"One to be born from a dragon..." -- Let's Play Final Fantasy II

I agree, really. It's an awesome FPRPG. ^_^

*reads the topic title*

Am I the only one who vastly prefers the DS version of that?

Glorious. Sheer poetry. I'll admit, I never use the word "nerdgasm", but I did when I read it in the manual. :3 (It's also the only translation to get the first line right. It does say "dragon's mouth" in the Japanese version.)

Well, the music was, at least.

Good to have you in our camp, Nich.

Have some Kool-Aid.

Bah, this Nich guy doesn't know what he's talking about. I bet he's never even had his dreamtide oaths resworn!

I wouldn't say perfect, but most of the changes I'd make don't really change the words very much, just messing with the meter and scrubbing the more Engrishy parts. "One to be born from a dragon" sounds weird, but it's a damn sight more effective than "Birthed from womb of dragon's maw".

Yeah, the original legend's great, while the DS version's was lacking (even if we ignore "Birthed from womb of dragon's maw", which is alone probably one of the more regrettable things ever to be written). The classic was as likely good by accident as it was good by actual care and attention, but it had the virtue that...ultimately?...is the one virtue FF2/4's story ever has had: it's earnest and direct. For the legend, FF2's second-rate Tolkien is way better than FF4DS's seventeenth-rate Milton. Altogether, the DS tried to sound like slightly more casual, massively worse Shakespeare, and BABY, THIS AIN'T SHAKESPEARE. Elemental Fiends and crystals and airships and THE MOON are fun, exciting, and adventurous, but it's got about the literary legitimacy of a Stan Lee script. Florid prose is just goofy in the context. The FF2 translation is about as bare as it could be, but that complimented the charming, melodramatic story well. FF2 deals with powerful and iconic themes like redemption and self-sacrifice (OOOOOHHHH, THE SELF-SACRIFICING!) without grace or subtlety, but with plenty of heart. FF2's literal, blunt, and workmanlike writing style actually served its strengths, and while an objectively better translation would obviously be better, the DS tried to get fancy and ended up feeling dry, limp, and pretentious to me.

The fake Shakespeare style worked better (and was, frankly, better written than FF4DS's script) for War of the Lions, since FFT actually had a plot that was Shakespearean...at least when it was sticking to its strengths, and not when it decided that corrupt churches and devious political machinations just didn't provide enough conflict without the conspirators using magical demon stones to transform into Zodiac-themed monsters. But even plots aside, FFT characters were manipulative, thoughtful, and layered. The poetic symbolism and intricacy of their language fit. FF2's cast, meanwhile, is ICONIC AND CHARMING AS HELL, but not a single one of them has a personality or motive that couldn't be summed up in one, MAYBE two sentences. They just...there's no reason for them to TRY and gussy up anything these people are saying.

I hate to break it to you, but nothing past Chapter 1 would have happened without the magical demon stones.

The GBA port had the best translation. It expanded on the script and added detail without changing the tone.

I don't know how the legend goes in that one, though.

One born of a dragon
Bearing darkness and light,
Shall rise to the heavens
Over the still land.
The moon's light eternal
Brings a promise to Earth
With bounty and grace.

So it's succinct and easy to interpret, though I'm not sure if that's a proper thing for an ancient prophecy.

It's inscribed on a sword, remember, so it can't be too wordy.

I'm just gonna pipe in and say that I completely agree with Nich and Deptford.

I've always wonder where the legend was at. I assumed down the blade?

A creature with a womb in its maw sounds biologically improbable. Stupid Mysidians!

All that was inscribed on a sword? Which one - Cloud's, or Sephiroth's?

I also kind of question why you'd feel the need to inscribe a legend on a sword in the first place. Are the bad guys supposed to read it while they're fighting and atone when it reaches mid-thorax?

The PlayStation version has it best, as usual:

One born of a dragon,
Bearing darkness and light,
Shall rise to the heavens
Over the still land.
Bathing the moon in eternal light,
He brings a promise to Mother Earth
With bounty and grace.

For one thing, "bounty" fits in so much better than "a bounty." "Rise to the heavens" is just better than arising "high up in the sky," which is kindergarten talk. It makes more sense to bathe something in light than "veil" it; veils of all kinds are usually understood to keep light out.

(Also, if this looks nearly identical to the GBA version, it's because—as I'm always eager to bring up in these discussions—the GBA script is basically the PS script with some needless meddling here and there.)

I didn't even realize that the playstation version had a different script. But I gotta agree with Kishi that its version is the best overall.

FFIV PSX > FFII > FFIV DS

(Though I might like the use of the word 'mercy' over 'grace' by a small margin.)

FFIV PSX > FFIV GBA > FFII > FFIV DS

You missed one (well, and the Wonderswan, Cell Phone, and other versions that I'm forgetting, but noone actually played those).

Sigh. So many wrong people in my thread. It saddens me. It really does.

I declare the lot of you to be spoony.

Well at least we're having a knife time.

...Okay, that was terrible.

That was brilliant.

- Eddie

Another string of puns? I guess we're forked now.

It's just this thread's tine, I suppose.

It had to happen sooner or ladle.

Heh. Well, one thing worth noting is that the original Japanese version is in a more archaic style: the DS version's take is truer to that.

And again, it's the only translation that gets the first line right. It may be a more fanciful take on the prophecy than most of you prefer, but the original does say "One born from the dragon's mouth". It's clearer that it's a reference to that odd geographical feature west of Mysidia from which the Lunar Whale emerges, though as always the rest of the prophecy remains maddeningly inscrutable. ^_^;

Is it pun day already? I need to check my colander.

Now that this thread has been invaded by the pun menace, there is only one way to stop it: skillet with fire.

Look, stop being pot of the problem, ok?

Are you really going to whisk starting another wave of puns? Just the thought makes me stomach churn...