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[ final fantasy tactics ] side-by-side script comparison, chapter 1.
It was probably inevitable that I'd do this sooner or later.
Since the port of Final Fantasy Tactics to the PSP, one cannot throw a stone into GameFAQs withoutcreating a small ripple running into another argument over which version of the game is better. A number of points factor into these arguments, but one of the big ones is, of course, the script.
I didn't start this write-up with the intention of proving one to be better than the other, although the more I look at, the more frankly I wonder how the hell anyone could defend the original over the new script. My commentary is pretty obviously opinionated. Don't like, don't read; I'm sure there are plenty of dudes over on other corners of the internet who would be happy for you to join them in writing plot summaries where every i is replaced with a y and laughing over how hilarious they are.
Mostly, I just wanted to put things next to each other and look at the differences in nuance, and what kinds of interpretative changes those can make. This is the first chapter of the script; the rest (and the Brave Story/Chronicle) will be forthcoming as I have the time and energy for them.
I'm not quoting the entire thing, because that would be excessively dull. I'm simply putting down the things that I think stand out the most when placed side by side. In my notes, I use the PSP spellings and terminology; I also label scenes by the titles they're given in the PSP version's event viewer. This effort would be -- not impossible, but certainly much more of a labor -- if not for the efforts of Tsogtsaihan Baatar (PS1 script) and Revenant Things (PSP script), who transcribed the assloads of text that is FFT and put it on GameFAQs for all and sundry.
Let's rock and roll.
A minor matter of nuance, but I much prefer the casual assumption that of course you've heard of the War of the Lions. Everyone in Ivalice has heard of the War of the Lions. It reads a little less like Arazlam is in the habit of having one-sided conversations with mysterious voyeurs from another dimension.
The root of all evil strikes me as a little too melodramatic. Once again, a minor difference, but one that helps to set the tone. If you're thinking that I'm picking on some minor things here, well, you're right. But the little changes of nuance are everywhere in this script, and it really adds up to why I feel that the new script does a better job overall of setting the tone.
Okay, I'm gonna have to pick on this one sooner or later, so I may as well do it now. I really, really hate the PS1 script's blatant abuse of "scare quotes." Usually they're around things that are at least being discussed as concepts, like "truth" or "justice," but this is really one of the silliest examples in the game. Offhand I cannot think of a single case where the quotes were actually necessary, and I always found them quite distracting, even when they're better used than they were in this sentence.
Which sounds more like a formal prayer to you? Yeah, I thought so.
Agrias is snappier. Minor, as usual, but I like it much better. She ain't gonna take shit from the likes of him.
Gaffgarion's more of a dick, too. There's way more obvious friction going on between them, and it also makes her complaining about how rude he is more fitting.
There are a lot of moments like this, too -- where the same basic nouns and verbs seem to be making a completely different thought; while I've not looked at the Japanese script to see what fits where, I'm frankly inclined to trust the PSP script because the translation team actually seemed to have a rudimentary grasp on things like, you know, grammar.
And come on, Gaffy saying that you oughta expect rudeness, y'know sounds a lot more like a man of his character than saying he's being perfectly kind to other people. Not to mention it raises the question of who these other guard captains are and what they're doing when the fight breaks out, or when the Knights Templar come to cut their way through the monastery in Chapter 3. And the mention of how backwater Orbonne is makes sense with Ovelia's later monologue about being shuffled into out-of-the-way places her entire life. It fits better.
Another thing that comes up often, so I may as well just make the blanket statement here -- the PS1 script has some serious issues about keeping its titles correct and consistent. While the PSP script isn't immune to the problems of noble address (earlier in this very scene, Agrias calls Ovelia "Majesty"), it's definitely much better about it.
In response to Agrias saying that there's no need to kill the attacking party, but simply to rout them. Which is certainly possible, even if Gaffy doesn't particularly want to do it. Instead we get a nice zinger that casually blows off Agrias with a nice tone of "whatever, honey, grown-ups are talking." The friction between the two of them is much more obvious in WotL and I love it.
At risk of being ~judged horribly~ by the PS1 crowd, yes, I do think this line is an improvement. Although I always liked the snappy quotability of "blame yourself or God," it's much more clear here what the hell Delita means when he says it. Although I'd always assumed it was addressed to Agrias, the animated cutscene added here proves that wrong -- the script didn't change in Japanese, remember. Between the clarification that he's speaking to Ovelia, and the altered phrasing, the intent of the line is much more clear.
I'll spare you all my rant on how that's not how commas are used and instead point out that when the previous sentence mentioned the War of the Lions, it is a very good idea to specify the different war being discussed in the next bit, as the PSP version kindly does. It's before the war? But people are returning from the war? Wait a minute!
Yes, the later mentions of the Fifty Years' War are enough to clarify that bit later, but it's still sloppy writing, because that clarification should come then and there. (This kind of thing is one of the biggest problems with the PS1 script. We'll be touching on these a lot.)
I'm not going to bother quoting REBELS PLOTTING REBELLION because we hardly need my commentary on that to establish that the writing of this section remains really shitty.
The uncertainty is more reasonable. Delita has no reason to know this shit. Also, given that the queen married into the royal family and was not queen by birth, her brother wouldn't be a prince.
The Hokuten are now the Order of the Northern Sky. If you don't think this is a vast improvement, and would prefer that your orders of medieval knights in a setting clearly inspired by Western Europe and the Catholic Church be running about with Japanese names, I don't even have anything to say to you. :|
"Tortured thieves" makes more sense with the added context. They've already been fighting, and losing; we're simply being called in to mop them up -- which makes sense, as it lets the puny little level one squires get a taste of real battle without throwing them into a task better suited for seasoned knights.
I for one greatly appreciate that the ringleader's dialogue no longer makes him sound like he should be twirling a Snidely Whiplash moustache.
Doesn't really make much difference either way, admittedly. Though I tend to think that the latter would make a bit more sense in context, as Ramza was perhaps late to the deathbed because he had to travel back from Gariland.
What, only one Beoulve? I really like this change because it puts all the discussion of the Beoulve name in better context. They're high even among the highborn -- Argath also makes a point of this later, and it plays into how Argath views Ramza, how he judges him.
More resolve in his vow to do as his father says, but that's actually not my favorite point here. Up until this line, in the PSP script, Ramza has been using the more formal "Lord Father," as opposed to simply using "father" throughout the scene in the PS1 script. That dropping of formality as Barbaneth breathes his last makes me wibble. ;;
Oh, one's not dead yet. What do we do with him? What do you think we do with him? The conversation is entirely about Argath in the latter case, which is reasonable -- they don't need to just "get the Marquis" when the rest of the group is long gone with him by the time the scene begins, right?
