Video game localization is the cultural appropriation of games for particular countries and languages. Successful video game localization means that players in different locations can relate to the story as if the game was designed with their language in mind. Obviously, this process is much more complex than simply translating the content. Everything within the game such as user interface, dialogue, voice-over and most importantly the story has to be localized! It is important to note that multi-platform releases often get brand new localization, so the below examples may differ between ports.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
When speaking of good video game localization The Witcher 3 has become a synonym for it! In fact, most people find it hard to believe that the original is in Polish, the video game localization is so good that it could pass as a locally developed game. The people behind the high-quality translation were really passionate about the localization process that they even moved to the country where the game was being developed for a more authentic result. Since The Witcher is a role-playing game, it consists of many elements that require translation and voiceovers. It has been highly regarded for its voice-acting for each of the languages that it has been localized for.
The Uncharted Series
The Uncharted series is another great example of good video game localization. The main culprit here is the excellent plan done by the developers, as the video game localization took place during the initial development of the game, where usually it is done based on an already completed version. The series includes four games, and while the first ones have some minor translation issues, they have improved considerably with each new release. Now the Uncharted games can be easily made an example when talking about good video game localization and this has provided the fans of the series with a unique gaming experience.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Even though Ocarina of Time has its fair share of fans, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is considered the best game in the series. Released in 2017, the game has a general lack of dialogue and a lot of the characters have no lines at all. Even though this might sound like an easy project at first, it puts that much more pressure on getting the existing dialogue right and being able to share the story with players around the globe! It’s sufficient to say the translated meanings stay true to the original text and we can consider it a good video game localization.
Bioshock Series
The Bioshock series consists of three games and are known for excellent localization. And even though the first game came back in 2007 when the whole industry of translation and localization was still lacking in the video game department, the game came out with a solid localization. It is that much more important for the dystopian world of the series to be properly told with a good video game localization, by such avoiding any confusion and frustration and delivering an immersive game!
Borderlands 2
Even though the Borderlands series consists of four different games, the video game localization for Borderlands 2 is truly exceptional and has received many praises. People are extremely happy with the high-quality voiceovers. And all aspects of the game read and sound very natural. However, this is a big contrast when compared with the newer Borderlands 3, where the dissatisfaction mainly comes from the poor voice acting and badly told story. Gearbox (the developers of the game) definitely need to fix their mistake in future installments!
But what about bad video game localization?
Let’s not forget the bad video game translations. They can be funny, confusing and simply strange all at the same time. This only comes to show us that the process of localization is not that easy, and how much we’ve come along when we look at arcades from back in the day. Many infamous localizations come from a time when the quality was not something to praise and must have been extremely confusing at the time. However, nowadays they remain timeless classics and are simply fun to look at! Some of our favorites include:
- “All your base are belong to us” line from the video game Zero Wing on Megadrive.
- “Victoly!!” – This is how you know you’ve won the match in the arcade game Samurai Shodown IV.
- “Confirm the origin of fire!”- A seemingly unsurmountable task from the Harvest Moon game on Super NES.
Honorable mention
“I am Error.” – We had to mention this line from the Zelda II: The Adventure of Link game that can be played on the NES. Even though this sentence sounds rather strange it is not a mistranslation. From the original (Japanese) version the literal translation would be “My name is Error.”, and once you meet the next character called “Bug” (as in computer bug) it would all make sense. However, this joke by the game designers flew over everyone’s head that played the English version, since the Bug guy says “Bagu is my name”, and the joke gets lost in translation. Nevertheless, “I am Error” has now turned into a meme!
Good video game localization is hard work
These good and bad examples can only show us one thing – video game localization has improved considerably and will only continue doing so. As you can see from this article a good localization involves many components and hard work. Having professional translators that are local to the target language is only the first step of many. Of course, technology helps too, but the main factor for masterful localization seems to be cultural appropriation!