Really loved working on Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, which was one of my first big projects. This MMORPG contains a lot of text and a wide variety of characters, which could have been problematic with a team of translators. To tackle style and harmonization difficulties, my colleagues and I decided to create a Bible specifying every single address between all characters. We also created a Skype channel to improve our communication. After brainstorming, we also logged in the character-specific expressions we agreed on and regularly used them along the text to maintain consistency. It was really fun to make up expressions that both reflected the personalities and the French culture!

5. What are your thoughts on the growing use of AI and machine translation in the localization industry? Do you think these technologies are breathing new life into the industry or slowly killing it?

First, it essential to distinguish AI from Generative AI. The former can be a powerful tool when applied in the right fields, whereas the latter is a environmental and ethical disaster which is both flawed and misused. AI itself is not harming the industry. It is great to see new technologies emerge and make a difference in our lives (as long as they truly help and do not replace our thinking process or critical judgment, though). For example, the use of AI for medical diagnosis and areas where human failure can have serious consequences is a phenomenal achievement.

However, what is killing our industry is the greed of the humans trying to sell (Gen)AI as a solution to everything, including creative processes. While automation can be great for management or repetitive tasks, we need to leave creativity to humans. A machine can improve, make less mistakes, but it will never come up with memorable translations and give the fantastic results and success everyone is expecting. It is time to give less credit to these gurus and realize that they are slowly killing a craft, and their own business in the process! If game localizers cannot live from their skills anymore, they will leave sooner or later and there won’t be good translators left to edit their mediocre machine translations.

Isn’t the whole concept of handhelds consoles fascinating?

They offer a chance to play home console-quality games on the go, as well as being compact enough to fit in your pocket… scratch that, not anymore, I guess.

With their recent booming popularity thanks to Steam Deck, Rog Ally, and Switch 2, now it would be a good time to reminisce about their legacy and how it all started.

Game Boy’s Legacy

It’s a fact that the Game Boy was a revolutionary console for its time, especially considering the fact that it was released only 3 years after the original NES came out.

It offered a chance to play the 8-bit games on the go with a single-color palette and a monochrome display.

It wasn’t the first handheld that could play monochrome games from ROM cartridges, of course, but it was what made the whole concept popular and paved the way for many others to come.

SEGA and Atari tried to get a piece of its success, but Lynx and Game Gear were commercial failures due to their battery lives and number of games, despite technically being way more advanced, such as offering colored screens.

However, despite their best efforts, Nintendo also failed to catch up to modern times, and one could easily say that they are still struggling with it.

They released Game Boy Color, no explanation needed here, Game Boy Advance, which fit SNES into your pockets, and the DS – a handheld with two screens.

DS was revolutionary in itself, offering two screens and all, but technically, it was outdone by the infamous PSP.

Sony’s move to bring PS2-quality games to a handheld was mind-blowing.

While Nintendo was pushed back by the technical limitations, Sony came out to take advantage of the gap.

PSP Good, PS Vita Bad(!)

PSP sold 80 million units worldwide, whereas DS sold roughly 154 million units despite having inferior technical specifications, but its gimmick and its clever usage were what made people turn their heads to its side.

However, for me, PSP was the real deal.

As a proud owner of a PS2, it was truly mind-blowing to see PS2 graphics on a handheld console.

Not only did they look good, but they also played wonderfully!

Not to mention that it brought way too many classics to gaming history.

DS was succeeded by the 3DS, but the PSP wasn’t very lucky since Sony looked down upon the PS Vita – a console that was supposed to bring PS3 into your palms, but eventually scrapped because of the costly memory cards.

But it’s still a great console if you know what to do with it *wink*.

Localization is more than translating a sentence. It’s about adapting meaning, emotion, and context across cultures. A game’s dialogue, a mobile app’s interface, a documentary’s narration, or even the error message that pops up at the wrong time, they all require more than just the right words. They need to feel right.

That’s why localization is more than a language skill. It requires empathy, cultural awareness, and the instinct to reshape content in a way that connects with people on a deeper level. In this blog post, we had the chance to talk with Raphael Boccardo, a localization professional with hands-on experience across a range of industries from games to pharmaceuticals. He now leads Brazilian Portuguese localization efforts as a Project Manager. We asked him some of the questions we’ve always been curious about.

1- Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Raphael Boccardo, and I’ve been in the localization industry for over 10 years. I started out in the pharmaceutical sector as a proofreader and translator, and later had the opportunity to lead large-scale pharmaceutical projects as a project manager. In 2023, I shifted my focus to gaming localization, and I’m currently working as a Localization Project Manager for games, specializing in Brazilian Portuguese. I’m also pursuing a PhD in Spanish Literature.

2- In your opinion, what’s the secret to a great localization? Is it about keeping the original meaning, making it easy to understand and natural for the new audience, or adding a creative touch?

Great localization strikes a balance between creativity and a deep understanding of the target audience. A strong localization team not only aims to be creative but also makes an effort to truly understand how the audience thinks, speaks, and interprets the content.

3- What do you think is the toughest “boss fight” in the localization process?

I believe the toughest part is when management isn’t fully prepared to handle complex situations in a timely and strategic way. This often leads to communication gaps, delays, and last-minute decisions that could have been avoided with better planning. In localization, where timing and context are everything, these moments can have a direct impact on quality and team morale.

4- What do you do when you’re handed a text with zero context?

Zero context is very complicated because even when you try to stay as close as possible to the source text, you can still make mistakes. I think it’s about trying to reach a balance between being creative and being careful not to deviate too much from the source, but also taking some chances. Localization is always a risky job, lol.

5- What’s the most interesting bug you’ve encountered during the LQA process?

I think one of the most common bugs we encounter during the LQA process is missing target audio. It’s always a tough situation when you’re doing LQA and the localized audio doesn’t trigger properly, because that directly affects the player’s experience.

6- Is there any other tool or resource you can’t work without during the localization process, apart from your usual CAT tool?

I think good old Linguee, Google, and similar websites can definitely help during the localization process. And of course, a dictionary: you can never go wrong with this classic and powerful tool.

7- What are your thoughts on the growing use of AI and machine translation in the localization industry? Do you think these technologies are breathing new life into the industry or slowly killing it? I don’t think MT is a good tool for localization, especially in gaming. It often results in poor translations that actually slow down the process. In many cases, MT output is so unhelpful that translators end up starting from scratch. AI can be a powerful tool when used to support localization management and workflows, but not as a shortcut to generate final target texts. Unfortunately, it is often used today as a way for some LSPs to cut costs at the expense of freelancers. But this isn’t really an AI problem. It’s a systemic issue. In the end, these companies would probably find other ways to underpay translators anyway. Maybe it’s time to change the system.

We’re really grateful to Raphael Boccardo for taking the time to chat with us. With hands-on experience in both gaming localization and pharmaceuticals localization, he’s a great example of how versatile and far-reaching this field truly is. Hope you enjoyed this peek behind the curtain as much as we did.

I sometimes wonder what we possibly could do without hack and slash. It gave birth to numerous wonderful genres due to its engaging structure, and the gaming industry continues to benefit from it.

It all started with The Legend of Kage, which is a very primitive example of it, by the way, and it wasn’t until Devil May Cry that it truly gained its identity.

Then it continued with Ninja Gaiden, God of War, and Metal Gear Rising, etc.

But what made it so popular that people decided to branch its roots with new ideas?

Maybe it was the challenging nature of it? 

Or simply its flashy gameplay?

People loved these two aspects so much that they eventually decided to create new genres based on them.

The challenging part gave birth to souls-like, and the flashy gameplay spawned musou.

Of course, they both are fun in their own ways, but while one of them rises to the top, the other rots in the gutter.

Death and Success

Souls-like has been around since Demon’s Souls, which came out in 2009, but it wasn’t until a decade later that it gained popularity.

The essential gameplay mechanics are usually associated with its difficulty, but in reality, it’s all about memorizing patterns.

That makes me think, we are still not fond of trial-and-error in platformers to be successful, right?

I mean, that’s the reason why the term “Nintendo hard” was invented in the first place. The artificial difficulty of the NES games drove people nuts; thus, they ended up shunning them.

