What you say??

[Omatic]

I was watching a co-worker play the game today, and while the game looks and sounds awesome, I have no idea what's being said half the time! Does anyone know of a text translation of the post-battle (or even during-battle) phrases that the characters are yelling out?

On a side note, I've yet to pick the game up from Gamestop, but I really hope they have copies when I do - I was reading how certain people on the internets were having trouble procuring theirs.

[Hobbun]

Yes, I heard there was no English VA for the game? So are you completely lost in regards to the story, then?

Or is it just Japanese VO's for cries during combat?

I really hope there was no VA for cutscenes if there wasn't localization for the VO's.

[Omatic]

Yes, I heard there was no English VA for the game? So are you completely lost in regards to the story, then?

Or is it just Japanese VO's for cries during combat?

I really hope there was no VA for cutscenes if there wasn't localization for the VO's.

The story is translated, and the bits I saw were translated nicely (pretty funny writing, too). It's just all the voiced parts.

[Hobbun]

Yes, I heard there was no English VA for the game? So are you completely lost in regards to the story, then?

Or is it just Japanese VO's for cries during combat?

I really hope there was no VA for cutscenes if there wasn't localization for the VO's.

The story is translated, and the bits I saw were translated nicely (pretty funny writing, too). It's just all the voiced parts.

Well, again, I hope there were no VA for cutscenes then. Because really, if there was Japanese voiceovers for cutscenes or story sequences, I would have liked them to be localized in English, as well.

But if it's just for battle cries, it's not as big of a deal.

[Tatsuya Suou]

(Sigh) This is what I was afraid of, don't get me wrong, I love the game and it isn't a big issue with voices being Japanese’s only, but because of it there are going to be people who want to know what the cast is saying. It is the only mistake they did because I hope that they would have a quote translation in the booklet for those who want to know. (like you and me)

And from what I know that Atlus new releases have like seven in total depending on the preorders. For me I saw one or two copes and none were out for display.

[Cinder6]

It's just for battle voices, or when you leave an inn. But then again, it seems like they make jokes, so I'm always curious as to what they're saying.

[Hobbun]

(Sigh) This is what I was afraid of, don't get me wrong, I love the game and it isn't a big issue with voices being Japanese’s only, but because of it there are going to be people who want to know what the cast is saying. It is the only mistake they did because I hope that they would have a quote translation in the booklet for those who want to know. (like you and me)


Exactly. I mean for most other RPGs, when they have taken the time to localize the game, they do all the ins and outs, including any battle cries and especially when talking to shopkeepers, etc.

I just don't understand why Atlus did not do the same with this game. It's a bit annoying. But thankfully its not storybreaking by any means.

[Rurik]

I think they were catering to the "EVERYTHING MUST REMAIN JAPANESE!!!" otaku brats frankly. You know, the kind who go on, and on, and on about how "terrible" the English dubs of anime are, the kind who would whine about them mispronouncing their Japanese names, but then whine just as much if they made the names a little easier to pronounce for the English voice actors.

[Flagg]

I gladly play my JRPGS with japanese voice acting and no subtitles than with english voice acting. Still subtitles would have been nice.

[Gen Eric Gui]

I don't see what the big problem is. You're not really missing anything; it's just generic "Checkmate! Yeah!" end of battle quotes. That's the only voice work in the game, and I don't really think it's important enough for Atlus to spend money on changing it, especially for a game like this that has pretty limited appeal.

[Rurik]

It doesn't matter if it's just "Woohoo!" the fact that I don't know what they're saying drives me absolutely insane.

[Mank]

I think they were catering to the "EVERYTHING MUST REMAIN JAPANESE!!!" otaku brats frankly. You know, the kind who go on, and on, and on about how "terrible" the English dubs of anime are, the kind who would whine about them mispronouncing their Japanese names, but then whine just as much if they made the names a little easier to pronounce for the English voice actors.
Now that's one thing I'll never get. How the hell is Japanese hard to pronounce? It's simple two letter sounds with only, say, the occasional silent "u" to risk throwing you off. It's really not that hard to expect someone to pronounce a handful of words/names in the language right, much less if they're being paid to do it...
I do agree that people are too harsh/retarded in the "NEVER DUB ANYTHING EVER!", as there have been a good number of competent dubs out there. But, again, there have been quite a few crappy ones, and battle phrases can often reach levels of downright atrocious (Ugh, Megaman games...)
Sorry, but I don't see anyone having done a translation of the battle stuff to help you out with. I could probably shave off a few from your "WTF are they saying" list, but there are a number I just get the basic jist of, so that's likely a better job for someone else.
At least you get a little English, like "Xaimu... Wave!" and whatnot...

