Submit a ticket at support.jastusa.com with your order number and I'll refund you. What we do isn't your cup of tea and that's fine. Keep enjoying the games in Japanese.
We have a #suggestions channel at discord.gg/rMGjzQE and I read every last post in there.

So basically I was right, and you do just make up shit when it doesn't suit you. Nope, I will go through it and have the guy at Varishangout check it. Also, kinda curious to see how accurate it is going to be, And see how far the concept of we care for quality actually is.

You are the first one to actually dislike Closed Game translation, but looking back at the script, the first line was translated like that for consistence’s sake (see the attachments). As for “S-shut the fuck up!”, dont you think it fits the scene more than a simply "Enough of this!" Celine is generally a rude tomboy, a bit agitated at that point and while it is a Japanese game the setting itself is a wild west like place. So it wouldn't be too strange for a tomboy from such a place to use swear words.

I get where you are coming from tho, I myself am not a fan of memes in translation (unless the jp text also has a meme that is). So while some lines in Closed Game may get a bit liberal, I dont think you that will find anything that doesn’t fit the character's personalty or setting. My rules are generally, get the translation as accurate as possible while making sure that it reads natural in English. As much as you dislike liberal translation, you would also hate reading something super literal like what happens when you put the text trough Google.

And dont misunderstand comrade Bloodnose, He is offering you a refund because it's the right thing to do. We dont want to take money for something you end up not enjoying. We dont want people to be afraid of trying games because they think the money would be wasted.

From someone who's altogether unfamiliar with either, yeah, that sounds sensible.

Are Closed Game and Starless really good, plot-wise especially? Any twists, successful heists or daring escapes, cunning plans and manipulation on the protagonist part? If yeah, I'll probably buy them when/if they're released here.

There are better ways of doing the translation than trying to add or make up words for an original meaning that is actually being said. For those moment in general, there is no reason not to go with the original meaning because you want to interpret your own version of what is being said.

Actually the Team at Teamgaki does Japanese game show Gaki no Tsukai it's full on Japanese and doesn't overlook the fact that people night not like a chosen word cause all people that watch it are people who care about what is actually being said. If you did for instance a liberal translation on that you'd have to add anything truly Japanese related, yet they don't do that because it isn't really necessary and the tone of their voice tells more than enough on how you should interpret things.

In general, none of these fits the setting when you actually know what is being said and still have to read a lie. Actually I don't dislike literal translation, they would feel stale if you know zero Japanese, but once you do you interpret things for what they are and accept the facts that Japanese language is different only in its use but not in its meanings.

In general, this game is Japanese and not Western, so the whole over the top translation that seem to present in the west is pretty unnecessary. Google Translate isn't even a good example, cause like what the guy at Varishangout showed, there are ways to make it more accurate without going over the top. This is, for example, why people started to wonder why Kaine in the Nier Replicant series suddenly had Tourette syndrome because of all the excessive swearing.

Most English-speaking audience wouldn't know or have a problem with it for the simple reason of only caring what it says in English and would never bother knowing what is actually being said. For European that kinda falls in a different court seeing as we are used to multiple languages being used, and we are also more aware of how bad things butchered during translation. This Ignorance by English speakers is the reason why localizer/translators get away with making it less accurate even more each day.

Simply put, with the examples I have just shown, This is simply not what is being said and regardless of saying it's still in the spirit of things is always a lame excuse for having it your own way. I'm glad that a lot of the newer generation is starting to notice and even started to learn more Japanese because of these reason's
They are full on porn games and not much plot. But with those kinda games, it's easier to tell if a publisher actually cares about quality.

Closed game is tame in its porn, while Starless is going to shock you pretty much if you haven't played the Japanese version years ago. With that, I mean, Bestiality and a guy getting his Dick chopped off. They censored the game, but there is an uncensor patch.

Language is complex, and Japanese even more so. It's a very contextual language, as someone who is learning Japanese you should know that. When translating, it's important to look at the whole scene rather than just one line at the time. None of the stuff you pointed out in Closed Game is "making shit up", it's essentially saying the same thing as your translation, but in a different wording based on the scene context.

Games are a visual medium. Graphics are very important, no matter what some people may say. It is through them that most of the game is "expressed". And, quite simply, it's hard to have fun looking for hours at something one simply finds incredibly aesthetically unpleasant.

Really loving the new direction of GOG.
We really need more japanese and asian games in general.