This in response to Delita's objections, if the player chooses to make the mission goal "defeat the enemy" rather than "protect Argath." The second one feels more properly Ramza to me -- honestly, I think choosing the protection goal feels more properly Ramza than anything, but at least here there's still some acknowledgement that someone's, you know. About to die over there.
Although I favor the lack of ellipses in the latter version, this line does have a couple of the few points where I prefer the original. First, Algus Sadalfus has because Argath Thadalfus; I just keep feeling like Algus is introducing himself with a lisp. (In fact, I've had to go back several times while typing this up and correct myself where I called him Algus. I prefer him as Algus, but I'm shooting for internal consistency here.) I also find it interesting that the knightly order is named in the original, but removed in the new script. Tying Argath more closely to the Marquis does put a bit more of a point on his defection to serving under the Northern Order, I suppose (emphasizing that Argath will serve wherever he can find the fastest ticket up), but I still find it odd.
This is not altruism or honor on Argath's part. This is self-interest.
The latter version is a little more cool, a little more removed. A little more Dycedarg.
Ramza seems to be much more conscious of his place in the new script. He doesn't thank Dycedarg so much as he reasserts the social pecking order. He rightfully makes the assumption that Dycedarg knows what the fuck is going on, and he doesn't assume that the three of them, personally, are going to be getting the orders to set things right -- he simply asks to know what will be done.
Highness is for princes, which Dycedarg is most definitely not. And as much as I've seen some people gripe about how they think "whoresons" sounds stupid, it's exactly the kind of insult that a man of Argath's mindset seems likely to turn to -- rooted in social class. As far as Argath is concerned, class is everything.
A much more commanding, take-no-shit means of telling Argath to get back in the kitchen. Because a man of Dycedarg's power is perfectly in his right to do that. The class barrier is neatly demonstrated, but it feels a bit less heavy-handed about it than the first version.
I have no idea why "I must hunt down some thieves" always annoyed me so much. It just sounds so ridiculous to my ear. Like, the same kind of lolwhat as I'd get if he said something like "I'd like to stay and chat, but I have to go slap a few hos around." Maybe it's just me.
Our first mention of the Corpse Brigade's noble intentions. It's a little more clear here why Zalbaag thinks the ransom demand is strange, I think.
While we're here, let's touch on something else: the name itself. Death Corps has become Corpse Brigade. They were formerly the Knights of Death, now called the Dead Men. The picture here is much more bleak; while the use of "Death" in the names has a kind of dread badassery to it, the new names are almost gut-punchingly direct about their niche in the world. The commoners of the Corpse Brigade may as well be dead. The nobility accords them no more respect than they would if they were corpses. They would be just as well off dead as they are alive. Their cause seems much more fatalistic. I've always been a great fan of the Corpse Brigade, because I find the absolute despair of their plight interesting, so I find the name changes to be pretty excellent.
It's part of Gallione. Gallione is the region, not a city in itself.
Yeah, okay, that's a little floofy, I guess, but I'm willing to let WotL have a few gimmes.
Eaaagggghh! Yeah, okay then.
A better explanation of just who these people are, and where they stand in the social pecking order.
The cruelty seems a lot more casual here. Drives the point home better, in my opinion.
"In a moment, the Hokuten will begin to slaughter you" is one of those lines that has always made me snicker every time I see it. There are so many things in this script that are just so awkwardly phrased that I shake my head every time I see them. Also, I like the sneaking in of yet another animal comparison. These are important!
I love this phrasing. "You think every man born outside a castle's walls less than human" might actually be one of my favorite lines from the new script. Minor change, but it just...has a certain je ne sais quoi.
"VIP" sounds pretty anachronistic to my ear.
Cellars: amazingly, not always rats' nests. I'm glad they changed the wording there.
Not even touching the phrasing (though I do prefer the second version), I like the lack of exclamation points. It feels a little more dignified, badass, I-killed-five-nobles-before-breakfast.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
arks once did a script comparison between the Woolsey version of Final Fantasy VI and the Japanese script, and she mentioned that the lack of exclamation points in the original made everyone feel about five years older and less excitable. FFT is largely about men over thirty for whom war and politics are just everyday business, so I feel like there are a lot of places where it could benefit from the same treatment.
I love how much of Argath's trash-talking has been improved, I really do. Instead of just calling everybody bastards, his new dialogue is constantly making points of how he won't think twice about smacking them around, because that's his right, or getting that how dare you!! reaction that they're not falling at his feet. Because he's clearly better than them, so why don't they act like it? Once again: it's all about the nuance.
Sure, we already inferred that he's mad that they left their posts, not just that they went to the desert, but I don't think it hurts to underscore it once more by explicitly putting it in the dialogue. Obedience to orders and the status quo is a huge part of knighthood, nobility, and the themes of this chapter, after all.
Those goddamned scare quotes again. And again, improved by the added emphasis on the additional responsibilities of knighthood. They more than anyone else are expected to uphold the principle of obedience.
The real point here isn't a physical resemblance between Ramza and his father. It's spiritual. This comparison comes up a lot. It's important. Nuance!
Two things here. One is petty and just me whining because I have too much Corpse Brigade headcanon, the other is another of those beloved bits of nuance.
The first thing here is that I prefer the second bit about Gustav because I frankly doubt that Gustav's problem is that he's not much of a soldier. The fact that he's been Wiegraf's second for so long -- both during the Fifty Years' War and during the Corpse Brigade's campaigns afterward -- says the opposite, in my opinion. On the other hand, the talent pool Wiegraf had to work with would've been less impressive than our noble buddies here are used to drawing from in the Northern Order, so Gustav wouldn't have to be as impressive to distinguish himself there as he would be in the Order -- but on the other other hand, Gustav was originally from the Order, and chose to leave it, as we learn from the character bios. (Fun note on Gustav's bio forthcoming whenever I get to running a comparison on those, by the way. It's a doozy.)
Gustav's problem, I think, is not that he's a crappy soldier -- it's that he's a crappy schemer. Leading into the second bit -- the "in Gallione" part almost reads as a throwaway in the original phrasing; it receives a bit more emphasis in the rewrite. Within our very borders. The kidnapping isn't the main point here -- the location is.
Does anybody honestly think the Corpse Brigade just wants an apology? They want real and quantifiable change. I doubt most of them would believe an apology if they received one.
These read differently to me, but the end result is similar. In the first version, she thinks Wiegraf was too optimistic. Did Milleuda ever think that they could truly change the social order to begin with? Hm. In the second version, she says he was too soft. Given Wiegraf's later treatment of Tietra (even before the Brigade is corrected about her heritage), it seems to me that Milleuda is more bloodthirsty about the whole matter than Wiegraf, and were she calling the shots, things would be a lot messier. Not necessarily in a dishonorable, undermining-the-cause sort of way like Gustav -- just bloodier. I get the impression that Wiegraf is focusing his wrath on nobles who actually do things. I also get the impression that Milleuda would just as soon kill any of them she can get her hands on.
