GamesAction RpgAfter 12 years, a seemingly abandoned fan translation for a lost Japanese action-RPG surfaced out of nowhere, but the original creators say it’s “wildly obsolete"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesAction RpgAfter 12 years, a seemingly abandoned fan translation for a lost Japanese action-RPG surfaced out of nowhere, but the original creators say it’s “wildly obsolete"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Atlus/CyberWarriorX)
Normally, the sudden release of a fan translation for a cult classic game would be a cause for celebration, but the launch of an English patch forSegaSaturn action-RPG Princess Crown has caused some ire in the community, as the original creators of the patch aren’t pleased that somebody’s taken up the torch in their apparent absence.
Like many Saturn games, Princess Crown was never officially released in English. Two members of the romhacking community, CyberWarriorX and SamIAm, started work on a fan translation in 2012, posting an early build to a now-deleted GitHub page and providing sporadic updates to aRomhacking.netthread in the years that followed. Those updates eventually slowed to a trickle and while, asTime Extensionnotes, the creators insisted they were still working on the translation as recently as 2022, many assumed the project had either quietly been abandoned or would simply never see the light of day.
That’s why it was such a surprise last week when another modder called eadmaster suddenly published a Princess Crown translation based on CyberWarrriorX and SamIAm’s work toGitHub. It’s a very early build and has quite a few flaws - it’s got a fixed-width font that looks a bit awkward in places, it’s missing many minor pieces of translation, and it hasn’t been thoroughly bug tested. But it’s the only English version of Princess Crown you’re going to find out there.
Princess Crown - Translation Project Update from CyberWarriorX and SamIAm - YouTubeWatch On
Princess Crown - Translation Project Update from CyberWarriorX and SamIAm - YouTube
Princess Crown - Translation Project Update from CyberWarriorX and SamIAm - YouTube
The original creators aren’t happy to see their work brought back in this way, and following eadmaster’s release have posted a proper update video on their project while criticizing the derivative work.
“Last week, Eadmaster took the assets from that now-ancient GitHub project, made a few minor adjustments, and used them to release his own Princess Crown translation,” CyberWarriorX writes in thedescription of the YouTube videoabove. “He did this without so much as giving us notice beforehand, much less asking permission. Strictly speaking, GitHub’s licensing terms do allow him to do so. However, in practice, this kind of thing is widely considered to be disrespectful and poor etiquette in the game translation scene. As we had always made clear, the translation as it existed then was not ready to be seen. Furthermore, it is now wildly obsolete.”
In an interview with Saturn fansiteSega Saturn, Shiro!, eadmaster confirms that he didn’t contact the original team behind the patch. “Since they looked overwhelmed with requests in the past I didn’t try to contact them directly, I thought I would be just bothering them. So I’ve just posted some messages on these two forums announcing I was working on this.”
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A quick glance through theforum threadsandsocial media chatterthat have followed all this will tell you that the community’s pretty divided on who to support in all this, The original patchwasposted as an open-source project that anybody’s free to continue the work on, but equally eadmaster’s version of the patch doesn’t exactly present the original work in the best light. It seems, more than anything, people are frustrated that it’s taken this kind of drama to get any kind of update on the patch’s progress.
“With this video, we aim to demonstrate our progress and show people that ours will be the translation worth playing,” CyberWarriorX concludes in thatYouTubedescription. “No, we aren’t releasing a beta now, and no, we can’t make promises about when we’ll finish. What we can say is that Princess Crown deserves a high-quality translation, and that’s what we intend to deliver. Going forward, we’ll try to release more in the way of updates and previews. To fans of the game and everyone who has been waiting, we thank you for your patience. Believe us, we’d like us to get this thing finished, too.”
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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1
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5
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1Squid Game season 2 review: “Secures its place as one of the best shows on television right now”
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2Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2
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3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3
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4Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”