Shantae 5 keeps using Google Translator for it's translations as it is tradition for the series

[Deleted member 4372]

Hopefully something that will be fixed!

Also, its translations, not it's translations

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I just spent three minutes reading and re-reading 'translations,' missing the 'its' vs 'it's'

 

[Finale Fireworker]

oh yeah i agree with everything you said, but at first glance i find it kinda funny saying that a bad translation was unacceptable on 2019.

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I thought you were throwing shade at me, lol. As if I expected translators to work for free, or that you thought game devs shouldn't invest in translation costs when releasing a game internationally. I was confused.

A bad translation can still happen. When you don't speak the language and are trusting someone else who does, it is impossible to personally tell how good of a job they did. That's why playtesting in every language is important, albeit difficult to coordinate.

 

[Quad Lasers]

They sure did. I told them the same things I said here the very day this game was announced and this was their reply:

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"We'll use these other, equally awful translators. Thanks for playing."

 

[IamFlying]

Who would even use Google translator when there is deepl.com, the translation is way better for most languages (when you translate whole sentences not single words).

 

[Choppasmith]

Yeah, no, even as an English speaker, this is bullshit. Even old SNK titles were translated better and those were notoriously "bad".

 

[Necromanti]

oh yeah i agree with everything you said, but at first glance i find it kinda funny saying that a bad translation was unacceptable on 2019.

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There are still a lot of inadequate/rushed/underfunded translation jobs today, but I'd say it's no longer expected like it was before. Even landmark titles like Final Fantasy VII had awful translations in some languages, and that's something I can't imagine for a big title like that today. It's definitely something that's considered during development rather than tacked on later.

 

[cj_iwakura]

That much is true, Absolute Zero's Translation of Tales of Innocence is one of the best I've seen.

As for Touhou, ZUN has managed to build a sizeable world that his fans have expanded greatly. As such, he trust them more than he would trust a company that has no previous knowledge of this games.

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Which is insulting, because that's what professionals do: research. ZUN is a narcissistic tool.

 

[Gustaf]

There are still a lot of inadequate/rushed/underfunded translation jobs today, but I'd say it's no longer expected like it was before. Even landmark titles like Final Fantasy VII had awful translations in some languages, and that's something I can't imagine for a big title like that today. It's definitely something that's considered during development rather than tacked on later.

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well that was also kinda my point, it was never acceptable, but companies just try to save a buck

 

[Jave]

I've said this numerous times. As a native Spanish speaker, I'd rather buy an English-only game over a game with a lousy Spanish translation. If you can't even bother to do a Spanish script with the care and respect it deserves, don't do one at all.

 

[Deleted member 4783]

Fucking LOL at "Curriculum Vitae" as resume.

 

[ROMASS]

In this case, i'm sure money isn't the problem lol
("match" > "corrispondenza", even worse when you see that "match total" has the right translation)

 

[Twentieth]

Nothing will ever top that.
Nothing.

As someone who works in translation, a lot of issues come from the way the files are handed off - I had people order all of the ingame strings alphabetically, to the point where you have absolutely no idea where in the game the strings might show up (extra points to the project managers that hand off dialogue files like that).
Then it depends on how responsive the team is with context questions. I work in a third party translation studio, so we never get to see the game even, and depend on the client sending us screenshots or explanations.
No screenshots? No context? No order?
I translate "Back" as "Going back in the menu" and then it turns out it's for back costumes...
It's frustrating to do your best as a translator, and then be ridiculed when the real issue is the communication with the devs and the care and effort you are allowed to put into the translation with the time and budget they give you.

Also, LQA. Don't skip LQA guys.

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This is an insightful post. It's easy to judge other people's work without knowing the issues they face, which are often outside of their control.