Argath's imagery is much more colorful. I like it that way. It makes him come across as far more of a douchebag.
This, however, is one of the few lines I was sad to see changed. The old one is just so...snappy. A really nasty zinger. The flavor is still there, but it loses a little something.
I'm not sure if I feel that the PSP completely salvages the rhetoric trainwreck that is this speech, but it definitely comes a fair bit closer than the original.
A nice closer that makes Argath sound more like he's self-assured about Ramza being an idiot, and less like a whiny little kid. (Granted, I'm not saying Argath isn't a whiny little snot, but I do prefer that he at least doesn't sound like an eight-year-old.)
Alma should sound a little more worked up about her best friend being kidnapped by terrorists, yeah.
I hate both renderings, actually. One sounds too slangy and one sounds too panicked. A dignified call for a medic would've suited better, in my opinion.
Once again, Argath manages to amp up the douchebaggery with a little rephrasing. The insult just feels nastier once he directly invokes blood -- kind of like how everyone flips their shit in the Harry Potter books whenever "Mudblood" comes up.
And even nastier! I thought Argath was loathsome when I first played the game, but I don't think I truly appreciated just how much of a dick he was until the port came out.
Playthings. Argath is a very important character, even given how early in the plot he dies; he's a rude awakening to Ramza of just how far the class divisions in the world actually run, something he was never aware of before. Argath is also a symbol of absolutely everything Delita finds wrong about the world -- everything that needs to be purged. He has to be a tremendous asshole to really drive the point home, and he's doing an admirable job of it here.
Also, we get another mention of just where House Beoulve stands in the pecking order -- they're highly placed even among nobles. This is important, once again -- because we're meant to remember that Ramza, if he chose to play by the rules of the status quo, would have everything. His rejection of it stands out all the more sharply, proves him to be even more principled, and serves as a very potent fuel for Argath's hatred of him, for not realizing how good he has it and how much Argath wants to have that himself.
The change in wording helps here, but the animated cutscene helps even more -- there's a lot more bitterness being projected in the newer version of this scene, rather than just the dejection of the original. It's not really about Delita feeling useless -- it's about the law of the land tying his hands and preventing him from doing anything useful.
I also like the casual drop of the chapter title. I'm a sucker for a well-placed title drop.
Ramza's father. For all that he took Delita in, I think the addition of the word "your" is important, because I doubt Delita was ever truly able to think of Barbaneth like a father. Look back to the cutscene about Barbaneth's deathbed -- only the Beoulve children are present. Barbaneth speaks of how Delita will serve Ramza in the future. He may have done a lot to help the Heiral children after their parents' death, but the rules of the social order are still firmly in place here.
My other note for this scene? I'm glad they changed "reed flute" to "grass whistle." Now I can stop getting those ill-suited mental pictures of them playing panpipes. :P
More vehement. More angry. More fatalistic (she doesn't even mention a way out). More fitting for Milleuda, given the impression we already have of her as the more cynical counterpart to her brother.
Much more specific about what's being taken. This isn't really about back pay from the war, this is about human dignity and the right to live.
A bad speech, thankfully salvaged by the new script. "It's not your fault, but I'll blame you anyway!" just sounds like she's being willfully stupid. Rewritten, however, we get the real gist of her anger -- that Ramza has the kind of privilege that allows him to be part of a system that does nothing but oppress her, and allows him to do so without even realizing what he's doing. He may not be malicious, but his place in the world is crushing her, and for that, he's her enemy.
A little less Cloud Strife, a little more "I can't believe what I'm doing."
Again with the exclamation points. Wiegraf's a fiery revolutionary, but he also isn't harboring any delusions about the cost of what he's trying to accomplish, and sometimes that grim full-stop just suits a little better, in my opinion. More importantly: it's not about whether they're caught here, it's about the act of fleeing itself. If they don't stand their ground, they'll be written off as cowards; if they stand and fight, they become martyrs. If they flee, the Order wins whether it catches and executes them or not, because he's not talking about tangible, physical victory.
Hands up if you spent your youth wondering what the hell he meant by "get something." Surely I'm not the only one.
Oh, he's going. Just...not to die (he thinks).
A little less statement of the obvious, a little more "what the hell, another indignity?"
Ramza doesn't like any of this. He just doesn't know what else he can do but keep fighting through it, because there's still Tietra to consider.
I don't think it really matters whether it's Delita or Tietra being referred to here; the point doesn't change either way. What I do find worthy of note is that this is the second time Wiegraf's given the order to spare and release a noble (or someone he had at the time thought was a noble), simply because the circumstances didn't strike him as sporting. This is presumably what Milleuda meant when she said he was too soft -- I imagine that if their places were reversed, she'd probably have slain Gustav and then killed Elmdore for good measure.
...okay, so that didn't really have jack to do with comparing the scripts, I just like putting way too much thought into the Corpse Brigade. Don't mind me.
Another Great Line of Confusion in my youth. Correct him if he's wrong about what? Correct him if he's wrong about how Tietra was supposed to be released? How the hell would we even know in the first place when that's his order he's talking about? The adjusted conversation actually flows logically from one thought to the next; the original version here is just a pile of "what?"
The rest of the scene is pretty much the same thoughts in more flowery phrasing, but it did occur to me: the scenes in which I feel like I noticed the most fluffiness are the exchanges between Ramza and Wiegraf. Did they genuinely get the most smacks with the fluff stick? Or is it just observer's bias, stemming from the fact that I as a Wiegraf fan have put far more thought and attention into his scenes? Interesting question. I suppose we'll see how the rest of this comparison goes. :|a
Ah, the infamous flower sellers line: now with 100% more making sense.
Another case of verbs getting mucked around weirdly and pointed at different things.
The same idea, but it's a lot more clear this way.
Since the port of Final Fantasy Tactics to the PSP, one cannot throw a stone into GameFAQs without
I didn't start this write-up with the intention of proving one to be better than the other, although the more I look at, the more frankly I wonder how the hell anyone could defend the original over the new script. My commentary is pretty obviously opinionated. Don't like, don't read; I'm sure there are plenty of dudes over on other corners of the internet who would be happy for you to join them in writing plot summaries where every i is replaced with a y and laughing over how hilarious they are.
Mostly, I just wanted to put things next to each other and look at the differences in nuance, and what kinds of interpretative changes those can make. This is the first chapter of the script; the rest (and the Brave Story/Chronicle) will be forthcoming as I have the time and energy for them.
