Thank you for this mod. It appears to be much better done than the other two mods of this kind, and a lot more thoughtful with a lot more attention to detail. I was losing my mind with the other mods, so thank you very very much.
I have made my own edits to your mod for myself with the help of your guide that you posted below, so thank you for that also.
I have made some new edits and also changed/undone some of yours. My edits lean toward accuracy to the original rather than localization for a Western audience, and most people will not like that but I will list them here for you. Aside from that, I noticed in the NPC name files, there is a Red Demon, but two Chained Ogres. I'm not sure if this was intentional.
Sculptor -> Buddha Maker. Sculptor is a good general name in English, but his actual name Busshi is specifically someone who makes images or sculptures of the Buddha over and over. Sculptor implies he is a general sculptor and just chooses to obsessively make buddhas but a busshi is a real normal job. What is strange is that his buddhas are demonic.
Sculptor's Idol -> Asura Buddha. I think this is a lot closer to kibutsu meaning demonic buddha. It has more flavor. The Asura in buddhism specifically have six arms and possessed by wrath and violence among other things. I suppose Demon Buddha could also be used. I think it's more interesting to know that the idols are made by the Buddha Maker specifically because they are demonic, without being called by his name.
Homeward Idol -> Homeward Buddha. Homeward does have a nice ring to it compared to the original Returning Buddha. There is a lot of Buddha being omitted in the localization to the more vague nondescript "idol" which I think is strange considering that it would make Sekiro less vague and confusing.
Chained Ogre -> Red Demon -> Red Oni. Personally I find Oni a more accurate and specific term for what it is and find demon vague. I do not think Oni is a weird word for most people that have consumed japanese anime or video games to some degree.
Monkey Booze -> Monkey Sake. Accuracy to the original, plus there are other Sake in the game.
Long-arm Centipede Giraffe -> Long-arm Centipede Jiro -> Long-arm Centipede, Giraffe. In your notes, I do not understand what you mean by old name orthography. The katakana for his name says Jirafu which is also the katakana for Giraffe. I think Jirafu or Giraffe would be fine. I added the comma from your naming convention as it makes sense that he is a Long-arm Centipede named Giraffe.
I reversed your Seven Ashina Spears change to your personal names for them, but kept your comma system. I don't think that their faction being in their title is weird considering all the other names in the game. Maybe it's just me.
Basket-head Shosuke -> Baskethead Shosuke. I think it makes more sense as a name to not have a hyphen. And following hyphenless -head English words like bonehead and meathead. Guardian Ape -> Lion Ape -> Lion Monkey. I think Saru is specifically referring to Monkey and specifically the Japanese Macaque. The fact that he is a monkey and not an ape makes him even more weird.
Dragonspring Sake -> Dragonspring. Direct translation.
Shichimen Warrior -> Seven-faces Warrior -> Seven Face Warrior. I think it sounds more like a name like Snake Eyes and rolls of the tongue quicker/ closer to the syllables of Shichimen Musha.
I have found posts regarding mistranslations in item descriptions and dialogue and such, I might go through them and do more or send them to you if you'd like. Thank you again. Will post if I edit more.
Seems like a much more sensible than the aggressive and careless hacking of the text the other translation mods have done. You seem to keep to the more faithful elements without outright messing with things like the code names. Much appreciated.
That said, the only thing I don't sit well with, is your use of naming Emma as, Ema. I thought her name being written in Katakana was meant to imply her to be foreign. Considering the original From Software translation was careful in keeping other Japanese names intact (Kuro, Anayama, Kotaro, Hanbei, Isshin, etc), wouldn't their choice for 'Emma' have been done for a reason? It feels off somehow to me.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I appreciate it a lot.
