It is not outside the realm of imagination that Kate had a similar level power and was directly responsible for many of the problems with DT
It is pretty clearly stated and well known that the EN lead has input on shaping the story. This isn't revelatory.
There’s actually someone on youtube
doing an entire play through of the game in Japanese and compares it to the English script that reveals so many translation issues from Koji as well as most of the lore he comes up with doesn’t actually appear in the Japanese script.
I'd really like to see when they get to Dawntrail, as I feel that there are
significant tonal changes throughout.
I will never not be mad about this because as a south american I expected garleans but in lizard form, the different beast tribes being at odds with each other, some form of knife/machete dueling, etc but all we got was an even gayer disney movie.
I really, really, really, REALLY hate how americans (be it the whitest motherfucker ever or some third gen immigrant who has had zero contact with their grandparents culture) feel the need to neuter any "exotic" setting as to not upset those poor (dumb) foreigners who don't know better.
This is what's so frustrating about Dawntrail, IMO. We have this vast continent that is
far bigger than Eorzea that we're just landing on, with vague details in our minds and, on a meta-level, a Not-South America. While I don't think anyone was going to expect Tural to be Aztec-inspired and ripping out hearts like a Mortal Kombat Kano speedrun, having some edge or roughness, as well as
difference to the setting we're being introduced to would've been fucking nice.
There is something to be said about cultural sensitivities, but that doesn't mean you can't depict or utilize those details. That Predator movie where a Native American fights a Predator is a good example of what I'm talking about. The worst you can do is coddle and sterilize things. One, because it's inauthentic, and two, because we (the public) tend to be good at sniffing out things that are patently fake.
Like maybe it would really be best for everyone if we stuck to a minimalist approach for localization? Like woolseyism humor is fine imo, but they can tone blatant changes down a bit.
There are several schools of thought when it comes to localization -- some folks insist on a stringent 'authentic' translation with no liberties taken . This can cause problems, because some phrases or terms don't translate very well from one language into another and you get nonsense. Or you have local cultural jokes/references that might not be understood by a Western audience.
Then there's the other school of thought, where you have creative freedom to change things. This has problems, too, as folks will take it as an opportunity to make changes they want (I'm not too well versed in modern day localization drama, but I recall seeing here on the Farms an instance of some other JRPG getting butchered in translation because of translators with an agenda.) However, I'd argue that this approach is overall better so long as you aren't adding things to the script that aren't there (if the goal is strict localization) and are simply trying to make it underestandable for folks.
This is a good breakdown of different approaches to localization, using FF4 as a basis. I've posted this dude's website before, but if you're wanting to dive down the localization rabbit hole, I find he has a pretty even-keeled take on it all.