I'm not quoting the entire thing, because that would be excessively dull. I'm simply putting down the things that I think stand out the most when placed side by side. In my notes, I use the PSP spellings and terminology; I also label scenes by the titles they're given in the PSP version's event viewer. This effort would be -- not impossible, but certainly much more of a labor -- if not for the efforts of Tsogtsaihan Baatar (PS1 script) and Revenant Things (PSP script), who transcribed the assloads of text that is FFT and put it on GameFAQs for all and sundry.
Let's rock and roll.
Chapter 1: The Meager
INTRODUCTION
PS1: Have you ever heard of the "Lion War"?
PSP: You are familiar with the War of the Lions, no?
A minor matter of nuance, but I much prefer the casual assumption that of course you've heard of the War of the Lions. Everyone in Ivalice has heard of the War of the Lions. It reads a little less like Arazlam is in the habit of having one-sided conversations with mysterious voyeurs from another dimension.
PS1: The church claims he was a blasphemer and anarchist-the root of all evil...
PSP: The Church maintains he was a heretic, an inciter of unrest and disturber of the peace.
The root of all evil strikes me as a little too melodramatic. Once again, a minor difference, but one that helps to set the tone. If you're thinking that I'm picking on some minor things here, well, you're right. But the little changes of nuance are everywhere in this script, and it really adds up to why I feel that the new script does a better job overall of setting the tone.
PS1: Before that, please tell me your 'name' and 'birthday'.
PSP: Ah, but before we begin, might I ask you to share with me your name and the date of your birth?
Okay, I'm gonna have to pick on this one sooner or later, so I may as well do it now. I really, really hate the PS1 script's blatant abuse of "scare quotes." Usually they're around things that are at least being discussed as concepts, like "truth" or "justice," but this is really one of the silliest examples in the game. Offhand I cannot think of a single case where the quotes were actually necessary, and I always found them quite distracting, even when they're better used than they were in this sentence.
OVELIA'S PRAYER
PS1: God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.
PSP: O Father, abandon not Your wayward children of Ivalice, but deliver us from our sins, that we might know salvation.
Which sounds more like a formal prayer to you? Yeah, I thought so.
PS1: Don't be rude to the Princess, Gafgarion.
PSP: Gaffgarion, you forget yourself, ser! You are in the presence of the princess!
Agrias is snappier. Minor, as usual, but I like it much better. She ain't gonna take shit from the likes of him.
PS1: Is this going to be alright, Agrias? This is an urgent issue for us.
PSP: Mayhap bowed heads would less offend. You would do well to waste less time on idle pleasantries.
Gaffgarion's more of a dick, too. There's way more obvious friction going on between them, and it also makes her complaining about how rude he is more fitting.
PS1: I'm being more than kind to the guard captains here.
PSP: A guard captain in these rain-sodden hinterlands ought not expect chivalry.
There are a lot of moments like this, too -- where the same basic nouns and verbs seem to be making a completely different thought; while I've not looked at the Japanese script to see what fits where, I'm frankly inclined to trust the PSP script because the translation team actually seemed to have a rudimentary grasp on things like, you know, grammar.
And come on, Gaffy saying that you oughta expect rudeness, y'know sounds a lot more like a man of his character than saying he's being perfectly kind to other people. Not to mention it raises the question of who these other guard captains are and what they're doing when the fight breaks out, or when the Knights Templar come to cut their way through the monastery in Chapter 3. And the mention of how backwater Orbonne is makes sense with Ovelia's later monologue about being shuffled into out-of-the-way places her entire life. It fits better.
PS1: Prince Goltana's men!?
PSP: Duke Goltanna's men?
Another thing that comes up often, so I may as well just make the blanket statement here -- the PS1 script has some serious issues about keeping its titles correct and consistent. While the PSP script isn't immune to the problems of noble address (earlier in this very scene, Agrias calls Ovelia "Majesty"), it's definitely much better about it.
PS1: That's impossible!
PSP: I find dead men rout more easily.
In response to Agrias saying that there's no need to kill the attacking party, but simply to rout them. Which is certainly possible, even if Gaffy doesn't particularly want to do it. Instead we get a nice zinger that casually blows off Agrias with a nice tone of "whatever, honey, grown-ups are talking." The friction between the two of them is much more obvious in WotL and I love it.
OVELIA'S KIDNAPPING
PS1: Don't blame us. Blame yourself or God.
PSP: 'Tis your birth and faith that wrong you, not I.
At risk of being ~judged horribly~ by the PS1 crowd, yes, I do think this line is an improvement. Although I always liked the snappy quotability of "blame yourself or God," it's much more clear here what the hell Delita means when he says it. Although I'd always assumed it was addressed to Agrias, the animated cutscene added here proves that wrong -- the script didn't change in Japanese, remember. Between the clarification that he's speaking to Ovelia, and the altered phrasing, the intent of the line is much more clear.
THE KNIGHTS APPRENTICE
PS1: Many soldiers who returned from the war, had no jobs, little money, and even less loyalty to the crown.
PSP: The loss of the Fifty Years' War saw knights returning from the front stripped of livelihood, their fealty to the Crown and nobility abandoned.
I'll spare you all my rant on how that's not how commas are used and instead point out that when the previous sentence mentioned the War of the Lions, it is a very good idea to specify the different war being discussed in the next bit, as the PSP version kindly does. It's before the war? But people are returning from the war? Wait a minute!
Yes, the later mentions of the Fifty Years' War are enough to clarify that bit later, but it's still sloppy writing, because that clarification should come then and there. (This kind of thing is one of the biggest problems with the PS1 script. We'll be touching on these a lot.)
I'm not going to bother quoting REBELS PLOTTING REBELLION because we hardly need my commentary on that to establish that the writing of this section remains really shitty.
PS1: Prince Larg's coming to town.
PSP: I think Duke Larg is coming to Gariland.
The uncertainty is more reasonable. Delita has no reason to know this shit. Also, given that the queen married into the royal family and was not queen by birth, her brother wouldn't be a prince.
PS1: The Hokuten Knights are in full operation, but suffering from a shortage of men.
PSP: The Order's supposed to be keeping things under control, but the fact is, they number too few.
The Hokuten are now the Order of the Northern Sky. If you don't think this is a vast improvement, and would prefer that your orders of medieval knights in a setting clearly inspired by Western Europe and the Catholic Church be running about with Japanese names, I don't even have anything to say to you. :|
PS1: A gang of tortured thieves is trying to sneak into this town. We'll begin preparations now to keep them out of town!
PSP: I've just received word that a band of thieves routed by our knights flees here to Gariland, seeking refuge. We will move to stop them, and finish the task of our brothers.
"Tortured thieves" makes more sense with the added context. They've already been fighting, and losing; we're simply being called in to mop them up -- which makes sense, as it lets the puny little level one squires get a taste of real battle without throwing them into a task better suited for seasoned knights.
