgrounds, as well as new music and an expanded story. No U.S. release has currently been set.

Oh hell no.

Edited May 17, 2009 by danth

[Einherjar]

I said the English theme song, and probably the dub, in the U.S. edition is decent, not terrible.

[Keith]

Except there's repeated mention in TSS of the original Magic Emperor(who Ghaleon is emulating) summoning a demigod and less-specific references to Ghaleon's own ongoing transformation(save one fairly direct comment by Nash near the end).

And again, why would Althena have a member of the Vile Tribe as one of her 4 heroes?

He was in disguide, der! Or perhaps she wanted to give him a chance to repent whatever they did.

The EB face I took to be representative of the total ass-kicking he recieved at the hands of Alex and company. That kind of abuse leaves some serious scars.

...

Could also be from the demonic cockroach ripping it's way out.

Brought back to life with scars? Not terribly likely, those were scales, take a good look. I've said it in reference to anime, and the same applies to video games as well, if you want to play something "american" then play a game made in america. There's no need to "change" content just because something was originally in a different language. Did you honestly find the gameplay better in SSS with spells being called out in English? Was either version a better game because it had a town full of inbred hicks? The notion that a story has no "heart" unless its tailored for a spefici culture is inase. Take Grandia for instance, everybit as good as Lunar, none of the WD's "localization" changes made to it. Same goes for Xenogears, or did you not care when the mystery behind Id killing Fei's mother, who was possed by Miang was revealed.

Also, Robotech's changes spanned far further than simple scene edits, oversaturation of exposition in the dialogue, dumbing down of technological terms, music entirely replaced, ham fisted voice acting. Do I realliy need to explain all of this on this forum?

[JB0]

I've said it in reference to anime, and the same applies to video games as well, if you want to play something "american" then play a game made in america. There's no need to "change" content just because something was originally in a different language.

You're one of those people that think Chrono Trigger's Frog should've been left untranslated as Kaeru, aren't you?

Because since it can mean both transformation AND frog, and there's no way to fully convey the original intent in english, NONE of the intent should be conveyed, right?

If a line is intended to be funny, but does not make sense once translated, it should be replaced with something that DOES.

Star Ocean 2 has a great example of unfunny.

There's a PA scene early on where Rena names Ashton's dragons.

It's horrible, because the dragon names are apparently supposed to be childish and based on their physical appearance.

"This one has weepy eyes, so it should be called Gyoro! *some similar justification for Ururu's name that I no longer remember*"

"Isn't that a bit simplistic?"

If you believe that's a great translation, you have serious problems.

It is stupid. It is illogical. It is nonsensical. It is pure garbage.

Before you go misconstruing this, I'm not saying ALL names should be adapted.

But when the meaning is actually relevant, yes, they should be.

Yes, Frog should be called Frog. Because... the name is, at least partially, a physical description. HE IS A FROG, SO HE IS CALLED FROG. SHOCK!

Did you honestly find the gameplay better in SSS with spells being called out in English?

They get damned annoying damned fast in ANY language.

It's notable that you are now advocating NOT TRANSLATING AT ALL.

Was either version a better game because it had a town full of inbred hicks? The notion that a story has no "heart" unless its tailored for a spefici culture is inase.

You're intentionally missing the point, as near as I can tell.

Any idiot can turn a J-E dictionary loose on a script.

Any idiot with half a brain can edit that into something that's grammatically correct and makes logical sense.

To make the writing stop feeling like it was crapped out of a J-E dictionary takes actual WORK.

Maybe if SCEA had spent a little effort polishing their script, I might've cared when Aeris died.

Or maybe FF7 is just poorly-written garbage and I'm about to get my posterior flamed to a crisp for that sentence fragment.

We'll never know, because SCEA gave FF7 such a pathetic localization effort.

And it's not even their WORST effort. I can point to a stage in FFTactics having three names inside 10 minutes.

Had they actually spent a minimal amount of time polishing the script... it might've been more than a cult classic.

Working Designs worked very closely with Game Arts on the Lunar projects.

Game Arts specifically wanted them to do the Lunar games.

In fact, Game Arts believed, based on WD's TurboCD localizations, that they were literally the only people that could do it right(Back in 1993. Certainly the field is wider now.).

Let me repeat that. Game Arts, the original creators and publishers of Lunar: The Silver Star and it's sequels and remakes, believed Working Designs did localization right.

Take Grandia for instance, everybit as good as Lunar, none of the WD's "localization" changes made to it.

I wouldn't know. The dubbing made me want to kill someone.

It's been years since I've played it, and I have only vague memories of most of it.

The fact that it's a PS1-era SCEA translation means I can bookend it with Star Ocean 2 and Legend of Dragoon and make an educated guess.

I have little hope for anything more than "The script is mostly made of english words."

SCEA translations feature names that change at random, literal sentences, redundant sentences, japanese-style quotation marks, repetitive statements, people speaking about themselves in third-person... shall I go on?

"That was frightening. I was frightened." is a direct quote from an SCEA translation, in which a girl is expressing her response to a recent boss fight. That apparently scared her.

It is of minor comedic value, but an utterly HORRIBLE english statement.

Also, Robotech's changes spanned far further than simple scene edits, oversaturation of exposition in the dialogue, dumbing down of technological terms, music entirely replaced, ham fisted voice acting. Do I realliy need to explain all of this on this forum?

And yet, at the time, it WAS one of the better attempts.

As a random example: rather than trying to explain away Roy and Ben's sudden disappearances they left it as "Yeah, dude's dead. He's not getting better."

Historical perspective is a wonderful things sometimes.