[Rurik]

Well, it's heavily defendant upon hearing the sounds, if you spend a lot of time hearing a certain language, especially from a young age, it's easier to learn and pronounce, but if you've never been exposed to it before in your life, and you then try to learn it, you'll have a hard time because you may THINK you're pronouncing it right, but in truth your brain lacks the ability to hear certain sounds so you're actually mispronouncing certain things.

[Inzaghi]

Now that's one thing I'll never get. How the hell is Japanese hard to pronounce? It's simple two letter sounds with only, say, the occasional silent "u" to risk throwing you off. It's really not that hard to expect someone to pronounce a handful of words/names in the language right, much less if they're being paid to do it...

It's harder than you think. Take stresses: native English speakers instinctively emphasize the wrong syllables in a Japanese word and it's hard for them to go against that instinct. (I mispronounced our former VP of production's name for over a year before I realized. She never corrected me because she was so used to it.) There's also the subtle difference between a few sounds, like their R being more of a blend between our R and L, plus sounds we don't have, like the proper pronunciation of "ryu."

[Foobar]

I guess I just got desensitized to hearing Japanese and not knowing what they're saying years ago, but then, I play FFXI and see people typing out Japanese 50% of the time anyway.

I'm enjoying SRT, this series is new to me and I think the story is presented well enough for me not to die over not knowing what they're babbling about during battle. A portion of it is just them screaming thier attack names out in broken english anyway.

[Rurik]

It's the simple fact that I don't know what they're saying that bugs me more than anything. I don't care how lame it is, or how annoying it may be if you understand it, all I care about is knowing.

[Tatsuya Suou]

heh that's the one thing you and i have in common, wanting to know. I can figure out as I go and just to remind other. For me at least I could care less about the battle cries and shouting; it is the quotes before and after battle. I mean when I see Kaguya blushing next to Aschen in her "fun mode" before battle I always wonder what I missed.

[Rurik]

Precisely! I mean, the GBA OG games wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without knowing what the characters were saying when they used their super attacks, like the Oxtongue D mode. "Pop quiz! What does the D stand for? Daemon? Destroyer? My Cup Size?" or her exchanges with Kyosuke when using the Rampage Ghost.

[InvisibleMan]

Actually, for me, the fact that they left the Japanese voice over intact is going to be the biggest reason to get this game...

[Rurik]

Unless you speak Japanese, that's highly illogical. You can't even be sure that the voice acting is good or not. The entire logic seems to be that you'd rather have a bad voicing job that you can't tell is bad, than a dubbing that could easily be very good, or may be terrible, but at least you'd understand what was being said. If you can't understand what's being said, then the voices might as well have been removed altogether because they don't do you any good, or it could be any language other than English and you'd get the same exact effect, you wouldn't understand it and wouldn't be able to tell if the acting was good or not. I'd rather have bad acting that I can understand, than good acting that I can't.

[Decept]

I'd rather have bad acting that I can understand, than good acting that I can't.

I want to agree with this, but I can't. Bad acting can ruin everything. If you don't understand the language, and therefore can't determine it is bad acting, then "ignorance is bliss" happens.

This is gonna get locked for sure. All I can say is I got over it quick. Within the first sitting it stopped bothering me, and I have come to appreciate the JP voices now. To me it adds flavor that I don't always get in other video games.

[Rednusander]

We won't lock this as long as you guys keep it specific to SRT. As soon as the Japanese versus English versus dubs versus subs shenangins start, well, there's already a thread for that.

Here's the link in case you want to keep fighting the fight.

http://www.atlus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3276&page=4

[Rurik]

Perhaps, but for someone like myself who values knowledge above all else, there is NOTHING more annoying than not knowing something. I really don't care about being dubbed, I'm quite content with subtitles, that's how I watch the SRW anime after all having never been dubbed. Heck, I'd be content with just a list of all the audio in the game translated into English that I could just read over, like a script, at least then I'd know what is being said, that's ALL I care about. However Japanese audio, with absolutely NO translation at all does me absolutely no good at all, it might as well have been removed completely from the game, in fact, that would make the game far more fun to me as there would be nothing to annoy me. And by the way, to all the people who want to whine "But the English actors always mispronounce Japanese names!" so what? Need I remind you that not all anime characters are Japanese? Look at the two OG games on GBA. Have you ever met a Japanese person named Russel? And Giado was bloody Jamaican. Logically speaking, since they would most likely not be used to speaking Japanese, they WOULD mispronounce Ryusei's name in real life, for a Jamaican guy to be able to flawlessly pronounce every word in the Japanese language is illogical.

