2019-06-01_PC_Gamer

you hear regularly in localisation, and Strichart explains
why. “This game is set in Japan, and I would never want
to lose its sense of place and culture at the cost of a little
confusion over street food with no one-on-one translation.
Maybe you’ll even learn something from the game!
Generally speaking, English is a more idiomatic language,
so finding idioms that still match the intent of the
Japanese dialogue without necessarily matching the line
word-for-word is the touch of magic we bring to the
game in hopes of making it sound like good dialogue to
the English ear.”
I bring up a scene from Yakuza Kiwami 2, out for
PC this month, that serves
as a good example for the
magic Strichart is talking
about. In it, Kiryu gets
invited into a club where a
gang of adult men roleplay
as toddlers. When he
refuses to play along, the
gang leader shouts, “Let’s
pacify this bitch!”
“The line was originally ‘Let’s crack this bitch’ in
Yakuza 2, but Jon Riesenbach, my editor for Kiwami 2,
reallytookittothenextlevel.See?Magic.”

changing accents
Localising also means finding a way to approximate local
ways of speaking. Dialects use specific words and accents
limited to one country. Western Japan’s Kansai dialect
used in the series by characters such as Majima is famous
throughout the country, but there’s no singular way to
localise it, mostly because any accent (such as the

Southern American accent Ace Attorney uses in its place)

is also specific to one location. Scott weighs in on the

tricky question of how to provide a consistent tone in a

text several people work on.

“I made a point to overhaul Majima’s accent starting

with Yakuza 0. I aimed to remove any direct correlation

one could make to an American South accent and embody

what is generally perceived as being the root of the Kansai

dialect – faster speech, colourful language, and high

energy. This accent actually proved problematic, because I

was the only one who could really write in it.

“Sam Mullen, our director of production, recently

came down on me for it,

joking that if I got hit by

a car, Majima would have

to be written out of the

series. I have since written

an internal series accent

guide and someday, I’ll be

forced to let someone else

write him.”

There will always be instances in which a reference

is so specific to its culture that fitting idioms just don’t

exist. Strichart says that even when a few Japanese puns

are lost, there are enough ways in which the localisation

team can make up for it elsewhere. I appreciate Strichart

for shedding more light to a part of the game-making

process that we tend to take for granted, especially as

English speakers.

Good localisations don’t just give us something new to

play,theyalsohoneour intercultural skills, allowing us to

takeapeekattheworld behind a game.

Malindy Hetfeld

FAR LEFT: The

writing and the pose

convey that Kiryu is

the cutest maid.

LEFT: The yakuza’s

aggressive behaviour

extends to their form

of speech.

Cultural Changes Localisation also addresses the following

gore

To ensure games receives a certain

content rating, gore may be removed or

turned into an optional component.

symbols

Certain symbols may be forbidden. The

ban on swastikas in Germany is a good

example that also applies to games.

offensive material

Insensitive material or slurs may be

removed. Future Yakuza remakes will,

for example, cut transphobic content.

DialogueforDubbing

Dubbed dialogue in games isn’t always

identical with written text. To make it

natural, words are changed or omitted.

“ImadeapoInttooverhaul

majIma’saccentstartIng

wIth Yakuza 0”

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