Baba Is You

Baba Is You is one of the smartest and most creative video games of all times, as numerous awards have already acknowledged.

The game consists in manipulating the rules of each level in order to reach a victory condition. To achieve this, the title character, Baba, can push words and other blocks around in order to create and dismantle the rules of the level, including the victory condition itself.

For example, if the player moves one the words of the rule BABA IS YOU, the rule will be broken and they will lose control of the character! But if the push the word ROCK into the sentence, pushing BABA away and forming ROCK IS YOU, the player will stop controlling Baba and will control instead whatever rock (or rocks!) are present in the level.

For another example, see the animated image: once Baba dismantles the rule WALL IS STOP, the walls won’t stop Baba anymore and it can walk across them.

These words have been kept in English in all versions of the game (because, due to different grammar and meaning, some word interactions wouldn’t have had the same meaning in other languages); but a recent update has translated the rest of the game (menus, level names, etc.) into a number of languages. Guess who took care of the Spanish version?

I strongly recommend this game: it contains the cleverest puzzles I’ve ever faced (and, as the game progresses, also the trickiest!). It’s available on Windows, Mac, Linux and everyone’s favourite console, Nintendo Switch. ¡Espero que lo disfrutéis tanto como yo!

Breath of the Wild, nominated for the ATRAE Awards

The official association of Spanish translators has nominated The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the award to the best translation in a video game. Congratulations to the rest of the team – we were quite a bunch!

The ceremony will take place on October 20th. Wish us luck!

Que te den morsilla

Two new titles

It’s the release day for one big title on Nintendo Switch. I’ve worked on its Spanish localization, like I already did on the first title in the series. Of course, I’m talking about Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Besides, it’s only been a few days since a saga very dear to me has reached smart devices (Android y iOS) under the tile Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

Pocket Camp logo

I hope you enjoy them both!

Paper Mario: Color Splash localization reviews

This week sees the release of one of my latest translation jobs, the fantastic Paper Mario: Color Splash, one of the funniest games I’ve had the pleasure to work on. My recommendation brings company: reviews are pretty positive and many are pointing out the success of the Spanish localization team. Thanks, it’s been our pleasure!

Paper Mario Color Splash

paper-mario-color-splash

But the most outstanding element is, without a doubt, its humor. Every character has something to say -in Spanish, as you’d expect- and we’re probably facing one of the best translations ever made for a title in this genre. The attention to detail in both language and grammar is magnificent. We often come across examples of very local topics and sayings. (Vandal)

Baldo carries most of the weight of the script, complementing Mario’s permanent silence with frequent gags and jokes. / The large variety of situations and the fine sense of humor bring the series back to its heyday. / The hilarious situations will often make you smile: humor is present from the first moment to the last. (Meristation)

Strong points: The script and its adaptation to our language are an absolute pleasure. (VidaExtra)

Strong points: Humor embellished by a very good localization. (GameReactor)

Soon the gags appear and converations take a humorous turn. The careful localization provides jokes that are clearly adapted for Spanish speakers. (Hobbyconsolas)

… some really witty wisecracks. (Revogamers)

The localization is flawless. (Juegos ADN)

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.

Tomorrow is the European release date for Code Name: S.T.E.AM., a new Nintendo videogame in whose localization I’ve had the pleasure of being deeply involved. It’s a third-person strategy game developed by Intelligent Systems, best known for series such as Fire Emblem, Advance Wars and my much beloved Paper Mario.

I’m glad to report that some reviews are praising the localization work. Nintenderos in particular mentions the translation as one of the strong points of the game.

There’s a free downloadable demo available in Nintendo eShop, so I hope that all of you who own a Nintendo 3DS will give Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. a try and, especially, I hope that you enjoy it!

Translation is A+

FanArt by Sara Mena
Not my words. That’s what they say in Vandal:

We’ll laugh with Little Inferno – a lot. The screen text is really fantastic and will make us smile quite often along the whole game.

The translation is A+, simply perfect. Hats off to this brilliant work that keeps the essence of the letters -reflecting the personalities of each sender and the (intentional) “typos” of the original- and translates the combos without any loss of their original meaning to ease the task of the player.

I hope it’s okay for me to show off a bit?

The whole analysis of the Spanish version of the game is available on this link.

(Español) Little Inferno