This game is awesome but the name???

[Andrew R]

First of all, I'm very happy with my purchase. Everything from the animations, to the save / load screens, to the fair difficulty if near perfect. XD

My question is,"Was Iconoclasts the final name or were others considered?" I know I'm weird but the name just seems...off to me a bit.

[gatesda]

It started out as "Ivory Springs" in 2007. It's been Iconoclasts since 2011, possibly earlier.

He's Swedish, so his sense of English is different from a native's. It's mostly a strength, I think, since it gives his dialogue a fresh quality. He can't subconsciously fall back on ingrained linguistic patterns as much.

[Ryusui]

It's kind of an annoyance to me. I don't have an issue with the name, but the script is pretty clearly not written by a native English speaker, and for a plot-heavy game like this, it's really distracting. I keep finding myself rewriting the script in my head as I read.

I wonder if the creator would be in the market for an editor? I'd be happy to rewrite the whole thing for him. (If you've ever played the Breath of Fire 2 retranslation, the new English script is my work. ;) )

[Zevroid]

Well, iconoclast means "a person who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration." or "a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions." Which is basically the plot of the game, so it fits. I'm pretty sure that was the idea.

[oturtle]

Originally posted by Ryusui:

It's kind of an annoyance to me. I don't have an issue with the name, but the script is pretty clearly not written by a native English speaker, and for a plot-heavy game like this, it's really distracting. I keep finding myself rewriting the script in my head as I read.

I wonder if the creator would be in the market for an editor? I'd be happy to rewrite the whole thing for him. (If you've ever played the Breath of Fire 2 retranslation, the new English script is my work. ;) )

I never noticed any weird dialogue.

[Flowmastah]

For a non-native speaker the developer did very well, but there's some odd phrasing here and there. An editing pass wouldn't be a bad idea.

[puresrawp]

I'll second the feeling that the game's writing feels off. The strangeness is similar to another game I played called "Fran Bow" which is a horror game whose two developers are also Swedish natives.

In that game the strangeness worked because it was a surreal horror game that took inspiration from Alice in Wonderland. The strange dialog complimented the already strange characters and setting. The dialog also was not as long-winded or as focused on world-building as Iconoclasts.

But in this game it definitely feels like it's holding back the story at times. I feel like I'm re-reading lines of dialog a bit more often than I should. I'd like to hear the opinions of others on this topic though.

[Kaspu]

I thought that the dialogue in this game was much better than in any other metroidvania.

[PCGNeurotic]

Speaking as a professional proofreader and editor of EN translations, as well as a gamer of about 40 years' standing, the English is absolutely brilliant compared to 90% of the Japanese and Russian-produced games released today. Besides, a bit of odd phrasing here and there only adds to the charm. :)

[SomeUnregPunk]

there's dialogue problems in this game? I haven't noticed any.

[Snowskeeper]

Originally posted by Ryusui:

I wonder if the creator would be in the market for an editor? I'd be happy to rewrite the whole thing for him. (If you've ever played the Breath of Fire 2 retranslation, the new English script is my work. ;) )

I don't think it needs a total rewrite; most of the scenes are more or less fine. The phrasing is just occasionally a little awkward in ways that don't seem intentional, and the metaphors, similes, etc. are often wrong or nonsensical, even for an alien culture. If those were given another pass, my only semi-serious complaint about the game would be gone. Only reasons I haven't done it myself are that A: I have not been inside Konjak's brain, and B: pretty sure that if I tried I'd break everything irreperably, and somehow bring Steam down in the process.