So who else thinks DQVIII is the best localization job ever?

[Eusis]

That said, expect my next game review to feature extremely, almost unjustifiably high scores. Those who have been paying attention know what the game is...

Secret of the Stars?

Seriously though... Personally, I'd say just play DQVIII. I think only I-III and IV-VI are connected story wise in a major manner. And DQVIII's the most friendly for someone who's not played the series or been turned off before. And you can't (legally) play V and VI in english yet anyway, maybe not ever. If you want to play the prequels though, I personally recommand just playing the GBC releases. I'm sure some purists will disagree, but really they're just easier to digest if you haven't grown up playing the games, and I imagine even those that did may have trouble going back after more recent RPGs.

[ZE GRAND MASTER]

And I'm pretty sure that not only does Jiana have Kusanagi's VA, but I'm positive Angel does too.

Well I suppose I'll find out when I finish the game. But I take aaaaaaaages to finish games usually, so that'll be a  while.

[phan1]

I'm playing DDS and I don't think it compares.  DDS's voice acting isn't really that good IMO, and the dialogue is awkward.  I don't know why people think the localization is so good... Is it much better in part 2 or something?

[ZE GRAND MASTER]

I don't agree with you there. It isn't amazingly good, but its a hell of a lot better than most rpgs - I don't think theres one bad voice actor in the whole game. None of the characters have that much emotion in their voice, but they're meant to sound like that.

I do agree that the localisation isn't that good, but the voice acting is  much better than in DQ 8. The only reason DQ 8's  localisation is that its got several different kinds of British accent that would clearly not be in the Japanese game. And the whole game is light-hearted, so there are some rather amusing lines - like Angelo's Most Disturbing Sex Innuendo In A Videogame (it's even more childish and immature than Symphonia's dialogue, for god's sake).

DDS is a deathly serious game, and the dialogue emphasises that. I think maybe you've not got far enough into the game to have seen how good dialogue and voice-acting gets -

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as the story progresses, the characters develop emotions and begin to lament the situation everyone is in, especially when good guys have to be killed.

Dragonquests VA is good for comedy - especially Trode - whereas DDS's is better because it makes you actually care about the characters - i mean, the storyline is intentionally stupid in DQ. The voice actors can act in both games, but in different ways.

[TurnBasedDude]

ZE GRAND MASTER is right on the money.


DDS and DQ8 are like apple and oranges or night and day. Their tones are different so something like DQ8 is meant to be more lightearted fun and the localization gives it that feeling. DDS on the other hand is a lot darker to the localization plays a more serious tone.

I like both either way, though I find DDS cause to me, its different than most RPG's I played.

This defnaitely reminded me of the time when I was playing through the end of DDS2, training and grinding like crazy and after beating that, I put in DQ8 and holy moley, what a huge difference and feels foreign to me. I guess that's what happens playing something so dark, days (or maybe weeks) straight :P

[ZE GRAND MASTER]

I like DDS better in general, as it isn't as insanely long and doesn't prompt me to give up after spending way too long finishing it, like DQ8 -

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does 67 hours at that bit before the Dark Ruins show that I haven't been getting on with the game?

[Morridor]

DDS and Dragon Quest are really different.  Dragon Quest has always been meant to be the way it is and DDS has just come along.  In terms of localization though, Dragon Quest VIII really did do an amazing job.  The Dragon Quest team tries really really hard to get their localizations perfect.  If you play Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, you will see that they keep up with the quality.  As for DDS, Atlus is an amazing localization company.

For one of their new games, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, there were a couple Japanese Pop song references with lyrics from the songs.  When it was localized, Atlus translated the lyrics to be as close a translation as possible, then they found songs in English with as close lyrics as they could, and then put those into the English version.  Atlus really tries really hard to keep the Japanese meaning of their text.

Dragon Quest VIII may have an amazing localization, but Atlus has amazing localizations right after another.  That's what Atlus does.  I love the Dragon Quest team so much, but if someone asks what company / team does the best localizations, Atlus comes to mind first, then DQ team.  It's not that DQ has a worse localization, they both do perfect localizations, but Atlus simply has more games to do them with.  There really hasn't been that many DQ games.  (Let's hope that changes).

Danny

[Robert Boyd]

I'm playing DDS and I don't think it compares.  DDS's voice acting isn't really that good IMO, and the dialogue is awkward.  I don't know why people think the localization is so good... Is it much better in part 2 or something?

The dialogue is intentionally awkward at first.  Keep playing and the reasons for this start to become clear.

And yeah, a straight comparison between DDS and DQ8 doesn't work very well.  One's a lighthearted fairy tale with a good deal of comedy, the other's a dark cyberpunk occult tale.

[Eusis]

The only way to compare them is how well they suit their respective styles, and personally I feel they're both more or less equal. In regards to the VA, the only advantage I think DQVIII really has is that, unlike DDS, they're not the same people doing VA for countless other games/anime. As great as DDS's dub is, you still hear some of the same ones you've heard millions of time, such as Crispin Freeman. Nevertheless, the fact they more or less consistantly do a good job shows why they keep getting roles over and over. :P