Ys 8's Localization Still a Mess on Switch, NIS America Planning Multiple Launch Day Patches

Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana is finally coming out for the Nintendo Switch on June 26, but early reviews seem to say that the Switch version has many of the translation and localization errors that plagued nearly every other version of Ys 8. However, NIS America says it is aware of these issues and are planning three launch day patches that will fix the known localization errors among others.

Various early reviews of Ys 8 for the Switch highlighted noticeable localization errors in their Switch review copies. GameXplain showed off some of the more egregious errors in their video review which included repeated lines of text, poorly translated lines, and even lines that went completely untranslated. You can see these examples in their video here where the errors begin around the 6:45 mark.

On a ResetEra thread dedicated to discussing these errors on the Switch version, a verified NIS America representative made a statement saying that NIS America is aware of these known issues and that the company has three Launch Day patches planned to address them. "These patches address these text issues as well as other issues," said NIS America. "Unfortunately, the patches were not available at the time the review codes were sent out and thus all previews reflect the game in its unpatched state."

We emailed NIS America about this statement and another representative confirmed that this is the case, and that the three planned Launch Day patches will address the localization and translation errors found in Switch review copies.

Ys 8 has had a history of mistranslations and errors, unfortunately. The original PS4 and PS Vita versions of the game that came out in North America back in September 2017 also shipped with numerous mistranslations and localization errors.

It was to the point that NIS America publicly apologized for the errors and got to work on a complete re-localization of the game, which was patched in earlier this year. The PC version of Ys 8 shipped with the re-done localization earlier this year. Now the Switch version is suffering a similar issue, but maybe these planned patches will fix the issues for consumers who purchase the game day one.

Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana is the latest in the long-running action JRPG Ys series by Falcom. The series stars hero Adol Christin as he goes off on a new adventure each game. Ys 8 is no different and we found Adol's latest adventure to be a perfect starting point for new fans, and another great Ys outing for veterans. Translation and localization issue notwithstanding.