Nintendo released Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on Switch on July 29. The game includes Simplified and Traditional Chinese translations, which should have been a great convenience for Chinese players. However, players in China are not content after finding that the Simplified Chinese translations are substantially different from the Traditional Chinese ones. Many people also thought the memes and changes in the Simplified Chinese changed the tone and made it hard to understand at times.
The translator had posted an article on AcFun before the game was released, claiming that they have been the translator of many games and were in charge of most of the translation work in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The article aimed to brag and declare that they had made efforts to bring faithful and interesting translations to players. Currently, the article has been deleted.
The article posted by the translator on AcFun
Facing the criticism of unfaithful translations, they replied, “I don’t like the expression of the original words, so I change them”. One player questioned the professionalism of the translator, who replied, “translators don’t require professionalism as long as the group and clients approve. I’m just doing my job”.
One of the replies of the translator to criticism
Many players have stated they would rather use the Traditional Chinese translations, considering that the Simplified Chinese translations don’t match the game’s style. They also plead with Nintendo to invite a more professional Chinese translator to the next game.