Nich Maragos, localization product lead for Etrian Odyssey 2 (and Gaming Intelligence Agency alum), has taken us inside the English naming process for Etrian's characters and items in a new Production Diary post. Like classic RPGs, Etrian has an 8-character restriction on all monster, character, and item names. This isn't so much of a problem in Japanese, in which a single kanji can express a very complicated concept, but in our phonetic writing system, it's a bit more of a restriction.This means that not only is Maragos and his team encouraged to be a bit creative with English names, they are required to be creative. They have to condense concepts like Fundo No Gankou-Nushi "Owner of the Malicious Glare" into something that can fit into eight characters: in this case, "Illgaze."
A lot of work goes into translating text-rich RPGs like this. Mythological references, in particular, are trouble, as some random Japanese word could actually be a transliterated Old Norse name.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-31-2008 @ 2:30PM
Joe H said...
Why not just hack into the game and extend the limits? I mean if the Mother3 fan-translation can do it there, shouldn't a company that is going to be selling the game?
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6-01-2008 @ 5:18AM
Mertruve said...
Fan translators don't have any rules.
5-31-2008 @ 5:34PM
Bebuzzu said...
Joe H is soooo right.
Also, do a little exercise on your german, cause it's "Der Freischütze" with an e. This doesn't make sense people.
5-31-2008 @ 5:44PM
Bebuzzu said...
Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Just actually read the article. Cancle my remark. Fuck it. Never gon' write anything again 'ere.
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5-31-2008 @ 7:26PM
Cúchulainn said...
That reminds me of that lance in Castlevania Aria of Sorrow that was mistranslated as Geiborg. Actually, it's Gáe Bolg.
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5-31-2008 @ 7:28PM
Cúchulainn said...
Gah, I meant Dawn of Sorrow there.
5-31-2008 @ 10:04PM
hvnlysoldr said...
Good old FenixDwn.
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