• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars Rated M by ESRB

Prelude.

Member
Nope, I asked :(

conceptionenglish_zps08cba206.jpg


He's the PR Manager for Atlus for those that don't know.
Nice. Another Atlus game that I won't be buying.
I guess they really hate selling more copies.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Probably not. GrimGrimoire and Odin Sphere were dual audio though.

GrimGrimoire was NIS, not Atlus. Dual audio in Atlus games is very much the exception, not the rule.


And yeah, you have to realize how expensive it is to have dual audio. JP developers are becoming more and more stingy about that. It's one thing if it's a niche game and that's the only cost involved, but if you have to have a dub for it to reach mass appeal, then doing both is financial suicide.
 

koutoru

Member
GrimGrimoire was NIS, not Atlus. Dual audio in Atlus games is very much the exception, not the rule.


And yeah, you have to realize how expensive it is to have dual audio. JP developers are becoming more and more stingy about that. It's one thing if it's a niche game and that's the only cost involved, but if you have to have a dub for it to reach mass appeal, then doing both is financial suicide.
Which is why I think they should start offering the Japanese VO as DLC, like Squre Enix is starting to do with Final Fantasy.
 
Good to hear that there will be English voices.

Having just played Sorcery Saga for a couple of hours, the overly put-on anime voice acting makes me hostile.
 

Shengar

Member
lol.

Turn the voices off if you don't like them. Or did you never play any game before the PS2-era?
Being unlocalized apparently looks much better than having an English dub for some people.
Why they don't learn Japanese in the first place is out of my comprehension.
 

Prelude.

Member
Is probably way cheaper to them without the dual audio. In some cases, is cheaper having a dub than the original audio.
I know, but they're saving money not including the japanese audio and losing them by selling far less copies so you don't really know if that's the most profitable way in the end.
I hoped this was niche enough that they wouldn't bother with an english dub but I guess it isn't.

GrimGrimoire was NIS, not Atlus. Dual audio in Atlus games is very much the exception, not the rule.
I forgot that GrimGrimoire was published by the wizards at NIS that always manage to include both languages and be magically profitable.
Anyway, this isn't developed by Atlus so there could have been a slight chance.
 

GuardianE

Santa May Claus
And yeah, you have to realize how expensive it is to have dual audio. JP developers are becoming more and more stingy about that. It's one thing if it's a niche game and that's the only cost involved, but if you have to have a dub for it to reach mass appeal, then doing both is financial suicide.

I'm confused how expensive it could be. The Japanese voice over is already completed, and most games already have subtitles in place. How much more expensive could it be to simply include the Japanese audio? I'm legitimately curious.
 
I'm confused how expensive it could be. The Japanese voice over is already completed, and most games already have subtitles in place. How much more expensive could it be to simply include the Japanese audio? I'm legitimately curious.

You need to pay license fees to the Japanese voice actors/agencies
 

Tohsaka

Member
I'm confused how expensive it could be. The Japanese voice over is already completed, and most games already have subtitles in place. How much more expensive could it be to simply include the Japanese audio? I'm legitimately curious.

Check this out for an example. Obviously this isn't an otome game, but the same kind of situation applies quite often, unfortunately. The Japanese licensors oftentimes want ridiculous amounts of money to allow the voice tracks outside of Japan, and sometimes they just won't allow them at all due to contracts.
 

GuardianE

Santa May Claus
You need to pay license fees to the Japanese voice actors/agencies

Ah, right. I gotcha. Still disappointing. I have no concept of what that would cost.


Check this out for an example. Obviously this isn't an otome game, but the same kind of situation applies quite often, unfortunately. The Japanese licensors oftentimes want ridiculous amounts of money to allow the voice tracks outside of Japan, and sometimes they just won't allow them at all due to contracts.

Thanks for the article. Yeah, that explains a lot.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
I know, but they're saving money not including the japanese audio and losing them by selling far less copies so you don't really know if that's the most profitable way in the end.
I hoped this was niche enough that they wouldn't bother with an english dub but I guess it isn't.

I think you sorely overestimate the number of people who care about dual audio. But hey, if you'd rather play it in a language you don't speak, go nuts.
Not supporting a localized game I want to play because it lacks JP voices is crazy to me.

Growlanser IV got neutered in the voice category(probably the most dire castration ever), but it was still localized, so I still supported it.
 

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
Atlus VA is top notch most of the time, so no problem if its English only.

