Telltale games' Localization
I would love to appeal directly to Telltale Games.
I don't know if it was mentioned before (probably, it was). However, I want to know, why does company can't or doesn't want to afford enough time and conditions for localizers to accurately translate new games, so that they would look authentic and just as much interesting as English version. I will mainly talk about Russian localization, because I understand it better.
I really like your games. Plot, writing, characters... and even small stuff like fonts, textures and intro effects. And, unfortunately, WE are deprived of this small stuff. Don't get me wrong, I understand, that you have tight schedule and several languages to translate. And I don't judge localizers - they're doing their best to make game more understandable for international gamers. However, I can say, that they do not test their own work, and that's why the result is raw, incomprehensible and full of tautology.
- TESTING - Why can't you let localizers simply test their script, so that they would not use PROMT or something like that to have their job done immediately?
- FONTS - Every single Telltale game use original fonts that look nice and relevant. But Russian version... ehh.
- LANGUAGE - Not a single curse word in a game that is full of obscenities.
- TEXTURES - No comments. Especially after Fonts point.
Actually, I can forgive any of the afforementioned flaws... except for the first one. Because of the huge amount of translators, working on different shifts, having different styles of writing and the overall lack of preliminary testing, the final result on the launch day is awful. Perhaps, you can add or change something in the script after the game's launch, but all main flaws will still remain unchanged. I bet writing the scenario on English is labour-intensive, time-consuming process. Writing the translation isn't much easier. People who do not have knowledge of English language perceive information only by look, not by ear. And every little mistake in subtitles strongly influences the players' impression.
Please correct me, if I'm wrong about something. I just made my assessment based on Russian version of the game. Maybe, other languages have same problems and, maybe, there are other players, who agrees with me...
P.S. Excuse me for my English.
Comments
In french also, example an error [link : warning it's a walkthrough, if you don't want to see spoil] :
Clementine says : « J'avais une... une amie. ».
She talk about Kenny, but in french « une amie » if for a friend who is a girl, for a boy we say « un ami ».
And with the next text : « Il avait une femme... » Il = He.
It means : « I had a friend (girl). He had a wife... ».
She should have said in french : « J'avais un... un ami. ».
The translation is not faithful to english [link : warning it's a walkthrough, if you don't want to see spoil] :
« Comment t'appelles ceux qui restent immobiles alors ? »
« Then what do you call the ones that stay immobile ? »
But in english version Javier says : « What do you call the ones that run ? ».
He should have said in french : « Comment t'appelles ceux qui courent ? ».
Not faithful to original is not really a problem, but « stay immobile » and « run » it is the opposite.
Maybe my translations is not correct, I can understand some english text but I have too much difficulty to understand oral english.