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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy dev blog - Zvarri! Word Choices & Localization of Text-Based Games
In the latest Ace Attorney Trilogy dev blog, we get to learn a lot about what goes into localizing games. Obviously that job is extremely tough when working on something like an Ace Attorney game. Check out part of the blog below, then hit up the link for the full piece.
Hello again! This is Janet Hsu, back one last time before Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy goes on sale next Tuesday, April 9th! Today, I’d like to talk a little about something that’s an integral part of any good translation: word choice.
*Warning: Spoilers for the entire trilogy abound!
*If you want to know more about everyone’s favorite interjection, “Zvarri!”, check out this entry.
Much of what we infer about game characters is told through the nuances in the characters’ lines, which voice actors and their performances greatly contribute to in a voiced game. But in the case of a text-based game where there is no voice acting, word choices are the only tools a translator has to shape how a player perceives the characters and their growth. Complicating matters more for the Ace Attorney series is the extremely limited on-screen real estate we had on the Nintendo DS (we could only fit 28 letters x 3 lines worth of text at the time). This meant that each word we used had to pull its weight in establishing the characters’ “voices.” Those of you who have played the games before can probably attest to this, but you can pretty much pick out any line in the games and know which character said it based on the words and phrasing it contains.