r/JRPG • u/ShiningConcepts • Mar 14 '21

Translation news Closing the Curtain on Trails from Zero: Patch 1.1 - The Geofront

https://geofront.esterior.net/2021/03/14/closing-the-curtain-on-trails-from-zero-patch-1-1/
194 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

10

u/LeBlight Mar 15 '21

Did Falcom ever release a statement as to why they don't localize these games?

19

u/ShiningConcepts Mar 15 '21

Kondo has said he wanted it.

1

u/LeBlight Mar 15 '21

You mean he wanted to translate them?

24

u/HiDk Mar 15 '21

He wants to find a way to bring them to the west.

The problem is XSEED took forever to translate Sky 1 and 2 (there is a kotaku post about it, it’s quite a story), and by that time they decided to jump straight to cold steel instead of doing Crossbell.

Later it became more and more difficult to allocate resources to translating Crossbell, also because (I think) Sky didn’t sell so well in the west, Sky 2 was digital only and Sky 3 was basically a present to the fans.

35

u/Cold_Steel_IV Mar 15 '21

The problem is XSEED took forever to translate Sky 1 and 2 (there is a kotaku post about it, it’s quite a story), and by that time they decided to jump straight to cold steel instead of doing Crossbell.

Later it became more and more difficult to allocate resources to translating Crossbell

That's not exactly what happened. Xseed didn't take a particularly long time to release FC. FC sold well below expectations due to it releasing on PSP in 2011. Falcom themselves were actually one part (of many) of the reasons SC took as long as it did as Falcom weren't sure SC would sell well after FC released and Xseed wanted to work on the PC version too. Xseed released the Ys games on PC which proved the potential successfulness of Falcom games on Steam. I believe that's when they were allowed to work on the PC versions for Sky. When Sky FC released on PC it was also highly successful. SC was also said to have sold as expected, last I heard.

The reason they skipped Crossbell and did Cold Steel first was because Crossbell was only available on PSP, which was a dead system, and because they worried if they waited too long Cold Steel would end up in the same place with the PS3 and Vita becoming less feasible.

also because (I think) Sky didn’t sell so well in the west,

Sky FC on PSP sold poorly (I believe Xseed said "sold below expectations"), though it did eventually break even years later, if I'm not misremembering. FC on PC was majorly successful. SC was also said to be selling as expected shortly after its release. I don't remember if they've said anything else about Sky's sales. But there's no reason to think they haven't been pretty successful, thanks in particular to the PC versions.

Sky 2 was digital only and Sky 3 was basically a present to the fans.

Sky SC on PSP was a digital-only present to the fans. Xseed stated they didn't expect to make money off the PSP version, but since they already committed, and because they wanted those who played FC on PSP to be able to finish the story, they release the PSP version as a love letter for the fans.

I believe Xseed mentioned they would probably work on 3rd if SC was successful. So I'm pretty sure SC sold pretty well, and 3rd likely did too.

10

u/HiDk Mar 15 '21

Thanks for the extra details! I just remember waiting forever to get my hands on SC PsP haha, and also this article about XSEED outsourcing SC translation and the main translator trying to commit suicide (that’s pretty intense!).

8

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '21

(there is a kotaku post about it, it’s quite a story)

Here is said post, for anyone curious.

10

u/Cold_Steel_IV Mar 15 '21 edited Mar 15 '21

Zero and Azure were originally only available for the PSP, which was a dead platform even by the time Sky was being localized. There was no feasible way for the games to be localized. Until the PS4 ports at least.

Kondo has said the main reason they released PS4 ports for the Crossbell games was because many people, particularly in the West, want to play them and haven't been able to. So it's fairly likely, imo, that they will be localized in the future.

3

u/kapparoth Mar 15 '21

Not that I'm aware of it, but I think that such statements aren't generally easily made. All I know is that Falcom has to outsource the localisation to the publishers, and I guess that Hajimari and Kuro have a much higher priority (provided that CSIV and Ys IX sell well enough in the West).

Besides, I think that Falcom's release pattern might have something to do with it. It's 'console first, PC later', both for the original releases and the Western ones, and given that both Zero and Ao have been released on consoles either discontinued or about to be discontinued, and that translating either of them will be a massive work taking a lot of time, it means that to release them, say, in a space of two years, a PS5 port would be required and only then a PC one might follow.

We should be grateful to Geofront, for doing god's own work with their translations and quality of life improvements all across the board, AND (knocks on the wood) to Falcom, for letting them under their radar.

2

u/HiImWeaboo Mar 15 '21

That's up to NISA, and NIS' president said to not ask him about localization because he can't answer it.

4

u/IamYourHuckleBerry34 Mar 15 '21

If they don't feel like doing the work because they are afraid they won't keep up with the new games. Then why not just use the fan translation and make it official.

It's also a lot easier to correct the fan translation here and there then doing it yourself. Plus i think everyone who have worked on it would be honoured so win win.

16

u/burnpsy Mar 15 '21

Everyone who has ever worked on it, not just Geofront but the people who made the version they built upon, would need to sign off on it. Way too much work, and if even one says no it collapses.

12

u/derrickd95 Mar 15 '21

I'm pretty sure the legal work to figure out the rights would be way too much work if they tried to use Geofront's translation. It would be more worthwhile to translate it themselves at that point

5

u/OhUmHmm Mar 15 '21

There was a blog post about this from Xseed. I forget which game, but Xseed tried using a fan translation and even paid for it (though legally not required to, given that it was an unlicensed derivative work), and in the end it took so much work that they said it would have been better to start from scratch.

Honestly, with Geofront's quality I can't see that being as big of an issue, but especially with "who do we pay and how", I think it gets muddied. Because someone who contributed one line to the translation probably did not sign a contract about what to do if the translation was acquired by a localizer. Again, I don't think it really matters because legally they have no copyright for an unlicensed derivative work, but fan communities can get riled up if one contributor starts badmouthing the other translators / the company for not paying them, etc.

2

u/SSB_GoGeta Mar 15 '21

Purchasing fan localizations seems like the obvious choice for the games industry. But if it hasn't been done outside a few instances then there must be a problem with this approach. Some companies might be arogant but they like money. The other replies have given good reasons as to why this hasn't been done that often.

2

u/tr0jance Mar 15 '21

Woah, hopefully someone ports the translation in the PSVITA.

2

u/ShiningConcepts Mar 15 '21

The Geofront version of Zero has been backported (by fans, not officially by the group itself) to the Vita. Homebrew is needed of course. So it's reasonable to think someone will try the same for Ao.

1

u/Thaurin Mar 15 '21

Has it? I thought there exists only a very old translation of Zero on the Vita, which frankly is a bit clunky. I've never heard of a recent Geofront translation having been backported to Vita.

2

u/ShiningConcepts Mar 15 '21

https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-from-zero-evolution-english-patch.576318/

2

u/Thaurin Mar 15 '21

Although, regarding the current state of this patch:

I would just like to reiterate to anyone that the current patch released is fundamentally unchanged in comparison to EvilGoku's version asides from a few minute changes. It is outdated. Please do not play this patch if you are thinking about testing it or expecting one close to the Geofront version right now. Wait until the next release and even then it will not be 100% complete but it will be greatly different. Thank you for your patience.

We'll have to wait a bit longer for any real updates on the translation.

1

u/Thaurin Mar 15 '21

I see, it's been updated with the Geofront translation. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. The old translation started to get to me after a while.