#i am way more confusing without the context of tonal voice and i am sorry and also dgaf. figure it out. you are being timed.

[dreadfuldevotee]

the hardest thing for me in this place is that there's like no way to get across the fact that I just say whatever sentence is funniest to me in the moment. Sometimes, there is not a single kernel of truth in this joke. But also sometimes it is deeply rooted in my philosophy and I will get mad if you don't understand that. I believe in lying on the internet but also in cursing people out for accusing me of lying about the wrong things. multitudes, I contain hmmm

[ssnakey-b]

Final Fantasy VIII Translarison, Part 12: Going with a bang

Oh boy, a real week-end! I forgot those exist! Let’s compare some localisations, shall we? I actually took the screenshots like a week ago, and finally I get to talk about them. Geez.

ANYWAY! Things are exciting! Selphie’s team has to stop missiles and try and destroy their base!

First difference, when Selphie explains her “plan”, in the English version, she says “If there’s a door, we go in! If there’s anything we can break, we break!”. The French take on it has a very different tone. She says “My plan: go everywhere and... destroy anything we can.”

Speaking of that, while English Irvine replies to that with “Hey, Selphie. I like your attitude. Let’s do it up!”, French Irvine simply says “Good idea, Selphie!”? Yeah, in this case, I feel like the more subtle style of the French version doesn’t work as well. He needs that extra punch that the English one has.

And speaking of the French version keeping it simpler, here, in the English version, Selphie tells the rest of the group “It might look suspicious if we’re uptight, so let’s just act casual!”, but in the French one, she just says “Let’s play it cool, OK?” and this time, I think I like the shorter version a little better.

Now here’s a very interesting one and I think my favourite type of difference, as it’s another one of those where the concept is the same, but the actual line is completely different. In the English version, the guard tells the group not to run inside the base because the catwalks are very narrow but in the French version, he congratulates the group for walking in a line, and then adds that the Galbadian army is the best in the world.

So yeah, they don’t say the same thing at all, yet both mention proper behaviour inside the base. Once again, it makes me wonder what the other versions of the game say. Also, kudos to the French version for tying it together with the actual gameplay.

The one kinda weird thing with it though is that if the uniforms are any indication, they’re all supposed to have the same rank, so it seems odd that he’d feel the need to congratulate other soldiers. Maybe the idea is that they have different insignias that they didn’t show on the models, much like Squall’s sheath for his gunblade and I am way overthinking all of this, aren’t I?

I’m including this line English to point out that the French version doesn’t have that quy’s speech patterns, which is a bit of a shame as I like stuff like this, that gives a bit more life and personality to an otherwise unremarkable nameless NPC. And they didn’t even ruin it with a stupid catchphrase or anything!

On the plus side, I do like him calling Selphie “kid” in the French version, which is a running thing, presumably with them thinking she’s a teenage boy on account of her height and presumably high-pitched voice.

Here’s one for the “tonal shift” category. In the English version, when you tell this guard that the other two said to go ahead with inspecting the circuit room without them, he just goes “Oh, okay, But I’m still not done here, you know...”. His French counterpart is a lot angrier about it though, going “Argh, that’s such a pain! I’m not done with my work!”.

Similarly, the English one then politely asks Selphie to tell them he can’t do it, only for the French one to order “Just tell them I don’t have the time, OK?”. Man, it’s like the two versions decided to switch and the French one decided to be the less subtle one.

Here’s a funny one. When Selphie is BANGing it a little, in the English version, she says “Destroy everything!”, but in the French, version she says, and I kid you not, “Planetary destruction!”. Oh, French Selphie, and your weird exclamations. You have some serious issues.

There’s also a weird bit after they succeed in temporarily turning off the generator. After Quistis suggests they hightail out of it to avoid raising suspicion, English Selphie says “Alright! NEXT!” but French Selphie says “And then what?”. I get the feeling the translator got a bit confused here as the English interpretation seems to make more sense in context.

Next is another bit that amuses me. As the group takes out two guards that come up, one of them yells out something fairly expectable: “Ughhh... Damn it...” presumably as he passes out. In the French version though, that guy says “quelle misère!” which doesn’t really translate all that well, but think of him basically saying something like “What a sorry situation!”.

It’s just so weird that the French version is a lot more realistic and down-to-earth 90% of the time but every once in a while it does something weird like that. But far more importantly..;

What the Hell?! They BOTH have ellipses?! I”m pretty sure that’s literally the first time the English version has had ellipses like that and the French version didn’t have some sort of line in its place. I am in shock.