Emma's case is an odd one. When I first played Sekiro, I too was under the impression that she might have been partly European, or at the very least that there was an explanation for her foreign name. But this is never brought up anywhere in the game (or outside of it for that matter). In fact, we know she was already a servant to the Ashina as a little girl, with her being found by Sekijo to then be brought up by Dogen. So we have no indication whatsoever that she's a foreigner, not a single clue. Visually, she's also both ethnically and culturally Japanese. The likeliest reason for the localization team to have chosen "Emma" over "Ema" (an existing Japanese name with identical orthography) is that, as you mentioned, her name's written in katakana whereas the others are not, which was common practice for foreign names. But, I've learned that names in this period of Japanese History were often written interchangeably, and even more frequently for women of lesser upbringing. So, if anything, I think the katakana orthography was meant as a hint to Ema being an orphaned child of peasant parentage. The fact that the orthography "Emma" has led many players (like us two) to believe that she is a foreigner to Japan, without any other element to support this, is, in my opinion, a storytelling blunder, and probably one that was never meant in the first place.
Ultimately, I think that's why I decided to have that confusion removed. It left a doubt hanging in the air while providing nothing substantial to the story. It sure would be nice to have a definite answer to that question tho!
Thanks soo much for this mod. I''m playing this game for the first time and i have to say the story is near senseless. I had to use reddit a lot to understand what was really the point. There is a lot of mispellings, lots of sentences makes no sense at all.* Gonna try with this mod, huge xoxo for your work :) !
As someone with a vaguely passing knowledge of Japanese (basically just 20+ years of osmosis), I'm glad to see something like this again, as the original translations were a little hit or miss.
Though, if I might make a small suggestion? "Everblossom Dragon" rolls off the tongue much better (and takes up less room) than "Dragon of the Everblossom".
I initially contemplated doing this change, but I chose not to. It shifted the flow of some descriptions a bit too much, and felt like the kind of change done for the sake of it. I personally like the kind of reverence that "Dragon of the Everblossom" gives off, though I would agree with you on principle.
There are a lot of Minimal HUD options, so it would take me forever to make compatible versions for it. If you want to give it a try yourself, here is a quick guide: - Download both my mod and the version of Minimal HUD that you want. - Extract the content of both mods into separate folders. The file that is of interest to you is "menu.msgbnd.dcx". It's the one that contains all the tutorials stuff. - Download Yabber and extract it into its own folder. This is an unpacker/repacker. - Slide the "menu.msgbnd.dcx" file from my mod folder onto the "Yabber.exe" in your Yabber folder. This will create a subfolder of the same name as the file. Do the same for your Minimal HUD version of the file. - In the new subfolder, go to msg>engUS. You should see a bunch of files with Japanese names. I can't be sure exactly which you'll need to edit, but I know the one that contains prompts such as "Climb Up" or "Ledge Hang" is named "イベントテキスト.fmg". Open it with Yabber.exe, and it'll create an .xml file of the same name. Do this for both my mod and your version of Minimal HUD. - Open the two mods' .xml files with Notepad++. It has a comparing tool that you can install in the plugins management window, called "Compare". Using this, you can compare both of the files and figure out the differences. Edit my file (or the Minimal HUD one, either) with the changes you want to make and save it. - Next, you'll have to repack the modified .xml file by simply dropping it onto Yabber.exe. It'll replace the current "イベントテキスト.fmg" with the applied changes. No need to delete the .xml file, but you can. - Finally, drop the entire "menu-msgbnd-dcx" subfolder (that you created earlier by extracting the .dcx file) onto Yabber.exe. It'll replace my "menu.msgbnd.dcx" with your added changes. Put it into your Sekiro>mods>msg>engus folder and launch the game to see if your changes work. If they don't or if there are additional changes that you want to make, you'll need to scout the rest of the .fmg files and look for additional variations between my mod and the Minimal HUD one.
Glad to see more people putting effort in retranslating Sekiro. I like some of the terms you chose, especially the memorial flock! I too made a mod to retranslate the game some time ago, but I dont update it anymore here, it has become just a personal project, so I'm glad to see someone that cares so much about the lore to actually edit every text by themselves.
I also wanted to share my pain in trying to unify the formatting... been there, have to say it's the most annoying thing to do lol, everytime I play the game I find some other inconsistencies in capitalization, spacing, and the likes... >w>
I'll give you a tip I found out during my many hours of editing texts: try copypasting the sign i put inside the brackets () instead of leaving a blank in phrases where there are no subtitles, by doing that you'll still get the subtitle background even if there are no words appearing at that moment!
