Today, the demo for Ys IX: Monstrum Nox released on PS4, and, once I saw those 15 letters strung together consecutively in a Resetera thread title, my brain finally broke. What the fuck is that name? None of those are words. None of them. (edit: OK some of them are words!)
I guess it's the ninth game in the Ys series. I say "I guess" because, it might also *not* be the ninth game, since I've also seen games called "Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days" which, was apparently not the 179th nor 358th Kingdom Hearts game. Additionally, that game title isn't even pronounced "Kingdom Hearts: Three-fifty-eight divided by Two Days," it's pronounced "Kingdom Hearts: Three-Five-Eight Over Two Days" for reasons beyond my knowledge and, probably, comprehension. Finally, considering the rest of the Ys title, maybe "IX" isn't even the Roman numeral. It could be anything. It could be pronounced "Icks" or something, I dunno. Why not? "Eeze Icks: Monstrum Nox" makes just as much sense to a random series outsider like myself.
Growing up, I became accustomed to games from Japan having absolutely insane titles that tell me nothing about the game, and, it's certainly more interesting to read than "Dragon Game Reborn Revelations" or some boring shit we see from the West. I've been reading titles like these for decades, always shaking my head when I see them, but, this one killed me. I don't know why. There are worse titles like "UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r]" or "Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel" but, "Ys IX: Monstrum Nox" is the one that did it. I officially cannot anymore.
I'm sure I'm hugely ignorant of the reasons behind a lot of these titles, but, it's gnawing at me now, because it feels like this isn't really a thing in a medium like film, outside of anime. Eastern movies (or, at least the major ones that get promoted in the West) have translated titles like "Audition, "Woman in the Dunes", "Parasite," or "Fireworks." Which, ultimately led me to my question here, do Western game titles sound just as ridiculous to Eastern audiences as their titles do to Western audiences?
Does a title like "The Last of Us Part II" or "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla" make sense to a random person in Japan? Do Western titles get equally bizarre translations? Please help me understand.
I guess it's the ninth game in the Ys series. I say "I guess" because, it might also *not* be the ninth game, since I've also seen games called "Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days" which, was apparently not the 179th nor 358th Kingdom Hearts game. Additionally, that game title isn't even pronounced "Kingdom Hearts: Three-fifty-eight divided by Two Days," it's pronounced "Kingdom Hearts: Three-Five-Eight Over Two Days" for reasons beyond my knowledge and, probably, comprehension. Finally, considering the rest of the Ys title, maybe "IX" isn't even the Roman numeral. It could be anything. It could be pronounced "Icks" or something, I dunno. Why not? "Eeze Icks: Monstrum Nox" makes just as much sense to a random series outsider like myself.
Growing up, I became accustomed to games from Japan having absolutely insane titles that tell me nothing about the game, and, it's certainly more interesting to read than "Dragon Game Reborn Revelations" or some boring shit we see from the West. I've been reading titles like these for decades, always shaking my head when I see them, but, this one killed me. I don't know why. There are worse titles like "UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r]" or "Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel" but, "Ys IX: Monstrum Nox" is the one that did it. I officially cannot anymore.
I'm sure I'm hugely ignorant of the reasons behind a lot of these titles, but, it's gnawing at me now, because it feels like this isn't really a thing in a medium like film, outside of anime. Eastern movies (or, at least the major ones that get promoted in the West) have translated titles like "Audition, "Woman in the Dunes", "Parasite," or "Fireworks." Which, ultimately led me to my question here, do Western game titles sound just as ridiculous to Eastern audiences as their titles do to Western audiences?
Does a title like "The Last of Us Part II" or "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla" make sense to a random person in Japan? Do Western titles get equally bizarre translations? Please help me understand.
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