The State of Falcom Localization In 2024 

Given how at the time Trails in the Sky released in the west, we were FIVE Trails games behind and who knows how many Ys games... The fact that even if only for a few months, we will be ONE Trails game behind and only 2 Falcom games behind total is a good reason to be happy. Not even Nayuta left behind. Let us not forget the gargantuan effort over the past 10-15 years it took to get here.

Maybe if they stopped making unnecessary script changes these things could be done faster.

I hope this time Trails will be translated by professionals. Really tired with "lol", "bruh" and other modern western slang in japab games.

Great video! A couple things to note: 1) XSEED’s most recent Falcom release was actually the PS4 version of Ys Memories of Celceta which originally came out in Japan in 2019 and then released in the west in 2020, it doesn’t make that much of a difference timeline wise but when considering that plus the Felghana Switch port was the next Falcom developed port for a game XSEED localized after Celceta PS4 and it hasn’t even been a year since that port’s release, I would say we still have a little more time before I start to worry about XSEED’s willingness with future Falcom ports. 2) the console versions of Ys Origin from DotEmu are actually not completely the same as the XSEED PC version. The script is the same but the other localized things like the area name cards that flash on the top of the screen seem to be from the Japanese version (they have English name for the areas underneath the Japanese names so you still know what things are called) that makes me wonder if Falcom has the rights to the English scripts for their games but not the rights to English graphical elements that might’ve been made and added in by XSEED themselves. Obviously that’s just speculation from comparing the PS4 and PC versions of a single game but since they were released by 2 different companies, it makes me think. Like you I find this topic interesting and fun to speculate about even if realistically we will likely never know the ins and outs of how Falcom localizations happen. Here’s hoping we’re in a better place in the next few years, the pieces have certainly fallen into place for that to at least be a possibility which is kinda wild to say.

it's definitely a tiring conversation, but it's still an important one to have. at the end of the day i just hope those working at falcom AND nisa, aren't being put through the wringer to pump out games

I was in tachikawa city over a week ago, tokyo xanadu town is real. Saw where the falcom office was too but there is this dedicated store section with trails merch in Kotobukiya. All trails fans should check it out.

Thanks for another great video. Looking forward to where the Trails series goes from here. Meanwhile, I'm still going to try an catch up on the newest Trails games and then work my way through the Ys series if I have time.

I sent Xseed an e-mail message asking them when they were going to put their Falcom games on the Switch. The response: "Unfortunately, we don't have the capability of taking on a huge undertaking like that, but if Falcom were to ever create the Switch ports themselves, we would love an opportunity to work on them."

I think this is Falcom's issue. I gotta give NISA credit for once: their output has been consistent over the past few years. A game every year since 2019 is very impressive. Problem is, despite all the releases in the past few years, still being nearly 3 games behind Japan is unforgivable in the current gaming landscape, and the fact that it's unique to Falcom tells the bigger picture, I think. This is on Falcom. Something more substantial needs to change with them. Something akin to an in-house localization team or Falcom being more cooperative with the western localization companies, i.e: handing over the script quicker, for instance. It's indicative of how Falcom views the west as a whole: an afterthought. There's no english line of communication with them, and that's despite us being a fairly decent portion of their overall revenue, with the JP market inversely proportionate. I think with Kato as the majority shareholder, despite Kondo in the president's seat, we'll never see them truly be ambitious, take risks and rethink their priorities to be more in line with the current gaming setting. Hope I'm wrong xD Nice vid, mate. All the best, innit. I really dig your channel. Been watchin' for like a year

12:21 Regarding XSEED and Falcom localised titles, another possibility is that Falcom owns the translations that localisers produce for their works,. This happens with other companies. It really depends on the exact terms of publishing contracts (which varies with each title, whether it's ports, scripts or voiceovers, even between the same parties on different contracts, licensing can be a huge nightmare). Only XSEED and Falcom really know what's going on and they'll likely never discuss it publically. All we can do as outsiders is speculate and help people realise localisation is a lot more nuanced than the "XSEED own the rights in the West" blanket statements you often see online.

Very nice video. tbh my frustration with the localization of Falcom games is steadily rising... Kondo saying every year the same PR bs. Just look at how they approach releases in asia with CLE, who even got simultaneous release for Ys X, compared to how western fans are treated is just a bad joke. We don't even have a date yet... There is a lot of improvement possible, but Falcom just doesn't care enough about their western audience, so the gap will never close...

