Legends of Localization, Book 3: Undertale

Legends of Localization is an examination of the cultural influences and differences that affect Japanese and English games. This book is an educational, history-focused exploration of the Undertale video game.

In this book, we’ll take a detailed look at the popular American video game known as Undertale. We‘ll compare the original English version of the game with its official Japanese release. We’ll also look at some of the translation challenges involved, and the solutions that were used to overcome them.

Along the way, we’ll examine other related topics, such as

• What “localization” is and how it differs from translation
• Undertale’s history and the inspirations behind the game
• Undertale’s localization process as seen from the inside
• Common problems and mistakes in entertainment localization
• How culture and language shape a game’s localization and vice-versa
• How unofficial, volunteer-made localizations and official localizations interact, how they differ, and what they mean to fans