However, souls-like games continue to benefit from this technique, nonetheless.

What could be the reason behind this? 

It’s simple: slow gameplay and freedom.

The majority of souls-like games play slowly, and they don’t punish you right off the bat by instantly killing you or not giving you enough time to react like in the old platformers.

It gives you time to think and plan your attacks. Freedom to make your own mistakes.

In other words, you suffer the consequences of your actions, and the bad game design has nothing to do with it.

Hacking, and Slashing, and Slashing, and Slashing…

Some games never get old. We know every corner, every moment, yet we keep coming back. They comfort us, give us hope. Because they’re not just games, they create life-changing moments.

For me, it all started during my PlayStation 1 days with Jackie Chan Stuntmaster. I had just come out of surgery. My dad showed up with three games, and I did what any true gamer would do, I chose that one first, without hesitation. It had bad controls and pixel graphics, but somehow, it captured my heart. If we jump ahead a few years, The Witcher 3 was one of the first games that truly made me feel like a gamer. I finished it on easy mode the first time, but something didn’t feel right. I hadn’t used potions or oils. It felt incomplete. So I gave myself a challenge. I played it again. And again. Three full runs on Death March difficulty. Looking back now, that was one of the moments that changed my life.

Our blog series is taking a new turn this season. The Plus Localization team has always brought great energy, and now we’re welcoming voices from the localization world. First up is Rodrigo Capel, founder of CapeLoc, who has worked on titles like Hearthstone, Diablo Immortal, and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.

Rodrigo’s Picks: Games That Left a Mark

Which game do you think truly changed your life, Rodrigo?
Difficult question. I’m going with two games, for sure. Chrono Trigger, and Life is Strange.

What kind of impact did that game/games leave on you?
Chrono Trigger made me fall in love with English. As I said in a few posts already, I never managed to beat the first dungeon back in the day (even with dictionary in-hand), but I was still obsessed about the game. I just had no idea RPGs could be that fun.

Later on in life, I began playing Life is Strange. Fell in love with the plot and gameplay. It was so different from anything I’ve previously played. I learned to appreciate dialogue and to stop skipping stuff.

What was going on in your life when you played it, and how did it influence you?
Both have the same story. My dad passed away when I was two/three. Mom worked from 6 AM to 9~10 PM. I was all alone the whole day. I did have a few friends, but I was too sad to leave my room. It was easier to play games all day. Definitely not healthy, but it was my escape from reality. When I turned on the console, I could be anyone I wanted. A soldier, a keyblade master, and whatnot.

Gaming helped me cope with my life at the time, and later on inspired me to become who I am today.

Looking back now, what do you think that game gave you?
I wouldn’t be who I am without those games. They gave me purpose.

What if I never got interested in English while playing Chrono? Maybe I would be working with something entirely different.

What if I never played Life Is Strange? That was my first contact with dialogue. I probably wouldn’t be that interested in books. I actually bought my first Harry Potter book shortly after beating Life is Strange for the second time. I can’t imagine my life without books.

Final Thoughts

Huge thanks to Rodrigo Capel for his thoughtful answers. Some games are more than just graphics. Sometimes they reflect who we are as gamers. They speak to us, guide us, and give us a sense of identity. They’re life-changing experiences that shape how we think, feel, and grow.

Now it’s your turn. What game/games changed your life?

Doğukan USLU
Plus Localization

Making a decision in story-driven games often starts with something small. Maybe you’re stuck between two dialogue options: “Should we attack?” or “Maybe try talking first?” It feels simple at first, but that moment can lead to trouble. Suddenly, the kingdom is in ruins, your best friend won’t even talk to you, and even the chickens look at you differently. All because, way earlier in the game, you said, “Nope, not helping.”  That’s where the butterfly effect hits. A small decision can lead to huge consequences.

That’s what makes story-driven games so engaging and fun. They don’t just give you a story to follow. They let you shape it. And sometimes, even one line of dialogue can change the whole story.

One Decision, Big Consequences

Some story-driven games are written so well that you don’t notice the butterfly effect right away. It hits you later, when you see “This is all your fault” painted on a wall of ruined building. Or when a character who once smiled at you now says nothing. You ask yourself, “What did I even do?” and the game answers in its own way, “You know exactly what.”

