Languages in the PAL release

[Amadán Amárach]

Bearing in mind that forum guidelines expect that I shall read every topic ever and still resist the urge to necropost, I have what I expect has been an oft-answered question. I've attempted a search or two but not yet spotted those that speak directly about the translated game in Europe. Mention of the French version is as much as I've seen, but were there up to five separate versions made?

My trusty copy has resisted every attempt with Gamecube and Wii to adjust the in-game language. I've never doubted the possibility that French/German/Spanish/Italian text was not to be found within, yet it's always seemed odd that I have an adjusted PAL version (no squiggly writing here, thank you!) with nothing else to show for it. Perhaps I've underestimated the amount of space taken up by all the text in the game, but I'd assume that it would make more sense economically to bundle them all in together and just manufacture one release?

[Slivius]

It would've made a lot more sense, yes.

Nevertheless, I can assure you that the version of the game sold in the Netherlands is in English, and the language (or the font for that matter) can not be changed in game.
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Also known as Sliv, Slivvie, Quilvius, Slivendiferious, and slivijizzisious

Ruilus wrote:

Holy hell. Yesterday was a blur of wine, whiskey and brandy. I can't remember where I left my sofa.

[Amadán Amárach]

Thanks, Slivius. I regret to say it's not motivated by the skill of fluency in any of those languages, although I can scrape along in German (and would probably do all right in Dutch, incidentally, if the day comes). It's just something to do, especially when a game like Symphonia becomes so familiar. Having said that, I'd probably accidentally trigger alternate dialogue scenes and be none the wiser!

[Slivius]

Rookie mistake there Amadán
German and Dutch look similar, but they are actually completely different. The amount of people that speaks German fluently in the Netherlands is really small, though for some odd reason the amount of people speaking Dutch fluently in Germany is steadily rising...

Anyways, most people in the Netherlands only know Dutch and basic English. Their English is hilariously bad in some cases though. But sadly only to people who speak Dutch and English really well. (google I always get my sin it's not about sins at all )

Dutch people trying to learn German has lead to a language that sounds German but not to actual Germans. The funny thing is that Dutch people talking in fake-German can understand each other much better than they would be able to if they were both talking in actual German.

I agree on the missing alternate dialogue scenes btw. Good point.
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Also known as Sliv, Slivvie, Quilvius, Slivendiferious, and slivijizzisious

Ruilus wrote:

Holy hell. Yesterday was a blur of wine, whiskey and brandy. I can't remember where I left my sofa.

[Amadán Amárach]

This is actually more to do with the conversational Afrikaans I used to have - exceptionally rusty now after all these years. It's hardly restricted to just one language, of course, but I must have caused equal degrees of frustration and amusement as I spoke to Afrikaans-speakers in English order and idioms!

Apropos (vive la France!), in googling your excellent suggestion, I also applied the automatic translation to to the Dutch first result, which brought the usual amount of entertainment for the fluent! But all respect due to anyone who studies or absorbs enough of a language to make communication possible, and Tales games intermittently available...

[Slivius]

Afrikaans... wow.

Well, in that case it should indeed be pretty easy to learn Dutch. The other way around is freaking hard xD.
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Also known as Sliv, Slivvie, Quilvius, Slivendiferious, and slivijizzisious

Ruilus wrote:

Holy hell. Yesterday was a blur of wine, whiskey and brandy. I can't remember where I left my sofa.

[Amadán Amárach]

I've heard that to be the case for many people. I can't put myself in their position but for a variant language- 'n dogter taal if you will - it does bear the hallmarks of its orginators; a pretty stubborn bunch collectively! The reason for the prevalence of the double negative, I remember being told, was likely just one person's florid way of putting emphasis on the details of important events. I really ought to refresh my minimal skills before I pronounce upon the language in general!

I guess native speakers of any of the world's second-tier tongues would welcome seeing major games translated further down the ladder. If we survive to the point where computers instantaneously convert to your chosen speech, or the universal translator gets embedded in our brains, then well done us! Plucking names from local mythology, or in-jokes by games makers from your neck of the woods, may be all we get for now.