Thank you so much for the background tip! It was actually something I wanted to do but wasn't sure how. I'll update the mod soon and make sure to credit you. :)
I recall using your mod not long after it released. I remember it being a much better experience than vanilla.
Damn I just noticed the blank space did not come out in the comment! It's Unicode Character “?” (U+2002) it's called en space, you can look it up and copypaste it!
19 comments
Thank you for this mod. It appears to be much better done than the other two mods of this kind, and a lot more thoughtful with a lot more attention to detail. I was losing my mind with the other mods, so thank you very very much.
I have made my own edits to your mod for myself with the help of your guide that you posted below, so thank you for that also.
I have made some new edits and also changed/undone some of yours. My edits lean toward accuracy to the original rather than localization for a Western audience, and most people will not like that but I will list them here for you. Aside from that, I noticed in the NPC name files, there is a Red Demon, but two Chained Ogres. I'm not sure if this was intentional.
Sculptor -> Buddha Maker. Sculptor is a good general name in English, but his actual name Busshi is specifically someone who makes images or sculptures of the Buddha over and over. Sculptor implies he is a general sculptor and just chooses to obsessively make buddhas but a busshi is a real normal job. What is strange is that his buddhas are demonic.
Sculptor's Idol -> Asura Buddha. I think this is a lot closer to kibutsu meaning demonic buddha. It has more flavor. The Asura in buddhism specifically have six arms and possessed by wrath and violence among other things. I suppose Demon Buddha could also be used. I think it's more interesting to know that the idols are made by the Buddha Maker specifically because they are demonic, without being called by his name.
Homeward Idol -> Homeward Buddha. Homeward does have a nice ring to it compared to the original Returning Buddha. There is a lot of Buddha being omitted in the localization to the more vague nondescript "idol" which I think is strange considering that it would make Sekiro less vague and confusing.
Chained Ogre -> Red Demon -> Red Oni. Personally I find Oni a more accurate and specific term for what it is and find demon vague. I do not think Oni is a weird word for most people that have consumed japanese anime or video games to some degree.
Monkey Booze -> Monkey Sake. Accuracy to the original, plus there are other Sake in the game.
Long-arm Centipede Giraffe -> Long-arm Centipede Jiro -> Long-arm Centipede, Giraffe. In your notes, I do not understand what you mean by old name orthography. The katakana for his name says Jirafu which is also the katakana for Giraffe. I think Jirafu or Giraffe would be fine. I added the comma from your naming convention as it makes sense that he is a Long-arm Centipede named Giraffe.
I reversed your Seven Ashina Spears change to your personal names for them, but kept your comma system. I don't think that their faction being in their title is weird considering all the other names in the game. Maybe it's just me.
Basket-head Shosuke -> Baskethead Shosuke. I think it makes more sense as a name to not have a hyphen. And following hyphenless -head English words like bonehead and meathead.
Guardian Ape -> Lion Ape -> Lion Monkey. I think Saru is specifically referring to Monkey and specifically the Japanese Macaque. The fact that he is a monkey and not an ape makes him even more weird.
Dragonspring Sake -> Dragonspring. Direct translation.
Shichimen Warrior -> Seven-faces Warrior -> Seven Face Warrior. I think it sounds more like a name like Snake Eyes and rolls of the tongue quicker/ closer to the syllables of Shichimen Musha.
I have found posts regarding mistranslations in item descriptions and dialogue and such, I might go through them and do more or send them to you if you'd like. Thank you again. Will post if I edit more.
That said, the only thing I don't sit well with, is your use of naming Emma as, Ema. I thought her name being written in Katakana was meant to imply her to be foreign. Considering the original From Software translation was careful in keeping other Japanese names intact (Kuro, Anayama, Kotaro, Hanbei, Isshin, etc), wouldn't their choice for 'Emma' have been done for a reason? It feels off somehow to me.