And we have another instance of the French translator apparently getting confused. In the English text, this guy mentions he doesn’t remember seeing the crew around here before. In the French version though, he asks “Haven’t I seen you around, before?” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Why would he be surprised to see the same soldiers around the same base?

In case you were wondering, the stuff that’s part of the background on the control panel screen is in English in the French version as well, although text boxes that appear on top of it are translated. I’m actually a little bit surprised that they didn’t translate the backdrop since they’ve done so with other background elements.

Back to Selphie being mistaken for a very young male recruit, this soldier thinks “Did we have someone that puny in our base...?” in the English version whereas he thinks “They really hire kids in this army, now!” here.

Thinking about it, this makes me realize that the Galbadian army apparently doesn’t enlist women as it only has male soldiers. Weird. Especially considering we do see plenty of female cadets in Galbadia Garden.

The speech the base commander gives when he realizes the group aren’t really Galbadian soldiers isn’t very different, except for one interesting detail. Instead of just calling them “intruders” like in the English version, in the French one, he calls them “terrorists”, which is very reminiscent of Seifer being called one too.

And, well, it makes for them to consider people who attacked their leader as terrorists, and is another example of the French localisation making the story feel more grounded in reality, in my opinion. Well, for the most part.

By the way, does anybody know what’s going on with the flash of light the group creates while taking off the uniforms? I don’t remember any of them being able to use Solar Flare and as far as I recall, it’s the only time they do something like that.

But now, we must get to one of the saddest moments in the game, as the characters resign themselves to death. Let us go through they say in French, in order:

Selphie: “(Are we locked in? Squall will handle the rest. But, will he remember to organized the school party? I doubt it... Such a shame. A total failure!)”

Quistis: “It’s a rather quiet end, after all.”

Irvine: “Squall always hated me. That’s why I’m here now!”

Selphie: “(What are you guys talking about! Squall chose use because he trusted us! I’m sure of it. You trust us. Don’t you, Squall?)”

Man, why is it this scene somehow keeps getting me more choked up every time I view it? One thing I’ll say I think is a shame is that Quistis’ line in French is so much shorter as in English, she adds that she thought it would be a bit more dramatic.

Also, you may notice that French Irvine sounds a lot angrier at Squall than his English counterpart, where he says Squall didn’t trust him, and that it’s probably why he put him on the missile team. It sounds more like he’s thinking “No, I get it. I’m the outsider, he wants to protect his friends”.

On a lighter note, we go back to Squall’s team, and I somehow never realized it but Zell totally spoils the twist by saying “Awesome! The vessel is safe!”. Now to be fair, the word “vaisseau” can also refer to a large, arching building or room, which does describe the BGU fairly well, so it may just be the translator being cheeky, but it’s really not a common use of the word and certainly not one the average teenage FF8 player would be aware of.

So it seems far more likely that the translator was given some notes about the BGU but wasn’t informed of when it’s revealed that it’s a ship, or maybe they were tasked with translating a later part first, then went back to this one, leading to the confusion, especially since the building is never referred to as a “vaisseau” up to that point.

Inside, Raijin gives the team the haps on what’s going on and we have another interesting difference. In the English dialogue, he says that it’s “disappointing for the disciplinary committee. All our work for nothin’, ya know!?”, but in the French one, he instead says “The disciplinary committee is rotten. I am ashamed of being part of it.”

Now, while if I had to hazard a guess, I’d say the English version is probably more accurate to what was being said originally, especially since we are never shown any other members of said committee (though it doesn’t mean there aren’t), I do like the idea of said committee joining up with NORG’s forces, supporting their revolt and helping them force cadets to betray their friends.

It seems to have just a little bit more weight behind it than Raijin going “Aw man, the worst part of this civil war is how it ruins our hard work bullying people and abusing our power”. It also gives a more explicit reason for the cadets to obey than just being told to (not that following orders is that weird in a military school, but you see what I mean, right?).

And now that I finally get the opportunity to save my game, we’ll end it here. Hope y’all enjoyed it. As ever, please reblog if you like what you’re reading here in order to help spread the word, and don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an Ask. Those are always strongly appreciated. Also, expect more delays for the next part. Hopefully my schedule should be back on track after next week but it’s a bit chaotic for the time being.

Anyway, see ya, everyone! Have a nice day!