So, random generated dungeon rpg and dating sim, with unique battle system. I probably going to buy this if i have spare :)
 

sensui-tomo

Member
If atlus cant get dual audio for persona or smt, what would make you think an even more niche title would get dual audio if their main product cant?(blame japanese voice actors/actresses and their studio/contracts since thats who you want to blame)
 

koutoru

Member
If atlus cant get dual audio for persona or smt, what would make you think an even more niche title would get dual audio if their main product cant?(blame japanese voice actors/actresses and their studio/contracts since thats who you want to blame)

The fact that it's more niche means that the publishers won't be as stingy with the VO rights.

Also, the fact that the game isn't actually developed by Atlus (whose tract record of developing games with multiple audio track capabilities is near zero) increases the liklyhood for dual audio (site Aquapazza).
 

RangerBAD

Member
I figured Aksys would be the one to localize and publish this considering their relationship with Spike Chunsoft. So it was pretty surprising when Atlus announced it. Same with Danganronpa. It's a shame Conception II won't have dual audio, but that's how Atlus rolls.
 

Tohsaka

Member
I figured Aksys would be the one to localize and publish this considering their relationship with Spike Chunsoft. So it was pretty surprising when Atlus announced it. Same with Danganronpa. It's a shame Conception II won't have dual audio, but that's how Atlus rolls.

Yeah, it seems like publishers have been switching around as of late. Aksys localized Sorcery Saga, a Compile Heart game, which are usually published by NISA here. NISA is localizing Danganronpa like you mentioned, and they're also doing Demon Gaze.
 

Prelude.

Member
I think you sorely overestimate the number of people who care about dual audio.
Atelier Ayesha would like to have a word with you.

If atlus cant get dual audio for persona or smt, what would make you think an even more niche title would get dual audio if their main product cant?(blame japanese voice actors/actresses and their studio/contracts since thats who you want to blame)
Can't? Do you seriously believe that they can't? The only one to blame is Atlus, especially for their own games.
 

antibolo

Banned
What is it with Atlus never bothering to put dual audio for their localizations anyway?

The only Atlus game in recent memory to provide dual audio is P4A, and that has most likely because the Japanese and NA versions of the game are the same (which was the reason given for the region locking), and that the Arc System Works engine already had support for it anyway.

Also I call bullshit on the "voice actor contracts" excuse, if P4A had the rights for the Japanese voices then there was no reason for P4G to not have them too, they were both released around the same time with pretty much the same cast.
 

Arla

Member
I understand dual-audio isn't as simple and cheap as a lot of people think it is, but still. A lot of the other niche publishers manage to include both or Japanese voices only. Hell, some only do Japanese audio because it's cheaper.

It's just Atlus being cheap/cutting costs. I understand the business side of it, but as a fan that doesn't mean I have to like their decision. I haven't liked any Atlus dub, I don't see that changing with this game. It's not some stupid Japanese is always better attitude either. Dubs of Japanese media are often terrible and have deservedly bad reputation.
 
Going by the impressions in this thread there's actually a good game in there and the Persona comparisons have definitely peaked my interest. I wish they'd announce it for Europe.

Yes. Rather drab ones at that. Here is a review with more info, and lots of Vita pics.

On second thought, this review completely killed my interest lol.
 

Prelude.

Member
Honestly, if you care about Japanese audio so much why don't you just learn Japanese?
Would you be bothered if they replaced the characters with hamburgers? They can say and do the same things, why shouldn't they localize their appearance too?

The original audio track is part of the game and it's just as important as anything else. I want to play the game as close to the original as possible (i.e. just slap subtitles on it and nothing more), if something as big is removed I'm not interested to play it anymore. And, personally, I also find Atlus' english dubs unbearable making their games frankly unenjoyable.
Do you think it's acceptable to release a DVD/Blu Ray without the original audio?
 

Thoraxes

Member
Would you be bothered if they replaced the characters with hamburgers? They can say and do the same things, why shouldn't they localize their appearance too?

The original audio track is part of the game and it's just as important as anything else. I want to play the game as close to the original as possible (i.e. just slap subtitles on it and nothing more), if something as big is removed I'm not interested to play it anymore. And, personally, I also find Atlus' english dubs unbearable making their games frankly unenjoyable.
Do you think is acceptable to release a DVD/Blu Ray without the original audio?

This is the main reason the Persona 4 Blurays were such utter garbage.
 
Is probably way cheaper to them without the dual audio. In some cases, is cheaper having a dub than the original audio.

I see, so the Aksys and Xseed games which are released with JP audio only somehow cost more than a dubbed Atlus title? Please. Atlus is just fucking over NA/EU fans because of their fear of reverse importation. They don't give a fuck about their fans outside of JP.

And I'm increasingly giving less of a fuck about Atlus every day. They're the only ones who insist on dub-only games now, everyone else localizing niche JP titles are using JP audio with subs. Atlus knows that a game like Conception II is super-niche, they won't get anyone who isn't already interested in it to buy it just by dubbing it. They're doing it to please their JP overlords who don't want reverse importation. So fuck em.
 
