Announcement: SSRPG English Release is coming soon...

[Deuce]

And again, KD steps in to save me from responding in a manner which might be construed as needlessly harsh, but perhaps a little more understandable, if one knew me a little better. Thanks, dude.

 

[Lyte Edge]

I was actually walking around Den Den Town in Osaka last weekend and saw a copy of SSRPG for PSone. I was really really tempted to pick it up for 1500 yen, but I ended up picking up some Famicom stuff instead. Fate continues to conspire to keep me away from the game!

It's best on Neo-CD anyway.

 

[Kazuki Dash]

It's best on Neo-CD anyway.

WORD.


...although I wish the NEOCD version had the ability to choose alternate colors for your characters, which I understand the Saturn & PS ports has.

 

[Deuce]

...although I wish the NEOCD version had the ability to choose alternate colors for your characters, which I understand the Saturn & PS ports has.

True. You can go into a tailor and switch off to your alt color, or input a code at the character select screen when starting a new game. Doing the latter actually slightly alters the character portraits, as well, to make the characters look more malicious.

 

[Kazuki Dash]

True. You can go into a tailor and switch off to your alt color, or input a code at the character select screen when starting a new game. Doing the latter actually slightly alters the character portraits, as well, to make the characters look more malicious.

Whoa, no way...so in essence it's kind of like having your character take on the appearance of their Bust/Rasetsu incarnation, and not just a color swap. Now I'm even more disappointed they didn't include that little tidbit in the NEOCD version.

 

[Deuce]

Well, don't get me wrong. It only alters the portraits at the select screen. Nowhere else. I took screenshots somewhere for comparison. I'll see if I can find them and post them up.

 

[Abster]

I still have those portraits on me...

 

[Neo Alec]

Whoa, no way...so in essence it's kind of like having your character take on the appearance of their Bust/Rasetsu incarnation, and not just a color swap. Now I'm even more disappointed they didn't include that little tidbit in the NEOCD version.

Seriously, with all the disadvantages of the Saturn PS versions, we're going to get hung up on something as pointless as this? It was probably an afterthought, something that came up after the Neo CD one was completed. Surely we have better things to belly ache about in life.

 

[Deuce]

It was nothing major. The only thing that the PSX one has on the other versions is the best soundtrack, owing to the clearest PCM samples, and (in my opinion) the best bonus feature. The NGCD version's little Shizumaru minichapter is marginally entertaining, but even with its branching paths, is solely text-oriented and makes no use of the game's combat engine. Plus, it's mostly used as an excuse for silly fanservice and jokes. The few serious branches, which more closely follow the story of SS3, however, are pretty cool.

The PSX version's bonus mode has a bunch of side stories... if memory serves, one for each of the characters who isn't on the initial character select screen. They're non-interactive, non-voiced, and don't make use of any combat-screen cinematics, but are damned entertaining, nonetheless, and reveal some interesting tidbits about the characters in the process.

The only one that springs immediately to mind is that of Kyoshiro... who is mind-numbingly terrified of dogs, and is in a party with Haohmaru and Galford. Needless to say, Kyoshiro has a difficult time accepting Poppy's presence... until Kyoshiro's cynophobia causes him to lag behind and be ambushed by a large demon... a demon dog, no less! Well, who should come charging to his rescue but Poppy herself? She fights valiantly, allowing the Kabuki warrior time to recover and gather himself. But she is no match for the giant creature on her own, her only advantage being surprise in her initial attack. What kind of warrior is he, he asks himself, if he allows his fear to prevent him aiding one who aided him in his time of need? Steeling his nerve, he leaps into the fray, striking down the demon dog with his naginata!

And thus, an unsteady bond is formed... Poppy finds herself more attached to Kyoshiro... and Kyoshiro accepts her attention, however nervously and at what distance he can manage.

Fairly short, ranging in tone from outright silly to extremely grim, but all entertaining. It is pretty much the only reason I'd care about seeing the PSX version translated.

 

[Kazuki Dash]

Seriously, with all the disadvantages of the Saturn PS versions, we're going to get hung up on something as pointless as this? It was probably an afterthought, something that came up after the Neo CD one was completed. Surely we have better things to belly ache about in life.

Oh don't get me wrong, on the scale of disappointment this rates around the same level as reaching into an empty bag of Raisinets because you thought you still had some left. It would've been nice to have on the NEOCD, but doesn't diminish the awesomeness of the game.

Having said that, those alternate portraits do look pretty darn sweet. Kudos to Abster for posting them.

 

[Moose]

Now I'm definitely going to have to play this. Always loved the thought of playing with the battle system in this game. Thirded for member of the year for deuce. For the sheer amount of work that this must have taken, and the magnitude of the translation itself... has to be one of the top-wanted translations. Great work deuce!

 

[The Legendary LoneWolf]

Looks like there's...

"GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!"




Huzzah!

LOL

It was nothing major. The only thing that the PSX one has on the other versions is the best soundtrack, owing to the clearest PCM samples, and (in my opinion) the best bonus feature. The NGCD version's little Shizumaru minichapter is marginally entertaining, but even with its branching paths, is solely text-oriented and makes no use of the game's combat engine. Plus, it's mostly used as an excuse for silly fanservice and jokes. The few serious branches, which more closely follow the story of SS3, however, are pretty cool.

The PSX version's bonus mode has a bunch of side stories... if memory serves, one for each of the characters who isn't on the initial character select screen. They're non-interactive, non-voiced, and don't make use of any combat-screen cinematics, but are damned entertaining, nonetheless, and reveal some interesting tidbits about the characters in the process.

