Doh Whang provides Localization 101 for Valhalla Knights 2

We all have, at one point, come across funky Engrish translations. This has always been present in translated games, and it really is quite interesting how developers deal with the issue of localization. Doh Whang of XSEED Games provide an inside look at how the whole process works, in Valhalla Knights 2 in particular. And just for kicks, we’ve included some funny translations from various animes.

Doh Whang of XEED Games has taken to the blog to talk about the localization project of Valhalla Knights 2. According to him, it’s not just the typos and missing particles that are the biggest pain in localized games, but rather, the dialogue that fail at making any decent sense, and the “poor attempts at colloquialism.”

It’s quite funny, actually, when we come across subtitles gone wrong — and am pretty sure you’ve seen quite a lot. So, delving into what he calls “Localization 101”, Whang talks about the tedious process of Valhalla Knights 2. Tedious, because it is a very long game after all. Try having 80 quests and 20 dungeons to go through.

One of the many issues they came across was that on the standard character limit ratio of Japanese to English, which is 1:2. Basically, what this translates to is “for every Japanese character, we get two letters for English.” The problem is, inasmuch as they would want to provide precise translation of Japanese characters to English, there are certain words that have no possible English translation that is only two letters long. A challenge, indeed.

Anyway, Localization 101 sure is an interesting read. For those of you who want to find out more about the process and what goes on in XSEED Game’s development of the game, do check out the link below.

And just for kicks, we’ve included some funny translations from various animes. Just click on the thumbnails to enlarge and you’re set to roll on the floor laughing.  Enjoy.

Related Valhalla Knights 2 articles:

• Grind-a-thon, here we come: Valhalla Knights 2 grinds to gold
• Valhalla Knights 2 will require 80 hours to finish
  

Via IGN