The Fan Translation General Thread

[Kazin]

I really like fan translations of old games, and I read this forum more than others, so only occasionally go poke around at Romhacking.net or whatever. Imagine my surprise when I went over there today, sorted translations by most recent, and saw that someone recently translated the N64 exclusive Shiren the Wanderer game, Fushigi no Dungeon - Fuurai no Shiren 2 - Oni Shuurai! Shiren Jou! or as the fan translators are calling it, "Shiren 2: Oni Invasion! Shiren Castle!" It works on real hardware, though you'll need to modify a .txt file to be able to save the game on an Everdrive:

For an Everdrive 64, you have to modify your save_db.txt to read at the bottom of the file:

SI=3 (Fushigi no Dungeon - Furai no Shiren 2 - Oni Shuurai! Shiren Jou!)

I had to rename the patched file back from Shiren 2: Oni Invasion! Shiren Castle! to its Japanese title for this to work. I couldn't make it work even when matching the translated title in the above edit, but as soon as I reverted the rom to the Japanese title, the above worked and saving worked fine, even after power cycling. Also, the file on the Everdrive itself has a bunch of spaces after SI=3, which don't appear here in my post, so if this doesn't work for you, try matching the number of spaces to the games that should already be listed at the bottom of your save_db.txt file.

Anyway, I'd like this thread to be about translations you find, be they new or old. Feel free to post here if you discover a new translation that's cool, or just post about a good one you're playing, as I'm sure many of us are always on the lookout for new ones to check out, especially if we hear they're good. And troubleshooting like the above is always welcome as well.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I recently found a DS Lite in good condition (in the garbage!), which has prompted me to go back and play a few favorites from that library. After revisiting Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and, notably, Ghost Trick, I'm starting to wonder if it might finally be time to play Ace Attorney Investigations 2. I actually have a flash cart for my old/hacked/busted DS Lite, but I've been contemplating grabbing one that would work with my DSi, since that has the nicest screens of the bunch. It seems like DSi-compatible flash carts don't cost a whole heck of a lot, but aside from AAI2 and Game Center CX2, I don't have a ton of reasons to buy one. Will I actually go through with it? Time will tell!

 

[Kazin]

I thought the second Ace Attorney Investigations was better than the first! I recommend it., and yeah, the Game Center CX 2/Retro Game Challenge 2 fan translation is excellent. And the SaGa DS remakes are among the best in that series (3 especially). If you end up getting a DSi compatible flash cart, I recommend all these games!

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

AAI2 is a way better game than AAI1 in almost every aspect. It's a much more coherent game that links the cases and themes together in ways that the best AA games do. I still wouldn't put it at the top of my rankings, but it's a good time, worth playing, and holds its own as a worthy entry to the franchise.

Meanwhile, the final Suikoden game: Woven Web of a Century got a fan translation after all these years:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1444987678995488772

 

[Kazin]

Is that Suikoden game supposed to be any good? Suikoden is one of those series I have almost no experience with or knowledge of...

 

[Beowulf]

Oh my goodness. I didn't even know there was a Japan-only Suikoden PSP game or I probably would have already played the "Google Translate" English patch. Does anybody know where it's actually going to be posted when it drops on Friday? I wanna load this up on the Retroid Pocket and go to town.

 

[Beowulf]

I thought the second Ace Attorney Investigations was better than the first! I recommend it., and yeah, the Game Center CX 2/Retro Game Challenge 2 fan translation is excellent. And the SaGa DS remakes are among the best in that series (3 especially). If you end up getting a DSi compatible flash cart, I recommend all these games!

I'll third Game Center CX 2 and second the two SaGa DS remakes. If there are other good DS fan translations, I'd love to hear about them.

And there are so, so many good SNES fan translations (and decent translations of mediocre games). I kinda want to put together a full list of all the fan-translated SNES rpgs and action-rpgs, because inevitably when I think I've heard of every one of them, another few appear as if by magic. There were two Super Shell Monster Story games! I hadn't heard of La Wares until this year! I never got around to playing LaPlace's Demon or Silva Saga 2! It's madness.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

Is that Suikoden game supposed to be any good? Suikoden is one of those series I have almost no experience with or knowledge of...

I've got no clue. It's a PSP game that came out late in that machine's lifespan. It's a spin-off that's completely unrelated to the core numbered entries to the franchise (that are worth playing) and IIRC made by the same team that made the DS-only spin-off Tierkreis. A game that itself had a very mixed reception. I assume it's fine given the pedigree, but it's also the game that put the final nail in the coffin of what was once an illustrious franchise.

