Judgment’s English Dub Goal “Was Never to Westernize the Game, but to Make Japan More Accessible”

Earlier today, Twinfinite reported about the new Judgment character trailers that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is releasing, featuring the English voice acting, and how it preserves the original Japanese Honorifics.

Sega Localization Producer Scott Strichart took to Twitter to explain why the team decided to preserve such a particular aspect of the Japanese language, which is normally omitted when games are translated in English.

Strichart explained that the goal of having an Englis voice track was never to westernize the game, but simply to make Japan more accessible.

“Good to see you, Mr. Kaito. And you must be Mr. Yagami. Or would Mr. Yagami, Esquire be more appropriate?”

^ We chose not to do that. The English dub’s goal was never to Westernize the game, but to make Japan more accessible. No matter the language, the setting doesn’t change. https://t.co/KZUu9nDBIE

— Scott Strichart (@TriggerRedd) April 30, 2019

Preserving honorifics conveys invaluable hints about the respective social positions of the characters of a game, and on they feel about each other. It sounds quite natural in English, and hopefully, more localization teams will follow Sega’s lead.

Do keep in mind that if you prefer the Japanese voice track with subtitles, that option is also available.

If you want to see more of Judgment, you can check out the previous trailer, which showcases the new character model of villain Kyohei Hamura. The game is already available in Japan and is coming west exclusively for PS4 on June 25. That being said, Sega is considering PC and “other formats” down the line.