So I was going to make a short post about this game but I'm not sure I could add anything to the Hardcore Gaming 101 coverage of it, and CRPG Addict's series on Knights of Xentar (the English localization). The game is not really worth playing.
The main mystery surrounding this game is why Megatech Software decided to make the changes they did in the localization. In the original DK3, Takeru comes to a town during his journey with no real goal, and thieves accost him. He normally doesn't like to draw his sword against humans so they're able to beat him up and take his stuff. In the English localization, he stumbles into town drunk, and the same thing happens. In DK3, he goes to beat up bandits to get his stuff back and figures out that the leader is actually a demon. In KoX, there's this bizarre dialogue about the bandits coming to the town and impregnating women with "demon seed". Desmond (the KoX main character) smells really bad and has a tiny penis, neither of which is in DK3.
So why did they do this? My only guess is this. They were trying to introduce the world of Japanese eroge to western players who were totally unfamiliar with it. Perhaps they felt that they needed to make it more crassly comic and insulting to make it less creepy or offputting to an audience who might not have reacted well to a cartoon porn game that took itself (fairly) seriously. But I really don't know. I also wondered if the localizers themselves found the game creepy and were taking a kind of revenge by translating it this way.
There are two more Dragon Knight games that I will be playing -- I will at least start the Dragon Knight 1 remake for PCE which is still another year or so away. Dragon Knight IV is an SRPG that was released for SNES, Playstation, and PC-FX (the followup to the PC Engine). I'll be playing the Playstation version (which seems to be the most polished remake) on my other blog relatively soon.
I've already finished Tenshi no Uta so that post should come out this weekend.
I suspect Megatech rewrote the script because Japanese humour just doesn't translate well. But, replacing it with crass humour of the kind you only find in American porn isn't exactly the best of ideas either.
ReplyDeleteThey also had the problem that DK3 was the third game in the series and Takeru met with quite a few heroines from the previous games, and these encounters didn't make much sense if you hadn't played the previous games. Megatech neglected to alter the script in this respect.
You must also keep in mind that Megatech sold the game as an all-ages version (for certain values of "all-ages"), so I guess the humour had to act as /some/ sort of appeal for the game.
The (automatic, realtime) battle system of the original PC-98 game was poor, but for the PC Engine port they had it redone to a basic command-based battle system, making for a much better game. The voice acting in that port is surprisingly fun as well.
I guess I'm saying that the PC Engine port is worth a try at least, and that comparing it to the original PC-98 and Western releases is starting off on the wrong foot.
The hero deprecation sounds like they looked at Leisure Suit Larry - the only mainstream series at the time that featured even a hint of sex - and said hey those games made fun of the protagonist and they were successful, let's do the same thing.
DeleteAnd I'll be honest looking back at Larry now is a bit painful even though I enjoyed it so much when I was 8 and I played it off a 5.25 floppy that someone had copied for me...
Frankly, I'd say it generally makes little sense to localize the middle game in the series, because you're usually expected to know these characters. This didn't happen too often, the only other example I can think off the top of my head is Cosmic Fantasy 2, and that one isn't as bad in that regard. Usually they'd just decide not to localize anything instead, like Madou Monogatari or some other series with 2-3 entries at least.
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