I am very excited to see what the future holds for Falcom and their localizations! I can’t wait for daybreak this year

As someone who has 4 more already-localized Trails games awaiting him, I cannot be more excited to see if NISA will take on the challenge of catching up even further on Falcom's titles. I'm also not in a hurry because I have so, _so_ many other JRPGs to try after playing almost exclusively Trails games over the last year (Sky SC through Azure, which I'm almost done with). Thanks for your insightful and passionate videos.

if XSEED hold sky remaster in jail the world will burn

I would love to play the Sky trilogy cause I don’t have a pc to play them. So for now I’m just playing the series out of order.

We need a western falcom company, im tired of getting these games so late in the west. I really wanna play ys 10 Edit: i also dont want the localizers rushing to get localizations done because then theyll be more likely to mess stuff up.

We will never get simultaneously release I've given up like thevpersona series or Fire Emblem Dragon Quest etc Falcom are stuck in a 1980s that they refuse to release the script for the game to the English localisation team thus making it take forever to get done. The president keeps talking about how he wants to speed up localisation, that's all just talk nothing ever gets done

Update: NIS America announced the upcoming Western release for Ys X: Nordics. Said to be coming around Fall of 2024.

The new trails daybreaks 1 & 2 are BOTH GREAT! Much better and prettier than previous trailers. They did their job w new engine for the PS5 and I ENJOYED both! Btw, I own both Asian versions. AND YS X is such a disappointment tho, imho!😢

First of all NISA needs to fix the flawed Reverie translation, I'm still waiting... My guess is that we'll see Daybreak 2 and Ys X in 2025, maybe we'll also see a surprise re-release of an older game. Thank you for the overview!

Ah, Falcom... the tale is fun to watch unfold both in and out of their games. Nevermind the new titles and the possibility of a new Tokyo Xanadu game, if they are in remake mood, aside from the missing link from the Ys series (Kefin), there's also the Gagharv trilogy, which does deserve a proper remake with all the juicy systems that Falcom has created in recent years. Can you imagine that poor trilogy done properly? To see the Wave, Octum, the Viola Rum and the Dark Sun done Trails-style... Oh, Mama. Now THAT would be one hell of a curve ball. A true Falcom curve ball.

I do hope they find some solution to catch up but Falcom isn’t helping that case by not giving Trails a bit of a hiatus.

Really surprised that xseed haven’t ported their pc ports of Sky to switch. Feel like it would definitely sell on there as everything does. I get the legal wranglings but they still have CS1&2 on there so what’s the problem? My biggest worry about falcom revisiting a new switch port for the trilogy is that they’d have to write a new set of scripts when the xseed scripts are so special.

I have a lot of hope considering the future especially in regards to the English releases and ports from NISA and PH3. Considering how there have been multiple statements and reports that Falcom releases for NISA have been some of if not the biggest contributor to their profits the last several years, I think it's safe to say they are likely at the top of their priority list outside of maybe NIS's own games and IPs. I think the biggest wildcard are the XSEED and Aksys Falcom games that have been ported to Switch and if XSEED and Aksys will work on them or if there is hangup in regards to the English rights for those titles.

I just want a port of sky trilogy on my ps5.

i think it is fine for 2024 to just have one major release. they might already be able to catch up everything in 2025 if they release ys x and trails daybreak crimson sin on 2025. we finally caught up! that's great!

My personal opinion at this point is: They release when they release. I am fine with waiting. I have been binging through the series in the past 2 years and change (started in October of 2021) and am only now playing through CS4 (admittedly, a second time. I originally started with Cold Steel 1 in 2019 and played through Cold Steel 4, then decided to redo the whole thing when they announced the Crossbell localizations were a thing.) So as far as i am concerned i still have half of CS4, Reverie and potentially Nayuta to go, and by the time i finish those Daybreak will have probably alrd released. So i can play that too. And then i have 3838292 other games in my backlog to play until they get to Daybreak 2. If i had the choice, i would prefer faster or even simultaneous western releases for Falcom as well. No doubt. But it's not enough of a problem for me to throw a tantrum over the wait time or resort to fantranslations (if people wanna use them, that's fine by me tho). As far as NISA goes, they have their problems but being too slow isn't one of them. If anything they're cleaning up the back catalog that Xseed left behind for them pretty decently. I can believe that by 2027, maybe we'll actually be only one game behind and the gap will be a year or 18 months instead of 3. It will never be less than that though unless Falcom starts handing the scripts over to NISA earlier. As it stands i think it has been said that happens around 6 months after the Japanese release, meaning NISA start work with a 6 month delay right out of the gate. So unless Falcom changes that policy, we will never be nearly as fast as other companies, let alone get to a simultaneous release. I can only hope they understand the way Trails is headed (declining sales in Japan, more and more revenue coming from the West) and understand handing the script over earlier is something they will have to do if they want to stay afloat as a company.

