Unicorn Overlord Localization Controversy

Submission 13,214

Overview

Unicorn Overlord Localization Controversy refers to the discourse surrounding the 2024 Atlus JRPG Unicorn Overlord and the changes made to the game from its original release to the Western release. These changes, made on behalf of the localization team, were met with backlash and flak from many in the Western video game community, leading to discussions on localization as a whole, video game versus anime localization and the game as a whole, particularly in late February 2024 following the demo release.

Background

On February 23rd, 2024, the game Unicorn Overlord, which is a Japanese RPG game often described by fans as a partial mix between Final Fantasy and Fire Emblem, had its demo released. On the official PlayStation YouTube^[1] channel, a demo release trailer was shown for the PS4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game, showing gameplay and explaining the overarching plot (shown below).

A few days later, after fans had time to play the demo and compare it to the original, posts began to appear decrying the localization effort and pointing to specific issues they had.

On February 25th, 2024, X / Twitter user @zakogdo^[2] created a thread on X in which they listed several issues they had with the localization. One of the biggest issues regarded an early in-game conversation, which @zakogdo posits as a large change in tone and meaning (shown below).

Online Reactions

As more people began to play the game and get into the discourse, the amount of people taking umbrage with the localization began to increase. On February 26th, 2024, X user @Scratch_Point_Z^[3] uploaded some screenshots of in-game dialogue compared to a literal translation of the original writing. This was partnered with a caption that called out the way the localization team attempted to enhance the writing by adding several additional lines of dialogue that were not present in the original (shown below).

However, the demo had obtained many fans who were quick to defend the localization against the original translation. On February 26th, X user @SorenCaster^[4] uploaded two different bits of dialogue from the game, saying that the dialogue "goes hard" and encouraging others to buy it, adding to a trend in which defenders of the game voiced their preference for the modified language (shown below).

Discourse about the localization controversy also appeared on Reddit in late February 2024. For example, a post on February 25th to the /r/KotakuInAction^[5] subreddit with numerous screenshots of examples received over 200 upvotes and 50 comments in one day. Another that same day on /r/SubredditDrama^[6] received over 30 upvotes and 40 comments in a similar timeframe.