Which language do you find best for games?

[Sammael7]

I live in the US and mainly speak english, but many of you live in all sorts of strange foreign places with niche languages that others don't speak.

Do any of you prefer rpgs to be done in those languages? Or do you think english is a better language for rpgs?

I hear rpgs are big in Germany, I'd be really interested in hearing whether you all and others think one language is better or worse for rpgs. I've heard someone in another forum say that having an rpg in their native language would sound terrible, and that english was preferred. Curious to see if that view was widespread or not.

 

[Sranchammer]

Everything is better in Russian.

 

[Watser]

It really depends a lot on where the game was made. If you can you should play it in the original language, goes for books as welll. So OP you should enrich your life with a new language

 

[bloodlover]

Shit no! Translations in my language sound like shit and never feel natural.

I crack up every time I follow a local League of Legends game and people translate skills

Imagine playing entire games that last hundreds of hours...

 

[Oesophagus]

English almost every time, except for BG2.

I even use windows in english, which is a bitch when I want to type something in polish and none of the polish letters work.

Once, I played BG1 in french to prepare for an exam. It didn't help much, but at least I'll know what epee batarde means till the day I die

 

[mondblut]

English all the way, even for games originally on my language.

 

[Desktop Commander]

I usually do this on a per-publisher basis. So e.g., I like to play the Italian versions of games published by FX Interactive, since their localizations are usually very good. Same goes for BHV and German. On the other hand, I always play games by big publishers in English, since they usually spend little effort on anything that isn't English.

Of course, things aren't always this simple, especially with games from Eastern Europe. E.g., games from 1C can be excellent in one, and absolutely horrid in another localization. Check screen shots, videos on youtube or demos to help you decide on which version to get. Or get games from GOG, as they usually try to include as many languages as possible.

Unfortunately, simply playing games in the language they were developed in is not always the best option, since a lot of devs don't really have the firmest grasp of their own language, which is why I prefer a well done localization (usually commissioned by publishers, which is why I use them as a compass) over a poorly done original version.

When in doubt, though, always play the game in your native language: Even if the localization is bad, you can at least spot the errors and don't run the danger of including them into your repertoire of your secondary or tertiary language.

 

[baturinsky]

I usually prefer English, unless it's Russian original. Russian translations are usually of not very big quality. There are exceptions, though - Mafia, for example, was translated adequately and voiced even better than in English.

 

[warpig]

Depends on the setting. Fallout takes place in the US so english is the most fitting language. STALKER takes place in Ukraine so it would sound weird in hamburgeroid english (luckily they speak with a thick accents in eng version) etc. Another thing is that Polish localisations of games sometimes sound funny to me so I prefer not to play localized games.

 

[Ulminati]

I usually prefer English, unless it's Russian original. Russian translations are usually of not very big quality. There are exceptions, though - Mafia, for example, was translated adequately and voiced even better than in English.

That'd be because Mafia was made by a Czech developer.

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

I'm not a game developer but I heard C++ is pretty good for games.

 

[Sodafish]

Surely the original language will be the best, unless the original cast/script is horrible? Take the Metro games - the russian accented english sounds absurd in comparison to the original language. OK, action games aren't the best to have to read subs in, but other than that I don't think there's an excuse.

 

[mastroego]

I don't trust translators and I hate dubbing (even though it's the default way to import stuff like movies and series in Italy and I was well used to it before I learned English).

Translations butcher the meaning and/or nuances of the original text UNLESS the translator really knows his shit AND he's willing to use his imagination to properly alter expressions, metaphors and so on when a more literal translation cannot work (either because of technicalities or because of basic cultural differences and the different way ideas are conveyed).
Something which is very, very rare.


Also (and perhaps more importantly), English not being my "natural" language I get to add a sense of exoticism to my gaming or cinematic experiences, to the advantage of the escapism effect.

 

[Sodafish]

I imagine it's especially bad for english translated to other languages, the former being so rich in words with only very subtle differences in meaning.

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

I play games made in Germany in German, everything else in English.

I wouldn't really say either language is better or worse than the other for games though. I've played Gothic in both English and German and didn't really notice a difference.

 

[JarlFrank]

I hear rpgs are big in Germany, I'd be really interested in hearing whether you all and others think one language is better or worse for rpgs. I've heard someone in another forum say that having an rpg in their native language would sound terrible, and that english was preferred. Curious to see if that view was widespread or not.

Usually I dislike playing games in German because the English original is just much better. I just don't like reading German translations of English fantasy games or books, much prefer the original language (movies too, fuck dubs).

Some German-made games, especially Piranha Bytes games, are excellent in German though and have a special charme that gets lost in English.

 

[taxalot]

I'm pretty sure most french games today are originally written in English.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Somalian.

What the fuck kind of topic is this anyway? Jesus.

 

[Hobo Elf]

English or go home. Games translated to Finnish look and sound completely retarded and It only gets worse if its some nerdy fantasy / sci-fi shit. Skill names, classes, races, whatever. It's just uggggghhhhhhhhh.

 

[deuxhero]

I'm an English native and my skill with second language is barely enough to read games for young children at this point (and I mostly use it for games I don't have the option to play in English anyways)

I decide voice language on a case by case basis. I have no objections to playing a game with an English dub, but I'll swap it out the original language if the English dub is bad. I'm even willing to swap out audio originally in English with a dub if the original voice track is THAT bad.

 

[Drax]

Given how kwans believe "spanish"="mexican receptionist accent", I'd rather keep playing in the originial english language, thankyouverymuch.

 

[baturinsky]

I imagine it's especially bad for english translated to other languages, the former being so rich in words with only very subtle differences in meaning.

Lack of words and word forms in English makes translating harder, because one need to know a lot of idioms and context to find which particular meaning of word is used here and there.

 

[Sodafish]

Lack of words in english? I think you have my meaning backwards. As far as I know english contains far more words than any other language.

 

[Whisky]

Depends on a mixture of the local language and the subbing.

I played Witcher in Polish. I learned important words like dzien dobry and kurwa.

 

[Metro]

Engrrrrrrrrish. Doesn't matter where the game was developed. Odds are the American voice actors they hire are no worse than the Euro or Sovietski ones. It's not like a movie that's been dubbed where you have professional actors and so much is lost in shitty translation. I'd never watch a dubbed version of Der Untergang, for example (not that one exists).