Nandemonai

For me, it's significantly worse than IMHHW.  I entirely wrote off MoeNovel; I hoped they crashed and burned, because I didn't like their philosophy towards "adapting" games, and I didn't want it to be successful and spread.  I can't find it within me to be angry at MiKandi.  I've written off Libra itself as not worth trying to struggle through, but I can't help but root for people who put as much care as MiKandi themselves obviously did into this project (I mean, everything they did but the translation was great).  The likely total failure of Libra makes me sad.

For me, it's significantly worse than IMHHW.  I entirely wrote off MoeNovel; I hoped they crashed and burned, because I didn't like their philosophy towards "adapting" games, and I didn't want it to be successful and spread.  I can't find it within me to be angry at MiKandi.  I've written off Libra itself as not worth trying to struggle through, but I can't help but root for people who put as much care as MiKandi themselves obviously did into this project (I mean, everything they did but the translation was great).  The likely total failure of Libra makes me sad.

For me, it's significantly worse than IMHHW.  I entirely wrote off MoeNovel; I hoped they crashed and burned, because I didn't like their philosophy towards "adapting" games, and I didn't want it to be successful and spread.  I can't find it within me to be angry at MiKandi.  I've written off Libra itself as not worth trying to struggle through, but I can't help but root for people who put as much care as MiKandi themselves obviously did into this project (I mean, everything they did but the translation was great).  The likely total failure of Libra makes me sad.

For me, it's significantly worse than IMHHW.  I entirely wrote off MoeNovel; I hoped they crashed and burned, because I didn't like their philosophy towards "adapting" games, and I didn't want it to be successful and spread.  I can't find it within me to be angry at MiKandi.  I've written off Libra itself as not worth trying to struggle through, but I can't help but root for people who put as much care as MiKandi themselves obviously did into this project (I mean, everything they did but the translation was great).  The likely total failure of Libra makes me sad.

They need to define "translation passes," because most professional VN translations have only one translation pass. Did that mean no editing, either? It doesn't matter, though, because here's the deal: No good translation has ever looked like how this translation looks like at ANY stage. This isn't a case of it being unfinished, this is a case of the people involved having no idea what they're doing. They should never have been allowed to translate this to begin with. If the extra passes were to be performed by these guys, then I highly doubt it would turn out much better anyway.
Either way, it seems like 7 Happy Creations, the translation firm they hired for this project, borderline scammed Mikandi Japan. They charged an excessive premium for their services (WAY more than any other VN TL company), while having little to no experience and absolutely no talent for this.
edit: I'd also like to point out that "Yakkety yak yak" is an acceptable alternative to "bla bla bla" and such.

EDIT: Right now there is a new pass being made to the translation, so there is hope after all.
For more details, check out the game's kickstarter page.
 
I know there are already several posts talking about the translation of this game on the forum, but some people might have missed them, as the bulk of the posts were made some time ago, so I figured a new thread might be in order, now that the game is out for everyone.
 
I have been reading the game for about 2 hours now, comparing the JP lines to the English translations as I read. This translation is very literal, to the point where the English sentences often make little to no sense. The biggest issue seems to be that the translator transliterated everything. It seems like he/she just looked at the Japanese line, and word by word, translated everything directly into an English sentence as is, without any re-wording, giving no thought to how the line would flow in English. And the result is... terrible. From what I can tell, the translator has not made any rookie JP mistakes, like mistaking particles etc, (though keep in mind I could only go by the voiced lines and not the narrated ones, as I do not have the Japanese script in front of me.) That being said, an "accurate" translation doesn't really mean much when the English is barely comprehensible as a result.
A few examples of what you will see in the translation: (Decay also posted some examples last month, which you can see here.)
Screenshots:
You also have things like this:
 
This is an official localization, and yet it reads like a bad fan TL. We should not be okay with this. Many of us paid money for this.
From what I can tell, the translation's accuracy is not the issue, but the translator's lack of English knowledge is. A proper editing pass and some QCing could fix 90% of the issues in this translation. We should all, (in a calm manner, of course,) ask Mikandi to do something about this. Whether they will actually listen to us or not is hard to say, but I'd like to think they will. Their PR has been on point through the entire campaign, (they were logged into this forum just last night, showing that they are checking the threads about their game frequently) and if enough people voice their complaints about the translation, I hope they will look into doing something about it.
Tweet them, comment on their kickstarter page if you are a backer or post on their website. Make your stance on the TL known. If one person complains, nothing will happen, but if everyone does, it's going to be hard for Mikandi to ignore us. With their prevoiusly open attitude towards the community, I'd like to think they will listen.
So, for the moment, my recommendation is that you do not buy this game. Wait and see if they will do something about our concerns first. Hopefully they will listen and do something about the TL. If you buy the game now in its current state, just be warned: it's not very good, and you might come to regret your decision.