Emma's case is an odd one. When I first played Sekiro, I too was under the impression that she might have been partly European, or at the very least that there was an explanation for her foreign name. But this is never brought up anywhere in the game (or outside of it for that matter). In fact, we know she was already a servant to the Ashina as a little girl, with her being found by Sekijo to then be brought up by Dogen. So we have no indication whatsoever that she's a foreigner, not a single clue. Visually, she's also both ethnically and culturally Japanese. The likeliest reason for the localization team to have chosen "Emma" over "Ema" (an existing Japanese name with identical orthography) is that, as you mentioned, her name's written in katakana whereas the others are not, which was common practice for foreign names. But, I've learned that names in this period of Japanese History were often written interchangeably, and even more frequently for women of lesser upbringing. So, if anything, I think the katakana orthography was meant as a hint to Ema being an orphaned child of peasant parentage. The fact that the orthography "Emma" has led many players (like us two) to believe that she is a foreigner to Japan, without any other element to support this, is, in my opinion, a storytelling blunder, and probably one that was never meant in the first place.
Ultimately, I think that's why I decided to have that confusion removed. It left a doubt hanging in the air while providing nothing substantial to the story. It sure would be nice to have a definite answer to that question tho!
I''m playing this game for the first time and i have to say the story is near senseless. I had to use reddit a lot to understand what was really the point.
There is a lot of mispellings, lots of sentences makes no sense at all.*
Gonna try with this mod, huge xoxo for your work :) !
Though, if I might make a small suggestion? "Everblossom Dragon" rolls off the tongue much better (and takes up less room) than "Dragon of the Everblossom".
- Download both my mod and the version of Minimal HUD that you want.
- Extract the content of both mods into separate folders. The file that is of interest to you is "menu.msgbnd.dcx". It's the one that contains all the tutorials stuff.
- Download Yabber and extract it into its own folder. This is an unpacker/repacker.
- Slide the "menu.msgbnd.dcx" file from my mod folder onto the "Yabber.exe" in your Yabber folder. This will create a subfolder of the same name as the file. Do the same for your Minimal HUD version of the file.
- In the new subfolder, go to msg>engUS. You should see a bunch of files with Japanese names. I can't be sure exactly which you'll need to edit, but I know the one that contains prompts such as "Climb Up" or "Ledge Hang" is named "イベントテキスト.fmg". Open it with Yabber.exe, and it'll create an .xml file of the same name. Do this for both my mod and your version of Minimal HUD.
- Open the two mods' .xml files with Notepad++. It has a comparing tool that you can install in the plugins management window, called "Compare". Using this, you can compare both of the files and figure out the differences. Edit my file (or the Minimal HUD one, either) with the changes you want to make and save it.
- Next, you'll have to repack the modified .xml file by simply dropping it onto Yabber.exe. It'll replace the current "イベントテキスト.fmg" with the applied changes. No need to delete the .xml file, but you can.
- Finally, drop the entire "menu-msgbnd-dcx" subfolder (that you created earlier by extracting the .dcx file) onto Yabber.exe. It'll replace my "menu.msgbnd.dcx" with your added changes. Put it into your Sekiro>mods>msg>engus folder and launch the game to see if your changes work. If they don't or if there are additional changes that you want to make, you'll need to scout the rest of the .fmg files and look for additional variations between my mod and the Minimal HUD one.
I too made a mod to retranslate the game some time ago, but I dont update it anymore here, it has become just a personal project, so I'm glad to see someone that cares so much about the lore to actually edit every text by themselves.
I also wanted to share my pain in trying to unify the formatting... been there, have to say it's the most annoying thing to do lol, everytime I play the game I find some other inconsistencies in capitalization, spacing, and the likes... >w>
I'll give you a tip I found out during my many hours of editing texts: try copypasting the sign i put inside the brackets () instead of leaving a blank in phrases where there are no subtitles, by doing that you'll still get the subtitle background even if there are no words appearing at that moment!
I recall using your mod not long after it released. I remember it being a much better experience than vanilla.
It's Unicode Character “?” (U+2002) it's called en space, you can look it up and copypaste it!