Xanadu II Translation Development Blog

[elmer]

I really like it.

It's definitely interesting, isn't it? 

I don't love the big "II", but it could work with a "Legend of the Wind II" subtitle.

[elmer]

I don't love the big "II", but it could work with a "Legend of the Wind II" subtitle.

Here's a small modification of Phase's last mockup, with a few pixels pushed here-and-there. 




I specifically moved "Legend of the Wind" over a few pixels so that so can see more of the tail of the X, which IMHO helps it to feel less "detached" from the rest of the X.

As it is now, this could easily work in both Xanadu 2 and Xanadu 1.

Sam, Phase ... over to you guys for the next round of changes! 

How do folks feel?

Is this going in the right direction, or were we better off the "The Legend of Xanadu"?

[esteban]

I don't love the big "II", but it could work with a "Legend of the Wind II" subtitle.

Here's a small modification of Phase's last mockup, with a few pixels pushed here-and-there. 




I specifically moved "Legend of the Wind" over a few pixels so that so can see more of the tail of the X, which IMHO helps it to feel less "detached" from the rest of the X.

As it is now, this could easily work in both Xanadu 2 and Xanadu 1.

Sam, Phase ... over to you guys for the next round of changes! 

How do folks feel?

Is this going in the right direction, or were we better off the "The Legend of Xanadu"?

Renaissance man.

Or mangrove, as it were.

IT LOOKS AWESOME.

IT SOLVES OUR SCHIZOID PROBLEMS.

[SamIAm]

This is really tough. I like Phase's work a lot, and seeing "Legend of the Wind" makes me feel good in a way that "The Legend of Xanadu" never does.

I think elmer, Phase and I all agree that "The Legend of Xanadu" is probably what we should go with. It seems like it's Falcom's official English title. It's on all the packaging. It's how everyone knows these games.

But dammit, the Japanese title is "Legend of the Wind", and to one extent or another, that's important to the first game.

I think the thing to do is to sit on it for a while, and also to see what elmer thinks after he's previewed the games in full.

[schweaty]

Phase's version is amaze-balls

[Vimtoman]

I'm not keen on the "Legend of the wind" addition.

It could be mistaken as a reference to Ah hem ....  flatulence.

[spenoza]

I'm not keen on the "Legend of the wind" addition.

It could be mistaken as a reference to Ah hem ....  flatulence.

No, that is not a mistake any even remotely reasonable human being would make.

[NightWolve]

I'm not keen on the "Legend of the wind" addition.

It could be mistaken as a reference to Ah hem ....  flatulence.

Hah, that's a good point actually and it didn't occur to me earlier!

[SamIAm]

I'd be just as worried about people confusing this game for the 1968 UK #1 single The Legend of Xanadu by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich (no, I am not making that name up).


Pew! Pew!

This, by the way, is the first thing that comes up in Google (at least where I am) when I search this title.

[Necromancer]

I much prefer "The Legend of Xanadu", as "Legend of the Wind" sounds like a bad, engrishy, literal translation.  Seminon winds and starkblasts are noteworthy, but 'the wind' is generic and commonplace.

[SamIAm]

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call "Legend of the Wind" Engrishy. Bland and generic, maybe, but without knowing that it was a foreign title, I wouldn't assume it was one. Plus, having "Xanadu" before it makes it a lot more interesting.

Bear in mind, "legend of the wind" is something that appears in the game script as an actual thing in the story (of the first game). "Xanadu" does not appear at all.

The probability of us going with "The Legend of Xanadu" is still pretty high, though.

[esteban]

I have flip-flopped again (and not just because I am at the pool)!



BOTTOM LINE:

I much prefer "The Legend of Xanadu", as "Legend of the Wind" sounds like a bad, engrishy, literal translation.  Seminon winds and starkblasts are noteworthy, but 'the wind' is generic and commonplace.

Exactly.

These two games MUST have an easily-identifiable, unique "identity" (sorry!) for English-speakers.

No matter how faithful "Legend of the Wind" may be, it is simply too generic.

Too hackneyed. Too trite.

It took sincere dedication to consider multiple titles...but the one that seems most enduring (in the grand scheme of the cosmos)....