Please buy your visual novels. If you don't want to pay a lot (and who does?), buy them during sales. More piracy means less titles licensed.

OK, so apparently, completion percentages come along with the tools.  The tools are more or less ready, but the scripts aren't quite in the format that the tools want.  Conversion is almost done.

OK, so apparently, completion percentages come along with the tools.  The tools are more or less ready, but the scripts aren't quite in the format that the tools want.  Conversion is almost done.

Holy shit. Guys, the matter is done and settled already. Please, drop it.
Congratulations to Pabloc for finally reaching the finish line! I'm really excited for you.

No, it's not dead.  Work proceeds, but the game is huge.  I'm not sure who is supposed to be coming up with status updates or completion percentages.  I'll see if I can come up with something.

No, it's not dead.  Work proceeds, but the game is huge.  I'm not sure who is supposed to be coming up with status updates or completion percentages.  I'll see if I can come up with something.

No, it's not dead.  Work proceeds, but the game is huge.  I'm not sure who is supposed to be coming up with status updates or completion percentages.  I'll see if I can come up with something.

No, it's not dead.  Work proceeds, but the game is huge.  I'm not sure who is supposed to be coming up with status updates or completion percentages.  I'll see if I can come up with something.

Indeed.
I finished the TL yesterday and there are only 2 scripts left to edit, so I'd say it should be sooner rather than later. I have no idea how much making the actual patch will take though.

My best and worst VN this month is called "exams"...

Just a warning in case anyone hasn't already heard: don't look at the latest Dies irae kickstarter update.  It apparently has an image that spoils Rea's route, which is the conclusion to the story.  It was described as a "major spoiler", so avoid it like the plague if you haven't already finished the VN.
Same goes with the artbook, which is where the picture is supposed to be from.  If you get the artbook before you finish the VN, don't look at it.

The problem with ranking companies is that while most companies have a certain 'style', the actual talents working for them tend to switch out fairly often.  It still isn't uncommon in the VN industry for writers, artists, and composers to work for a half-dozen different companies in the space of a year or two, and that is part of the reason why one release might be superb but the next one awful in some cases.  The most 'solid' companies, like Light, Nitroplus, and Akatsuki Works, tend to have set groups of talent that they use on a more or less permanent basis.  However, Purple Software, for instance, switches out its writers practically every time it puts out a new game.  Moreover, some of the greatest talent in the industry have a tendency to 'wander' from company to company (Shumon Yuu).

Now, in spite of what I said above, I completely disagree with this. Every person I've seen complaining about the P5 translation (including notably Connor and Verde) has done so for the excellent reason that, if an official localization is weak (especially a high-profile one like P5), you should call out how and why it is, out of a very legitimate fear that we're going to regress back to what JP video game translations were like in years gone past, if the fan base isn't vigilant and vocal about problems. They also did an excellent job of clearly explaining the problems and their scope, and the claim that it was an attempt at "promotion of their ideas of an 'ideal' translation" is, IMO, a huge overstatement: the P5 translation stinks at times, and it isn't asking for too much to ask for a P5 translation that doesn't stink at times.
Getting far afield from the topic, though, at this point... I seriously wonder when Libra will release something other than physicals, even though I guess I'm unlikely to play it at this point... It sure is a weird English release for a VN, though, where the physical release is the first thing available.

this goddamn-ish mentality of yours is exactly what´s keeping companies such as mikandi jp to appear on stage, ultimately fucking up people´s hopes and expectations. you seriously don´t want to get it, do you? like if this (libra etc) was an unofficial translation of sorts, like if some retards suddenly decided on doing stuff they had no single clue about, like them stubbornly ignoring all goodwill-ish feedback in the process of creating an abomination you could either read(?), or refuse doing so, because well, it´d be an unoffical one, so fuck it. but in the case of libra it´s fundamentically different

- licensing costs & whatnot probably at a minimum due to them being all lovey-dovey with xero

- still got an impressive sum of little over 180k out of the kickstarter campaign of theirs

- having put quite some reccources into propaganda and avertisement

- unless all funds were spend on drinking finest shochu and whoring around with schoolgirls, there should´ve definitely been enough left for hiring themselves some competent staff