These games don’t just tell stories. They let you create them. A single choice can change a character’s entire path. One moment you’re the hero, the next you’re the villain without meaning to. But no matter how messy things get, when you look back, there’s a strange kind of joy in knowing it all happened because of you. And that’s the real magic of story-driven games.

In games like Detroit: Become Human, every choice causes changes. The feelings of an android, the safety of a child, or the beginning of a revolution are all in your hands, and each decision comes with consequences. The game even shows your choices as branching paths, turning each chapter into a record of your personal journey through the story.

The Pain of a Choice You Can’t Undo

Then come the regrets that stay with you. That’s the thing about story-driven games. Maybe there was a character who helped you, shared some secrets, and fought beside you. And then the butterfly effect begins. One small choice, maybe made in a hurry. You left him or her behind. Hours later, you realize you never went back to save them. That tiny decision turned into something you can’t take back. Your heart sinks, and you quietly ask yourself, “Why did I do that?”

Or maybe you clicked on a dialogue option just because you were curious, and before you knew it, a village was on fire. A message pops up in the top-left corner of the screen: “The people will remember what you did.” And just like that, it’s too late. The game already saved. Now you’re stuck with the consequences.

In the end, story-driven games remind us of something real. Life isn’t all that different. Small choices can lead to big changes. And yes, sometimes one decision really can change everything.

Doing the same thing over and over again… doesn’t that sound boring?

Getting really close to the finish line, only to be annihilated by a bomb.

And what’s that!? No checkpoints!? You’ve got to do it all over again!?

Who in their right mind would willingly go through this hell!?

We do. And no, we’re not masochists… I guess?

The Most Addictive Genre of All Time?

Are you beginning to understand why they are so addictive now?

It’s like studying for an exam with a slight chance to pass, but as you study more, your chance of succeeding becomes a bit higher.

They spark the primitive self-competition instincts that lead to learning and mastering a craft; thus, we end up playing them for hours in hopes of reaching the endpoint.

They’re like gambling in a way, but without the devastating outcome upon failure.

Come on, starting from scratch ain’t so bad, right?

OK, that one wasn’t very good…

RNG is Pissing You Off? Roguelites Got You Covered!

Maybe you don’t like the traditional roguelikes such as The Binding of Isaac, Hades, or 20XX, but still want to play and get some sort of enjoyment out of them?

Fear not! There’s a sub-genre that is a lot less punishing just for you: Roguelites!

In theory, they play just like roguelikes, but with the ability to obtain permanent upgrades and the inclusion of long-term punishment, just like any other game.

The inclusion of RNG isn’t as punishing since it’s mostly up to you, though.

Sifu could be a great example of this.

Are you one of those players who spends hours in the character creation screen and barely ever starts the game? You’re not alone. In many RPG games, the time we spend customizing our character marks the true beginning of the journey. If you’ve ever lost yourself in that menu, this one’s for you.

We’ve all been there, trying to choose between hairstyle #4 or #7, and wondering if the eye color matches the armor. Sometimes we haven’t even entered the game, but we’ve already imagined our character’s tragic backstory. Character creation isn’t just about stats; it’s where the story begins. We’ll be seeing that face for the next 50 hours, so yes, every detail matters. That’s when true immersion begins.

A Future Written in Stats

The character creation screen is more than just a beginning. It’s a blank canvas where we shape fate. We knew that STR 18 meant strong character, while CHA 6 might leave us ignored by every NPCs in the game. Should we be an elf or a human? A mage with weak STR or a warrior who can’t cast spells?

There were so many possible combinations that sometimes we spent the whole day just building the perfect character. These decisions affected every choice we would make later. That is what made RPG games so special. Every decision had real weight.

Some players stared at the stat screen like it was a major life decision. “Should I upgrade Intelligence or Dexterity? But what if I need magic later?” Suddenly, a few stat points feel like a big decision. That’s the beauty of player immersion. You are not just creating a character. You are shaping part of yourself.

