Why the pointless name changes?

[Commissar Bear]

Going through the trailer alone you can find a bunch of characters names and place names having been changed for no decernable reason.
Delcadar > Heliodor
Graig > Hendrik
King of Delcadar > King Carnelian
Kamyu > Erik

Im sure there is many more as well this is just what i could pick out from the trailer. Why do this? There is literaly no reason to change character or place names. The original names arnt racisit or offensive, theres literealy no reason to change them.

[Play Metaphor]

Originally posted by Commissar Bear:

Going through the trailer alone you can find a bunch of characters names and place names having been changed for no decernable reason.
Delcadar > Heliodor
Graig > Hendrik
King of Delcadar > King Carnelian
Kamyu > Erik

Im sure there is many more as well this is just what i could pick out from the trailer. Why do this? There is literaly no reason to change character or place names. The original names arnt racisit or offensive, theres literealy no reason to change them.

This is the least of your concerns. Your primary concern should be the accents that were nonexistent in the Japanese versions but they exist in the West.

This, alongside the naming conventions, are a stapple of Dragon Quest localization since the NES era. For example, the legendary hero in the West is called Erdrick whereas Japan knows him as Loto (Roto). Just a small example.

[Commissar Bear]

Originally posted by Sho { Off for Dragon Quest! }:

This is the least of your concerns. Your primary concern should be the accents that were nonexistent in the Japanese versions but they exist in the West.

This is a great concern, the name changes are a heavy indicator that they will be going down the same path again with the obnoxiously accented text. How ever the trailer didnt seem to have any from what I could see but it doesnt cover much, so i could only document what was there.

Originally posted by Sho { Off for Dragon Quest! }:

This, alongside the naming conventions, are a stapple of Dragon Quest localization since the NES era. For example, the legendary hero in the West is called Erdrick whereas Japan knows him as Loto (Roto). Just a small example.

I am aware, i did a series of streams last year where i went through the earlier dragon quest games and went over a lot of the changes to the western versions. A number of my japanese viewers were quite confused by the western name changes.

[Kytes]

Same thing happen with Ni No Kuni 2.

[Commissar Bear]

Originally posted by Princess (Not a SJW):

I just gleamed some information, although it was not in depth research by far, but I noticed they have some employees for the western version based out of Britain, some or all of whom may not even be native to Britain

There was a british company(Plus Alpha) involved in the localisation of DQVIII and the DS versions of DQIV and V, their obnoxous text stylings have stuck with the series since. As DQ was basicaly dead in the west at the time VIII was just given to them and told go nuts and now the series is stuck with needless name changes, script edits, puns and jokes that were never in the original versions.

[Blackened Halo]

I think those european sounding names fit the game greatly ..while i agree that it wasnt necessary to change the names, but the changed ones are at least as good as the original ones - Heliodor or Carnelian sound good if not even better ...i think this is not a big deal and DQ is one of those series where names actually dont matter

[Play Metaphor]

Originally posted by Кytes:

Same thing happen with Ni No Kuni 2.

Yep. It's so jarring listening to the Japanese VA using different names for anyone other than Roland and Evan, plus the accents.

[nnn]

Originally posted by Commissar Bear:

Going through the trailer alone you can find a bunch of characters names and place names having been changed for no decernable reason.
Delcadar > Heliodor
Graig > Hendrik
King of Delcadar > King Carnelian
Kamyu > Erik

Im sure there is many more as well this is just what i could pick out from the trailer. Why do this? There is literaly no reason to change character or place names. The original names arnt racisit or offensive, theres literealy no reason to change them.

Whoever's in charge of DQ localizations loves to change stuff just for the sake of it. No idea why they do it but this is hardly a new thing.

[Ntbs]

tho i love how funny the monster names are since DQ8 era. Especially 9, i think they just mishmashed the vocabulary and throw it for the LOL

[Dooralingus]

The names are usually changed for a couple of reasons.

