German translation is wonky at best

[GarlicIsLife]

The German translation feels like a basic Google Translate copy-paste job. Not even GPT-3.5 would produce something this unnatural. There are outright errors at times, and it constantly feels like it was translated from the English version—understandable if the source was indeed English. However, this often creates a significant mismatch with the Japanese voiceover.

Overall, no one speaks German like this. It reads like a robotic script. I was genuinely surprised to find out this was the official translation and not a fan-made version.

Dear developers, please consider improving this translation. I strongly recommend leveraging advanced AI models like Gemini Flash/Pro 1.5, which can handle longer contexts and significantly enhance quality with minimal effort. If you're interested, I'd be happy to assist—free of charge. I enjoyed this game so much that I'd love to give back. I have experience with translating visual novels (Japanese/English to German) and could offer some valuable insights to help refine the localization.

[Ave]

Its not that bad i think google translate is way worse but there are some errors though.
Every indie game has its translation flaws.
At least english always works fine.

[nomatter]

The German translation is pretty solid overall. I guess German isn't your first language?

[iputsday]

To defend the translation, since I also worked on (not on the German version)

The English script is rather really broken English, because all the idioms and such was DIRECTLY translated from Russian. It was apparently proofread by an English speaking person, judging my their name, but some errors were left in in the English version, including typos and stuff. English text doesn't make sense, it was so bad, that sometimes the translators had to look up the original Russian script and use a translator to even make anything sense of it.

I believe, at the time, when the German version was in the making, the English was even worse.

Anyway, the game can always be updated, so it's not like it's permanent. No one is perfect after all.

[Hurkyl]

People think the English script is that bad? It's quite idiosyncratic and could use some polish to help line up dialog options with the actual dialog, but it seemed serviceable to me, and I found it kind of charming.

The tone difference between the English and what little I can pick up to the Japanese is a little offputting, but without knowing the original Russian, the only thing I actually found disagreeable is Kind Mita's use of terms of affection: IMO there really isn't enough setup to make it sound good.

But then... some people talk like that in real life too. And I find it disagreeable there too. So I'm content to chalk it up to wanting Kind Mita to be like that. Or maybe it's supposed to demonstrate Mita's programming to treat her conspiracy to work against Crazy Mita as the same sort of role play as the 'normal' MiSide app.

[Dave]

That's what you deserve for playing it in german.

[iputsday]

Originally posted by Hurkyl:

People think the English script is that bad? It's quite idiosyncratic and could use some polish (…)

The consumer version of the English translation (before the final/released version) iirc was even more worse, for example, the TV used to say „RELEASE DATE” instead of „RELEASED” as in something being released from, for example a prison. The English version got improved without notifying anyone in the team, that the English — in fact — got improved, but with more context to it. It's really not the translators fault that the translation is like this as it is. But yeah, bugfixes are coming as always, including improving the language, etc.

[GarlicIsLife]

Oh sorry guys, an important follow up: Yeah I did not know the game was initially Russian made. Considering this of course my complaint about the translation was a little too harsh. But still, my main nitpick is that the German translation uses sentences that are technically correct but no one actually writes or speaks like this in real life.