Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Fan Translation: Preview (Colons)

This is kind of a long story. If you want that, read on after this.

If you don’t, uh, just watch this.

Still with me? Good!

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner is a spinoff of the SMT series. It was originally released for the Sega Saturn(wise choice) and then later for the PSP(tough call) and then never localized(thanks Sony. NOT).

What separates Devil Summoner from SMT? In a nutshell, Devil Summoners are basically the same as SMT’s protagonists: normal humans who work with demons. The difference is, Devil Summoners are more, shall we say, hands on with their demons. Demons tend to get more personality and have more influence in the story, and be more friendly with their summoner, not just tools for a job. (Especially in the Raidou games.)

Basically, Devil Summoner games are more ‘street level’ and character-driven. That’s how I like to think of it, anyway.

Devil Summoner takes place in 199x, where a college student with terrible luck winds up having to save his girlfriend, the city, and maybe the world from the machinations of a Bible/Grimoire-wielding dark summoner hell bent on reviving a goddess and wreaking all kinds of the hades(props if you get that).

This brings us to a few years(?) back when on 4chan’s “SMTG” community, a user I’m fortunate enough to now-know as Fukuzatsu decided he was going to translate the game for the PSP.

At least, until he hit the worst of SMT walls: demon negotiation. It’s been hell on him.

Enter another Spanish team of savvy hackers, who’ve been making progress, namely https://twitter.com/megaflan/ and https://twitter.com/GriffithVIII , each of whom were kind enough to join up and make Fuku’s life(hopefully) easier.

I have to give special props to @NakuFox, who came up with the INCREDIBLE title screen, as seen in the video above.

So without further ado, here’s some screens.

Also, mad props to Marsh, the absolute madman below. He beat the game in raw Japanese, and his charismatic flow made the game even more popular than it was already.

SMT: DS was a huge success in Japan, and lead to its (IMO) vastly superior sequel, Soul Hackers.

iwakura.p state of the union – 2020

Crazy year, ain’t it?

Actual depiction of most 2020 social life, I imagine

Thankfully, we’ve been busy, so here’s where a few things stand.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

As you may or may not know, I was able to test out the first playable build earlier this year.

Unfortunately, it only gets me so far, so I’ve been asked to keep it on hold until the rest of the gameplay text can be finished. This is fine by me, as it will make testing worlds easier on me, my Japanese is NOT that good.

Fate/Extra CCC

Thankfully(?), the updates are largely handled by the CCC team, so be looking forward to that soon-ish.

Things That Were Completed

(disclaimer: iwakura.p was only cursorily involved in some of these. Napple Tale and YaruDora in particular are the results of hard work by people I’ve worked with and am more than happy to signal boost.)

Napple Tale, c/o Cargodin and EsperKnight:

A quirky Dreamcast RPG with a devout cult following.

http://www.romhacking.net/translations/5091/

YaruDora, Double Cast, again, c/o Cargodin and EsperKnight:

A fully animated visual novel! We all knows what it is.

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5777/

Sakura Wars (editor)

The classic RED/Sega strategy RPG, on Sega Saturn(shiro).

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5318/

Last Blade 2 (editing and revision)

The classic SNK fighter, now with a new translation! And a happier ending. (May vary)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19rXmrdl1f1nIyTUrIIi_RCDOfgzbC1SQfkQdb1rv9Ps/edit

And now, a taste of things to come…

Moonlight Syndrome

One of Suda 51’s first outings as writer/director, a precursor to The Silver Case and the Kill The Past series. Suda is in full unhinged crazy town. If you think you’ve seen madness, you have NO IDEA.

Castle Shikigami 2

The sequel to the original, and IMO, one of the best shmups of all time… with one of the worst translations ever. Which, I for one, have no intention of abiding.

Here’s hoping 2021 will be better than 2020. It’ll sure be an exciting one, I think.

Catch you on the flip side.

-cj

Sakura Wars: Fan Translation Released!

I’ll keep this short and sweet. A milestone that’s been 7(!!) years in the making, and I couldn’t be happier to see it brought to fruition.

