Posted by Wildbill (pool-141-152-27-57.rich.east.verizon.net | 141.152.27.57) on October 30, 2008 at 03:56:48:
In Reply to: Re: Possible mistranslation, censoring, or someone who doesn't know what they're talking about? posted by Aquillion on October 30, 2008 at 03:21:45:
> > Well said! I saw that guy's comments a few days ago and simply rolled my eyes. If we had done a "direct/literal" translation, then there are aspects of the game that would have been laughable (see the post below about the "chimney" enemy). I don't lose any sleep over these comments because I know that there are people in this world who love to bitch, bitch, bitch.
> >
> > As far as the whole "god" thing goes... I believe that we did a pretty good job showing how the NPCs revere Farus. I also believe that in the first PQ, the Raigans were perceived as being gods from the heavens. It's just a whole lot of huff-and-puff over nothing.
>
> I thought that your translation got across the fact that he was worshiped and viewed as a deity across more than adequately. (I think his starting building was even called the 'Temple of the Young Raigan' or something along those lines?)
>
> I find the fact that he didn't initially know that he was a Raigan in the Japanese version to be more interesting, though. (Well, it changes the way I look at his being revered as a deity, too, since it makes it more likely that he might also have thought he was a deity.) Thinking back, I do sort of recall an odd scene where it seemed like someone (Petro, maybe? Or one of the villains?) calling him a Raigan was supposed to be a big reveal. I didn't think that much of it, though, since it's not like he knew what Raigan meant... but I suppose it would have more 'You are not a god!' connotations if he'd never heard the word before.
>
> Not that he wouldn't have picked up that something was iffy with the whole Church-of-the-Young-Raigan thing when everything went all pear-shaped anyway.
>
> It also kind of fits in with the fact that Asmik seems to have been trying to make the same game over again, more or less, at least in the overall arc of the plot (as I recall, the first game went so far as to give you a fake race listing on your character screen, naming you as the race from Lennus that Raigans most resembled.)
>
> Of course, anyone who played the first game would know immediately what he is anyway, so I don't know why they bothered...
>
> Getting back to the original topic, though, I'm not sure a direct translation from people calling him kami-sama or whatever would have been appropriate... after all, the word 'god' evokes very different things to Christian-culture Western players than it does to Shinto-culture Japanese ones. The Japanese version certainly didn't mean to have people calling him "almighty Abrahamic creator-god", but that connotation would have been difficult to avoid if it were translated directly... and nobody speaking English would use "god" as a title of respect in any case.
I don't know how far you (or others reading this) have played, but the flow of this constantly emerging story line was tough to decipher, and even harder to arrange for the best dramatic effect. Most revelations came near the end, with several twists at unexpected moments, that tied the story neatly to Paladin's Quest. A person must play the entire game in order to fully fathom what is happening in regard to this whole subject of exactly who or what Farus is. Most (but not all) NPCs possess only a piece or two of the puzzle. Nearly everyone draws broad conclusions, based on his own hopes, dreams, world-views, and resentments, same as in real life.
Anyone playing just in Andel cannot began to appreciate the complexity of the plot.
*Spoiler*
Anyway, the key word is Acti-raigan! That's all I should say.