Would you be bothered if they replaced the characters with hamburgers? They can say and do the same things, why shouldn't they localize their appearance too?

The original audio track is part of the game and it's just as important as anything else. I want to play the game as close to the original as possible (i.e. just slap subtitles on it and nothing more), if something as big is removed I'm not interested to play it anymore. And, personally, I also find Atlus' english dubs unbearable making their games frankly unenjoyable.
Do you think is acceptable to release a DVD/Blu Ray without the original audio?

Obviously it's ideal for the game to come with dual audio. Given the financial realities of that sort of thing, though, if you were to offer me the choice of a) no localized release and b) a dub-only release, I'm always going to pick the second one because I don't know Japanese.

Is that always the choice publishers are offering you? In the case of the Atelier games, obviously not, since they used to always have dual audio and the Japanese devs said their omission from Ayesha was a misunderstanding of the western market. In other cases, who knows?

I'm not saying everyone should think the same way I do--at the end of the day, some people ARE going to choose no localization over dub-only. I guess my thinking is that people who want the original Japanese audio will always have the choice to import (even if that also requires importing the console itself due to region locks). People who would be fine with a dub-only release who can't get one because of the hard requirement of dual audio would only have the choice of learn Japanese (which would take years) or don't play the game.

(I guess in this particular case it doesn't matter to me either way because it sounds like it's not that great, and it already skews pretty far into fan-service territory for my tastes.)
 

Thoraxes

Member
I see, so the Aksys and Xseed games which are released with JP audio only somehow cost more than a dubbed Atlus title? Please. Atlus is just fucking over NA/EU fans because of their fear of reverse importation. They don't give a fuck about their fans outside of JP.

I will forever love Aksys for giving me Chiaki Omigawa.

Greatest gift to mankind ever.
 

Tohsaka

Member
Then go ahead? Just buy the Japanese version. That's as original as it'll ever be.

That is not an argument. Many people simply prefer to enjoy their media with the original audio, regardless of whether it's Japanese, English, French etc. I wouldn't watch an anime dubbed in English, and I obviously wouldn't want to play an American game dubbed in another language.
 

Eusis

Member
Atelier Ayesha would like to have a word with you.


Can't? Do you seriously believe that they can't? The only one to blame is Atlus, especially for their own games.
I wonder how Ayesha actually sold relative to prior games, though regardless the backlash was enough for them to take notice and it's kind of crappy to have a series be good about it then turn around and abandon it.

And there's always potential licensing/technical hurdles to overcome since it's not like DVDs or blu-rays which are essentially like a game that's always built on the same engine to play different scenarios, seems Dragon's Crown was sort of awkward on that front for example. I only wonder if at worst some of the decision makers at Atlus only care if it's really, REALLY convenient for them while others will push a bit further, but honestly there haven't been as many examples as of late, especially with most of their Japanese output on handhelds period where limitations are more likely to rear their head.
What is it with Atlus never bothering to put dual audio for their localizations anyway?

The only Atlus game in recent memory to provide dual audio is P4A, and that has most likely because the Japanese and NA versions of the game are the same (which was the reason given for the region locking), and that the Arc System Works engine already had support for it anyway.

Also I call bullshit on the "voice actor contracts" excuse, if P4A had the rights for the Japanese voices then there was no reason for P4G to not have them too, they were both released around the same time with pretty much the same cast.
Those voice contracts DID region lock P4A, and the Vita cart's filled to the brim. This may be a case where they didn't want that mess again and literally could not fit in a second voice track.
It's not some stupid Japanese is always better attitude either. Dubs of Japanese media are often terrible and have deservedly bad reputation.
Eh, we're not in the 90s anymore (especially the early 90s, good god) most games have reasonably good dubs now. At this point the problem usually lies with how well the source material can be carried over to English, and... yeah, this looks like one of those games where that can be an issue. We'll see though.
 

HawthorneKitty

Sgt. 2nd Class in the Creep Battalion, Waifu Wars
That is not an argument. Many people simply prefer to enjoy their media with the original audio, regardless of whether it's Japanese, English, French etc. I wouldn't watch an anime dubbed in English, and I obviously wouldn't want to play an American game dubbed in another language.
You're missing out on some amazing anime, but I respect your decision.
 

Bio-Frost

Member
I'm not missing out on any anime, I watch everything I'm interested in subtitled and have seen nearly 800 shows.
I have never understood the reasoning for only watching in japanese. If its only subbed, fine but if I have the choice I would rather watch the show/game than read the whole time.
 
Top Bottom