Awesome video and Right on the money. I do hope that something happens later this year when it comes to Xseed. Personally, I hope it's given to NISA. They have done great work and really quality product. Especially the physical collector's editions

My personal take on the cancelled ports and the unannounced Trails game: They cancelled the Sky trilogy ports because they intend to remake them.

I waited so long I learnt Japanese. Just come to PC Falcom

Japanese content must stay as Japanese content. Nobody wants to see ramune being turned into Coca-Cola. People do not wish for 7-Up to be Asahi either.

i'm so excited to play daybreak for the first time this year. i also started Ys VIII again after dropping it last year and having a blast so i'm also excited for Ys X by proxy

I just wanted cold steel 1 and 2 on the switch

I can totally see people shelling out hundreds of dollars for a steam deck just so they can play Falcom games on the go like with the switch if they don't provide some kind of update on the ports

Daybreak 2 has been announced for early 2025! Very exciting! Do you think this means Kai could be released in late 2025 in the west? I feel late 2025 up until summer 2026 seems like a reasonable release window.

As a PC player I haven't the slightest problem playing all of the Falcom games that have been released in the West on the same modern system. What's the deal with new consoles always being incompatible with the games you already own? I mean I love my classic consoles, but how many am I supposed to fit into my room if I need a new one for every new generation of games? I feel like building(and occasionally upgrading) my PC was a better investment in the long run. And I think consoles are already on the way out, since most of the new ones except Nintendo are just heavily locked down PCs anyway and everything else is turning to mobile. So they won't need to do many ports anymore in the future and can concentrate more on localising.

Daybreak2 coming early 2025 which even 3 years ago was unthinkable.

Lol i hope they dont release more than 1 trails game this year, i already broke the bank with so many jrpgs releases

Stuff like this is why im grateful for fan translations, though not perfect but a hell of alot better then waiting years for western releases, as stated in this vid having a dedicated western localization team would make posible for simultaneous releases, it seems falcom are too stuck in their antiquated ways to really evolve to the next level.

The talk of switch ports and re-releases of 10+ year old games is SO. EXHAUSTING. Maybe once were completely caught up to new releases we can do that sort of thing.

Thank God I can read Chinese so I'm able to play most Falcom games on day one or a couple months later at most. The main thing causing western delays seems to be the dub, which Chinese and Korean players don't seem to care about, as I've never heard any non-English speaker wishing there were dubs in their languages. As a result, they're able to enioy Trails and Ys games the same way we do Atelier games.

Falcom also needs to let NISA get access to the scripts sooner

WE NEED TRAILS IN THE SKY SERIES REMASTER FOR CONSOLES IN THE WEST!!!!

Excellent video. I have three thoughts: First, any discussion of Falcom games being localized to the west must include the phrase "getting over the barrier". There was a law passed in the Crossbell Diet to that effect, and failure to include the phrase will get said discussion disapproved by Lloyd Bannings. So, good job on making sure your video passes that legal bar. Second, I also appreciate that you said anything Kondo-san says about trails should be taken with a pillar of salt. This is trails; you need a lot more than a grain of salt here. You need enough salt to qualify as a "premature gift from the Goddess"; a pillar is clearly the correct unit of measure in this situation. Third, companies exist to make money. Xseed already has all the scripts for the sky trilogy complete. A new port, done by another localizer, using Xseed's scripts, is free money for Xseed for work they have already done. It's pure revenue, with no costs; no company that wants to stay in business passes on that. The only question is: how much money is enough money to convince Xseed to sign on the dotted line? Xseed deserves to be fairly compensated for their work. The more demand for ports of the Sky trilogy increases in the west, the more money three is in the project, and the more likely an arrangement can be made. Pride and organizational slights have to be worked through in the world of business. In the end, Falcom games are worth it for me, so I'm willing to wait as long as it takes. How will all of this get resolved and when will the west finally catch up to Japan? As they say in Zemuria: only the goddess knows for sure.

NGL not releasing CS3 and CS4 on PS5 for no goddamn reason might've helped Kuro release faster...