The wind of fate has blown,
that same wind from a thousand years ago,
and it has raised the veil of mystery...

THE LEGEND OF XANADU

[elmer]

I'm playing through the 8th level of Xanadu 1 right now, and I can definitely say that Areios being the fullfilment of the "Legend of the Wind" is coming across really strongly in the story.

I've not seen any mention of "Xanadu", or "The Legend of Xanadu" anywhere. 

But, IMHO, that doesn't mean that it's wrong to call the games themselves "The Legend of Xanadu".

I have no problem considering the title to mean something like "The Legends of Xanadu", and this story "Legend of the Wind" is just one of the legends.

I have no problem considering the title to mean something like "The Legend of Xanadu", and this story is just part of the continuing story of Aineas's bloodline's battle with the Evil Dragon.

We're actually looking at two distinctly different uses of the logo in the game.

**************

The first use is in the cutscenes ...

In Xanadu 1, it's shown on screen for approximately 8 seconds at the start of a cutscene that you only see after you've played through three levels of the game, and after you've already had some hints about the "Legend of the Wind" and about Areios's destiny.

At this point, seeing "Xanadu : Legend of the Wind" is going to make some sense, wheras seeing "The Legend of Xanadu" is just a generic use of the game's name in a cutscene in the middle of the game.

In Xanadu 2, it's shown on screen for approximately 20 seconds at the start of the cutscene that shows all of the character portraits, and re-introduces the player to the characters.

When you see it at that point in Xanadu 2, you should already have played Xanadu 1 and be familiar with the concept of the "Legend of the Wind" and Areios's connection to that legend.

It's also got "THE LAST DRAGON SLAYER" subtitle when it's used here, just to complicate things. 

**************

The second use is on the Main Menu screen for Xanadu 2 (it's not on the Main Menu for Xanadu 1).

The screen has the green background for approximately 80 seconds and then fades out to a black background.

The logo is shown for as long as you're sitting on the Main Menu, and it's really got no direct connection to the story itself. It's neutral.

**************

To be honest, Falcom's whole use of naming, and the schizoid split between the large English "The Legend of Xanadu" on the box together with the Japanese "Xanadu : Legend of the Wind" suggests to me that we could easily get away with being just as schizoid.

How about we use the "Xanadu : Legend of the Wind" logo in the 2 cutscenes which refer directly to the story and the characters, and then use "The Legend of Xanadu II" logo on the Main Menu screen where it can be seen to refer more to the series of games? 

You'd be getting the large "Xanadu" as the visual connection between the two.

Heck, if it wasn't seen as over-the-top, then I could hack the Main Menu screen on Xanadu 2 to start with "The Legend of Xanadu II" logo, and then switch to "Xanadu : Legend of the Wind II" when the background goes to black.

Double heck, it would be a huge PITA, but it might be possible to hack the Xanadu 2 cutscene to use both logos as well.

The possibilities are just as crazy as Falcom's original naming scheme! 

BTW ... visually, I think that Phase's "The Legend of Xanadu II" logo just plain looks the best on the screen when you see if for a long time, as you do on the Xanadu 2 Main Menu.

[esteban]

Goddamn.

[EmperorIng]

"The Last of Dragon Slayer" (ie "The Final Dragon Slayer") is a great subtitle and it would be a crime if it for some reason edged out (in that scene) for wind-whatever.

It feels right, signifying that this is the last game in a long, winding legacy of games called "Dragon Slayer", building off of one another with experimentation and permutation. Even if the first Xanadu game was technically the "last" Dragon Slayer, it has an impact that tugs at the heartstrings of people who have played through other games under the "Dragon Slayer" banner, and serves to perhaps entice new people to Falcom's other early and seminal titles.

I feel like it's a good idea to have the games' titles consistent as "The Legend of Xanadu" because well, that's what they are called. If it's not outside the realm of impossibility, I like the use of LoX for the title screens and then using the Xanadu: Legend of the Wind in their appropriate cutscenes to give players a better sense of what the adventure is going to be all about. It might be a good workaround to the games' multiple-title-syndromes.