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The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
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The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a 2021 compilation video game of both games in the Ace Attorney spin-off prequel series, consisting of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (2015) and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (2017). Since both component games were released only in Japan, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is the first release of the series for other countries.
Head localizer Janet Hsu approached the localization of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles primarily "as a story", like all other Ace Attorney titles. For The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles in particular, there was also a need for historical and cultural background research on which to base the translation. They wanted to preserve the "period feel" of the setting. An example of these extra considerations is the Court Record subtitle system where, in an effort to preserve the flavor of the Meiji Japan setting, they asked the programmers to create a new UI system with which they could add subtitles to pieces of evidence instead of redoing the textures in English.
Unlike in previous Ace Attorney localizations, few of the Japanese cultural nuances were altered. This was because the game distinctly relied on the contrast between the cultures of Japan and Britain in its story and theming. However, some instances were "fine-tuned" regarding their phrasing, in order to help bring out the intended nuance of the original. Hsu states one example of this with the character Susato Mikotoba. Hsu wanted to make sure western players understood that Susato is not being deferential or asking for permission, but is following Japanese etiquette. Hsu found it difficult to translate over the games numerous jokes and conversions that would not make sense to a western audience. For example, a conversation between Ryunosuke and Susato about a snowman involved them talking about how something is "two heads" or "three heads" high. This had to be changed, as it relied on players being aware of the culture surrounding daruma dolls and would not come across as funny in English. To maintain the feel of the original while altering such lines, Hsu considered what the Japanese version was going for and to either translate it over direct if possible, or go for its nearest approximation. In the original, dialogue consists of "faux-Meiji Era" style Japanese which is of the period, yet which is still easy to understand for modern audiences. To replicate this, the localization has the British characters speak in "faux-Victorian" dialect, such as the blue-collar Cockney accent of Gina Lestrade.
The increase in awareness of Japanese culture in recent years allowed Hsu to include Japanese honorifics into the game without needing to explain what they mean. The usage of "-san" and "-sama", in contrast with English honorifics like "Mister" and "Miss", was utilized in order to subtly convey to players when Ryunosuke and Susato are supposed to be speaking Japanese to each other.
As the story and themes of The Great Ace Attorney are heavily tied to the protagonist being Japanese, Hsu felt it was important to convey his immigrant experience. The main struggle they faced was conveying cultural information to players in a way that feels natural. This was a stark contrast to past Ace Attorney localizations, in which the setting was altered to America. Hsu gives the comparison of "Turnabout Storyteller" from Spirit of Justice, in which rakugo played a major role. Hsu notes that, as the protagonist is localized to be American, having Japanese culture explained to her for the player's sake was easily doable and made sense. However, in contrast, it would seem entirely unnatural if Ryunosuke had to have Japanese culture explained to him. Thusly they needed to rely on slipping the information to the player naturally via context clues and indirect dialogue. Prior to announcement of the game's western localization, fears over the game's usage of racism directed toward Ryunosuke and other Japanese characters was one of the speculated reasons for the lack of a western release.
Conveying British culture to American audiences was also another hurdle that Hsu faced. There were issues involving the differing terminology between British English and American English, such as "first floor" meaning different things in both. The Japanese original also contained many references to Victorian Britain that even the British translators did not know about, and had to look up. Hsu avoided using obscure Victorian Era-words or hardcore "Britishisms" that would have been confusing to people unfamiliar with the terms. Regarding the British setting, as the Japanese original takes great care to make the London setting feel real, Hsu avoided leaning on "American ideas of a stereotypical England", and instead focused on celebrating the culture of Britain. To this extent, most of the translators who worked on the game were British, and the translation was handed by Plus Alpha Translations.
The inclusion of real-life figure Natsume Sōseki caused another hurdle for Hsu. As Natsume would be recognizable to all Japanese players, his books being required learning at school, the character relied a great deal on a natural cultural warmth towards him. It was difficult making the character as lovable to an audience who would likely not know who he is.
Due to long-standing copyright issues related to the character of Holmes with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which had previously delayed the game's release, the character of Sherlock was renamed "Herlock Sholmes" for the international release. This was done as an allusion to Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes, according to Takumi. Following the announcement of the "Herlock Sholmes" localization, memes developed around the character and the circumstances of his renaming from "Sherlock Holmes" in conjunction with copyright law. This situation was picked up and covered by major online news outlets. Comic Book Resources lauded the "goofy moniker" of the character, complimenting its "fit with the comedic and sometimes irreverent tone of the Ace Attorney series, even if it does leave a few things lost in translation."