Just a heads up regarding the “quality” of NIS’ Trails into Reverie localization: They got roughly 5% of the tool-tips in game wrong and can’t be bothered to patch that issue. It’s been 8 months since launch. I don’t mind the odd typo here and there, but getting trolled with incorrect item stats is as annoying as the IDGAF attitude at NIS.

we know falcom is nisa most successsful localization

I honestly don't get why the Trails and Ys franchise gets so much praise, both just seem like bog standard anime Jrpgs beyond how the story and characters are written.

Where the F is Ys X localization

Ehh i don't play Trails series anymore because the NISA localisation. They censored the very sensitive topic here in the west. Can't wait the AI evolve more and finally can play these games in original form.

As always they are 3 years late. They fail as game devs to have a 3+ year delay in year 2024. Another good reason why those games are not very successful.

You can play Kuro all Kuro games with fan translations. Wish someone translated Ys Nordics.

They’ve done a good job catching up. They even brought Tokyo Xanadu.

About that Kai IE Kuro 3 the earliest I SEE its English dub is likely to be 2026 and by then if Japan is still going to make more No kiseki games Japan will always be at least 2 to 3 games ahead of their English versions. But XSseed games STILL owns the FC to Sky the 3rd DUB rights until at least 2025 so if Japan makes ANOTHER remake of those 3 games starting this year a NIS America dub would likely be the ONLY dub of the 3 Sky games so get a PS4 PS5 Switch remaster/remake.

Ys V did get a 3D remake on the PS2, so frankly it needs a localized port (it's quite good and is faithful to the SNES original, just more fleshed out and on the challenge level of Expert). It'd be a proper service to Ys players for it to get localized, IF it is considered canon enough despite Taito publishing it. And I know it probably won't happen, but Ys IV: Mask of the Sun - A New Theory, which was a PS2 remake of Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, would be a nice port as well. Granted, it's not considered canon, so slim chance. Not a bad game though and mostly faithful to the original, just in 3D. One can still remain hopeful, right?

To add my two cents on the XSEED situation, there could be other potential factors at play here in regards to Oath in Felghana and CS1/2 that weren't mentioned: For Oath in Felghana, that is price. Oath in Felghana's DEFAULT price on Steam in 12 euros. If XSEED wanted to bring it over, there'd be a LOT of debate if they sold it at a significantly higher price than that, even when taking additions and changes into account, and I highly doubt that Falcom's interested at matching the existing prices. I suspect other Pre-Lacrimosa Ys titles will face the same issues, and the Sky Trilogy, too. Aksys got lucky, as the (VERY) recently announced Tokyo Xanadu eX+ managed to avoid this, since it's still sitting at a comfortable 55 euros on steam. If there's no realistic possibility of making good cash on it, why would XSEED bother? For the Eastern half of the Erebonia Arc, it's Clouded Leopard Entertainment. In most cases, they'd be a non-issue. Not so much for CS1/2, however. The fact that they're the ones who made the JAPANESE switch ports of CS1/2 on top of the chinese and korean ones has potentially added legal issues that other switch ports such as Nayuta, Tokyo Xanadu, and technically Oath in Felghana don't have to face. We don't know anything about the specifics of the agreements made between Falcom and CLE, but I wouldn't be surprised if those were at the core of it all. With all that out of the way, I really enjoyed the video! I'm personally also optimistic about potential multiple major releases in a year. After all, Cold Steel 4 and Ys IX came out within a mere 4 months of eachother, as I recall? Makes me inclined to believe that Ys and Trails loc work are (mostly) independent from eachother, but that's simply speculation on my end.

I legit forgot about Ys X

😩You know I can say I am jealous of the Asian bros, since they get their game early with actual good translation for both Chinese and Korean text. If Nisa would not change so much of the dialog (for the sake of wanting to add something "better" according to them) they would indeed have the games out earlier. Cause lets be honest some of the stuff they put in make the script way longer in places where it should not be.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but recently there's been a bad localization drama, which includes Trails games as an example. Xseed localization did seems to take liberty to the script and insert real life references to the games, while NISA confirmed to have change stuffs for censorship. I do think something need to be done to prevent mistranslation and bad localization, since this is an ongoing series with big overarching narrative and world-building.