PS1: OK, all we have to do is kill these kids! Then, we can escape! Don't you worry! We'll kill every one of you!
PSP: Cut through these ones and we're good as fled! We'll make quick work of them! And don't be leaving no squealers behind, neither!
I for one greatly appreciate that the ringleader's dialogue no longer makes him sound like he should be twirling a Snidely Whiplash moustache.
FATHER'S PASSING
PS1: It has been a long time... You've become a fine man... You start at the Academy...in spring, don't you?
PSP: How long has it been? You've grown into a...a fine young man. I would hear of your studies. You've been at the Akademy since...since spring, is it?
Doesn't really make much difference either way, admittedly. Though I tend to think that the latter would make a bit more sense in context, as Ramza was perhaps late to the deathbed because he had to travel back from Gariland.
PS1: A Beoulve has served the royal family for generations.
PSP: For generations, we Beoulves have stood foremost of those who serve the Crown.
PS1: I understand, father......
PSP: I will not fail you, Father.
More resolve in his vow to do as his father says, but that's actually not my favorite point here. Up until this line, in the PSP script, Ramza has been using the more formal "Lord Father," as opposed to simply using "father" throughout the scene in the PS1 script. That dropping of formality as Barbaneth breathes his last makes me wibble. ;;
ARGATH'S RESCUE
PS1: Don't be stupid. We just need to get the Marquis.
PSP: What do you -think- we do with him?
Oh, one's not dead yet. What do we do with him? What do you think we do with him? The conversation is entirely about Argath in the latter case, which is reasonable -- they don't need to just "get the Marquis" when the rest of the group is long gone with him by the time the scene begins, right?
PS1: Is this how you fight?
PSP: I hadn't planned on giving them the chance. Had you?
This in response to Delita's objections, if the player chooses to make the mission goal "defeat the enemy" rather than "protect Argath." The second one feels more properly Ramza to me -- honestly, I think choosing the protection goal feels more properly Ramza than anything, but at least here there's still some acknowledgement that someone's, you know. About to die over there.
PS1: I'm Algus...of the Limberry Aegis Knights......
PSP: My name is Argath, a knight in His Excellency the marquis Elmdore de Limberry's household.
Although I favor the lack of ellipses in the latter version, this line does have a couple of the few points where I prefer the original. First, Algus Sadalfus has because Argath Thadalfus; I just keep feeling like Algus is introducing himself with a lisp. (In fact, I've had to go back several times while typing this up and correct myself where I called him Algus. I prefer him as Algus, but I'm shooting for internal consistency here.) I also find it interesting that the knightly order is named in the original, but removed in the new script. Tying Argath more closely to the Marquis does put a bit more of a point on his defection to serving under the Northern Order, I suppose (emphasizing that Argath will serve wherever he can find the fastest ticket up), but I still find it odd.
PS1: He will be killed, if we don't act fast! I don't know what I would do if...... So, please! Help me! Please!!
PSP: They took him hostage, yes, but he still lives! We must act quickly if he is to remain so. Should he be killed, I will lose everything... You simply -must- help me! Please! I beg you!
This is not altruism or honor on Argath's part. This is self-interest.
REUNION WITH DYCEDARG
PS1: I'm proud to be your brother.
PSP: You do honor to our name, my brother - and to me.
The latter version is a little more cool, a little more removed. A little more Dycedarg.
PS1: Thank you for the kind words....You might have heard about the enemy attacking Elmdor's carriage and kidnapping him. What would you have us do?
PSP: Your words do me far more honor than I have done you. No doubt word has already reached you, but the marquis de Limberry's carriage was waylaid, and the marquis taken. What have you a mind to do?
Ramza seems to be much more conscious of his place in the new script. He doesn't thank Dycedarg so much as he reasserts the social pecking order. He rightfully makes the assumption that Dycedarg knows what the fuck is going on, and he doesn't assume that the three of them, personally, are going to be getting the orders to set things right -- he simply asks to know what will be done.
PS1: Highness. Please let me have 100 soldiers!
PSP: I beg of you, Lord Beoulve! Lend me a hundred men that I might hunt the whoresons down!
Highness is for princes, which Dycedarg is most definitely not. And as much as I've seen some people gripe about how they think "whoresons" sounds stupid, it's exactly the kind of insult that a man of Argath's mindset seems likely to turn to -- rooted in social class. As far as Argath is concerned, class is everything.
PS1: Think of your rank, Algus! Have you forgotten you're just a soldier without rank of Knighthood?
PSP: Do not assume to beg favors of me! Let me remind you, Argath, lest you forget your place. You are but another sword, not yet even knighted.
A much more commanding, take-no-shit means of telling Argath to get back in the kitchen. Because a man of Dycedarg's power is perfectly in his right to do that. The class barrier is neatly demonstrated, but it feels a bit less heavy-handed about it than the first version.
AT EAGROSE CASTLE
PS1: I'd like to talk more with you, but I must hunt down some thieves. Pardon me.
PSP: Would that we could speak at greater leisure, but there are duties that require my attendance. Rogues do not catch themselves.
I have no idea why "I must hunt down some thieves" always annoyed me so much. It just sounds so ridiculous to my ear. Like, the same kind of lolwhat as I'd get if he said something like "I'd like to stay and chat, but I have to go slap a few hos around." Maybe it's just me.
PS1: ...I can't understand it. The Death Corps claim to be anarchists, but they only rob and hurt the nobility. It's hard to believe they would kidnap the Marquis just for money.
PSP: Something about it sits unwell with me. They are anarchists to be sure, bent on bringing down the aristocracy. But they fancy themselves righteous, and prey only on the nobility and those in our employ. Would such as they truly kidnap the marquis for want of coin?
Our first mention of the Corpse Brigade's noble intentions. It's a little more clear here why Zalbaag thinks the ransom demand is strange, I think.
While we're here, let's touch on something else: the name itself. Death Corps has become Corpse Brigade. They were formerly the Knights of Death, now called the Dead Men. The picture here is much more bleak; while the use of "Death" in the names has a kind of dread badassery to it, the new names are almost gut-punchingly direct about their niche in the world. The commoners of the Corpse Brigade may as well be dead. The nobility accords them no more respect than they would if they were corpses. They would be just as well off dead as they are alive. Their cause seems much more fatalistic. I've always been a great fan of the Corpse Brigade, because I find the absolute despair of their plight interesting, so I find the name changes to be pretty excellent.
PS1: A trade city called Dorter, east of Gallione...
PSP: A merchant city named Dorter in eastern Gallione.
It's part of Gallione. Gallione is the region, not a city in itself.
