Ramune
they call me carpet
- Pronouns
- he/they
After a couple of brief digressions elsewhere on the board about games not making it to certain regions, I decided why not ask a question that leans heavily into my covetous nature. What are some games you've been eager to see officially localised over the years but which have yet to receive the treatment? Recently we've seen The Great Ace Attorney, Moon, Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light and more finally reach international audiences, so never say never! Your favourite obscure game from the darkest recesses of generations past could still have its moment in the sun.
I have quite a few wants but the first ones that come to mind are...
Live-A-Live (Square, 1994, SFC)
Live-A-Live is something I've wanted to get an official release outside of Japan for quite some time now, though it recently garnered a little more discussion after the release of Octopath as it similarly features several protagonists with their own scenarios to clear (with additional scenarios that tie everything together at the end). It has a grid-based battle system where you can add terrain effects to squares, it has a nice strange '90s JRPG cast, and it's of interest as an early work in both director Takashi Tokita and composer Yoko Shimomura's careers.
It has a notable fan translation by Aeon Genesis (they took the initiative to use unique fonts for each scenario to add to the distinctiveness of each story). I think it would be Perfect For Switch, however, as well as...well, all modern platforms. There's hope, as Tokita has expressed interest in it and it appears Square Enix recognise the dedicated, if niche community of golden age fans who will buy up any old ports and late localisations (hello, fellow SaGa loyalists).
SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu: Goddess of Destiny & SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha: Shadow or Light (Racjin/Square Enix, 2009/10, NDS)
Speaking of! SaGa 2 and 3 for the DS were remakes of what some of us know as Final Fantasy Legend II & III, recently re-released in Collection of SaGa. Mainly I want these localised because it would make playing through those games easier thanks to QoL upgrades and because I feel a strange nostalgia for DS era chibi art direction. But I also want these localised because I want every SaGa game re-released, even if other versions have already been re-released. I will not stop until the entire world has become exhausted by Kawazu and his legacy. All shall look upon his non-traditional character progression and spark despair.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo, 1996, SFC)
This one even has portrait cover art. Perfect for Switch! There's been rumblings of this game and its sequel getting the Echoes treatment with enhanced remakes in the Three Houses engine, though I'd be just as happy if it got treated like FE1 with a late localisation of the original game with some added QoL features like save states and rewind. Plus, this would introduce the rest of the world to even more anime sword fighters, so there would be no shortage of candidates for joining the next Smash roster.
Giftpia (Skip Ltd., 2003, GCN)
Who doesn't love a quirky game? I was mildly obsessed with Giftpia in the early '00s, scouring magazines for any mention of it, gawking at screenshots, and eagerly awaiting confirmation of a PAL release. Alas, it never came. Giftpia is an adventure game / life sim where the player tries to raise funds for their coming of age ceremony through odd jobs and NPC interactions. NPCs have schedules, you can trigger events, and you don't want to be out long enough that you run out of energy and fall asleep. Sounds familiar, right? Now that I've been able to play Moon, Giftpia gives me the same vibe, and that makes sense since Skip Ltd grew out of Love-de-Lic. In some ways, I think it represents an ideal of early '00s gaming for me - bright, odd, novel, "too crazy for the west" - and perhaps it would be a letdown to finally experience it. But I would be on it in a flash if it did get some sort of miracle re-release.
Over to you lot - what are the games you'd most like to see miraculously localised? Do your worst, make me want to play even more games I can't easily play.
(This is my first time making a thread in years and years, I hope it doesn't look an absolute mess...)
I have quite a few wants but the first ones that come to mind are...
Live-A-Live (Square, 1994, SFC)
Live-A-Live is something I've wanted to get an official release outside of Japan for quite some time now, though it recently garnered a little more discussion after the release of Octopath as it similarly features several protagonists with their own scenarios to clear (with additional scenarios that tie everything together at the end). It has a grid-based battle system where you can add terrain effects to squares, it has a nice strange '90s JRPG cast, and it's of interest as an early work in both director Takashi Tokita and composer Yoko Shimomura's careers.
It has a notable fan translation by Aeon Genesis (they took the initiative to use unique fonts for each scenario to add to the distinctiveness of each story). I think it would be Perfect For Switch, however, as well as...well, all modern platforms. There's hope, as Tokita has expressed interest in it and it appears Square Enix recognise the dedicated, if niche community of golden age fans who will buy up any old ports and late localisations (hello, fellow SaGa loyalists).
SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu: Goddess of Destiny & SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha: Shadow or Light (Racjin/Square Enix, 2009/10, NDS)
Speaking of! SaGa 2 and 3 for the DS were remakes of what some of us know as Final Fantasy Legend II & III, recently re-released in Collection of SaGa. Mainly I want these localised because it would make playing through those games easier thanks to QoL upgrades and because I feel a strange nostalgia for DS era chibi art direction. But I also want these localised because I want every SaGa game re-released, even if other versions have already been re-released. I will not stop until the entire world has become exhausted by Kawazu and his legacy. All shall look upon his non-traditional character progression and spark despair.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo, 1996, SFC)
This one even has portrait cover art. Perfect for Switch! There's been rumblings of this game and its sequel getting the Echoes treatment with enhanced remakes in the Three Houses engine, though I'd be just as happy if it got treated like FE1 with a late localisation of the original game with some added QoL features like save states and rewind. Plus, this would introduce the rest of the world to even more anime sword fighters, so there would be no shortage of candidates for joining the next Smash roster.
Giftpia (Skip Ltd., 2003, GCN)
Who doesn't love a quirky game? I was mildly obsessed with Giftpia in the early '00s, scouring magazines for any mention of it, gawking at screenshots, and eagerly awaiting confirmation of a PAL release. Alas, it never came. Giftpia is an adventure game / life sim where the player tries to raise funds for their coming of age ceremony through odd jobs and NPC interactions. NPCs have schedules, you can trigger events, and you don't want to be out long enough that you run out of energy and fall asleep. Sounds familiar, right? Now that I've been able to play Moon, Giftpia gives me the same vibe, and that makes sense since Skip Ltd grew out of Love-de-Lic. In some ways, I think it represents an ideal of early '00s gaming for me - bright, odd, novel, "too crazy for the west" - and perhaps it would be a letdown to finally experience it. But I would be on it in a flash if it did get some sort of miracle re-release.
Over to you lot - what are the games you'd most like to see miraculously localised? Do your worst, make me want to play even more games I can't easily play.
(This is my first time making a thread in years and years, I hope it doesn't look an absolute mess...)
When did that get released?