Keep in mind that Frontier was released in 2012, and Hollow in 2014 (the original Japanese version). So it wouldnt really be fair to judge them with today's standards. It's like comparing GTA Sand Andreas graphics with GTA 5.

That kinda falls weak when translator are now even turning the word Oni-chan in to "are you ok?" and calling it Westernization.

Still doesn't excuse the fact that you just altered it for the sake that you felt like it and not the fact that those other more direct words I mention would have worked just as fine and be accurate. The entire point is accurate and not if English speaker might enjoy even more swearwords. Even the Cute kitten part is kinda puzzling to say the least, why it is changed? I see no actual reasoning for it. My Cute, Cute, Little kitten is more of an erotic choice for the game and fits the character more than some high class old hag say My darling cause that just invokes the British sense of being posh.

I wouldn't call them completely visual, because you could still have an army of text with barely any impress graphical fidelity. And still go by on story. Walking simulators only ever get by if their story is good, and not if they have top-notch graphics. Battlefield V was a flop, and it was one hell of a high-end game, but it fell because it was trying to appeal to an audience that didn't care one bit for it.

Deadly premonition looked beyond crap, but the game has a very good and interesting story, and the only thing that held it together was its story. I would not say that graphics isn't the only thing that matters.

Kemonozume is, for instance, an anime that looks pretty much like an expressive piece of art and barely anything in the normal realm, but it still holds up because of its story and general feel of the story. It depends more on the fact if you are willing to overlook the graphical aspect.

I for instance hate all those pixel art games but wouldn't advocate for not having them here. There are plenty of games with questionable art styles, but it all depends on the person in general.

Please god, please god.
Give me Sengoku Rance and Muramasa this Christmas, GOG.

Please GOG, instabuy.

Hum. I'm not one to be scared off by gore, but neither I think that plot-less chopping people up good VN makes, that's more hack and slash action.
Screens seem pretty tame to me, but then, I didn't actually play them. Still, doubt there's anything to warrant the CAUTION warning on par with games like Demonophobia, Syakuga, early Eluku and StudioS games. Neither artist nor the studio feels like they have the guts and morbid inclination for it.

Where was I? Ah, VN ought to have good writing and either humor or drama, great if both. Or really nice art to make up for the lack of it all. I'm not too hung up on translation liberties, unless they're as bad as original Persona was, push some political agenda, or are censorship by another name.

@Seryuu I'm interested in other JAST games arriving here - Demonbane, Saya, Muramasa, Eiyu Senki, maybe Meteor Pendulum and Abaddon - don't know enough about either, but they look interesting. I'll expect an uncut and uncensored version being available though, even if behind "fan" patch excuse or some such. So welcome and good luck.

Plenty of JAST games actually keep honorifics. But back to Closed Game, as I said in the post with the attachment files, it was mainly done to be consists with what she calls the character through the game. But anyway, as I also said we are not above criticism, I will keep your feedback in mind.

That is more of a question for comrade Bloodnose, but I too hope that we will be able to bring more games to GOG.
As for Abaddon, that is actually a FAKKU published game, so you will have to check with them.

Looking at the choices of words, I would certainly dislike it as well. For one, I think translations should be as literal as possible (after all, I would be buying a Japanese game, not an American one) and two, swearing in general is off-putting and make you just seem like a 13-year-old at best. This is also more an American thing and not "part of the English language". It reminds me of the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 where the characters were swearing all the time which was enough to not make me interested in the game, despite rather liking the cyberpunk genre. And if it's not present in the Japanese language (they have their different degrees of rudeness), leave it like that. It's not that difficult to use words appropriately, so that different degrees of politeness etc can be expressed.

Eh, I would say it's more American as they generally display by far the most ignorance and don't give a damn about peculiarities. Also, see remakes of Asian movies because they don't want that Asian stuff in their cinemas. The British are a lot more cultured in comparison which makes sense, considering they are European (whether they like it or not).

Absolutely true. There are a lot of different styles when it comes to VNs and some you might find appealing while most others are simply off-putting.

Sorry, but that is utter nonsense. Drawings aren't tied to technology and if anything, the visuals have taken a large fall quality-wise. There is also a large overlap with the anime industry, as lots of money had left the market after the bubble burst which lead to the decline in domestic quality until a lot of animation even got outsourced to China/The Philippines and the like.