Sometimes, character creation took so long and we ended up saying, “I’ll play tomorrow,” and just closed the game. Some of us spent three hours designing, entered the world, died to the first boss, and started over. Others made five characters in one day because none of them felt quite right.

Like I said before, character creation was never just about stats. We were building the beginning of a story. When we gave stat points, we’d ask ourselves: “Where is this character from? What kind of life did he/she live?” Maybe that low Charisma meant the character we created had a hard past. These little, quiet stories made RPG games feel real. That’s what player immersion is all about. It’s the feeling that you’re really part of the world.

It’s All About That Catchy Tune!

All ATARI games from 2600 to 7800 had no music at all, and not many people today would want to go back and play them even for the sake of nostalgia, right?

Not only were they extremely primitive, but they also lacked what made all other games appealing.

When Nintendo came up with the NES, they revolutionized the whole concept of video games by making them fun, as well as making them sound great!

It was not only Nintendo, of course.

Capcom gets the throne when it comes to video game soundtracks, especially with Mega Man.

And who could forget Natsume and Sunsoft? Man, even today, I’m still amazed how they managed to work their magic. Especially considering the fact that they had to make do with literally nothing.

The sweet tunes of those games made us keep replaying the same levels over and over again without getting tired of them.

We simply couldn’t get enough of them back then, and we still can’t even today.

If the world ever ends, trust us. We’ll know how to handle it. We’ve seen it all in post-apocalyptic games. Nuclear fallout, zombies, ruined cities, and even loot systems where bottle caps count as currency. And there we are, as usual, with three cans of food in our backpack, a homemade shotgun in hand, and one thought in our head:

“That building looks dangerous but maybe there’s something useful to loot inside.”

These post-apocalyptic games aren’t just about surviving. They capture the essence of a world where everything’s gone wrong, but we still rely on the familiar rhythms of survival gameplay. Whether in Fallout’s Wasteland, The Last of Us’s abandoned cities taken back by nature, or Metro’s claustrophobic tunnels, the feeling is the same:

“The world is broken, but I’m still here, digging through every crate like it might save my life.”

Life May Be Over, but the Quest Must Go On

Have you ever noticed how the most ordinary actions feel legendary in post-apocalyptic games? Finding a bottle of clean water feels like a miracle. Fixing a rusty generator is a major accomplishment. And hearing five seconds of static music on a broken television from the 1960s? That’s practically magic. The funny part is that we genuinely enjoy it.

These games keep pushing us with tough situations, but beating them always feels rewarding. In a world like this, you stop caring about normal life and start focusing on staying alive. If it’s not the radiation that kills you, it’s the zombies. If not the zombies, it’s thirst. And if you somehow dodge all that, there’s always a mysterious note waiting to drag you on a weird side quest.

Post-apocalyptic games are not just about destruction. They are also about starting over. A collapsed building might hide a journal, just a few pages long, but enough to make you stop and think,

“They were just trying to live… just like us.”

Everything is in ruins. And yet, somewhere in the corner, an NPC is still playing the guitar. A child is drawing on a wall with a piece of charcoal. And in that moment, it doesn’t feel like a game. It feels strangely real.

In these broken worlds, chaos makes more sense than real life sometimes. The rules are harsh but clear. And that’s what makes every little win so satisfying.

Still, no matter what we face in this world, we always find ourselves going back to looting.

What If It Were Real?

How many of us would actually survive the first week of a real apocalypse? We all know the truth.

There’s no morning coffee. No fast travel. No companion watching our back. Most of us would probably be stuck in the crafting menu, wondering if the yellow bottle was for healing or something else, right before a zombie gets us.

And honestly, that’s okey.

We don’t play these games to feel realistic. We play them for the chaos, the excitement, and because they make us feel like we have a mission.

Post-apocalyptic games have something to say, even if they don’t say it out loud.

“Even if the world ends, a player keeps going. Sometimes for loot. Sometimes for the tiniest bit of hope.”

Civilization crumble. Cities fall. Tunnels collapse. And still, when we see a glowing green crate tucked in the corner of a ruined room, we head straight for it. Because maybe, just maybe, that crate has something that changes everything. A single nail. A wire. Or yes, a 1964 hair dryer.