Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's executive producer has shut down speculation regarding localization for the new RPG.
Earlier this week, The Japan Times published a feature delving into what it takes to localize a game, complete with comments from Sega's localization team, after they'd wrapped up work on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The team said that translations had become standardized across the industry, and are "more faithful to the cultural and emotional content of Japanese games than ever."
However, the Sega team also said that "the player, whichever country they're from, should understand and feel the same thing as someone playing in the original language." This kickstarted some heated debate on social media sites, where some users declared, without evidence, that Sega's localization team had effectively robbed Infinite Wealth of its Japanese identity.
Some users in particular honed in on one scene in Infinite Wealth, early on, where Nanba tells protagonist Ichiban Kasuga that their mutual friend Saeko Mukoda is an "independent woman." Nanba then calls out Ichiban for using some "pretty sexist" language in the past towards Saeko, and users accused Infinite Wealth of the usual nonsense: either going "woke," or pushing a "feminist agenda."
Now, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio head and Infinite Wealth executive producer, Masayoshi Yokoyama, has weighed in on the topic. In the first of several tweets below, Yokoyama reassures his followers that Infinite Wealth, and other Sega games, aren't fundamentally changed when they go through localization. In other words, the content of the original game isn't altered during the localization process.
ローカライズについて。その①何か話が間違って伝わってそうですが、ローカライズでオリジナル（日本）の内容を変えることはないです。意図しない蔑称や差別的表現、宗教的な問題などがないかチェックしてもらい、その上でオリジナル脚本で直したりしてます。つまり日本版と海外版で違いはない。January 31, 2024
In his second tweet below, Yokoyama adds that whenever an RGG Studio-made game has content that doesn't get across to an international audience, for example a Japanese cultural reference, they alter the text during the localization process to become a reference that an international audience would understand. Yokoyama is adamant that RGG Studio developers would never allow an entire character to be changed during the localization process.
ローカライズについて。その②例えばコトワザだったり、日本の昔話だったり、龍8の章タイトルとかは元ネタの意味が伝わらないので、それぞれの言語の文化圏に沿ったネタに変えたりはしてます。キャラクター性や性格を変えることなどこだわりの強い龍チームが許すはずもないので。January 31, 2024
Thirdly, Yokoyama simply says that RGG Studio and Sega is doing the same localization today that it has been doing since the days of Yakuza 0. Sega's localization team purposefully changes text that would be derogatory or offensive in other cultures and tongues, but the implication here is that these changes don't fundamentally give international players a different product to Japanese players.
ローカライズについて。※ラスト・ゲームをした人が気分を害する固有名詞や表現は事前に避ける・直訳では意味がわからない言い回しや揶揄表現は文化圏に合わせて変えていく※当然日本もチェックする・龍0以降、ずーっとやってること・龍が如くを正しく伝える。そのためのローカライズチームJanuary 31, 2024
Finally, the RGG Studio head adds that localization is incredibly difficult, fraught with challenges, and so he thanks Sega's localization team for its continued efforts. In a separate tweet responding to a follower, Yokoyama adds that he couldn't, and wouldn't, be pressured by Sega's localization team to alter any portions of a game.
でも翻訳って本当に難しいんだと思います。現に発端となったインタビューも翻訳されたものですし。社内でも私の通訳は最も困難らしいですし。さまざまな表現を使ってガンガン話してしまうので。。。ご迷惑お掛けしてます‼️※ブリッジチーム、いつもありがとう😭January 31, 2024
Yokoyama has been with RGG Studio since before it was even called RGG Studio - back when the Yakuza series as a whole was just in its infancy. If there's anyone who knows what they're talking about, with game localization or anything else regarding the series, it's probably him.
Read up on our very own Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth review to see why we called it one of the very best RPGs we've played in recent years.