It's a fun curio for long time fans of the franchise. If you have no exposure to the franchise at large however, definitely go play Suikoden 1, 2, or 3 first is my recommendation. But if this really hits your curiosity, I assume you'll be more than fine having this be your first Suikoden since its story is standalone and you don't need to have played anything else first.

 

[fanboymaster]

I believe the PSP Suikoden is basically a Tierkreis sequel which means that there's a markedly lowered interest for a lot of people? I looked it up a few years back and it didn't look great but it might be fine?

 

[Kazin]

If there are other good DS fan translations, I'd love to hear about them.

The only other DS fan translation I've played is 7th Dragon, which was translated very well, and even comes with an optional hack to lower the encounter rate and boost the exp rate if you want to use those. The game is... alright, though the PSP 2020 games are excellent, as is the 3DS one.

 

[Sarge]

I actually ended up enjoying Tierkreis, despite it not really aligning as much with the rest of the series. And apparently the PSP game makes even more changes to the formula - according to the HG101 entry, you only get 18 playable members.

 

[Kazin]

The Geofront has released an English patch for Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga on PSP today. Has anyone played this? I've got it installed on my PSP but I've got quite a backlog at this point so I have no idea when I'll get around to it...

 

[BubsyFan_86]

The translation of Square's Racing Lagoon for PS1 was completed today! Incredibly, the translation group (Hilltop) finished it in only about 6 months. I've been hoping for a translation for years, to the point of even purchasing a physical copy just to stare at and pray to. Massive props to the folks involved in making it a reality.

For those who aren't familiar, Racing Lagoon is a “high speed racing RPG” Square developed during their prolific and experimental PS1 years where, flush with cash from FFVII, they were seemingly willing to try anything -- the same period that produced Einhander, Bushido Blade, Parasite Eve, Tobal, etc. The Racing Lagoon concept has always been tantalizing to me, and the aesthetic design pushed it over the edge into full-on droolworthy.

 

[Kirin]

I like how two of the three vehicle stats are "POWER" and "PWR"

 

[Torzelbaum]

Which JoJo is this?

 

[Kazin]

Is Racing Lagoon any good? I somehow have never heard of it

 

[Peklo]

The soundtrack alone is one of the all-time greats, and the rest of it has nothing to be embarrassed about either. Even if it did, it wouldn't matter--there's nothing else like it.

 

[Sarge]

It doesn't necessarily fit here, but the prototype for Mystical Ninja: Goemon Zero has been released. It apparently didn't pass certification or something back when Working Designs was working on it. Always cool to see these long-lost games come to light.

 

[Becksworth]

If I recall there was theorizing that Sony didn't want a game that looked like an early Dreamcast title launching that late onto the PS2s lifespan.

 

[Kazin]

For multiple reasons, I have no interest in playing that, but I sure would like to know the story about it on Working Designs/Sony of America's side.

 

[gorha]

Final Fantasy VI T-Edition is now playable in English. It's a romhack for FFVI that makes a lot of balance changes and adds tons of content from other FF games. It looks neat! Also, it's so old that the translator recommends using an old version of SNES9x instead of a modern emulator or a real console!

 

[Yimothy]

I’m a bit embarrassed to be self promoting like this, but I’ve been working on a translation hack for the MSX shmup Pleasure Hearts and I thought it might be of interest to readers of this thread who might not otherwise have looked at my thread. I’ve just made an ips patch available, and there are some posts in that thread describing the process of making it.

 

[Sarge]

Nah, man, promote away. Looks like cool stuff!

 

[Kazin]

Oh yeah, wow, that rules. I need to figure out how to emulate MSX one of these days, I've never done it before...

 

[Felicia]

I figured I should post about it here as well: There is finally an english translation of the original Famicom version of Megami Tensei II! This means that (as far as I know), all Megaten games for Famicom and Super Famicom are now translated.

 

[Peklo]

One of my DS white whales has been translated: it's Nora to Toki no Koubou: Kiri no Mori no Majo, or Nora and the Time Studio: The Witch of the Misty Forest. What is it? A 2011 DS Atlus RPG in the old Atelier presentational style and overall concept, meaning lots of slice-of-life itemcrafting and gorgeous isometric sights and pixel art. Michiko Naruke does the soundtrack, and Yuji Himukai of Etrian Odyssey fame does the character designs. It's something of a running theme with the projects the latter is involved with that they have some inkling of Finnish culture in them, whether it be names or visual design, and it's a big part of why I've wanted to play this for so long, as it might be the most Finnish game on the system, even above The 4 Heroes of Light and Avalon Code--the protagonist is probably intended to be rendered as "Noora" as that's a common name in the language, and she's not the only one linguistically representing among the game's cast. It's likely superficial and exoticized as this stuff often is, but it panders to me nonetheless, and others can either make note of it or not, as the game looks remarkable enough through its other merits.