The wait is over! #SakuraWars is now, for the first time ever, playable in English on the #SegaSaturn! Head on over to check out the launch trailer where you can also find a link to the download. @cj_iwakura @Crouching_Mouse @MatatabiMitsuhttps://t.co/kpKTNbX3hj

— NSteam (@NoahSteam_) December 15, 2019

We’re waiting for it to go live on RHDN, but for now, you can find a patch for download in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jjco8jo61voin33/SakuraWars_EnglishPatch_v1_0.zip/file

I truly hope you enjoy. Thanks for your patience.

As always, don’t forget to read the translation notes!

The Sakura Wars endeavor draws to a close…

I know I haven’t been updating like I should, but I’ve been neck deep in testing Sakura Wars, a job with an inordinately insane amount of hours, and a certain Kojima game about package delivery, but I digress, let’s get on with it.

@tauke on twitter was kind enough to help us promote the game, and we’re very close to the finish line.

As you may or may not know, we sadly decided to can the PC version and combine our efforts to work with @noahsteam_ ‘s team. Thanks to him and his crack team of translators and testers, I’m confident that this game never has and never will look better. It’s the biggest group effort I’ve ever been involved in, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed working on it.

The end result will be worth the wait, I’m sure.

 

(Li Kohran is the officially sanctioned Best Girl for Iwakura.P, accept no substitute.)

Sakura Wars Saturn translation joins the troupe! (and an EP update)

As you may have heard, another team began their own translation project for Sakura Wars… only the Saturn version.

sakurawarstranslation.com

I thought it seemed silly to make them do double work when we had so much done, so we decided to join forces, Japan and Paris Troupe style.

This is the result.

 

The Saturn version is light years ahead of the PC one(re: actually playable), so it’s moving along very well, but we have no intention of giving up on the PC version, it’s just gonna take a bit longer.

And as the deluge of comments and tweets imply, no, CCC is not cancelled, it’s on the backburner so projects like this and Eternal Punishment(which are WORLDS easier) can see completion.

Which, as you can see, is also seeing forward momentum.

Ciao.

[April Fools] The Fate/Stay Night Retranslation Project

After long months of planning, we’re finally ready to reveal our trump card. CCC, Sakura Wars, Ougon Musou, Shikigami, and Shadowrun were all mere tests to see if we could pull this off.

Now I know we can. Iwakura Productions proudly presents, in the grand tradition of MOBILE LIGHT FORCE 2 and CHERRY TREE HIGH COMEDY CLUB(tm):

I’m sure you’ve felt the same way I have. Fate/Stay Night, with its convoluted focus on mythology, romantic drama, and outdated Japanese traditions is far too obtuse for an American audience, so we are proud to finally give Fate/Stay Night the translation it DESERVES!

No longer set in the boring town of Fuyuki City. Oh no. Fate/Stay Night Hyper Retranslation Extreme Justice Remix(FSN HREJR for short) will now take place in the sprawling suburban land of FREDRICKSBURG.

Each and every character has been given a new American name, in keeping with the time-honored tradition of classic localization. In addition to their new names, fans can expect a totally relocated plot.Every story element, weapon, and reference will be adjusted to match. Have no idea who Cu Chulainn is? Lost in Arthurian mythology? Don’t give a flying hell about silly Kendo swordplay? This is the translation for you!

We’ll be proud to unveil more about this translaton as the weeks go on. Nasu has already given his approval, and we plan on a full release for a wide variety of systems. Included but not limited to PS Vita, Dreamcast, the Saturn, the Amiga, and the Game Gear.

Stay tuned, space cats. Who needs CCC, anyway? This will put Fate on the MAP!

Dragon Force II Fan Translation (Saturn)

I am late as hell to this one, but better late than never.

http://verve-fanworks.com/

(Full disclosure: I helped test on this, but not as much as I’d have liked to. I was not involved in the project beyond that, and a massive love for the original game.)

I’ve yet to finish it, and although I feel this pales in comparison to the masterpiece original, this is still a fine game that is worth playing for any DF fan, especially to reward the fan translation team’s biblical efforts. This baby was YEARS in the making, and is a landmark achievement.

Go bring ruin to the invaders!

HYPE TRAILER!