The only one that springs immediately to mind is that of Kyoshiro... who is mind-numbingly terrified of dogs, and is in a party with Haohmaru and Galford. Needless to say, Kyoshiro has a difficult time accepting Poppy's presence... until Kyoshiro's cynophobia causes him to lag behind and be ambushed by a large demon... a demon dog, no less! Well, who should come charging to his rescue but Poppy herself? She fights valiantly, allowing the Kabuki warrior time to recover and gather himself. But she is no match for the giant creature on her own, her only advantage being surprise in her initial attack. What kind of warrior is he, he asks himself, if he allows his fear to prevent him aiding one who aided him in his time of need? Steeling his nerve, he leaps into the fray, striking down the demon dog with his naginata!

And thus, an unsteady bond is formed... Poppy finds herself more attached to Kyoshiro... and Kyoshiro accepts her attention, however nervously and at what distance he can manage.

Fairly short, ranging in tone from outright silly to extremely grim, but all entertaining. It is pretty much the only reason I'd care about seeing the PSX version translated.

I take it these side stories wont be on it ?

 

[Deuce]

I take it these side stories wont be on it ?

Sadly, no. They're only available on the PSX version. There's not even a hint of them on the NeoCD version. Maybe someday I'll record them to put up on Youtube with subtitles or something. But obviously, that's not exactly my top priority.

 

[Neo Alec]

There are so many crappy text-based extras on Japanese games that some poor sap at the game company got stuck crappily writing, if we worried about translating all of them shit would never get done. I got an idea, after this you can translate all the stories for both the Blue Breaker fighters for PSX. There might be 3 people out there who really want to play that.

There is a lot of interest in this game because Samurai Spirits and SNK are important in this community, but you have to draw the line somewhere. In a way, you're lucky those extras aren't in the Neo CD version, so now Deuce doesn't have to worry about them.

 

[Deuce]

There is a lot of interest in this game because Samurai Spirits and SNK are important in this community, but you have to draw the line somewhere. In a way, you're lucky those extras aren't in the Neo CD version, so now Deuce doesn't have to worry about them.

You assume a lot, you know that?

 

[Neo Alec]

You assume a lot, you know that?

I'm trying to make a point and be funny at the same time, and humor usually does intentionally leave a blind spot.

No, I don't know anything about those extra quests. They're probably not very long anyway. I guess when you start to consider extras like that I wonder at what point are we trying to play a game and at what point are we just screwing around. But then again, RPG's blur the line between interactivity and storytelling anyway, so perhaps it's a moot point. It's my problem with the genre -- I have the problem, so... ummm, carry on then.

 

[Deuce]

They're probably around 5-10 minutes each... but there are something like fifteen of them. So there's a good chunk of content there. And whether or non they could be considered canon, they're still entertaining. These aren't side quests to the main story. They're just little vignettes that you unlock when you beat the game. Select the bonus mode, choose one of the characters on the screen, and the scene plays out.

Translating them would be a somewhat enjoyable break from the relative tedium of the SSRPG work that's going on right now. The translating side of things is finished... now, it's all data tweaking, hex editing (hacking) and a little more image editing to be done. This is the side of a translation project that I've never been so deeply involved in before, and it's a lot of work for very little reward... at least, very little immediate reward. There is no emulator of the Neo CD with an active debugger, so I can't test changes in realtime.

It amazes me how some people get so many projects done. This stuff is very draining, at least for me.

 

[Kazuki Dash]

It amazes me how some people get so many projects done. This stuff is very draining, at least for me.

"Don't worry, believe you!"

 

[Kazuki Dash]

Um...you know it's still being worked on, right?

 

[Nickn]

I was at work today and my friend and I were talking about RPGs, much to my suprise he brought this game up and said how he was so mad that it never came over to the USA after seeing some screen shots of this in a magazine (I did too) So I just personally for me and him want to Thank You for translating this, and will be awaiting your finish, good luck and great job.

 

[SuperDeadite]

Working Designs was going to bring the Playstation version over. But once SNK died, they lost the rights to do it. Vic Ireland even stated in an old interview that they had made a new animated intro that didn't exist in the Japanese versions. A real shame.

 

[Neo Alec]

Working Designs was going to bring the Playstation version over. But once SNK died, they lost the rights to do it. Vic Ireland even stated in an old interview that they had made a new animated intro that didn't exist in the Japanese versions. A real shame.

Oh yeah, that would have been great based on what we know about Working Designs. And where did they get this amazing animated intro? Clips from the old animated movie?

 

[bemanicho1]

Oh yeah, that would have been great based on what we know about Working Designs. And where did they get this amazing animated intro? Clips from the old animated movie?

Hey. Leave Working Designs alone. They were a great company.

 

[Deuce]

Hey. Leave Working Designs alone. They were a great company.

No, they weren't. They were lazy, and shameless about it. Completely willing to make stupid alterations to a script (yay, scatological humor and dated pop culture references) for absolutely no reason, instead of just translating the dialogue and making it flow naturally. Or occasionally tinkering with difficulty levels and completely screwing over a game in one direction or the other.

Sure, they made nice collector packaging, but as a company and as a translation group, they were a shapeless mass of bad decisions, and the world is definitely no worse off without them. :P

 

[dark penguin]

No, they weren't. They were lazy, and shameless about it. Completely willing to make stupid alterations to a script (yay, scatological humor and dated pop culture references) for absolutely no reason, instead of just translating the dialogue and making it flow naturally. Or occasionally tinkering with difficulty levels and completely screwing over a game in one direction or the other.

Sure, they made nice collector packaging, but as a company and as a translation group, they were a shapeless mass of bad decisions, and the world is definitely no worse off without them. :P

One thing that sticks out in my mind is the Shannon Doherty humour in the first Lunar game.