NIS America has addressed their questionable localization job for Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana.
Despite our mostly positive review for the game, we still pointed out that the localization was bad, awkward, and at times – completely distracting. NIS America president and CEO Takuro Yamashita directly apologized for the localization in a statement.
“It has come to my attention that the quality of the Ys VIII localization has not reached an acceptable level by our own standards, but most importantly by yours,” Yamashita said. “As president of NIS America, Inc. I want to apologize to you personally for this grave error.”
The company is planning to release an updated localization by the end of this November.
Here’s the full message from Yamashita:
An apology from Takuro Yamashita, President and CEO of NIS America, Inc.
To All Customers of Ys VIII,
Thank you for all the feedback and support we have received since the launch of Ys VIII. It has come to my attention that the quality of the Ys VIII localization has not reached an acceptable level by our own standards, but most importantly by yours. As president of NIS America, Inc. I want to apologize to you personally for this grave error. This situation should not have happened – especially to a game as wonderful as Ys VIII and by a company that strives to deliver the very best customer experience in each title. We have begun internally to investigate the causes of this situation as well as to implement steps to ensure that a similar situation does not occur again. As for Ys VIII itself, we will have a new translator and editor go over the entire localization to fix grammatical errors, typos, inconsistencies, and also to take a fresh look at the dialog and characterizations. For the script, where necessary, we will re-translate and re-edit the game including updating voicework to reflect these changes. We plan to have this work done by the end of November and will offer the updated localization free of charge for both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of the game via patch. The Steam version of the game will include this localization in its initial release.
We humbly request your patience in this process.
Again, as the president and CEO of NIS America, Inc, I deeply apologize and vow to you that we will bring the quality of the localization of Ys VIII up to the high standards that it and you deserve.
Please allow us this opportunity to restore your faith in NIS America, Inc.
Sincerely,
Takuro Yamashita