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Localisation changes: issues
Last revised: 13th January 2013
If you ask me, the official Fire Emblem localisations are
some of the best I've seen. However that doesn't prevent me
nit-picking at some of the holes they've created!
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Gameplay | Issues |
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Gameplay | Issues |
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Gameplay | Issues |
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The Ranger class in The Sacred
Stones was called "Forrest Knight" in the Japanese
version (the same class that appeared in Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776), so the Ranger
class in this game is
thus a new class. A similar argument applies to this game's Cleric
and Valkyrie classes (the ones in previous games were called
"Sister" and "Valkyria" in the Japanese version).
Ike's Four Swords
(NA version only)
It has been widely reported that Ike will often start Chapter 1
with four Iron Swords instead of one. This phenomenon seems to
occur when the player skips the Visit tutorial in Chapter 1.
Nosferatu the Light
tome
One of the Light magic tomes is named "Nosferatu", an odd choice
given that it's the name of a fictitious vampire. Those familiar
with the GBA games may know that Nosferatu was a dark magic tome
there, which made more sense. The whole story of this tome is
slightly more complicated. Nosferatu, known as Resire in the
Japanese version of the games, started life as holy-based spell in
Fire Emblem Gaiden,
before officially becoming a Light magic spell in Genealogy of the Holy War.
Afterwards, it became a Dark magic spell in the GBA games and
finally returned as a Light magic spell in Path of Radiance.
Nasir's icy breath
The Help description
of Nasir's Breath weapon states that it's the icy breath of a
White Dragon. The word "icy" was added in the English version and
there is no such reference in the Japanese version. When you
actually use it, Nasir's breath looks more light-oriented than
ice.
Janaff's son
In one of Janaff's death quotes, he asks Ike to look after his
son. "Son" is just a mistranslation of "Prince", so Janaff really
meant to tell Ike to look after the prince (Reyson).
Duke of many names
Throughout the game, Sephiran is mentioned as Duke Belsys, Duke
Persis and Duke Perseus. His title in the Japanese version is Perusisu, which would be
romanised to Persis. Also there is more inconsistency with Duke
Gados also being referred to as Duke Gaddos. In case you were
wondering, Duke Gados/Gaddos is in fact Lekain (the reference in
the English script was removed for some reason).
Pegasus and Paladin?
In The Sacred Stones,
Vanessa states that her Pegasus is called Titania, which happens
to be the name of the female Paladin in this game. In case you
didn't know already, the character Titania was originally called
Tiamat, so the two have no relation. Obviously, since one is a
Pegasus and the other is a Paladin...
Kyle's sister from Tellius?
In Forde and Kyle's B Support (in The Sacred Stones), Forde mentions that Kyle has
a sister called Mia. In this game, there is a female swordfighter
called Mia. Could the two have any connection? Nope, since the The Sacred Stones Mia was
actually called Maia and this game's Mia was called Wayu. Double
name changing clash~
Strange Lands times two
Chapter 12 is called "A Strange Land" and Chapter 25 is called
"Strange Lands". Aside from an "a" and an "s", the chapter names
are identical. In the Japanese version, Chapter 12 was called
"Foreign Domain" and Chapter 25 was called "Across the Mountains".
The Chapter 12 translation is understandable, but Chapter 25's is
probably just a mistake.
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Gameplay | Issues |
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When using the data transfer function, the game freezes if there
are any Easy mode saves from Path
of Radiance. Also, Normal and Hard mode saves, from Path of Radiance, are listed
as Hard and Maniac saves respectively. The localisers probably
forgot to take into account the shuffling of difficulties that
occurred in the English version of Path of Radiance that resulted in the addition
of the new Easy mode.
The Black Knight
The Black Knight's class description states "This enigmatic
knight was formerly one of Daein's Four Horsemen. He wields the
skill Luna." The Black Knight's former group is known as the "Four
Riders" in the rest of the script; "rider" and "horseman" are
synonymous in Japanese. Meanwhile, his skill is actually known as
Eclipse when you check the Skills screen; in the Japanese version,
Luna and Eclipse were both known by the same name.
Ettard and Alondite
This is only really relevant in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but in the Japanese
version the two swords' names are swapped around. In other words,
the Black Knight's sword was Ettard and Ike's initial sword was
Alondite. The reason why Ettard was renamed Alondite in the
English version of in Path of
Radiance was probably because its internal name is Alondite.
Muarim is Ike's sister? (Early NA version only)
In the glossary, viewing Muarim's description lists Mist's
description instead. This isn't a case of somebody messing up
pointers, but Mist's description literally appears twice in the
script.
