Final Fantasy VIIR Dialogue Comparison, Part II

[dorchadas]

The Games Awards dropped another Final Fantasy VII Remake trailer, so just I like I did with the last trailer from back in May, I'm going to compare the Japanese and English dilaogue.

First, here's the trailer:

Watch on YouTube

I haven't been able to find one with Japanese audio, but this was posted by Square Enix Japan, so I assume that the subtitles here are from the Japanese script. Which is interesting, because sometimes the dialogue is, uh, very different:

Speaker	Japanese	English
Cloud	警告しておこう / keikoku shite okō "I'm going to tell you something for later."	"Look, I'm involved in things."
Cloud	俺は強いぞ / ore wa tsuyoi zo "I'm strong."	"Dangerous things."
Aerith	うん　そんな感じするよ / un, sonna kanji suru yo "Yes, I get that impression"	"So?"
Cloud	脅しには屈しない / odoshi ni wa kussushinai "I won't give in to threats"	"So keep your distance."
Jessie	ええと　名前はなんだっけ / eeto, namae wa nan dakke? "What was his name again?"	"What was his name again?"
Biggs	名前はクラウド・ストライフ / namae wa kuraudo sutoraifu "His name is Cloud Strife."	"Cloud. Cloud Strife."
Cloud	勝手に仲間にするな / katte ni nakama ni suru na "Don't just call me one of your friends."	"This is a one-time gig."
Cloud	仕事が終われば、他人だ / shigoto ga owareba, tanin da "When the job's done, we're strangers."	"When it's done, we're done."
Wedge	ただの金目を当てならここまで来ないっスよね？ / tada no kinmoku wo ate nara koko made konai ssu yo ne "If it were just money you were after there ain't no way you've have come this far, right?"	"Nobody'd do something this crazy just for money"
Barrett	星の悲鳴が聞こえねえか？ / hoshi no himei ga kikoenee ka? "Can't you hear the Planet wailing in pain?"	"You gonna stand there and tell me you can't hear the Planet crying out in pain?"
Barrett	クラウドさんよ / kuraudo-san yo! "Cloud!"	"I know you can!"
Cloud	星の未来より５秒後の自分を心配するんだな / hoshi no mirai yori go byō ato no jibun wo shinpai suru n da na "I'm more worried about myself in the next five seconds than the Planet's future"	"I'm worried less about the Planet and more about the next five seconds."
Jessie	[No subtitle]	"Cloud!"
Jessie	さっすが / sassuga "That was amazing!" [lit: Just like you]	"Okay, that...was pretty cool."
Tifa	クラウドはしばらくミドガルドだよね / kuraudo wa shibaraku midogaru da yo ne "You'll be in Midgar for only a bit, right?" or possibly, "It's been a long time since you've been in Midgar."	"You weren't thinking of leaving Midgar anytime soon, were you?"
Cloud	古い友達がピンチらしくてな / furui tomodachi ga pinchi rashikute na "An old friend seems to be in a bit of a pinch.	"Well, seems this old friend of mine's in a tight spot"
Cloud	その時は助けるって約束したんだ / sono toki wa tasukeru tte yakusoku shita n da "And back then, I promised to save her."	"Long time ago, I made a promise, so."
Tifa	帰ってきたってわかたっらホットしちゃった / kaette kita tte wakattara hotto shichatta "I was so relieved when I found out you'd come back."	"I'm really glad to have you back, Cloud. Really glad."

There are more differences here than there were in the first trailer! The first exchange between Aerith and Cloud is completely different in Japanese, Cloud explicitly mentions what he promised Tifa rather than just alluding to its existence, and in the English Tifa is more expressive in being glad to see Cloud. A lot of the other stuff is just stylistic--"Okay, that...was pretty cool" isn't really a bad translation of さっすが, which is kind of an interjection when someone does something good or cool that's exactly the kind of good or cool you would have expected them to do--but there are some major changes that swap the meaning around!

Like, compare English Aerith here to Japanese Aerith. English Aerith has a devil-may-care attitude, and when Cloud tells her that the situation is dangerous, she brushes it off. She's not worried. In Japanese, it sounds more like Cloud is reassuring Aerith that he can protect her and she's telling him that she knows he can. In English she's sassy, in Japanese she's passive. I wonder how that's going to play out over the entire game.

I do love the "next five seconds line." English or Japanese, Cloud's like "Yeah, yeah, mystical Planet crap, whatever, can we focus on the giant scorpion deathbot here?"

I'm curious how those different lines will work in the different version. I'm guessing they'll have different lip syncing in English and Japanese, and maybe different cutscene timing too? Aerith's first line here is so much longer in Japanese but her lips are clearly synced to the English.

Now that we know this is probably coming to other places than just the PS4/5, I look forward to playing it in 2021.

Comments

[corvi]

> さっすが, which is kind of an interjection when someone does something good or cool that's exactly the kind of good or cool you would have expected them to do

I really need a way to say this. I sometimes tell people they're "on-brand" in that situation, but it would be great to have something similar that conveyed that this was an unquestionable good thing.

Not sure how I feel about the FFVII remake, and whether, given the chance, I'd just play the original again.

[dorchadas]

さすが is definitely one of those words that English really needs because the nuance is clumsy when translated. In Japanese, you can just shout it and someone's name and they'll know you're cheering them on and appreciate their capabilities. There's nothing that compact in English.

[law]

thanks for posting this. i think i prefer the japanese version. the differences are slight but there's a certain nuance that's missing from the english translation. i hope there's an option to play with subtitles tho. since my ps4 is on the fritz i probably won't be able to play it when it comes out anyway. something to look forward to later tho!

[draxil]

Fascinating!

I must say, hearing that reworked music really operated on the nostalgia centres of my brain!