- & lastly let´s please not forget one of the claims they did make:
 "XERO has partnered with MiKandi Japan to complete this giant task. Together we are working with the original writers, and programmers to deliver a superbly translated game"



so yo, from a customers point of view this sure is sth to feel angry about, even more so if he/she happened to back the aforementioned campaign, which as things stand now was build on lies and utterly false assurances. 
not even remotely wanting to mention the bad turn they´ve done to each and every smaller-ish publisher who´s trying to somehow get by when doing kickstarters. 

edit: and just to be clear, this has so fuckingly nothing to do with being able to read moonrunes or not, because if you´re calling yourself a professional, yet keep on delivering one hell of a garbled mess, getting condemned should be expected. simple as that.

Dies irae, long-held to be the holy grail of chuuni VNs, is finally upon us! Often praised for its complex and wordy prose, its philosophical themes, its extensive and gloriously nerdy fight sequences, and the manner in which it deconstructs the chuuni action genre, it's a grand battle opera that has become a seminal work in Japan, and we finally have the chance to experience it for ourselves! Whether we're blown away or we're completely let down by the hype, it will be an interesting experience either way. It's currently only available on Steam. If you were a kickstarter backer, go to your Backerkit dashboard, the codes should be there.

First things first, the recommended route order: Kasumi -> Kei -> Marie -> Rea. The game's two parts represent the order in which the routes were initially released, but that is NOT the order in which you should read the VNs. The route order is unlocked, yet can ruin the experience if you go out of order. Stick to the recommended route order if you want to have the best experience, no matter who your favored waifu is. Furthermore, there are specific choices you have to make in the Rea route if you want the best, most complete ending in the game. Follow this walkthrough, composed by one of the game's translators, if you want an easier time with that.
The second issue: Bueehhh!? Two parts? DLC?? Freemium!?!? Ever since the prefundia launched last year, light has said that there would be two parts. Dies irae is an absolutely huge work, and would typically necessitate a $50+ price tag, yet Steam is a platform that is extremely unfriendly towards high-priced VNs. The split game setup was conceived as a way to combat the hostile environment for high-priced VNs on Steam. And just yesterday, light revealed that they will be offering the common route for free. So, it will be free common route + Act I and Act II purchasable separately, all in one storefront. 
Third issue: All-ages? Waitaminute! This was an adult game! Dies irae has a long and complex history of releases. To be frank, the initial release of the game was a mess that not many people actually liked very much. They then released a free patch that rewrote large parts of the scenario and added a good chunk of content, but it still wasn't enough. The second release of the game, Acta Est Fabula, added two new routes that further explored the universe of Dies irae and provided a new final route that was far more satisfying than the last, making it actually feel like a complete story. And then, a few years later, the all-ages-only Amantes amantes was released. It didn't add any new routes, but it did add a boatload of content to the existing routes, including an expanded final ending that is considered a must-read, as well as all-ages h-scene replacements that people have said do a better job with character bonding and development. Amantes amantes has ever since been considered the definitive version of the game by its fanbase, and is the version that was Kickstarted. However, light recognizes the weeaboo's love for porn, and is going to offer an 18+ patch that will add those h-scenes back in (and remove the replacement scenes). Unfortunately, this patch will take a little while to come out—it's currently scheduled for late July. Be aware of this if you insist on playing the 18+ version of the game. It's happening, just not right away. Also be aware that the version of the game on Steam now has long been considered THE version of the game to play.
Misc issues:
The menus for some are in Japanese unless you use Japanese system locale! If you're experiencing Japanese menus, switch your system locale. This is not a consistent issue, and the team is aware of it and looking for a fix.  (fixed)
 
So let us see what all the hype is (or isn't) about! Use this thread to share your experiences. Remember to use spoiler tags and to properly label them for anything spoilery.

Pretty strongly disagree with that first line. Understanding grammar (particles and verb conjugations, especially, are deep wells) is essential to really grasping the meaning of most of what you'll read. Without those, yeah, you may know some of the actors and some of the actions and some of the descriptions, but you're often not going to be able to piece together what applies to what, and you're going to go off the rails often and not be able to appreciate a lot of what you're nominally reading. Like Toranth said, boning up on grammar is essential.

You mean 'Straylia', rooiight? :3
People from Oz don't tend to emphasise the "R's" like people in Rrrrrrrmerica do.

every time someone posts an anime maru article seeming like they did not realize its true nature, I die a little more inside. I have precious little left. I suppose it helps me fit in with everyone else. Meow.