For the first time, developer Inti Creates is bringing the Blaster Master Zero series to the Epic Games Store, and Blaster Master Zero 3 releases on July 29. For Japanese series such as this one, proper localization is essential when working with a colossal launch like this one. To many, "localization" might just be understood as translating the game into different languages. Interestingly, that is far from the full picture. Localization can be a huge issue for many developers when it is done poorly, and failing to localize properly has led to many instances of controversy in the gaming community.
A lot of these problems arise, according to Inti Creates Producer Matt Papa in a recent Game Rant interview, because localization is such a difficult job. In the discussion, Papa responded to a lot of common myths and misconceptions around localizing a game. Furthermore, he broke down some of the most difficult elements of games to alter for different regions. It was not all negatives, however, as the producer also explained why it is always worth the effort.
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Plenty of great localization examples appear throughout Inti Creates' games. Fans of the studio's other work, including Gal Gun, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, and Gunvolt will have likely experienced these deft linguistic transformations, but may not have noticed them before. That is, of course, one of the marks of a good localization - fans never suspect the changes.
When asked that question, Papa admitted that "if you ask 10 different localizers, you’d get 10 different answers." However, in his 7 years of experience localizing with Inti Creates, he learned that the key is to not simply directly translate everything. "My goal is to localizer is never just translate the exact Japanese text." According to the Inti producer, "that’s not localization. That’s translation. Localization is very different."
The problem with directly translating every word is that a lot of the original ideas can get lost. Papa argued that a direct translation approach to localization means players are "going to miss a lot." In a similar sense, the Demon's Souls PS5 reboot changes some parts of the game to make it fit better for modern audiences.
"If there’s something that’s not going to land, something that just will not make sense in terms of language or culture, or if it’s a Japanese play on words that doesn’t make sense in English, that’s your chance as a localizer to get creative."
Papa considers the point of localization to be conveying the "experience" of the original game. Normally, that means identifying what the moment is talking about, and if it's trying to "make the player laugh, or cry, or facepalm." Of course, this process also helps keep a narrative coherent when the words are translated into another language. In some prominent cases, like with The Legend of Zelda localization, poor translations left huge plot holes and confusing statements in the final English version of the game.
Papa went on to give some explicit examples of how he localizes a reference in a game. One of these was with the game Gal Gun: Double Peace. The series' popularity led to the new remaster Gal Gun Returns. In Gal Gun: Double Peace, a character loves udon noodles and talks about how she can't decide between Kansai and Kanto udon noodles. During the interview, the Blaster Master Zero producer queried: "If I ask you if you like Kansai or Kanto udon better, what would you say?"
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Of course, it could just be left how it was. But in that case, the localization would only be of interest to "maybe five people." Ultimately, an entire game is not "for those five people." In order to get this character trait across cultural boundaries, Papa identified a culinary concern at the core of the West. The debate around the best video game food is hotly contested, so there was plenty of material to choose from.
"'What is something that everyone around the world knows, and has at least two varieties of in their head, that they probably have an opinion about?’ So, I decided to phrase that as ‘thin crust versus thick crust pizza."
Papa views his job as trying to "preserve the creator's original vision" as much as possible. As a professional localizer, he can do exactly that, as the ramen/pizza example demonstrates. It's the same desire that fans have for games like Mother 3, which never got an official localization. As such, the original creator's intent has never been fully realized in English. Even Terry Crews wants Mother 3 localized, showing the widespread appeal of truly translating a game creator's intent.
There are many ways that different localization teams deal with problematic or difficult content. For example, one of the strangest Pokemon Red/Blue localization facts, references to a drunk man passed out in the street becomes someone asking for coffee. However, transformations do not always occur with big games.
Fire Emblem Fates' petting controversy was one that Nintendo sorted out using localization. On the other hand, not all of Fates was perfectly localized. There are many instances like the video below where certain interactions between characters were completely replaced with ellipses. Changing problematic or tricky content, like with the controversial Lost Ark localization, is "one of the hardest things to do," according to Papa.
"It puts the localizer in a precarious position. When you have problematic content, whatever you do, you can’t please everybody. You can’t. When you’re faced with this kind of content, you have to realize that, and it’s a tough pill to swallow."
His solution is to liaise with the original writing team closely. "There’s normally a way to do it where you’re not making unnecessary trouble," said Papa. "You can just sit down and talk to someone."
Obviously, it's much easier to localize a smaller title like Blaster Master as opposed to massive RPG games made by industry giants like Nintendo. On the other hand, perhaps Inti Creates' close-knit philosophy could massively benefit future attempts at localization in triple-A titles.
Blaster Master Zero 3 releases on July 29 for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.