For those interested in reading all of the entries, I've composed a full translation of the complete Japanese Adventure Log on my Patreon! www.patreon.com/QuestWithAaron
I feel a little bit robbed if I’m being honest. I understand that translation can be hard, but I could have spent hours just reading the entries if it was included in the English version, which is why I feel really sad right now that I don’t know Japanese.
Yeah I completely feel the same way, I was so surprised when I learned about the differences between the two! I feel like a diary is the perfect way of developing Link's character, while still retaining the important characteristics that make him the hero we love. I'll be covering more of the entries in upcoming videos (due to come out very soon), let's enjoy and catch up on what we missed together! :D
@@QuestWithAaron hey I know I'm late but I just wanted to say that silent protagonists aren't always best look at shulk in xenoblade chronicles 1 his character and the things he goes through and how he reacts to it is what really sells the story so I wouldn't be upset if they made link a voiced protagonist cause when done right they add so much to the story of the game
Honestly I just played through the game for the first time and by the end up of it I felt sad because of the constant belittling of link for no reason and lack of character development in others to see link become the person he suppose to be.. the English version directly went out of there way to make link characterless person who only accepts rude people and non of them ever apologize or acknowledge him.. the story is one of the worst story’s in the English version it completely ignores link as hero and almost only admits it because there forced to… Zeldas character completely comes across as self pity and no confidence at all while trying to make her be the Hero… The dialogue at the end when she says link is the one to seal the Calamity in “age of calamity” then directly afterward says she’s doing the sealing the calamity but acts like it’s her doing the work.. and every one try to character build her but can’t because she never grows from that person because in the same breath they act if there’s nothing wrong with her and what problems she does is everyone else fault.. they try to make it seem like it’s the dads male figure being that way.. and then the other male lead the kept silent.. and took away all personal thoughts! I expect this to get worse with breath of the wild 2 sadly.. it sucks there’s no true character development and it shows even worth the game play with no real tools being available to get from dungeons and everything you get in the game is breakable which makes you not want to use any of it.. The only person that had any decent story was princess mipha or how ever you spell it and even that was lack luster… The Devine beast as the only real dungeons were terrible and the only enemies being goblins and guardians really blowed it just showed that they truly worked on the land scape so much that the rest fell by the waste side.. and the only thing that could of save it was for them to leave the original Japanese text to actually let these individuals be themselves.. but that’s what the English translation of most things is trying to take away from they are forcing people to look at a collective and not the individuals but in doing so they lose everyone in the process because it takes the individuals to become the collective… I’m glad you did this and it brings me some joy to know that ravali and all these characters where not as bad as they were portrayed and the originally writhing was good. With all the cool glitches I wish I could glitch in the originally text to English… I’d be happy with that.. but as it sits now I hope they do better!
Link being a courageous and kind boy with a smart mouth and enjoyment for the small things in life, hard on himself and a perfectionist on his craft with an unyielding sense of duty. I love it.
Except, if you've met him, you've also probably beaten him, so if Link really wanted to rub it in further, he could've said it in past tense, like he knows he tossed the fat SOB down a 'bottomless' pit. "He had a dumb belly."
The adventure log actually being written by Link it's a perfect way to give voice to his thoughts without actually making Link talk. I will never get over how they fucked up this with this stupid "you are Link" mentality. Which doesn't make any sense considering you can't rename Link anymore (thank god).
And he's always male, not female and you can't change his sex to make him really more like you, (I'm female), he's his own character in every way, and I like that, I always feel more while playing like I'm some kind of ghost at his side that lives his adventures with him and offers a helping hand in them, some kind of invisible companion, but not that I'm him, because that isn't true and it doesn't make any sense, Link has too much in himself, so much makes up his character, he isn't a blank slate and I don't want him to be, I don't want them to rob this things from us, that would feel completely empty and it wouldn't fit for this story, it wouldn't fit for The Legend of Zelda
The Japanese versions of EVERY 3D Zelda game do a much better job fleshing out Link by doing away with the "You are Link" mentality that the English versions have.
Right!! Translation can be quite difficult sometimes, especially with Japanese as pronouns are frequently omitted... But there are just so many parts that are completely cut out or changed drastically! I really think if they had included this in the English version, Link's entire adventure would have definitely felt even more personal and meaningful.
