I give up... NISA is making me sick of localizations....

[Tomara]

There are a lot more than 2 companies who bring this stuff over.  They're not all huge companies, and some of them are little better than NISA(Mastiff edited the HELL out of La Pucelle(lol it's a game about churches that has no religious symbols), but the rest of the translation was great), but they -are- out there.

As if the edited crosses had any impact on the game experience... And it's not as if Mastiff is the only company to ever edit a game like that. Edits are actually very common. Cigarettes and alcohol are often removed, because all kids totally want to be like Badrach.

Also: Persona.

[Wilsongt]

I'm disappointed in NISA, to say the least. After hearing about the Ar Tonelico stuff after the first one was so good, and then having personally experienced Mana Khemia PSP... Meh.

[Parn]

I bought to support the companies that bother to localize, if more people buy then you'll see better games.

That's flawed thinking though.  From a company's perspective, if sales go down, then the company must determine what went wrong and try to fix the problem.  If sales are up, then the consumer base is assumed to be happy with the product.

Your money speaks volumes. Buying more copies of lousy products is just incentive for a company to keep shoveling out lousy products.

[flashrom]

I completely forgot about XSEED.  I was relieved to hear someone picked up Shadow Hearts Covenant.  I've never heard of Aksys.  What have they localized?

PS: To those American speakers that know enough Jap to navigate through imports, where did you learn it and how long did it take?  Not the whole language.  Just what's necesarry to make it through most games.  Thanks.  

[Tomara]

I completely forgot about XSEED.  I was relieved to hear someone picked up Shadow Hearts Covenant.  I've never heard of Aksys.  What have they localized?

From the Abyss (DS), a mediocre dungeon crawler
Hoshigami (DS)

... I can't think anything else. They focus more on fighters and have published multiple Guilty Gear games.

[dalucifer0]

I completely forgot about XSEED.  I was relieved to hear someone picked up Shadow Hearts Covenant.  I've never heard of Aksys.  What have they localized?

PS: To those American speakers that know enough Jap to navigate through imports, where did you learn it and how long did it take?  Not the whole language.  Just what's necesarry to make it through most games.  Thanks.  

You can buy programs to learn Japanese, like books, audio books, etc. There are probably some free ones, but for less quality. It really depends on how long it'll take, depending on how much time you invest per day learning the language and how long it takes you to learn hiragana, katakana, and kanji (not sure if a huge knowledge of kanji is necessary for a video game.)

[Gen Eric Gui]

If people don't *make mention of* XSEED, how is that equivalent to "holding them in contempt?" A lot of people just forget they exist.

I know.  I was exaggerating.

As if the edited crosses had any impact on the game experience... And it's not as if Mastiff is the only company to ever edit a game like that. Edits are actually very common. Cigarettes and alcohol are often removed, because all kids totally want to be like Badrach.

I guess I used too harsh a tone in that post.  They did an excellent job with the translation, and I greatly appreciate what they did(La Pucelle is by far my favorite Disgaea-series game, even more than D2 and the adorable Taro).  But the fact that they took out Croix' cigs but -left in- his smoking and stomping out animations was just a tad ridiculous.  There's also a part where Prier is crucified...on a post.  Her arms are just haning out in the air, and it's supposed to be horrifying but it just looks silly.


Aksys has done a couple of text adventures too, Theresia(Which is amazing) and Jake Hunter(Which was bland but serviceable, they're releasing an updated version with more content and a better script so we'll see how that goes)

[Tomara]

I completely forgot about XSEED.  I was relieved to hear someone picked up Shadow Hearts Covenant.  I've never heard of Aksys.  What have they localized?

PS: To those American speakers that know enough Jap to navigate through imports, where did you learn it and how long did it take?  Not the whole language.  Just what's necesarry to make it through most games.  Thanks.  

You can buy programs to learn Japanese, like books, audio books, etc. There are probably some free ones, but for less quality. It really depends on how long it'll take, depending on how much time you invest per day learning the language and how long it takes you to learn hiragana, katakana, and kanji (not sure if a huge knowledge of kanji is necessary for a video game.)

*has some experience with playing Japanese games without knowing much Japanese*

Hiragana and katakana are essential when navigating through menu's and since many games use western sounding names you'll be able to read many names too. Menu's have some kanji, but those are easy enough to recognise after a while. Some games have furigana, but Dragon Quest is the only RPG series I can think of that has it.

It depends on the game if basic knowledge of hiragana and katakana are enough. Action RPG's rarely require much reading. Most Fire Emblems are perfectly playable this way, because menu's aren't too complicated, the names are easy to read and all items have icons. But something like, I don't know, Final Fantasy VIII? Sounds like hell.

[Boomerang Flash Z]

I know you guys have heard this one.  But at least we are getting the Cross Edge game. (Raises shield in defense).

I am greatful for XSEED as they gave us the newer Wild Arms titles.  No complaints there.

[Dizzy]

Wish Alter Code F was picked up by XSeed, rather than fucking Agetec though. Fuuuuuck Agetec.

[Tomara]

XSeed is great. They pick up decent titles and their localisations are solid. No complaints there.

I know you guys have heard this one.  But at least we are getting the Cross Edge game. (Raises shield in defense).

I'm the same way. Crappy localisations? That sucks, but if I want to play the game I'll buy it regardless of what the publisher did. The alternatives are playing the game in a language I don't understand or not playing the game at all. The alternatives are worse and the localisation could ever be.

[Gen Eric Gui]

Wish Alter Code F was picked up by XSeed, rather than fucking Agetec though. Fuuuuuck Agetec.

Hey now.  If not for Agetec, I wouldn't have gotten to play Disaster Report and Raw Danger!, or Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman.  Agetec is amazing, as long as it's an action game.

[Eusis]

Wish Alter Code F was picked up by XSeed, rather than fucking Agetec though. Fuuuuuck Agetec.

Hey now.  If not for Agetec, I wouldn't have gotten to play Disaster Report and Raw Danger!, or Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman.  Agetec is amazing, as long as it's an action game.

Raw Danger (and I hear Disaster Report) had atrocious localization efforts, making Persona 1's attempts at Americanization look genuine in comparison, and I hear they did the same as XSIII and cut out enough blood to be preposterous. But, again, we wouldn't have gotten the games, and it's not like they were rendered unplayable with monstrous bugs or anything.

[flashrom]

Even if we could make it through a Japanese game, US speakers would miss out on the story.  Despite the crappy translations, I too am grateful we have the alternative of playing English versions.  Don't mistake that for giving those poor localizations a free pass though.

[Ramza]

I completely forgot about XSEED.  I was relieved to hear someone picked up Shadow Hearts Covenant.

Assuming you mean "From The New World," since that's what XSEED did. Covenant was published by Midway (alongside the first, I believe).

There's also a part where Prier is crucified...on a post.  Her arms are just haning out in the air, and it's supposed to be horrifying but it just looks silly.

Baten Kaitos Origins had a crucifixion scene, and in the North American version (probably because it was on a Nintendo playform) they replaced the crucifix with a BIG-ASS GOLDEN CUBE. It looked pretty dumb. (If you check out our review of the game on the site, you can see the original Japanese screen with the crucifixion in the captions area).

Speaking of crucifixions in games, makes me think about all the gears in Xenogears (along with GIANT CHU CHU) being crucified. It was a serious scene, until you saw Chu Chu, and then it was just pathetic and hilarious all at the same time.