[Mank]

I'm amazed the random shouts are annoying you more than the completely untranslated attack names, to be honest. I'd say you're losing more by not getting what those are called...
And I personally can't stand anyone advocating mispronunciation 99.9% of the time. That's not just "damn voice actors mispronouncing these Japanese names!", it includes all those annoying little "anime fans" who go waaay too far and think Light should "Raito" or think you're crazy for calling the character from D Grayman named after a damn historical entity by "Aleister Crowley" instead of "Arastor Krory"...
Oh, and it's very easy to tell if a dub is atrocious without understanding the language. For example, I'd argue this: http://www.imeem.com/takashin/music/dD79h_Az/pocket-monsters-gunya-gunya-gasu-gasu/ is an atrocity no matter how much of it you understand. You can still pick up what the voice sounds like, and the emotion in it. The SCRIPT, that you wouldn't be able to tell if it was awful or not.
Also, I find it humorous that a game so enamored with keeping everything that could possibly annoy your average anime fan untranslated, but Shizuka loses her title while her Mech keeps its title... (Not even vaguely annoyed, and I'm guessing it's due to space issues with the change in characters from Japanese to English, just found it funny...)

[Rurik]

ALL of the untranslated audio annoys me, the audio when entering and exiting battles are just what annoy me the most, followed closely by the phrases used when they're using their overdrives and special skills. Ashchen in particular irks me because I was very much looking forward to her party girl mode dialogue, and all I actually get are a few sentences sprinkled about here and there, whenever she chimes in at the start of battle in party girl mode I miss out on it because it's untranslated, when she unleashes code Phantasm Phoenix in battle I miss out on what she's saying because it's untranslated. She irks me more than the other characters, because everyone describes her party girl mode as being like Excellen, who was easily one of my favorite characters in OG. For me not even giving these things subtitles or anything is like Atlas saying, "Yeah, we know you all loved Excellen and her goofy battle cries, so we're going to give you more of what you love with Aschen! Oh, but you have to understand Japanese. Yes, we know you're paying for the American version, but you silly Americans don't deserve to be able to enjoy this game to it's fullest unless you are bilingual and can speak Japanese."

[atboob]

ALL of the untranslated audio annoys me, the audio when entering and exiting battles are just what annoy me the most, followed closely by the phrases used when they're using their overdrives and special skills. Ashchen in particular irks me because I was very much looking forward to her party girl mode dialogue, and all I actually get are a few sentences sprinkled about here and there, whenever she chimes in at the start of battle in party girl mode I miss out on it because it's untranslated, when she unleashes code Phantasm Phoenix in battle I miss out on what she's saying because it's untranslated. She irks me more than the other characters, because everyone describes her party girl mode as being like Excellen, who was easily one of my favorite characters in OG. For me not even giving these things subtitles or anything is like Atlas saying, "Yeah, we know you all loved Excellen and her goofy battle cries, so we're going to give you more of what you love with Aschen! Oh, but you have to understand Japanese. Yes, we know you're paying for the American version, but you silly Americans don't deserve to be able to enjoy this game to it's fullest unless you are bilingual and can speak Japanese."

Dude, I don't know man, I think you better sell the game before you completely implode.

[Rurik]

Bah, I never sell my games, especially not when the game as a whole isn't bad, and they all have a flaw that irks me. In this case it's the fact that they decided the American players don't even deserve so much as an insert that lists translated versions of their quotes so they can fully enjoy the game.

[Gen Eric Gui]

they decided the American players don't even deserve

You do understand that things like that cost money, right? It has nothing to do with people "deserving" something, and completely to do with if it makes economical sense to it. And given the sheer amount of dialogue in this game, an "insert" with that kind of information on it would likely be a pretty large and expensive doohickey. And the same thing goes for the voices; I think you immensely over-estimate exactly how much interest there is in a game like this.