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The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is a 2021 compilation video game of both games in the Ace Attorney spin-off prequel series, consisting of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (2015) and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (2017). Since both component games were released only in Japan, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is the first release of the series for other countries.
Head localizer Janet Hsu approached the localization of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles primarily "as a story", like all other Ace Attorney titles. For The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles in particular, there was also a need for historical and cultural background research on which to base the translation. They wanted to preserve the "period feel" of the setting. An example of these extra considerations is the Court Record subtitle system where, in an effort to preserve the flavor of the Meiji Japan setting, they asked the programmers to create a new UI system with which they could add subtitles to pieces of evidence instead of redoing the textures in English.
Unlike in previous Ace Attorney localizations, few of the Japanese cultural nuances were altered. This was because the game distinctly relied on the contrast between the cultures of Japan and Britain in its story and theming. However, some instances were "fine-tuned" regarding their phrasing, in order to help bring out the intended nuance of the original. Hsu states one example of this with the character Susato Mikotoba. Hsu wanted to make sure western players understood that Susato is not being deferential or asking for permission, but is following Japanese etiquette. Hsu found it difficult to translate over the games numerous jokes and conversions that would not make sense to a western audience. For example, a conversation between Ryunosuke and Susato about a snowman involved them talking about how something is "two heads" or "three heads" high. This had to be changed, as it relied on players being aware of the culture surrounding daruma dolls and would not come across as funny in English. To maintain the feel of the original while altering such lines, Hsu considered what the Japanese version was going for and to either translate it over direct if possible, or go for its nearest approximation. In the original, dialogue consists of "faux-Meiji Era" style Japanese which is of the period, yet which is still easy to understand for modern audiences. To replicate this, the localization has the British characters speak in "faux-Victorian" dialect, such as the blue-collar Cockney accent of Gina Lestrade.
The increase in awareness of Japanese culture in recent years allowed Hsu to include Japanese honorifics into the game without needing to explain what they mean. The usage of "-san" and "-sama", in contrast with English honorifics like "Mister" and "Miss", was utilized in order to subtly convey to players when Ryunosuke and Susato are supposed to be speaking Japanese to each other.
As the story and themes of The Great Ace Attorney are heavily tied to the protagonist being Japanese, Hsu felt it was important to convey his immigrant experience. The main struggle they faced was conveying cultural information to players in a way that feels natural. This was a stark contrast to past Ace Attorney localizations, in which the setting was altered to America. Hsu gives the comparison of "Turnabout Storyteller" from Spirit of Justice, in which rakugo played a major role. Hsu notes that, as the protagonist is localized to be American, having Japanese culture explained to her for the player's sake was easily doable and made sense. However, in contrast, it would seem entirely unnatural if Ryunosuke had to have Japanese culture explained to him. Thusly they needed to rely on slipping the information to the player naturally via context clues and indirect dialogue. Prior to announcement of the game's western localization, fears over the game's usage of racism directed toward Ryunosuke and other Japanese characters was one of the speculated reasons for the lack of a western release.
Conveying British culture to American audiences was also another hurdle that Hsu faced. There were issues involving the differing terminology between British English and American English, such as "first floor" meaning different things in both. The Japanese original also contained many references to Victorian Britain that even the British translators did not know about, and had to look up. Hsu avoided using obscure Victorian Era-words or hardcore "Britishisms" that would have been confusing to people unfamiliar with the terms. Regarding the British setting, as the Japanese original takes great care to make the London setting feel real, Hsu avoided leaning on "American ideas of a stereotypical England", and instead focused on celebrating the culture of Britain. To this extent, most of the translators who worked on the game were British, and the translation was handed by Plus Alpha Translations.
The inclusion of real-life figure Natsume Sōseki caused another hurdle for Hsu. As Natsume would be recognizable to all Japanese players, his books being required learning at school, the character relied a great deal on a natural cultural warmth towards him. It was difficult making the character as lovable to an audience who would likely not know who he is.
Due to long-standing copyright issues related to the character of Holmes with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which had previously delayed the game's release, the character of Sherlock was renamed "Herlock Sholmes" for the international release. This was done as an allusion to Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes, according to Takumi. Following the announcement of the "Herlock Sholmes" localization, memes developed around the character and the circumstances of his renaming from "Sherlock Holmes" in conjunction with copyright law. This situation was picked up and covered by major online news outlets. Comic Book Resources lauded the "goofy moniker" of the character, complimenting its "fit with the comedic and sometimes irreverent tone of the Ace Attorney series, even if it does leave a few things lost in translation."