Final Fantasy IV Translation Comparison Stream Series

YouTube VOD Playlist:

You can also catch the streams live here on Twitch.

About

Many years ago, I used to compare video game translations live on stream, including games like Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy VI, and a bunch more.

More recently, I’ve begun a live comparison of Final Fantasy IV’s translations. And once again, we’re comparing a bunch of things all at once:

• The original Japanese Super Famicom release of Final Fantasy IV from 1991
• The simplified Japanese Super Famicom release known as Final Fantasy IV Easy Type, also from 1991
• The original English Super NES release, released in 1991 as Final Fantasy II
• Two versions of the famous J2e fan translation – the first version debuted in 1998 or so, and the second version was released in 2001
• Another fan-made translation known as the “Namingway Edition”, which debuted in 2015

In these streams, I go into really deep detail and try to explain the nuances of each Japanese line. Then we look at all the various translations listed above, to see how well they convey the original Japanese text. Naturally, the pace is very slow. I’ve been told this also lends it an ASMR vibe, but I don’t know about that.

Informal Scoring System

Because it takes so much of my brain power to compare all these translations in real-time, I thought it’d be nice and helpful to implement some kind of scoring system. This would help me keep track in general of how the translations compare over time. The system basically works like this:

• Each translation starts with 100 points
• If a line is unnecessarily dropped in a translation, I mark off a point
• If a line is unnecessarily added in a translation, I mark off a point
• If a line has a genuine mistranslation or mistake, I mark off a point
• If a line shines especially brightly, I add a point
• If a line misses especially important nuances or details, I might mark off a point, but it’s a case-by-case thing
• If an unwarranted pop culture reference (or anything similar) is added, I mark off 5 points

However, I’m extremely worried that others will place too much emphasis on this imperfect and imprecise scoring system. It’s mostly there for my personal reference. I already want to implement a more robust system, but it’ll have to wait for a future comparison project.

Personal Touch

Besides analyzing each line in the game, I also share stories and anecdotes from my professional translation career, my history with the game over the past 35 years, as well as what Japanese fans have to say about different parts of Final Fantasy IV.

I also show off tricks, glitches, and things most players might never think about. So if you like games, Japanese entertainment, or translation, or if you miss seeing the sight of humanity in this weird new AI world, then I honestly think you’ll enjoy these streams.

Handy Resources

If you like this sort of thing and want to follow along, here are some extra things to check out too. I reference them from time to time, so consider this list like a class syllabus or something:

• My Twitch page – this is where I stream this stuff
• Which Final Fantasy IV Translation Should You Play? – a big article of mine that could be considered required reading
• Final Fantasy IV Translation Comparison Writeups – I started doing these in 2011-ish, I wanted to update it recently with the section on Tomra but due to missing screenshots I eventually wound up starting this stream series instead. I still intend to update these writeups in the future, so consider these streams + the old writeups as companions pieces
• ”Funky Fantasy IV” Google-Translated FFIV – I even wrote a book about this project afterward!
• What Is Localization? – a free PDF from my book about Undertale’s Japanese translation, this covers many of the translation concepts I discuss during the streams
• Interview: Fan Translation of Mother 3 – in this old blog interview I did for AGM back in 2010, I share some translation philosophies. Keep these things in mind as we go through FFIV’s translations and you’ll get a front-row seat to the difficulties of translation

  日本語版もあるよ！ – after I did my interview, AGM hired a professional English-to-Japanese translator to translate my interview, in case you want to read my translated chat about translation

I intend to share a bunch of my files and data on here too sometime. I’ll probably drop all the game text into a Google Spreadsheet for viewers to reference and follow along with. So if this project sounds interesting to you, check back every so often – I might’ve added more cool stuff down here!

Mini-Lessons

During the intros to my streams, I often share little lessons and background information. Sometimes I’ll do short presentations on translation theory, sometimes I’ll show off the history of Final Fantasy IV, and sometimes I’ll explain how the ROM translation scene has evolved over the years. There’s neat stuff in these streams, so definitely check them out, at least just for the intros! Here are a few topics of interest:

• My personal 30+ year history with Final Fantasy IV and the many projects I’ve done using the game over the years
• Wording Matters – the magic of words and how wording is important in many fields of life, including translation
• ”Competing” Translations – the idea that translations are “descriptions” and how multiple translations of the same thing are complementary to each other, not necessarily antagonistic to each other
• Games are Important – my view of games in general and how they seem to be a “cousin” to language that can get around the human language barrier
• Making Mistakes – what it’s like to make mistakes in life, not just as a translator but just as a normal human being
• Explaining the Wanderbar – I explain the history of the sidebar thing that I use to display all the different translations in Final Fantasy IV
• A short lecture on the “Spoony Bard” line (with an addition here) – explaining the situation with this line, its origin, its legacy, why Japanese players are confused about this English line, and a similar but different line in the Japanese script that is loudly celebrated by Japanese fans
• Why Retranslate? – we look at the J2e fan translation readme and look at the main purpose behind the group’s translation patch
• Purpose of the Namingway fan translation patch – we also look at the main purpose behind the more recent “Namingway” fan translation patch, to compare and contrast with J2e’s driving purpose
• Looking at how Nintendo of America tried to promote Final Fantasy IV in 1991 – and how those tactics didn’t really sell me on the game at the time
• Discussing the still-lost Japanese cell phone version of Final Fantasy IV – and how I keep hoping to find/play it someyear
• Looking at Japanese Squaresoft game sales from the early 1990s
• Trying to explain & show this weird glitch I got to happen in the Super NES version back in the 1990s – I even create a cheat code for you to play around with this glitch yourself!
• A quick overview of Japanese personal pronouns – in particular, I try to point out which Final Fantasy IV characters might use which pronouns
• J2e’s “FF4 Americanization Notes” – we look at how initial fan backlash to J2e’s translation patch prompted this document to be written. This section also covers the infamous “William Shatner” pop culture reference that J2e inserted into the Final Fantasy IV script Working Designs-style
• The very earliest rumors about the Japanese version of the game – basically, this is the early 1990s Final Fantasy IV equivalent of the “you can get Mew from under the truck in Pokemon” rumor, and then how the rumor was debunked later on in the 1990s
• Some of the earliest Final Fantasy IV coverage in a Japanese gaming magazine – a two-page report from Shoshinkai, the predecessor to Nintendo Space World
• A light-but-technical look at how all of the main text is stored inside Final Fantasy IV’s programming – and how this storage space is used differently by FF2us, FF4 Easy Type, and the Namingway fan translation. We can also see very clearly how a game’s text is not stored in any logical order at all, a phenomenon that makes things much more difficult for translators
• A look at Final Fantasy IV’s television commercials in Japan, and how the same game was advertised differently in North America

I discuss other topics during the actual streams too, so I invite you to listen or watch through them sometime, even if you’re just listening to them while doing chores or something.