At least the English version has link responding to others and sometimes making jokes and being light hearted I wonder if his dialogue options are different in Japanese? Anyway it’s a real shame the quest log isn’t translated as link’s diary in English That would’ve actually made me interested in reading all of them I don’t know if many games do this for quest logs but it’s genuinely a great idea to make the hero of whatever game write it from his own perspective
Some of the dialogue we can choose for Link in English is so interesting... if any in particular stick out to you, let me know! I'm currently comparing the dialogue options between games too, and there are some cool differences here and there! I agree! Having the Quest Log function as a personal diary for the hero of a game is a design choice I really like!
@@QuestWithAaron one example can be the dialogues between him and the guy who gives him the sand and snow boots (or whatever their names are in english,idk) There,I remember,he responds with a clear no to one of the proposals of going out on a date. Others can be when Link speaks to Roham when he guides him to the shrines on the great plateau (that btw has a better names in the english version;I'm comparing it to to the italian version,that in sadly us based much on the english version. There are also some difference in the dialogues in the cutscenes but becouse of a matter of syncing the lips movement to the character talking,which in reality makes a bit of a difference: I remember clearly,for example,the horse cutscene and there Zelda in english says about whether the horse should have earned the royal gear and that stuff,whereas in the italian versione due to timing problems Zelda talk about the fact that wasn't sure if the gear would have suited the horse well) It's so sad that everyone (maybe?) but Japanese fans got the sad way of viewing the game :/ I really connected more with Link in 2 videos than by beating the game 4 times...
making the quest descriptions first person would have honestly been such an interesting decision since that is rarely done in games. it makes everything feel more personal.
I hope you make a little series about this diary, maybe/hopefully eventually covering ALL of the entries! I can't find any translated diary entries elsewhere (and plus, I rather like how you do it, your voice is relaxing)! If you do make more vids on this, I'd be thrilled!
I could cry from joy this video was so great and I'm so happy it was recommended to me by RU-vid. I've always wanted to know more about Link and wish the English versions/translations gave more to the players
Link also has to live with knowledge he trained with the Master Sword, and the Guardian Strike Team, had amazing physical abilities, and still got his ass handed to him by Team Ganon. He succumbs to his wounds and wakes up in a 'bacta tank' 100 years later to devastation. He discovers Zelda was able to hold back Ganon himself (?) after he failed. That can be a confidence blow.
it is sweet to see that link genuinlingly actually cares about the people he helps and it seems not much for the reward even worrying about the girl not doing anything risky for weapons or how he made koko happy. and even if the two who confessed isn't what he'd imagine as a great one, he feels a sense of happiness himself. wish they didn't do that only for the japanese versions
i wish there was a thing where every quest from japanese botw was translated into english so we could get the full experience even without knowing japanese…
I love the fact that in 2 videos we got to see more than what everyone but japanese players saw. Sure,sometimes we got to see Link's kindness,but not firsthand,we saw it by hearing other characters saying that Link gave them a piece of advice in some way or another,or we read something what was written in the diaries. *So kind,but still,we can't pet dogs*
That was based on a note in the artbook, which was written in a speculative tone and left the door open for future content to overwrite it, so they knew they might end up doing something different and didn't commit
Man I love that you found this and are sharing it with others. At the same time I wish you didn't because now I feel so cheated. Seriously, though, thank you for these videos!
Thanks 🙏 for making those videos about the diary of link this is interesting and so cute to know how the Japanese version is made in the origin to show the caring, loving and warm side in link’s personality that is a reason why I still love so much Japanese and Chinese cultures which are a really caring and human communities.. we see that reflected in this work ! Thanks again 👍🏻👋
I think the translation might be different because link is supposed to not have any memories of his past but he writes like he is familiar with Zelda and his past
I'm commenting it now because I though someone would've pointed it out in the first video. The log is not written in third person, that's second person.
I actually really feel cheated that we didn't get this first person diary aspect for all the quests. I would've actually ready them when picking up, and finishing if I knew they were directly from the thoughts of link.
i already really liked the little spark of Link's personality in the replies he can give, he's such a smartass sometimes. i feel a little robbed at the localisation making the slate so impersonal now. im really curious about the others' personalities, especially Zelda, or the way others like Kass talk about her is there an update on the translation project at all?
