In a recent interview, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii and Paranormasight director Takanari Ishiyama spoke about their experience in game development. One question steered the conversation towards English translations of Japanese games.

In recent years, English localization has become a contentious topic due to cut and censored content, and localizers taking the opportunity to “improve” the work of others with their own biases.

RPGs and Visual Novels from Japan have become more popular, creating an increased demand for translated works. However these narrative-heavy games also create opportunities for lost context during translation.

During an interview with Famitsu, Horii had this to say regarding his experience with English translations:

For example, when it comes to English, it tends to lose a lot of its flavor and end up being simple.

English is a simple language, so I’ve accepted that it can’t be helped. With the introduction of voice acting, I was able to express the character’s personality through the tone of their voice and the way they pronounce it, so that was great.

Horii adds on that the use of voice acting in games has allowed him to preserve the tone he intends for the scene. The usage of dual-audio also allows Japanese-savvy players to catch erroneous localization.