IN PURSUIT OF GUSTAV
PS1: Damn, the Hokuten.
PSP: The Order's swords. My luck turns foul with the weather.
Yeah, okay, that's a little floofy, I guess, but I'm willing to let WotL have a few gimmes.
PS1: I guess we must fight. Eaaagggghh!!
PSP: You'll pardon me my misgivings, but this has not the look of any joyous reunion. To arms!
Eaaagggghh! Yeah, okay then.
PS1: Now I remember! His name is Wiegraf. Leader of a volunteer army, a corps of Death Knights.
PSP: I've just remembered! That man - his name is Wiegraf! He commanded the Dead Men during the war - a company of volunteers assembled from the peasantry.
A better explanation of just who these people are, and where they stand in the social pecking order.
PS1: Y, you bastard! Say something!!
PSP: Mayhap a beating would loosen your tongue!
The cruelty seems a lot more casual here. Drives the point home better, in my opinion.
PS1: ...Listen carefully. In a moment, the Hokuten will begin to slaughter you. That's right, each of you're going straight to hell. Being a thief sure pays, huh?
PSP: Listen well. A great host, with the Order at its van, prepares a sweeping campaign that will bring to book your turncloak Brigade. You will die. You will be hunted down to the last and slaughtered like the swine you are, for such is brigandry's reward.
"In a moment, the Hokuten will begin to slaughter you" is one of those lines that has always made me snicker every time I see it. There are so many things in this script that are just so awkwardly phrased that I shake my head every time I see them. Also, I like the sneaking in of yet another animal comparison. These are important!
PS1: ...Nobles never change. You think we aren't human.
PSP: You nobles are...all the same. You think every man...born outside a castle's walls...less than human.
I love this phrasing. "You think every man born outside a castle's walls less than human" might actually be one of my favorite lines from the new script. Minor change, but it just...has a certain je ne sais quoi.
PS1: We'd never kidnap a VIP.... for money....
PSP: He would never...hold a man for ransom.
"VIP" sounds pretty anachronistic to my ear.
PS1: 'Cellar' means a rat's nest.
PSP: A "sietch" is a sand rat's burrow - his home.
Cellars: amazingly, not always rats' nests. I'm glad they changed the wording there.
MARQUIS ELMDORE'S RESCUE
PS1: You only see the present. You have to fix the basics!
PSP: You see naught beyond the end of your nose. The Crown strays, Gustav. It must be led back onto the path.
Not even touching the phrasing (though I do prefer the second version), I like the lack of exclamation points. It feels a little more dignified, badass, I-killed-five-nobles-before-breakfast.
arks once did a script comparison between the Woolsey version of Final Fantasy VI and the Japanese script, and she mentioned that the lack of exclamation points in the original made everyone feel about five years older and less excitable. FFT is largely about men over thirty for whom war and politics are just everyday business, so I feel like there are a lot of places where it could benefit from the same treatment.PS1: You bastard!!!
PSP: How dare you threaten me!
I love how much of Argath's trash-talking has been improved, I really do. Instead of just calling everybody bastards, his new dialogue is constantly making points of how he won't think twice about smacking them around, because that's his right, or getting that how dare you!! reaction that they're not falling at his feet. Because he's clearly better than them, so why don't they act like it? Once again: it's all about the nuance.
LIEGE LORD OF GALLIONE
PS1: What happened? Why did you go to Zeklaus Desert?
PSP: What madness possessed you that you would abandon your posts to traipse about the desert?
Sure, we already inferred that he's mad that they left their posts, not just that they went to the desert, but I don't think it hurts to underscore it once more by explicitly putting it in the dialogue. Obedience to orders and the status quo is a huge part of knighthood, nobility, and the themes of this chapter, after all.
PS1: If everyone acted lawlessly, how could "law" exist?
PSP: Might I pose a question, Ramza? What purpose do laws serve when even those who would enforce them choose not to pay them heed?
Those goddamned scare quotes again. And again, improved by the added emphasis on the additional responsibilities of knighthood. They more than anyone else are expected to uphold the principle of obedience.
PS1: You look exactly like the late General Balbanes... A fine-looking young man. I'm sure that youthful energy didn't come from just guarding the castle.....
PSP: Indeed, you are the very ghost of Barbaneth. His fire burns in your eyes, I can see it. Such strength and vitality would be wasted atop the castle walls.
The real point here isn't a physical resemblance between Ramza and his father. It's spiritual. This comparison comes up a lot. It's important. Nuance!
PS1: After all, Gustav wasn't much of a soldier. The plan couldn't be changed after the Marquis was kidnapped in Gallione....
PSP: In truth, it serves only to show the caliber of man we were dealing with in Gustav. A change in plans was inevitable, once the fool went and staged the kidnapping within our very borders.
Two things here. One is petty and just me whining because I have too much Corpse Brigade headcanon, the other is another of those beloved bits of nuance.
The first thing here is that I prefer the second bit about Gustav because I frankly doubt that Gustav's problem is that he's not much of a soldier. The fact that he's been Wiegraf's second for so long -- both during the Fifty Years' War and during the Corpse Brigade's campaigns afterward -- says the opposite, in my opinion. On the other hand, the talent pool Wiegraf had to work with would've been less impressive than our noble buddies here are used to drawing from in the Northern Order, so Gustav wouldn't have to be as impressive to distinguish himself there as he would be in the Order -- but on the other other hand, Gustav was originally from the Order, and chose to leave it, as we learn from the character bios. (Fun note on Gustav's bio forthcoming whenever I get to running a comparison on those, by the way. It's a doozy.)
Gustav's problem, I think, is not that he's a crappy soldier -- it's that he's a crappy schemer. Leading into the second bit -- the "in Gallione" part almost reads as a throwaway in the original phrasing; it receives a bit more emphasis in the rewrite. Within our very borders. The kidnapping isn't the main point here -- the location is.
SWORDMAIDEN OF THE CORPSE BRIGADE
PS1: I agree. It continues until the nobles apologize to us!
PSP: We mustn't give in to despair! Not until the nobles answer for all they've wrought!
Does anybody honestly think the Corpse Brigade just wants an apology? They want real and quantifiable change. I doubt most of them would believe an apology if they received one.
PS1: My brother.... His views are too optimistic.
PSP: My brother was too soft. Too indecisive.
These read differently to me, but the end result is similar. In the first version, she thinks Wiegraf was too optimistic. Did Milleuda ever think that they could truly change the social order to begin with? Hm. In the second version, she says he was too soft. Given Wiegraf's later treatment of Tietra (even before the Brigade is corrected about her heritage), it seems to me that Milleuda is more bloodthirsty about the whole matter than Wiegraf, and were she calling the shots, things would be a lot messier. Not necessarily in a dishonorable, undermining-the-cause sort of way like Gustav -- just bloodier. I get the impression that Wiegraf is focusing his wrath on nobles who actually do things. I also get the impression that Milleuda would just as soon kill any of them she can get her hands on.