I dunno about you, but I'd rather the game be exactly the way it is now than for Atlus to have charged $50 for it, just to pay for all these silly little additions.

If you're that worried about it, find a translation guide. I'm sure there's one out there now, and even if there isn't I'm sure one's in the works.

Edit: All that being said, I prefer to have no voice acting at all in my games, and if it has to be there I actually prefer stuff I can't understand like in the recent Zelda games and Ico. So whatever.

[Rednusander]

What happened with the voice acting?


We kept the original Japanese voice acting intact. No English voices were recorded for the game, mostly for technical reasons. Originally, we did look into replacing the voices into English, but the voice system was so complex that we had to give up on that idea. We’re sorry we couldn’t provide a dub, but the original Japanese cast did such an awesome job that it was a no-brainer to leave the Japanese voices in.

[Neveryll]

Well for me not knowing does leave me wondering what is being said considering the rest of the dialogue is hilarious. However I have heard one too many bad voice translations and don't have a problem with the japanese voiceovers that are in the game. I'll just wait patiently for someone to post the translations either on this site or another when they get around to it. I refuse to let something so small ruin the rather enjoyable time I am having in playing this game. :)

[jeffx]

It's a bunch of one liners like
- My name is XXX!
- Are you ready?
- OK!
- This is what you were waiting for!
- Come and get some!
- Consider yourself lucky to see this skill before you die!!
- HOOOOOOO HO HO HO HO HO
- etc. and so on. just taunts for the battle

For the inn, stores, it's mostly
- guess we gotta hit the road now, eh?
- Won't you buy meow stuff?

That's IT! Nothing ELSE!!! You guys complaining (won't name names but one in particular) are totally pathetic. I sorta feel bad for Atlus because clearly you're supposed to be the target audience, the one that's been begging them for years to bring these games here. Now that you have one, this is how you thank them...

[ShinMog]

Personally the JVA doesn't bother me (I think it adds to the enjoyment a bit). It's a non-critical part of the game, and I'm used to hearing this type of thing from playing Guilty Gear and the such. Thanks, Atlus!

-- Ninja Edit --

And if it really bothers you that much, there's usually a FAQ or forum post (looks above) where people will tell you what they're saying.

[lunarXskies]

It's a bunch of one liners like
- My name is XXX!
- Are you ready?
- OK!
- This is what you were waiting for!
- Come and get some!
- Consider yourself lucky to see this skill before you die!!
- HOOOOOOO HO HO HO HO HO
- etc. and so on. just taunts for the battle

For the inn, stores, it's mostly
- guess we gotta hit the road now, eh?
- Won't you buy meow stuff?

That's IT! Nothing ELSE!!! You guys complaining (won't name names but one in particular) are totally pathetic. I sorta feel bad for Atlus because clearly you're supposed to be the target audience, the one that's been begging them for years to bring these games here. Now that you have one, this is how you thank them...
Actually there's a ton of references to other works done by the voice actor, example being: Suzaku quoting from Jigoku Shoujo with her "Would you like to die this once?", etc
Alot of them are also similar to Tales victory quotes and such as well, so they're not all one liners with no meaning whatsoever

[jeffx]

^ Not exactly the point here, but interesting nonetheless. Talk about an obscure reference. I'm not sure a lot of Jigoku Shoujo fans are also SRW fans (or vice-versa). I wonder if anyone else but you got that connection?

But how does being similar to Tales victory quotes make them different than one-liners?

[Constraint]

Ever heard of Japan?

[Rurik]

*Points to his movie and comic book collections featuring lots of Spiderman, Indiana Jones, Evil Dead/Army of Darkness, and Nightmare on Elm Street* I happen to LIKE one liners, a lot.

[lunarXskies]

^ Not exactly the point here, but interesting nonetheless. Talk about an obscure reference. I'm not sure a lot of Jigoku Shoujo fans are also SRW fans (or vice-versa). I wonder if anyone else but you got that connection?
It's not just Jigoku Shoujo, there's one with Haken and Gaogaigar, which most SRW fans would know of >

But how does being similar to Tales victory quotes make them different than one-liners?
..let me rephrase my last point >
It'd be interesting to hear what they say in battle because they're not just one liners, but interesting/amusing quotes that would be nice to know...
...which is pretty much my above point...but stated differently for some odd reason >

[Mank]

If people here actually care enough we could just pool together and throw out quickie translations on whatever we hear and get as we play... I at least get a few of them, like the one with KOS-MOS meowing... hehe...

