Final Fantasy 1 Official Browser Game with Auto-Translation

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December 18, 2017 marked the 30th anniversary of Final Fantasy 1’s release in Japan. To celebrate, Square Enix uploaded an HTML version of Final Fantasy 1 that can be played in standard web browsers. Unfortunately, the game was only released in Japanese, but fans quickly realized that using web browsers’ auto-translate feature could turn the game into English.

Image 1

Because things like this rarely stay online for long, I wanted to document the game and how it looks when it’s auto-translated into English. I decided to stream the process live and take screenshots of all the text I came across. Luckily, only Final Fantasy 1’s introductory gameplay is included in the browser version – the game ends shortly after you defeat the first boss and save the princess.

Technically, the game ends once you hit the famous bridge scene after defeating Garland. I wonder if it’s possible to edit your character’s coordinates to skip over the bridge. If so, I wonder how much more of the game is playable beyond that…

The images below capture most of the text I encountered, although I did miss a few amusing lines related to preemptive attacks. If you’d like to see the whole thing from start to finish, see the stream archive here. There are two other things to note:

  • The translation’s font looks ridiculous because this Japanese version only has capital English letters in its font, and even then it only has like 8 letters included. All other letters fall back to a default browser font, which makes everything look fittingly crazy.
  • If you enjoy this kind of weird and funny auto-translation stuff, I highly recommend that you check out Funky Fantasy IV!

Images

A welcome message and a sound on/off option menu
A welcome message and a sound on/off option menu
The game's introductory story
The game's introductory story
The individual letters on the naming screen turned into a real mess
The individual letters on the naming screen turned into a real mess
The default characters classes
The default characters classes
My characters' names
My characters' names
The start of the game
The start of the game
Many of the lines in the game were edited to refer to the game's anniversary and the series' future
Many of the lines in the game were edited to refer to the game's anniversary and the series' future
Checking the fountain
Checking the fountain
Translated text usually breaks out of the text windows and becomes unreadable
Translated text usually breaks out of the text windows and becomes unreadable
Many NPCs say the same thing, as is to be expected from early games like this
Many NPCs say the same thing, as is to be expected from early games like this
The main menu
The main menu
An equip menu of some sort
An equip menu of some sort
Character stats - I later learned that each character has differently translated words for the same stats
Character stats - I later learned that each character has differently translated words for the same stats
Empty item menu
Empty item menu
An armor shop
An armor shop
The biggest challenge is figuring out the shop menu options
The biggest challenge is figuring out the shop menu options
Another shop
Another shop
Buying black magic spells
Buying black magic spells
Equipping the party with armor
Equipping the party with armor
A standard battle
A standard battle
A goblin is defeated
A goblin is defeated
A goblin's attack misses a party member
A goblin's attack misses a party member
The party attacks a goblin that already died
The party attacks a goblin that already died
All enemies defeated
All enemies defeated
Party members level up and have their stats increase
Party members level up and have their stats increase
The inn screen - the text was edited to say that you can't save in this version of the game
The inn screen - the text was edited to say that you can't save in this version of the game
An item shop
An item shop
A locked door
A locked door
Apparently this NPC is supposed to be chanting a spell?
Apparently this NPC is supposed to be chanting a spell?
I think this is supposed to be the queen but is known as Mr. Jane Osaki instead
I think this is supposed to be the queen but is known as Mr. Jane Osaki instead
The infamous invisible NPC is fully visible here
The infamous invisible NPC is fully visible here
I was impressed by how enemy names always managed to fit within their limited window space, but it was always by coincidence
I was impressed by how enemy names always managed to fit within their limited window space, but it was always by coincidence
Fighting some ghouls
Fighting some ghouls
Potions became "Portions"
Potions became "Portions"
Using a "Portion" to restore HP
Using a "Portion" to restore HP
Casting the Thunder spell
Casting the Thunder spell
A party member is paralyzed
A party member is paralyzed
Checking a treasure chest
Checking a treasure chest
The Thunder and Cure spells
The Thunder and Cure spells
Successfully running away from enemies
Successfully running away from enemies
A Giga Worm
A Giga Worm
A locked door
A locked door
A secret NPC was added! He congratulates you for finding him and hopes you'll continue to support the series in the future
A secret NPC was added! He congratulates you for finding him and hopes you'll continue to support the series in the future
Different treasure chests
Different treasure chests
An empty treasure chest
An empty treasure chest
Meeting the vile Garland, who no longer threatens to "knock you down". Instead, he threatens to "flock".
Meeting the vile Garland, who no longer threatens to "knock you down". Instead, he threatens to "flock".
All the bats say this
All the bats say this
The princess thanks the party
The princess thanks the party
The princess gives the party a Lute
The princess gives the party a Lute
The king gives the party something I think
The king gives the party something I think
The princess again
The princess again
The king again
The king again
Clearly an updated message
Clearly an updated message
The Tent's item description
The Tent's item description
The Lute's item description
The Lute's item description
Using a potion on party members
Using a potion on party members
The weapon equip screen
The weapon equip screen
The armor equip screen
The armor equip screen
Pretty extreme
Pretty extreme
Not so extreme, but has decent tea and knowledge of Japan's Meiji era
Not so extreme, but has decent tea and knowledge of Japan's Meiji era
A nice, well-rounded mixture of precipitation, commerce, and education
A nice, well-rounded mixture of precipitation, commerce, and education
This monk definitely lifts
This monk definitely lifts
There were three other classes to choose from at the start of the game - here's the White Mage's name and starting stats
There were three other classes to choose from at the start of the game - here's the White Mage's name and starting stats
This is the Black Mage's name and starting stats
This is the Black Mage's name and starting stats
You can also play as the main character from Final Fantasy Record Keeper
You can also play as the main character from Final Fantasy Record Keeper
lanch: Verb. (third-person singular simple present lanches, present participle lanching, simple past and past participle lanched) (obsolete) To throw, as a lance; to let fly; to launch.
lanch: Verb. (third-person singular simple present lanches, present participle lanching, simple past and past participle lanched) (obsolete) To throw, as a lance; to let fly; to launch.
This NPC discusses the next part of the game, except you can't get to that part of the game in this version
This NPC discusses the next part of the game, except you can't get to that part of the game in this version
30 people's legs are apparently gone
30 people's legs are apparently gone
There's almost something EarthBound-esque about this self-referential NPC
There's almost something EarthBound-esque about this self-referential NPC
Why is a well thanking me
Why is a well thanking me
Visiting the healer
Visiting the healer
Again, discussing an upcoming event that's impossible to see in this version
Again, discussing an upcoming event that's impossible to see in this version
Finally, the game's famous intro scene plays... but this is also where this version of the game ends
Finally, the game's famous intro scene plays... but this is also where this version of the game ends
The very ending screen
The very ending screen