PS1: Human? Hmph, ridiculous! From the minute you were born you had to obey us! From the second you were born you were our animals!!
PSP: You, no less human than we? Ha! Now there's a beastly thought. You've been less than we from the moment your baseborn father fell upon your mother in whatever gutter saw you sired! You've been chattel since you came into the world drenched in common blood!
Argath's imagery is much more colorful. I like it that way. It makes him come across as far more of a douchebag.
PS1: Animals have no God!!
PSP: Men, yes. But the gods have no eyes for chattel.
This, however, is one of the few lines I was sad to see changed. The old one is just so...snappy. A really nasty zinger. The flavor is still there, but it loses a little something.
PS1: Kill her, now! She's your enemy! An enemy of the Beoulves! Understand? Your enemy! She's a loser. Who's lost sight of life! Losers cannot remain alive! If we don't kill her, she'll kill us! We can't coexist! Kill her, Ramza! With your own hands!!
PSP: She fights as a Corpse. Let her become one for true! She's a foe and a traitor - an enemy of House Beoulve! The world has no place for such wretches. Her claim to life is forfeit! Spare her now, and you place your seal on the warrants for our own deaths! It's her or us, Ramza! Strike her down!
I'm not sure if I feel that the PSP completely salvages the rhetoric trainwreck that is this speech, but it definitely comes a fair bit closer than the original.
PS1: Geez, what's wrong with you?
PSP: Hmph. A pox on your pity indeed.
A nice closer that makes Argath sound more like he's self-assured about Ramza being an idiot, and less like a whiny little kid. (Granted, I'm not saying Argath isn't a whiny little snot, but I do prefer that he at least doesn't sound like an eight-year-old.)
CORPSE BRIGADE ASSAULT
PS1: I'm OK, but Teta isn't.
PSP: Yes, I'm fine. But Tietra-!
Alma should sound a little more worked up about her best friend being kidnapped by terrorists, yeah.
PS1: Hey! Anybody there!?
PSP: Someone! Anyone!
I hate both renderings, actually. One sounds too slangy and one sounds too panicked. A dignified call for a medic would've suited better, in my opinion.
DELITA'S FURY
PS1: I said I won't send troops to save you, commoners!!
PSP: I said he would be a fool to hold back an army for fear of spilling a few drops of your common blood!
Once again, Argath manages to amp up the douchebaggery with a little rephrasing. The insult just feels nastier once he directly invokes blood -- kind of like how everyone flips their shit in the Harry Potter books whenever "Mudblood" comes up.
PS1: Heh! Commoners are all alike. You'll never be nobles! Delita, You don't belong here! Understand, rascal!?
PSP: Hmph. It's as I've always said: Common blood, common man. You'll never be more than you were born, Delita! You don't belong in our world. You ought be licking our boots with the rest of you ilk, churl!
And even nastier! I thought Argath was loathsome when I first played the game, but I don't think I truly appreciated just how much of a dick he was until the port came out.
PS1: That's exactly the point. Don't act like friends. You are the son of a distinguished family. You cannot be with him. I'm sure your brothers would agree with me!
PSP: And that blinds you from the truth! You're a man grown, Ramza. It's time you left the playthings of your boyhood behind. You are a son of House Beoulve, a birth high even among the highborn. Such company ill suits you. Your brothers see this, I am sure. Even if you choose not to.
Playthings. Argath is a very important character, even given how early in the plot he dies; he's a rude awakening to Ramza of just how far the class divisions in the world actually run, something he was never aware of before. Argath is also a symbol of absolutely everything Delita finds wrong about the world -- everything that needs to be purged. He has to be a tremendous asshole to really drive the point home, and he's doing an admirable job of it here.
Also, we get another mention of just where House Beoulve stands in the pecking order -- they're highly placed even among nobles. This is important, once again -- because we're meant to remember that Ramza, if he chose to play by the rules of the status quo, would have everything. His rejection of it stands out all the more sharply, proves him to be even more principled, and serves as a very potent fuel for Argath's hatred of him, for not realizing how good he has it and how much Argath wants to have that himself.
BLADES OF GRASS
PS1: Could I be a general if I tried hard enough? I want to rescue Teta on my own, but I can't do a thing. I'm 'useless'....
PSP: Will endeavor grant me an army? I would save Tietra with these hands, if aught were in my power to do. But I cannot. 'Tis my meager lot in this life...
The change in wording helps here, but the animated cutscene helps even more -- there's a lot more bitterness being projected in the newer version of this scene, rather than just the dejection of the original. It's not really about Delita feeling useless -- it's about the law of the land tying his hands and preventing him from doing anything useful.
I also like the casual drop of the chapter title. I'm a sucker for a well-placed title drop.
PS1: Remember how father taught us to play that reed flute?
PSP: Do you remember, Ramza? When your father showed us how to make a whistle of a blade of grass?
Ramza's father. For all that he took Delita in, I think the addition of the word "your" is important, because I doubt Delita was ever truly able to think of Barbaneth like a father. Look back to the cutscene about Barbaneth's deathbed -- only the Beoulve children are present. Barbaneth speaks of how Delita will serve Ramza in the future. He may have done a lot to help the Heiral children after their parents' death, but the rules of the social order are still firmly in place here.
My other note for this scene? I'm glad they changed "reed flute" to "grass whistle." Now I can stop getting those ill-suited mental pictures of them playing panpipes. :P
ROAD TO TIETRA
PS1: I'd rather die here than get taken prisoner!! Besides, if we get caught here, we'll be executed! Fighting is the only way out!
PSP: If I'm to die, I'd sooner do so swinging a sword than swinging from the gallows! I'll not be led away in chains!
More vehement. More angry. More fatalistic (she doesn't even mention a way out). More fitting for Milleuda, given the impression we already have of her as the more cynical counterpart to her brother.
PS1: And what about you? Will you Nobles give back all you took from us? We're only asking you to return what you took from us in the first place. But no-you just keep taking! Forcing us to retaliate!
PSP: As you nobles return what you take from us? Our lives, our dignity, and all else that you have claimed as your own? We ask nothing more than that you return to us what is ours by right. But you deny us even that! You take and take, until there is naught left.
Much more specific about what's being taken. This isn't really about back pay from the war, this is about human dignity and the right to live.
PS1: Ignorance itself is a crime! What you think is right is only what you can see. But, that's not everything. It's not your fault. But I'll keep blaming you until there's a change! As long as you're a Beoulve, you're my enemy!
