NIS America Answer Your Trinity Universe Questions (Part 2)

In this exciting episode, Saber Ri…er, Nick talks about Trinity Universe’s localization and hints at a special edition for North America.

What NIS character would you want to put in a crossover? At least one reader wants Laharl.

NISA Localization Editor, Nick Doerr: Me? If I only had to choose ONE, it’d be Asagi. Sure, she’s a big ol’ joke of a cameo/hidden character, but how satisfying would it be to have her as a party member in a crossover? She doesn’t have to be the main character, but having her actually participate in a story instead of trying to squeeze into one would be refreshing to me.

Otherwise? Some characters from Soul Nomadn would be interesting. Gig might be a bit over-powered, though…

And while Laharl isn’t in Trinity Universe, one guy really reminds me of him…

You knew this was coming, Will Trinity Universe have English and Japanese voice-acting?

You bet. There’s no reason not to offer both, since it’s on Blu-ray!

Speaking of the dub, will it be a full dub or partial like Mana Khemia? (If so why?)

This is always a popular question and often the answer is vague. I’ll try to be a little less vague. Every localization project in every company comes with a budget. This is chopped up into segments and dispensed to different aspects of the localization effort. Voice acting gets a large chunk, but it’s almost impossible to match the Japanese dub in terms of volume. Trinity Universe is fully voiced in Japanese. That’s several tens of thousands of lines -– so while our dub is not “full,” it does contain voices for all major scenes and some select scenes the coordinator and I found particularly entertaining.

Is any of the content, including names, going to be changed for the US version?

I wouldn’t really know, but I did alter some of the romanizations the translator gave me. Rizerea became Rizelea because it sounds more natural in English. Makaron became Macaroon because, really, naming a cute girl after a cookie fits this game too perfectly. Viorate became Violet, not just because it sounds more like an actual girl’s name, but because that’s what I feel the romanization was trying to say. She asks people to call her Vio anyway, so in a sense, it’s the same difference. I do believe that’s it. Well, there’s one, but it’s kind of a spoiler -– even so, it’s not major and it’s not an official name.

This may be an opinion question, but how do you balance the differing opinions of fans. Some people don’t mind and probably enjoy a localized game, while another group wants a direct translation even with romanized names?

When I work on games, I don’t like Americanizing. That’s so SNES-era. That said, character limits (the amount of text allowed in a certain space) sometimes make leaving things “unlocalized” an impossibility. If, in the Japanese version, a graphic or box was made to allow up to 5 Kanji, this generally means you can only fit 10 alphanumeric characters. Anyone who’s taken Japanese can tell you -– a LOT can be described in 5 Kanji. Not much can be said in 10 letters/numbers. That’s just how it is sometimes.

I do like adding spice to my meals. I leave much of the dialogue the same that I am given, but if it can be worded a little more effectively, dramatically, or character-defining, then I alter it. If I have extra space, sometimes I’ll add a line. At points, I may change lines entirely because I feel I personally have a better idea or because I feel what’s funny in Japan may fall flat in the US and Europe. I always talk about such matters with the translator working on the project with me, so it’s not just me whipping out a red pen and making up my own storyline.

As for romanized named… no. Just no. Viorate is ugly. Veeo-rot? You’d want to call a cute alchemist girl something with ROT in its pronunciation? How cruel. Violet matches her personality much better and it evokes a sense of something that smells pleasant – flowers, instead of something rotten – like a corpse. I won’t change names entirely, though. Ever. You will never see “Kanata” become “Kevin” for anything I work on.

On the plus side, is there anything extra for the US?

Extra? Compared to Japan’s release? Hahaha, sure! The US gets English voice-acting and the English language in their version! We’re working on special stuff for a limited edition, too!

Fans are worried about the DLC and like Cross Edge, there’s a ton of files on Japan’s PlayStation Store. Can you comment on this?

Idea Factory has given us a new list of DLC for the US and European releases of Trinity Universe. It should make the fans happy, because that Japanese PS Store sure does have a whole ton… overkill, some may say.

Any chance of a deluxe package, maybe even at Rosenqueen?

To reiterate: We’re working on special stuff for a limited edition!

Thanks for the opportunity to speak about Trinity Universe, Spencer, Ishaan, and all Siliconera staff and readers!

A big thanks to Nick for squeezing this into his busy schedule! While he’s not busy drowning himself in work, he’s usually trying hard to reach out to people and communicate about the company’s games. For instance, he stuck his own neck out by contacting us for the fan Q&A!