 

[Peklo]

Another one I thought we'd never see: Yumimi Mix Remix for the Sega Saturn is now playable in English. A 1993 Mega-CD Game Arts and Izumi Takemoto joint, ported to the Saturn two years later. Takemoto is a prolific and influential shoujo demographic-oriented manga artist, but almost totally unknown in English-speaking circles; the opportunity to partake in his distinct style via this lightly interactive high-res pixel art narrative is a huge treat.

 

[Kirin]

Well that looks adorable. Also reading about it makes me wonder why we haven’t gotten more games in this ”Choose Your Own Anime” genre (though I’m sure there’s plenty more from Japan back in the day that never saw a translation). I suppose maybe they’re a bit expensive to make.

 

[estragon]

I've recently been enjoying the Saturn version of Ogre Battle, and it turns out there's a recently released fan translation.

From some posts in another thread, here's my summary of why I prefer this to the SFC version. The short version is, I think this is the most accessible and intuitive version of the game. Long version behind the spoilerpop.

Spoiler: Saturn Ogre Battle Writeup

Post 1 (just doing research, before playing):

• Does not include bugs introduced in PSX version (particularly resistances were screwed up there—a unit that you promote from Fighter or Amazon keeps those weak resistances even after promotion, while on the other hand in your favor if you equip and unequip armor they keep those resistances permanently and you can repeat this, so you can either be incredibly underpowered or invincible, depending on whether you're aware of these bugs)
• Has the same QOL changes introduced in the PSX version (better menu interface, waypoints to set more complex travel routes, etc)
• Significantly reduces the number of enemies per stage (maybe this helps to prevent the issue of destroying ALI/CHA when you take a lot of tries to wear down a boss and have to kill a dozen respawning normal guys in the process)—I only found one source for this and it was a message board and not a wiki, so maybe this is not true, but I would like it to be... hmmm.
• Visual improvements (I guess it's debatable whether or not this is an improvement, but I think it's very much in the line of strong Saturn era sprite work) and voice acting for major characters
• Extra stages (many with somewhat obscure requirements, so very optional if you'd rather just stick to the vanilla game)

Post 2 (after playing it):
I briefly dipped into the Saturn version and I can now confirm something I only saw on one Japanese message board discussion from 1999: Saturn Ogre Battle significantly reduces the number of enemy spawns!!! This makes it possible to play it more naturally as a strategy game without getting overlevelled! If anything, the problem here might now be raising high CHA low ALI units like wizards and ninjas because you would have to make a real effort to tank alignment, but they were always somewhat tricky so I don't think this is a big deal. Also, this is alleviated somewhat because it immediately displays a message every time ALI or CHA shift (just like the level up messages), so you can know if something you don't want is happening and take someone off of the map, shift them into a role with less fighting like city protection of an area enemy units don't seem to hit much, or avoid certain enemy types. I can see someone preferring the original version because this definitely makes the game a lot easier, but it also feels more like I'm finally able to play it in a natural way instead of finding loopholes in the system. Maybe they reduced enemy spawns a bit too much, but it's hard to judge until I see what later stages are like. (Maybe they made a decision to keep numbers extra low for the small early maps, or something.)

If you don't like difficulty shift, it looks like the fan translation patches in the option to play with the SFC/PSX amount of enemy spawns (I think, there's some added difficulty selection and I imagine this is what they mean), so you could just enjoy the QOL features, voice acting, and vibrant sprite work.

Looking at some comments on the translation group's home page, there's a minor argument a few months ago with an anonymous poster who is right and the translation group is wrong re: a minor skill name (maybe the person handling comments isn't someone who did the translation and is just reflexively defending their work? the commenter is obviously right to the degree that this feels like a careless error and not an intentional choice), so there are probably some minor errors, but I'd be shocked if it isn't on the whole better than the SNES and PSX translations anyway.

 

[Sarge]

Ooh, I need to put that in my Fenrir setup. Very cool! I have the PSX version, but was unaware that those bugs existed.