newsblade wrote:Regarding to techniques names I think "DieWand" (TheWall) might be right, because its magical counterpart used in PS1 and PS4 was also named "Waller". Still not sure about "サークラ" being Sacra" and "ガージ" being Gadge".
- I always thought that DieWand sounded right but this is not a single word but a noun + its pronoun therefore it is arguable whether it fits the format of other techniques name in the game.
- I think the "Gadge" one is something more like "Gauge". This seems to fit Kains being a ex-mechanics, gauges being among others mechanic components of sorts.
newsblade wrote:The following are just random thoughts that shouldn’t be considered too seriously:
- why not using Shifter instead of Shifta;
- リバーサー Rebirther Instead of "reverser". (Its magical counterpart リバーサ was called Rebirth);
- ボルト Bolt instead of "Volt" (the unit used to measure created by some guy);
- グラブト Gravuto instead of Gravito;
- How about シーザス (shiizasu) being Scissors since this cuts all techniques and special attacks?
- バータ (baata) instead of wata(water) or wasser could it be bather since it baths the opponent when cast? In any case the official romanization for バータ is wata (just like the official romanization for feuer is "foie").
- I agree it does make sense about the "Rebirther" if we have "Rebirth" though I think "Reverser" was used in other Phantasy star. Wouldn't the magic/skill effect information in the menu hint as to which is more suited "rebirth" or "reverse".
- I'm quite for that "Bolt" idea. Though, I didn't know that it was an measure unit, it somehow propped up Lightning/Thunder-bolt to my mind. Like the divine judgment comes to finish you in a 1-hit lol
- Gravito ... hum that's a tough one. Doesn't perfectly fit the Katakana perfectly but I fits magic animation and effect in the game (the idea of a Gravity attack). I was personally thinking about something linked to the german term "Kraft" which means force/strenght as in Schwerkraft for gravity ; again it does not fit as well as Gravito overall.
- That "Scissors" one seems a good fit with the technique effect but I feel personally it doesn't fit overall with the rest. Most skills magic do not seem based on physical objects but more like verb (ager, shifta/shifter, etc...) In that sense you'd have thought it'd be something like "cutter" but not "scissors". I was personally thinking of something like "Seizures" though a bit far-fetching for the Katakana reading.
- Finally on the Barta or whichever way it is currently decided to be put down as in the translation. Well Barta is the official romanization in the PSO title if my memory is correct (and in that one they refer to an ice magic somehow). While it seems indeed to derive from "Wasser/Water" : perhaps a german-english hybrid (the "v" sound of the german W in the english word "water"). "Bather" doesn't feel to right to me (personal opinion)
Also though Foi(e) was the official romanization in PSO and I think even PS2 old style, clearly looking at the Katakana it's closer to the german Feuer. I can't quite guess how it came to this romanization of Foi.
newsblade wrote:What I might say may be completely wrong (I'm only writing here to make some contributions, but, again, it shouldn’t be considered too seriously). I think there might be some techniques that borrowed their names from castelaño (Spanish words):
- ムシカ (mushika) ........ Música (which means Music)
- プロセダン (purosedan) .... Procedan (which means Proceed)
- フォルサ (forusa) ...... Força (which means Force/Strength)
- リミテ (rimite) .... Limite (which means Limit) ~ although it could also be English
- リミタ (rimita) ..... Limita (which means Limiter) ~ although it could also be English
I'm forced to like/agree with all those. I think some of those were already retained by Kyence?
Well truthfully, it is difficult to get all names right. Many european languages share some features due to their either latin or germanic make-up in parts. It somehow feels sometimes that the japanese developer have mixed up on some of the pronounciation resulting in some hybrid word.
This would not totally surprise me, especially when you see that the "Katakana"-ization of some english word in Japanese is sometimes so far-fetched that were you not to know the english word it'd probably be impossible to understand what it means.
Kyence and everyone else have probably put a lot more work and thoughts into getting the romanization right for the fan-translation. I can't see than the company/publisher responsible for the distribution in West back in the 80/90's putting an awful amount of time looking through all european language and their dialects etc... to find which was the absolute source for every single Katakana word. Just my thoughts anyway.
newsblade wrote:Well, in any case, thank-you for your hard work on bringing us what SOA couldn't do for us.
I doubt it is "couldn't" but more a "were not allowed to". Not to defend SoA, but they probably do not have a lot of a say in what will be localized outside of Japan. Though, yes possibly they could try to push SoJ to consider it but at the end of the day, SoJ has the last words on those matters (I think that's how it goes at least).