this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2026
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Some people didn't like being called "unskilled" (programming.dev)
submitted 2 days ago by ICastFist@programming.dev to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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Context: Working Designs was a studio that localized several Japanese games for western markets in the 1990s. Besides translation, they would often increase the difficulty of the games they translated

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[–] villainy@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They definitely made games more difficult as well

In Lunar, for example, the EXP payout was reduced by 15% compared to the japanese original, the silver output was reduced by 11% and the infamous feature that boss enemies leveled with the main character was also made harder.

https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/coverage_companies_workingdesigns.php#5

[–] VivianRixia@piefed.social 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

And lets not forget adding a game over trigger during the finale that just wasn't there originally. Because screw you, the player, I guess.

[–] ClipperDefiance@piefed.social 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

How about this gem from their localization of Vay:

In the US version, Sirufa's dialogue has been rewritten. Now, her wind powers are due to a bet she lost with an unexplained "Thaldar", as a result of which she "received the curse of eternal seimic flatulence." This is then used to create a mechanic whereby, if Sirufa's teleportation is used without having all party members equipped with "Filtration Masks", the unequipped members will be "overcome by the noxious fumes" and remove the rest of the party's masks before dying, causing an instant game over.

Text from TCRF.

[–] brsrklf@jlai.lu 3 points 1 day ago

Between that and the "gold vortex", looks like they thought "just" translating was boring (no matter how much of a messy process it really was back then)... So they just thought they'd mess with the game as a challenge and for the hell of it.

[–] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 3 points 2 days ago

Oh for real? I've played Lunar and didnt even know it was made harder. I mean it was hard, but I thought it was just like that.