This post is part of a series on reader requested (and personal curiosity) comparisons between Fire Emblem games’ Japanese and English scripts.
A reader over on twitter sent me the following:
Do you know what the inspect quotes were like in JP Echoes? Some of them were pretty cheeky in English.
They provided screen shots of the lines they were curious about. They struck me as strange too, so this is the first of the ones I want to cover.
So let’s get to it!
| Japanese | Lit. Translation | Official Localization |
| ここは宝物庫かしら。すごい財宝だわ。 | So this is where they keep their treasure? Quite a collection. | My my. Look at all this pirate booty. …Heh. |
The above takes place during observational phases, when you inspect certain items in the game.
For reference, a more literal translation may look like:
Is this the treasure storehouse? There are some rare treasures.
Regardless, you can already see an amazing difference here. The Japanese is an observation that it is a storehouse that is full of treasures.
The localization went with what may come off as a bit of a odd joke –especially for Celica’s character. When looking up the scripts, I took a quick look at her other lines in English just to have some reference:
Each bit of treasure tells the story of another innocent ship plundered.
I wonder if there’s any way to return all this to its rightful owners.
I’ve never seen some of these coins before. How interesting…
I’m tempted to fill my pockets, but that would make me no better than a pirate.
These lines were all accurate to their Japanese counterparts in terms of translating both tone and intent while staying true to Celica and how she is. It is why the line about “pirate booty” sticks out even more than it would have originally as it is quite jarring when compared to all this.
It is a little difficult to work out the reasoning behind the choice, but it is a likely attempt on one of the localizer’s to try and get a laugh out of the player, perhaps.
In the end, both Japanese and English do remark on the fact there is treasure in the room. One remains an observation, the other tries to twist and present it as more of a joke.
In my personal opinion, I would say they could have found opportunity to do it elsewhere where it may have worked better, though I am sure there are some who may have liked the more joking approach. Considering the rest of her observations in that place were carried over quite well, it mostly seemed a little out of character and quite jarring with the rest, as if one of the localizers wanted to put in something they found amusing to present to players while sacrificing a bit of the suspension of disbelief.
More importantly however, what did you think?
In short:
It seems the localization slipped in a cheeky joke that comes out a little jarring when compared to Celica’s usual tone and character when she inspects things in this particular case. It does point out that this is a room full of treasure, but that is the only point of relation between the two. It is a little difficult to reason why it may have been done in this particular instance, I suppose this particular localizer could not resist? Some may prefer it this way, of course. But it may take away from it for others, too.
To answer the request: It seems the cheekiness only exists in the localization here.
References and notes:
Summary infographic:
What did you think of the localization? The original? Which do you prefer? How would you have went about handling it? Let me know!
I will continue to look at fun differences between the versions of Shadows of Valentia as well as other Fire Emblem games!
Any dialogue you’re interested in? Let me know in comments or via email!