Link seams to be a lot like me And i am on autisim scale He gets overexited over small thing like a new item He self doubts him self and cares a lot for others jet is mostly silent when hVing to much weight and pressure on his shoulders Sounds fsmiliar
Honestly, I feel like at this point with all these factors with request slow, giving for the characterization to link the diary, the voice acting of this game the theory which is is true about the timelines converging in this being a time after that, I feel like it is time for a link to finally get a voice I don’t care if link was designed to be just something you can imprint yourself onto I want him to be his own fleshed out character with. It’s a dialogue here or there.
based on gameplay and facial impressions, i always thought link post power nap operates on anger to mask his grief and empowers him to defeat ganon, kinda like the connor kenway of the bloodline
Interesting theory! There is actually a word used explicitly in the Japanese version of the games that describes an energy that basically does what you describe. I'm intending on exploring it in a future video!
It be really interesting if you could choose between an English translation of the Japanese or the original English rewrite so you can either view it from links perspective or perspective of the player I feel like it should be more of a choice like something in the settings that can be switched
I would like to read all of these. If anyone finds a website with them all please share your findings. One sidequest I would like to know Link's diary entry on is the Octo balloon girl, Shamae I think her name is. She gives you a star fragment and mentions whether people lived in the sky. A nod to skyward sword I thought....until the botw 2 trailer
I've yet to find a place with all of them translated unfortunately. I'll definitely work on getting them in text form for you to browse at your leisure! I know which part you mean! That sounds super interesting actually, I'll take a look! Thank you for sharing :D
I wish I could understand Japanese.. this puts a whole new perspective on BoTW… it’s an absolute shame that this isn’t in the English version, all the entries are so endearing!!
Meu headcanon: Em ambos skyward sword e breath of the wild/tears of the kingdom, Link já tinha um background de cavaleiro, passando por um treinamento de espada, e essas academias enforçavam canhotos a usarem a mão direita para eles usarem suas espadas, e o link em skyward sword usa o arco do jeito que um canhoto usaria, e no diário da casa do link, a caneta e a tinta ficam no lado esquerdo, já o motivo pro link em botw/totk usar a mão direita mesmo depois de perder as memórias, é por causa de memória muscular.
This game is a big reason for why I am trying to learn japanese. For Breath of the Wild I initially switched languages because I found the english voice acting to be poor in comparison to the japanese, and the japanese felt more appropriate for the anime art style. But learning about all this stuff you miss out on, it makes me think about all the stuff I miss in other english translations of japanese games and anime and the like, it really imbued in me a desire to not miss out. As learning a third language was something I was already interested in, I determined through this game in a lot of ways that japanese would be the language that could most significantly increase my capacity to enjoy entertainment and media, as well as proposing the most interesting challenge to me due to the extreme difference between japanese and european languages. So yeah, this game made me want to learn japanese. Can't say anything has made me want to learn a new language before.
If the whole third person translation was BECAUSE they thought western audience is too used to convention of third person objective questlogs that are found in western rpgs and open wprld games im gonna flip Like im serious you dont need to stay to the same thing just bc of fear to not be too different. Actually id love more first person quest logs, as they have more sense than being in thurd person as like... whos writing it? Unless theres a character thats writing the stuff, then like fine, but still...
Okay seriously I'm not seeing much of an issue with this translation. I mean yeah it has the whole you thing but even then it's really not as big of a problem as a lot of people think. It seems like the only difference really is the I to you thing but I just assume that the you is half talking to the player and half talking to link. Most of the text doesn't seem all that different either. It's nice knowing that the log is actually links diary but besides the I to you thing it's not that big of a deal. Link has a character in both versions people just need to look deeper into it!
I love the way Link's character is portrayed outside of this, too. For instance, you can clearly see how much he truly enjoys food when cooking in BotW or TotK. Details like these are a fantastic way to add to his character, imo
@@QuestWithAaron stuff like that along with Zelda's diary, her interactions with link, subtle details you can get out of his behavior, and the stuff that he just does out in the open really allow you to see who link is behind the silent stare. A simple translation difference to me wouldn't really affect that and I'm glad others can see it too!
There are mods that change the narrative to the first person, but as far as I know, there are none that properly translate all the entries to their true state unfortunately :/
I certainly agree 100% that Link loves Princess Mipha as much as she loves him. The best part about a video game is I don't need to think/believe her to be dead. ❤. Also as we saw from Tears of the Kingdom with King Rarau and Sonyia Zoras and Hylians can have kids. ❤
the English version really messed up this game have you seen revali real personality? its almost cute in the Japanese version he more like Zelda with why he hates link instead of being a dick he wants link to recognize his skills and he assumes because link doesnt react he is saying that revali isnt worth it Revali wants a rivalry with him
This is so cool...I wonder wtf the internacionalization team changed this...this should be something the game creators intended not something that should be changed after the game is done... This videos really make you hate the localisation teams...I wonder if in other languages they kept this detail...
