I am writing this post in the (admittedly vain) hope that it will somehow reach the person or people who need to see it. (I know this will not happen, but I have no social media accounts, so what else can I do? I'm quite sure there is no email account for localization suggestions.)
I am currently playing the HD-2D remake version of Dragon Quest, and I have opinions about the localization.
A lot of them.
Too many, really. I won't go into the strange obsession the English localization has with changing character names. That's not what I want to talk about. That's not the problem I want to beg be solved.
No, the problem is the basic tone of the localization.
I can sum up my request to the localizers in one simple sentence:
"Stop trying to put the entire game script in faux Elizabethan!"
It is strange, off-putting, not representative of the original Japanese text, and--to top it all off!--it's not even being done correctly or accurately!
Because you know what? "Thou" is not merely "ye olde time" spelling of "you"! They are completely different words with different meanings!
"You" and "thou" are exactly like the German "Sie" and "du" (other languages also have similar words, I believe, but German is the only one I actually know the words). "Sie" is the formal, polite word; it is used when addressing strangers, those older than you, or those in a position of more power/influence than you, and in formal situations. "Du" is the informal version, used among close friends, equals, and with those who are less powerful/influential/important than you are. (A rule of thumb for when to use the two words is "when in doubt, use Sie," because you can't insult someone by being polite at them.) At some point in the past, English dropped the informal "thou" entirely, keeping only the formal "you."
Therefore, anything trying to translate into older English that still has "thou" needs to be aware that they can't just slot it in every time they need a second person pronoun! Because sure, a guard would use "thou" in addressing a prisoner in jail. But no one--and I really do mean no one--would use "thou" in addressing the king or the princess!
It just would not happen!
Likewise, no one would use "thou" in addressing the literally dragon-slaying hero they were depending on to save the kingdom. (Maybe the king would, since the hero is less important than he is, but...in these circumstances, probably not, tbh.) They would want to be polite to him and call him "you" to make sure that he didn't decide he would rather walk off and let the kingdom perish!
I cannot express just how frustrating it is to try to play these games only to be pelted in the face with this garbage.
The bottom line is: stop trying to use words when you don't know what they mean! You're just showcasing your own ignorance.
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