1) Japanese is very different in sentence structure and how they address people, "Derukadaru no Ou" is just not how we (western countries) would do it. Monarchs have always had their name attached to their title.

2) Flavor: (this might need a bit of set up)

I am currently playing the Definitive Edition on the Switch and I opted for the japanese voice dub as this is my second playthrough and wanted to make it more fresh. You are correct, there is no dialects in the japanese dub, no regional accents (besides some characters using variations in words) and the dialogue is more subdued and also a bit boiler-plate isekai anime in some places (granted, Dragon Quest birthed many of these tropes so I don't have a problem with them going that route) the Luminary is "Yuusha - Sama" (literally the Hero - Sama) and Mordegon is just the "Maou (demon lord)"
This is in part tradition but also in Japan they don't have a reason to flavour the voices for the "cultural coding" of the places as they are not pluralistic like the US or European countries.
Having all these culturally distinct regions sound the same would feel a tad bland (not for any political reasons this is purely for flavoring as I said)

I liked that in Gondolia the people had a cartoonish Italian accent, the Puerto Valor were hispanic etc. etc. it really brings out the atmosphere in these places like you would in a D&D game and I am kinda missing it in the japanese dub to be honest. The mermaids don't freaking rhyme !! and it was such a nice touch.
Erik was renamed because he is from the "Nordic" part of Erdrea, he was raised by Vikings, Kamyu just doesn't really fit with Viking.




On the other hand, the japanese dub fits some characters way better. Veronica is a spunky and at the same time adorable lil' sorceress, whereas in the english dub she is like a member of a South London gang trapped in the body of an anime loli. Serena and Jade are also appropriately voiced and their mannerisms are a way better match for their japanese voices. Sylvando is less "fabulous and sassy" but the japanese version has other gems that are added in his case.

anyways that was my 2 cents on the matter :P I personally like the localization of DQ games ever since I played VIII, the name changes might not always make sense but in some cases I guess it can also be for style.

[Tr0w]

Originally posted by Commissar Bear:

Originally posted by Princess (Not a SJW):

I just gleamed some information, although it was not in depth research by far, but I noticed they have some employees for the western version based out of Britain, some or all of whom may not even be native to Britain

There was a british company(Plus Alpha) involved in the localisation of DQVIII and the DS versions of DQIV and V, their obnoxous text stylings have stuck with the series since. As DQ was basicaly dead in the west at the time VIII was just given to them and told go nuts and now the series is stuck with needless name changes, script edits, puns and jokes that were never in the original versions.

There's nothing wrong with the accented text, as a Scot i was impressed at how well they did and that they got it right for the most part. I couldn't care less if you colonials struggle to understand it.

[Ryan]

Personally, I thought Jade fit the character alot better than Martina.
She feels like a "Jade" to me lol

[Exarch_Alpha]

I like the translation and I don´t give a f*** that you don´t like, it, OP. I hate people fanatic for japanese stuff even if it´s equal - or even WORSE.

To give just the most obvious example, Erik is a viking name while your beloved japanese version is NOT.

[Keytee Tamira]

Originally posted by Exarch_Alpha:

I like the translation and I don´t give a f*** that you don´t like, it, OP. I hate people fanatic for japanese stuff even if it´s equal - or even WORSE.

To give just the most obvious example, Erik is a viking name while your beloved japanese version is NOT.

Kamyu sounds like Okami - Wolf, which fits Erik's theme. I thought that Erik doesn't fit his wolf theme, they should have called him Ulric or some other wolf-like name.
I believe that Senya and Sylvia sound better than Serena and Sylvando.


And before you call me a Japanese fanboy, i love English dub and all the accents and puns. I finished the game with english dub and i love it.
Now i play switch version with japanese voices on, and i do see some pluses in Japanese voices.

[flygonite]

Heliodor and everyone from it are named after gemstones, to contrast Cobblestone and everyone from it being named after more common rocks and dirt. Hendrik is from Zwaardsrust and thus Dutch.

It's flavor, and I'm personally fond of it.