Glad that I speak Chinese, the recent Falcom games all have simultaneous release in Chinese alongside Japanese release. Thanks to Cloud Lepored Entertainment! Too bad, English speakers are always years behind the story.

it's good that localization does come for my favorite series, if only they could keep Western memes out of it. I already know that's not what they are saying and it's so cringey.

In the time it takes waiting for localization people could just become entirely fluent in Japanese lul

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st launches Worldwide in 2025! 😁

As someone who played trails through daybreak 1 and 2. Daybreak is a good game.

I’m not really focused on when we getting them I’m just glad we are getting them at all. I mean I would like if the west would get a worldwide release but that ship has sailed

Knowing NISA , i don't want them to handle more than 1 Falcom game anymore, the last time they did it is when they release 4 trails game and the resuit is the localization disaster of trails into reverie.

always looking forward to more YS games! and now that i have started the Trails series i have even more to look forward too!

Vantage master portable remake plz

noty sure someone mentioned it yet butys nordics has been anounced for fall 24

They need to kick Xdeeds ass & release all Trails in the Sky upgrades.

Nice to see a level-headed take on the localization process for the series. And NISA was a little more aggressive this year than you were expecting. Getting 2 releases this year will definitely help the catch up process. I'm curious about who will localize Tokyo Xanadu 2, will Falcom let Aksys have right of first refusal or will NISA take over?

Idm them taking their time. I have other games I need to catch up on 😅

And well, here we are less than half a year later, and somehow even the calm and measured optimism of this video is feeling downright conservative considering how much has been announced or leaked, and how quickly we're getting it. It's astonishing how much brighter the future of these games is looking these days.

Love me some falcom, day 1 buy always. simple as

its knee-sa not nice-sa 🤣

I'm genuinely willing to jsut import Ys X and play it in Japanese, either translating everything bit by bit or somehow learning japanese in the process. But for some reason it's just INSANELY expensive to import ._. Man, if they bring Ys X over, I'm genuinely ready and willing to buy the most expensive collectors edition and be a diehard shill for the game to my pals, lol. Right now, I'd say it's my most highly anticipated game full stop. Tokyo Xanadu eX+ reignited my love for JRPGs and Ys VIII and IX afterwards were such a blast to me. But I'll sure also get Kuro no Kiseki/Daybreak. Haven't finished the first ToCS yet, but I'm certainly hooked enough, especially since Kiseki seems to also have an "Action Combat System" to some degree, which is more up my sleeve.

any news on Trails in the Sky trilogy or YS I-II chronicles coming to consoles in the West????

Daybreak 2: 2025 Ys 10: ?

Im so glad people are finally starting to realize that localization and cenorship in general is bad for media. I just wish it could have been sooner because by now we could have enjoyed so many uncensored anime and games

Falcom needs to put a leash on its wokalizers.

How does the trials series compare to the Ys series especially the most recent Ys?

based off the release of Ys 9, I'm assuming Ys 10 will be localised and released around February of 2025.

I mean at this point I'm sorry I know they're trying their best but I'm just going to play the fan translations map of the day break games

Thank god for fan translations! I play the latest Trails game right now.

This doesn't bother me, the only game series i like from Falcom is YS because i grew up with it since the SNES, all this turn based shit is for the birds.

a topic that appears once in a while lately, with falcom lacking western releases, in the communities is the question on how AI, DeepL and the likes could provide Nihon Falcom with a method to release basic translations for rather cheap. there's the obvious trashy translation work in the original english release of Ys8 with some elements being rather bad, yet it still was released as is. and the community project for the crossbell arc als had been used as reference, so it's actually a pretty interesting topic, though whether any sort of translation AI might be able to encompass the whole world building, including it correctly without adding too many flaws stands to reason against it. there's even ai for voices, both the classic vocaloid comes to mind, but also some other projects dealing with those, could come in handy. though i'm absolutely clueless in terms of liscensing those tools and products for a game.

The absolute state of localization. How do you translate Kuro into Daybreak?

old days i really love Trails series.. but now, not anymore. it's too naive for me. like when friend become enemy.. enemy become friend.. and than friend who was became enemy become friend again.. like what the fuck?! well it's cliche when friend become enemy or enemy become friend. but i don't understand friend who was became enemy become friend again?? or like sparing enemies life's so that they can become another headache...

I would hope that they dont even bother with dubs, plenty of players wont even try them because we are used to Japanese VAs anyway and having to put extra effort on localisations with such a huge delay already is not what we want.

Oh man, I didn't realize NISA's schedule was so thick......I sure hope we see Ys X sooner rather than later.