Castle Shikigami has gone official. How does it compare to iwakura.p’s version? Let’s find out!

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m kind of a fan of Castle Shikigami. This very group’s first project, and the REASON IT EXISTS, is Castle Shikigami.

Myself, EsperKnight, and a freelance translator named Cckerberos decided to take it on, and the rest is history.

Or is it?

Yep, through some ritualistic mumbo-jumbo, CoS has actually gotten an official release on Steam.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/582980/Castle_of_Shikigami/

I was as shocked as you. What’s next, Ougon Musou-oh. Yeah.

Anyway!

Despite that most of the internet seems to not be aware that there IS a fan translation, I happen to recall vividly, having edited the damn thing.

There’s a billion reviewers out there talking about Shikigami’s gameplay, so I’m going to talk about the most important thing(well, at least to me): the story.

As most of you hopefully know, Shiki 1’s first US release was… less than optimal.

Yeah. All the story was removed. So we translated the PC version to fix that.

And now Degica’s put their own spin on it. So without further ado, let’s compare.

Fan Translation

Degica Translation

Nitpicks aside, the Degica script does convey the meaning of Kohtaro’s dialogue. But it lacks kick. Kohtaro’s never that calm!

It’s a solid translation. But it lacks flair. (Also, notice the Degica text is left-aligned and doesn’t fill the bar. That’s a forced thing in the translation. We fixed it in our version. Degica did not. You’ll see it in our version of Fumiko’s text below, likely a line we didn’t correct, as it required manual updating. )

Again, the sentiment is the same. The delivery isn’t.

Also, have some Engrish. Shiki tradition, right?

 

I gotta give them credit for that. It comes across as very clinical and autopsy-like in tone.

So in short, they made a valiant effort. It’s not perfect, but I applaud them for bringing Shikigami’s story to a wider audience… even if most won’t even notice it.

Disgaea 2 is on Steam! And you can make the OP subbed if you want.

I looove Disgaea 2. The depths of my obsession with the game go deep. I still own the PS2 version, it’s my favorite Disgaea title, and now I’m a happy owner of the Steam version.

But here’s where it gets interesting. You may recall that I dabble in subtitling stuff, and Disgaea 2’s OP was my most recent project:

Now it’s in game, doods!

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mzez7wbwonqzl8j/mov00.ogm

All you have to do is replace that file in this folder here:

And this will be the end result:

Such greatness would not have been possible without the gracious assistance of Baud Attitude from Penny Arcade.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/profile/discussions/baudattitude

Thanks and here’s to many more subbed versions of OPs that pubs don’t want you to understand!

(Or more likely they don’t have the rights to the lyrics because Japan are silly, either/or.)