7 Ways Your Favourite Video Games Are TOTALLY Different Overseas
You've been blaming the wrong person for Aerith's death for over 20 years.
Part and parcel of being one of the most exciting and innovative entertainment artforms on the planet, is that gaming had to reach that planet in the first place.
It might seem supremely obvious that a given game is successful in one area, thus it should be ported across and language-swapped to work elsewhere, but the reality of localisation often hits a number of snags, and they're fascinating to pick apart.
Where key terms, weapons, items and even character catchphrases can immediately need a change if a certain region's nomenclature clashes with the artist's intent, sometimes entire plot points are modified or overhauled. The latter is the most integral thing to focus on, but over the years, various localisation teams have clearly struggled communicating the nuances of a particular script or scene, resulting in scores of major alterations that entire chunks of the globe aren't aware of.
Point being: Some childhood favourite you've held dear for years might also be a childhood favourite for another individual in another part of the world, but for entirely different reasons.