Localization Micro-Review: Nightshade (2017)

Platform: Nintendo Switch, Steam
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Genre: Visual Novel
Text Language: English, Japanese, Chinese (Traditional)
Audio Language: Japanese
Localization Style: Literal (Condensed)
Honorifics: Yes (Modified)
Stock Translations: Frequent. Expect tons of “it can’t be helped.”

Pros: For a fan translation, it reads very well. Wait, what do you mean it isn’t a fan translation?

Cons: Stiff, robotic script. All characters sound identical. English lines are heavily condensed compared to their Japanese counterparts, possibly a character limit issue. “Hai” is always translated to “yes” even when it doesn’t fit. A smattering of typos here and there (though the Japanese script wasn’t without its typos either). Over-adherence to Japanese punctuation, resulting in ellipses and commas to excess. Hyphens are used to elongate vowel sounds, which is not how it works in English, sorry. In some instances, honorifics like –dono are changed to –sama for no clear reason; in others, the honorifics are translated to “Lord,” etc. Now and then certain word choices had me questioning the localization’s grasp of English – the phrase “There won’t be any tongues wagging” to mean “No one will criticize us” was particularly strange. “Cause you your life” was used in place of “cost you your life,” which made me groan, but “I let go of my hands” (???) actually made me laugh out loud. Lastly, the audio-only lines were left untranslated, including the heartfelt messages at the end of every good ending.

Misc. Notes: If you’re going to leave in tons of Japanese words, honorifics, and even macrons over the vowels, why in God’s name would you reverse the name order? Also, the occasional instance of “phooey” really took me out of the game. YMMV.

Verdict: 
Awful……. but I guess it can’t be helped………..

Localization Credits:
Flyhigh Works
Seigai Kou
Toshie Somiya