I'm starting to see why they changed it to second person. "I'm sure Zelda will praise me" ?? Really? He sounds like a five year old who spelled his name right, not a young adult who just overcame a deadly trial. Pass, I'll imagine his thought process on my own thanks.
I think that Link's eagerness to help others (no matter how small the quest) and happiness stemming from seeing others happy is a very wholesome way to depict such a hero.
I've been thinking of writing a Nintendo fanmade comic, including the Zelda series, but i wasnt sure about Link's personality, specially in botw. Thanks a lot
It’s so strange, the Japanese version fleshes link out as a character separate from the player. For the western audience they write it more as you’re Link. It’s a tight rope to walk for sure I’m at a loss on how feel rn lol.
Yeah it's very different like that. Finding the perfect balance between developing Link's character while retaining the element of connection the player has to him is important I think.
I have heard this all over. There is not enough story in BOTW and there it is in the Japanese version of Link's Quest diary. Who edits out some of the best story telling for the English version? Someone who thinks all English speaking people are self centered? Me me me..... wrong.
It's the same mindset that leads to stupid raceswaps so people can 'identify' with a character more. Because you know, you can only identify with a character when they look like you. Or have a different personality than you.
I love that we can connect to Link without hearing him speak. And his relationship with Zelda is somehow special. It’s great to get more “show, don’t tell” in a story like this.
I actually like that both Link and Zelda suffer from insecurity about their places in all this because let’s face it, anyone would be in their situations.
I was already sad we know nothing about link. He’s such an empty character in the English version and just now knowing that in the Japanese transition, there’s such a huge difference, I can’t help but feel so sad. Link is a huge part of this story too, yet we barely get any to know anything about him. After watching three of these, now I’m really wanting to dedicate myself in learning Japanese. Just for this game. Also in preparation for the upcoming sequel to breath of the wild. Fingers crossed I get to understand a sentence by the time it’s out🤞🤞
Honestly I just played through the game for the first time and by the end up of it I felt sad because of the constant belittling of link for no reason and lack of character development in others to see link become the person he suppose to be.. the English version directly went out of there way to make link characterless person who only accepts rude people and non of them ever apologize or acknowledge him.. the story is one of the worst story’s in the English version it completely ignores link as hero and almost only admits it because there forced to… Zeldas character completely comes across as self pity and no confidence at all while trying to make her be the Hero… The dialogue at the end when she says link is the one to seal the Calamity in “age of calamity” then directly afterward says she’s doing the sealing the calamity but acts like it’s her doing the work.. and every one try to character build her but can’t because she never grows from that person because in the same breath they act if there’s nothing wrong with her and what problems she does is everyone else fault.. they try to make it seem like it’s the dads male figure being that way.. and then the other male lead the kept silent.. and took away all personal thoughts! I expect this to get worse with breath of the wild 2 sadly.. it sucks there’s no true character development and it shows even worth the game play with no real tools being available to get from dungeons and everything you get in the game is breakable which makes you not want to use any of it.. The only person that had any decent story was princess mipha or how ever you spell it and even that was lack luster… The Devine beast as the only real dungeons were terrible and the only enemies being goblins and guardians really blowed it just showed that they truly worked on the land scape so much that the rest fell by the waste side.. and the only thing that could of save it was for them to leave the original Japanese text to actually let these individuals be themselves.. but that’s what the English translation of most things is trying to take away from they are forcing people to look at a collective and not the individuals but in doing so they lose everyone in the process because it takes the individuals to become the collective… I’m glad you did this and it brings me some joy to know that ravali and all these characters where not as bad as they were portrayed and the originally writhing was good. With all the cool glitches I wish I could glitch in the originally text to English… I’d be happy with that.. but as it sits now I hope they do better!
As a translator myself, I kinda get ticked off when these details are left out. Details that could very much help understand our main character and his take on the experiences he's going through.
I have produced a part 3! It covers the Hylian Homeowner Quest where Link can purchase his home! I've updated the description with a link! (no pun intended)