[Rurik]

All I'd really need is a literal translation, having an adopted little sister (not in any legal sense, we've just known each other for years and act like siblings) who's Swedish, I'm pretty good at being able to figure out how to rephrase things to make sense in other languages once translated.

[Candle Jack]

I don't have a problem with subtitles, its how I prefere my anime.

[cj iwakura]

Here's my biggest quirk: why did they literally transcribe the Japanese attacks instead of translating them to an equivalent meaning?

[greg]

You guys complaining (won't name names but one in particular) are totally pathetic. I sorta feel bad for Atlus because clearly you're supposed to be the target audience, the one that's been begging them for years to bring these games here. Now that you have one, this is how you thank them...

I've been playing this game for awhile, and I have to agree. 98% of RPGs that come out over here seem to be dubbed in English, and this one game, which has minimal voice acting that has nothing to do with furthering the plot at all, has some people all upset.

Here's some translation of the exciting dialogue you're missing out on:
When entering the inns:
"Sasuga tsukareta ze!" ("Man, I'm really tired!")
"Heiki na yashiro da na." ("This seems to be a peaceful inn.")
"Yasunde iku ka?" ("Shall we go and rest?")
"Saate, Dou suru kai?" ("Well then, what shall we do?")

When leaving the inns:
"OK, deyou ka?" ("OK, shall we leave?")
"Asonde naranai ka?" (No time to play!")
"Iku shikanai ka?" ("I guess we have to leave?"

The dog shop keeper ends all of his sentences with "-wan", because he's a dog. "Wan wan" is "woof woof." All he's saying is " Take your time to look. Oh, that's a good item. Thank you for buying," etc.

The stuff they before and after the battles are a bit more difficult for me to understand, for the level I'm at. A lot of it seems to be, "Let's trash these bozos. They look easy."

-But sure, there is _some_ funny stuff you're missing out on. One funny battle ending goes like this:
Aschen: "Sore, omoi desu ka?" ("Is it heavy?")
Kaguya: "Ken desu ka? Soretomo....?" ("You mean my sword? Or do you mean...?" implying her bust)

I'll come up with some other translations later.

Anyhow, I still don't see how this ties into the regular OG games. I was expecting some of the characters to be in this game. Apparently Haken is somehow related to Excellen and Kaguya is somehow related to Kyousuke. I guess it has to do with the interdimensional travel that takes place in OG2.

Actually there's a ton of references to other works done by the voice actor, example being: Suzaku quoting from Jigoku Shoujo with her "Would you like to die this once?", etc
But you do realize that lines like this that reference the JAPANESE voice actor's other works would have no meaning whatsoever if this was dubbed into ENGLISH, unless of course they grab the same voice actor who has done the exact same corresponding anime vocal work in which to reference?

[Tatsuya Suou]

Anyhow, I still don't see how this ties into the regular OG games. I was expecting some of the characters to be in this game. Apparently Haken is somehow related to Excellen and Kaguya is somehow related to Kyousuke. I guess it has to do with the interdimensional travel that takes place in OG2.

Just keep playing it, I can guarantee you it has a lot to do with OG, you are right that it has to do with OG2. As far as Haken and Kaguya, I’ll try to explain it a bit. The last name Nanbu for Kaguya is more of a coincidence. She is more like the spiritual daughter of Zengar Zonbolt to me. (having both a Zankantou and shouts "chesto!" tells me that)
Haken is more complex and it has a lot to do with his relationship with Aschen. (remember, in OG2 there is one more person with the name "Browning") Also pay attention to Aschen and Cardia's model number; then there are the robots. Aside from princes Suzuka’s Jyaki-GUN-Oh, all four robots have an explanation later in the game as to why they are so small. And one last thing, not to spoil it but you will find out that the "real" enemy in the game is one from the OG games.


But you do realize that lines like this that reference the JAPANESE voice actor's other works would have no meaning whatsoever if this was dubbed into ENGLISH, unless of course they grab the same voice actor who has done the exact same corresponding anime vocal work in which to reference?

Witch is why I wanted Michael Sinterniklaas to be one of the voices in for the dub of the game. Because Mike Sinterniklaas=Guy Shishioh=Haken Browning.

[Olethros]

This thread amuses me, and I don't even have this game.