PSP: It is enough that you can stand there before me in ignorance of the misdeeds done us. You may not see the world beyond your high walls, but that does not mean they mark its boundaries. It may well be you've done no wrong. It is your place in the world that drives my hatred on. You bear the name Beoulve, and that name is my enemy.
A bad speech, thankfully salvaged by the new script. "It's not your fault, but I'll blame you anyway!" just sounds like she's being willfully stupid. Rewritten, however, we get the real gist of her anger -- that Ramza has the kind of privilege that allows him to be part of a system that does nothing but oppress her, and allows him to do so without even realizing what he's doing. He may not be malicious, but his place in the world is crushing her, and for that, he's her enemy.
PS1: Damn it, who the hell am I? Who...?
PSP: What am I doing? What have I become?
A little less Cloud Strife, a little more "I can't believe what I'm doing."
GRIEF AND HATRED
PS1: Even if we do escape, we'll get caught sooner or later and be in their power!
PSP: If we flee, they win once more. As they have always won.
Again with the exclamation points. Wiegraf's a fiery revolutionary, but he also isn't harboring any delusions about the cost of what he's trying to accomplish, and sometimes that grim full-stop just suits a little better, in my opinion. More importantly: it's not about whether they're caught here, it's about the act of fleeing itself. If they don't stand their ground, they'll be written off as cowards; if they stand and fight, they become martyrs. If they flee, the Order wins whether it catches and executes them or not, because he's not talking about tangible, physical victory.
PS1: No, there may be still be survivors at Fort Zeakden. If you join them, you may get something!
PSP: The remainder of our forces should yet be safe in our fastness at Ziekden. We must rejoin them - together we have the strength to strike!
Hands up if you spent your youth wondering what the hell he meant by "get something." Surely I'm not the only one.
PS1: I'm not going... Now way I'm going to die!
PSP: I will run, yes. But I do not mean to die!
Oh, he's going. Just...not to die (he thinks).
PS1: It was you cadets who killed my sister!
PSP: Milleuda deserved a better death - they did not even send proper knights to kill her!
A little less statement of the obvious, a little more "what the hell, another indignity?"
PS1: She was Wiegraf's sister?
PSP: She was your sister...I am sorry.
Ramza doesn't like any of this. He just doesn't know what else he can do but keep fighting through it, because there's still Tietra to consider.
PS1: Then Golagros was wrong. But he is with you, correct?
PSP: So, Gragoroth has erred. But surely the girl must hold some connection with House Beoulve?
I don't think it really matters whether it's Delita or Tietra being referred to here; the point doesn't change either way. What I do find worthy of note is that this is the second time Wiegraf's given the order to spare and release a noble (or someone he had at the time thought was a noble), simply because the circumstances didn't strike him as sporting. This is presumably what Milleuda meant when she said he was too soft -- I imagine that if their places were reversed, she'd probably have slain Gustav and then killed Elmdore for good measure.
...okay, so that didn't really have jack to do with comparing the scripts, I just like putting way too much thought into the Corpse Brigade. Don't mind me.
PS1: Correct me if I'm wrong... Either way, the girl was to be released anyway.
PSP: Should I? Well, it matters not. There was no question as to her release.
Another Great Line of Confusion in my youth. Correct him if he's wrong about what? Correct him if he's wrong about how Tietra was supposed to be released? How the hell would we even know in the first place when that's his order he's talking about? The adjusted conversation actually flows logically from one thought to the next; the original version here is just a pile of "what?"
The rest of the scene is pretty much the same thoughts in more flowery phrasing, but it did occur to me: the scenes in which I feel like I noticed the most fluffiness are the exchanges between Ramza and Wiegraf. Did they genuinely get the most smacks with the fluff stick? Or is it just observer's bias, stemming from the fact that I as a Wiegraf fan have put far more thought and attention into his scenes? Interesting question. I suppose we'll see how the rest of this comparison goes. :|a
PARTINGS
PS1: It's about time you learned about 'difference'! Different birth, totally different life! It's fate! Neither should've been here! Should've been flower sellers somewhere!
PSP: Is it not time you awoke to the fact that we are different from them? They are of lesser birth, and so meant to play lesser roles in life! Such is the nature of fate, Ramza! That commoner and his sister ought never have been here at all! Had they been mongering flowers on some street corner, she would yet live.
Ah, the infamous flower sellers line: now with 100% more making sense.
PS1: Angry, Delita? Angry because you're so utterly helpless? Know your limits! Commoners don't have power to change things! That's right, get angry! It's all you can do! Ha, ha, you deserve it!!
PSP: Does it grieve you, Delita, to see the depths of your own weakness laid bare? No mere commoner can leave his mark on history! You've not the power! Be glad you know enough to lament it. 'Tis all you can do, and more than you deserve!
Another case of verbs getting mucked around weirdly and pointed at different things.
PS1: I've taken my whole life for granted. When it came down to it I dropped it all and ran.
PSP: I had lived my life the only way that I had known. But when the pillars of that life came crashing down, I did not stand and watch them fall. I turned, and walked away.
The same idea, but it's a lot more clear this way.
USING PS1 ICON FOR IRONY
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At the first battle, when cleaning up the "tortured thieves" in Gariland
PS1 Ramza : Surrender or die in obscurity!
PSP Ramza : Lay down your arms or die clutching them! None
will mourn your passing.
I shouldn't feel so conflicted about this one. The PSP version is clearly a more natural line to deliver, and by far more poetic. There's something it's missing, though: foreshadowing. Bear with me here (and be warned, this is a spoiler if you haven't already finished the game).
Ramza himself, refuses to surrender to those who seek to do evil and in the end he himself dies in obscurity, completely unknown to history except as a footnote in some Glabados register of heretics. This otherwise completely lolwut, forgettable line from the PS1 version immediately jumped out at me on 2nd playthrough as being suddenly brilliant because I'd just seen the ending not an hour earlier. The PSP version doesn't even come close to approximating this chilling foreshadowing, which is an incredible shame.
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I still haven't played the PSP version of FFT, but I'm a huge fan of the PS1 version.
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The new version is way too purple script and pseudo Shakespeare for me to find engaging.
Yes, the framing device is that we're being told the story through the eyes of a historian, but now that the entire script reads like a reenactment I feel way more removed from it. As terribly translated and rife with errors and anachronisms ("Geronimo!" anyone?) the original is, there's an earnest charm to it that I feel the new version lacks.
I will be the first to admit that I would probably not have this preference if I hadn't played the original version first, but unfortunately for the remake, it couldn't overcome years of happy* memories that I associate with the PSX version.
Aside: And don't even get me started on the iOS/Mobile version's art style...
*relatively, anyway; the Riovanes Castle battle gauntlet still gives me nightmares, an impression that I haven't improved by playing a bunch of challenge runs
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