Unrelated brothers (NA version only)
In the "Three Brothers" base conversation that can be viewed in Part 3 Chapter 2, Rolf says to Boyd "We fight all the time, and we might not be related, but you're my real brother." This implies that Rolf and Boyd are step-brothers and not blood-related. However in the Japanese version, there is no such reference. Additionally, the official Path of Radiance (Japanese) site states that Oscar, Boyd and Rolf share the same father, so they are all half-brothers at the very least.
Sanaki needs a history
lesson
In Part 3 Chapter 11, Sanaki tells Ike that "[Ragnell] was used
by Empress Altina, the first apostle of Begnion, back in the early
days of the empire." Firstly, during the time of Altina, Begnion
was still a monarchy, so Altina was neither an empress nor Begnion
an empire. Secondly, Altina herself was not an apostle; Begnion's
first apostle was her granddaughter. The correct history of
Begnion can be gleamed from Lethe and Jill's B support in Path of Radiance and from the
official timeline.
False apostle
During the flashback scene in Part 3 Chapter 13, Lekain uses the
"fact" that Sanaki has allied with the Laguz Alliance as an excuse
to borrow reinforcements from Daein. However, in the story's
natural progression, Daein had already allied with Begnion before
Sanaki joined with the Laguz. In the Japanese version, Lekain
doesn't mention Sanaki in the flashback scene, so there was no
problem with his request.
Heron Queen? (NA version only)
In Part 3 Endgame, Tibarn refers to Lillia as the "Heron Queen",
but she was referred to as a princess in Path of Radiance. "Heron Queen" was a
mistranslation and should have been "Heron Princess"--"Queen" and
"Princess" are easy to mix up in Japanese.
The class roll
Once you've completed the game enough times, the 3rd Tier classes
will start appearing in the opening demo's class roll. When they
appear, however, Trueblade is labelled as Swordmaster, Saint is
labelled as Sage and Sentinel is labelled as Lancer. In the
Sentinel's case, it isn't an error in the European version since
it is called a Lancer there.
About Soan
In the Japanese version, Stefan's name was Soanevalke. Since his name contained Soan's name, this served as additional evidence of Stefan being descended from Soan. Also, in the glossary, it states that Soan "became the second king of the beast tribe laguz", which is a mistranslation. In the Japanese version the line read "Soan, of the beast tribe, became the second king [of Begnion]".
Inconsistencies with
Path of Radiance
In Path of Radiance the
Black Dragon King's name was Deghinsea, but in this game he is called Dheginsea. Similarly,
there's Ranulf's subordinate Kysha, who is now Kyza. Meanwhile,
the glossary claims that "Heart of Fire" is another name for
Lehran's Medallion, when it should be the "Fire Emblem"... The
European version has these first few inconsistencies fixed.
Additionally, the game refers to the "Four Riders" that preceded
the Black Knight as the "Great Riders", when they were formerly
known as the "Steadfast Riders".
Finally, Begnion's "Guiding Tower" has become the "Tower of
Guidance", while the great bridge bordering Crimea and Daein,
"Riven Bridge", is now known by its Japanese name "Oribes Bridge".
Lost for words
When Reyson, Leanne or Rafiel fight Dheginsea (for instance by
using a spell card) a conversation will occur, but the message
boxes will be devoid of text. The actual conversations are
supposed to the same as the ones when they Talk to him.
Micaiah's non-reaction
Missing references
For some weird reason, a number of trivial facts were lost during the Japanese-English transition. In the class roll and glossary, the game originally stated that Rafiel was the first prince of Serenes, Reyson the third prince, Leanne the fourth princess and Lillia the third princess. Similarly, Gawain's title "Divine Knight" was removed from his glossary entry. Meanwhile, in Gareth's ending, it was mentioned that Ena's newborn child was named Rajaion (like the child's father). Finally, the Epilogue originally showed Ike's title "Hero of the Blue Flames" right before it displays "Fin", which again was omitted.
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Gameplay | Issues |
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Technically not a localisation error since it also appeared in the Japanese version. During the end of Prologue III, Malledus remarks that Marth is a son of House Akaneia and the sole heir of the Falchion. Except Marth has no relation to House Akaneia. Altea does pledge allegiance to House Akaneia, but I don't think that's what Malledus was implying.
Larabel's shop
In the North American version, the name of the vendor owner is Larabel. However European players will notice that her name is instead Aimee, which is the same name as the vendor from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Larabel is her name in the Japanese version, but it was changed to Aimee in the English release of Path of Radiance. The American localisation team probably failed to realise that they had changed her name previously.
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