Stream Archive

11 Comments
  1. eddie

    ☞ FIGHT
    MAGIC
    MEDICINE
    RICE CAKE

  2. Bartolo Polkakitty

    The bit that seems the most interesting to me is when it’s trying to translate the individual kana on the naming screen, because you can still tell they’re arranged in gojuuon order, and there is actually some clear logic behind most of them. 「う」 really is a word that means “cormorant”, and 「え」 can be used as an interjection with the same significance as “huh?”, although I would have expected the latter to be interpreted as “picture”. 「に」 can be interpreted as “into”, although it seems strange that whatever corpus this program is drawing from has led it to conclude that “into” is a more likely translation than “in” or “at”. 「こ」, 「そ」, and 「な」, translated as “this”, “that”, and “what” respectively, seem to be interpreted as abbreviations of 「この」, 「その」, and 「なに」. (I wonder if the corpus included examples of an extremely shocked person saying 「な　な　な　な　なに？？？」)

    I have no idea why so many characters are being translated as “to”, though.

    Also, isn’t there a consensus among most translators now that 「ケアル」 (the name of the basic healing spell in every Final Fantasy game) was actually intended to be “Care” instead of “Cure”? I’m impressed that it got that right when several different professional translators in the 90s didn’t (well, unless they just changed it because they thought “Care” wasn’t a good-sounding name for a spell, like how “Tina” became “Terra”….)

    1. Adamant

      ケアル isn’t “intended” to be any particular English word, but yes, it’s probably the word “care” (ケア) with an extra ル tossed onto the end to make it more than just the average English word. A lot of other spells have similar “slightly corrupted English words” names, and especially the Sleep spell スリプル has a similar “just toss a ル at the end” one.

    2. Clyde Mandelin

      Haha, yeah, you’re right – I shouldn’t have said “Cure” there, it was a force of habit. I haven’t followed the discussions about the origins of the weird FF spell names too closely, but yeah it does seem very likely to be a corruption of ケア.

    3. Kouban

      I’ve always thought that they changed it to “Cure” because the healing spells in Dungeons & Dragons are called Cure _ Wounds.

  3. Draco

    I love melodramatic machine translation. Some golden lines in there XD

  4. KingMike

    Sorry I only now got to it.
    https://i.imgur.com/csdpZ6D.png

    I’m sure someone else can do better. 😀

  5. Just no

    Aren’t people tired of idiot machine translations of games already?

    1. KingMike

      It can be amusing in moderation.

  6. Camelpimp

    I’ve been playing Funky Fantasy lately, so this is serendipitous

    (Also inspired me to try to do a google translate version of fe8. Try being operative word. :/

  7. Flami

    Getting married at the shops? Awesome!