Translations: Kaze No Densetsu Xanadu II (PCE-CD) - Announced!

[RHDNBot]

Update By: SamIAm

Esperknight and I are pleased to announce that our translation of the action-RPG "Kaze No Densetsu Xanadu II" (often called Legend of Xanadu II) is now in full swing. Styled like Ys in terms of gameplay, this PC-Engine CD game shows the classic gaming company Falcom in their finest form, and also has some of the most impressive graphic-design on the system.

Additionally, it features voice acting that we are attempting to dub into English, but we need voice actors to do it. If you are interested in doing some voice acting, please follow this link to find out more. You are also welcome to click the comments link and discuss this with me in the forums here.

We have translated and edited all of the voiced cutscenes as well as successfully extracted and translated part of the script. We are at about 10% completion right now, but you can expect that number to rise soon, and hopefully fast.

Relevant Link: (http://www.romhacking.net/trans/)

[tootbrush]

Excellent. More Falcom classics getting translated can only be a good thing.

Now hopefully there will be an option to play with subs instead of the dub.

[SamIAm]

Thanks! Yes, Falcom made some excellent action-RPGs back in the day. The first Xanadu game also looks like great stuff, but this one blew me away as soon as I started it.

There will certainly be an option to play the translation without the dub. The voice-acting for the cutscenes is all stored on the CD in redbook audio, so it's just a matter of swapping out the CD tracks with whichever you prefer. On the other hand, getting subtitles to work during these cutscenes may not really be feasible. We'll see, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Zoinkity]

I'd also suggest posting a voice acting request at the voice acting alliance.
http://voiceactingalliance.com/

It's something of a hub for amateur voice actors.

[Klaviaturist]

At first glance I thought it was another version of one of the Ys games! Looks like it will be a lot of fun. The pce-cd was a really cool system for its time.

[SamIAm]

At first glance I thought it was another version of one of the Ys games! Looks like it will be a lot of fun. The pce-cd was a really cool system for its time.

Basically, that's what it is. The first Xanadu game is even more like a Ys clone. This one is more like a Ys evolution.

I'd also suggest posting a voice acting request at the voice acting alliance.
http://voiceactingalliance.com/

It's something of a hub for amateur voice actors.

Thanks for the help, but if you check the link in my post, you'll see that I'm a step ahead of you there

[fireball]

F... yeah, more Xanadu goodness!  I love it how unknown series are getting more attention through translations, this particular one being only a subseries of Falcom's big "Dragon Slayer" franchise offering many opportunities for fan translations. Sometimes  I feel there is kind of a chain reaction in progress: Someone translate game X of a japan only series, other romhackers get to know about it, begin to do other parts of it, etc.

[Ryusui]

Not to nitpick, but considering the Greek-inspired names for the other two heroes, shouldn't "Ryukos" be "Leukos" or "Leucos"?

Spoiler

It's worth noting that the BoF2 retrans is the only one to get "Leukocyte" correct. I'd like to think this is because the enemy in question is red, rather than white, but it's doubtful. Maybe if I ever apply the retrans to the GBA version, I ought to change that to "Erythrocyte"?

[close]

[BRPXQZME]

It'd be closer to Lycus/Lykos.

[Ryusui]

It'd be closer to Lycus/Lykos.

True.

ヒュプノス ("Hyupunosu") -> Hypnos

チュポン ("Tyupon") -> Typhon

デュナミス ("Dyunamisu") -> Dynamis

I'd assumed it was リューコス, which would make a stronger argument for "Leukos/Leucos", but it turns out it's リュコス, which follows the pattern above ("Lykos/Lycos").

(And yes, most people would romanize it as "Chupon", as per FFVI, but I went with "Tyupon" just to make the pattern more clear. As for Ultros/Orthros, I've long since stopped freaking out over that, especially considering the real Orthrus was Cerberus' two-headed little brother, not a talky octopus. ^_^;)

[BRPXQZME]

Greek transliteration into Japanese follows some funny rules, though, so leukos is properly レウコス. The 'eu' diphthong is actually pronounced differently according to the context (for instance, it's pronounced 'ev' in modern Greek), but in Japanese, it is almost always エウ.

[Kiyoshi Aman]

(And yes, most people would romanize it as "Chupon", as per FFVI, but I went with "Tyupon" just to make the pattern more clear. As for Ultros/Orthros, I've long since stopped freaking out over that, especially considering the real Orthrus was Cerberus' two-headed little brother, not a talky octopus. ^_^;)

...Yes, because it totally makes sense to prefer a largely-discontinued Romanji system over one that actually makes sense. (Hint: Chyupon, if you really must get the Y in.)

[SamIAm]

Very interesting. Regardless of what's supposed to be what, I've been looking for an excuse to change the name "Ryukos" just because it doesn't roll off the tongue very easily in English. The voice auditions I've gotten so far all sound a bit awkward when they say it. I was thinking of maybe dropping the y and making "Rukos", but "Leukos" ain't bad. Hmmm...

[Ryusui]

Actually, BRPXQZME got it right.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AA%E3%83%A5%E3%82%B3%E3%82%B9

It's Lykos. It may not sound like Lykos when pronounced in Japanese, but that's because of the aforementioned screwiness involved in how Greek names get rendered in Japanese.

[enigmaopoeia]

Just an additional thing to note. In Glory of Heracles [DS], there is a character named ロコス.  The English version translated her name as Leucos.
However in the Japanese trailer, they written out her name in Greek as λοχος which would be read as Lokhos or Lochos, according to the Wikipedia.

Also the other names should be translated as:
アリオス = Alios.  [This name could be incorrect.]
ダイモス = Deimos @ Link
リュコス = Lykos @ Link
ヌース = Nous @ Link
ピュラー = Pyrrah @ Link
メディア = Medea @ Link

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[SamIAm]

Thanks for doing my homework 

[noneother]

I've been hoping for more PCE-CD translations forever, and this was pretty much on top of my list, so that's awesome news. Somehow I have a hard time imagining the dub turning well, though, considering most professional RPG dubs are utterly horrible. I'd propose if I had a mike.

[SamIAm]

If all the actors and myself give it our best, I think we can do something that sounds good enough to make it worthwhile. No, it's not going to sound like Ys or whatever. I just hope that people can recognize the heart that goes into it, as well as the sheer effort, given the conditions we're working with. Keep in mind, the alternative is picking up a paper script or looking at a text document on your computer whenever there's a cutscene. On a strictly functional level at least, this will be a good thing.

[beach1]

Fantastic news!! I've been wanting to play this game in English for a while now. Thank you for taking this game on! 

[SamIAm]

Maybe I should post this in a different place, but it's just one name:

クレーネ・ジュエル
Kureene Jueru

This is the villain from the first game, and his name pops up just a couple times in Xanadu II. I'm trying to figure out a way to simplify the katakana into something nicer and more efficient, and not not necessarily romaji-based. Sometimes he's just referred to as just クレーネ, so the ジュエル is probably his last name or some kind of strange title. Some Japanese websites say "Kleene", so...Kleene Juel? I'm thinking there might be something better.

Any thoughts?