Translation Ougon No Kizuna (Golden Bonds) English translation for Wii

[Brand Newman]

UPDATE : Patch available for download here:
https://www.romhacking.net/translations/7282/

And below is the trailer I made for it. Will you be able to spot the narrator's voice before the video ends?


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Hello everybody, and happy new year on this 1st of January 2023!

This is Brand Newman, the “Japanese-exclusive-Wii-games-translation-addict”, telling you about his new project for this new year!

This time I’ll be doing a game that was, let’s be honest, poorly received, but has always intrigued me, mostly because of its artworks, and the “sketchy effect” applied on its graphics.

That game is called “Ougon No Kizuna” (黄金の絆), which you can translate into “Golden Bonds”, and tells us the story of Lian, son of “Gerard the Great”, a hero who sacrificed himself to lock the “Demon King” into the Magic Crystal Tree.

I’m only at the beginning of the job, but I think I’ve found all the Japanese resources (including the graphics), and therefore can provide you with a little preview.

Please find below the first minutes of the game entirely translated, but keep in mind it’s gonna be months before I actually release the patch!




In the meantime, I intend to inform you on a “semi-regularly” basis about my progress, and hope you’ll let me know if this game has a few fans out there!

Please remember this video is by no mean definitive, and that things might be altered in the final release.

Oh, and if you want to have some idea of the general quality of my work, please don’t hesitate to download one of my previous projects in the meantime!

Yours truly,

Brand Newman.



--- My previous patches (all available for download at Romhacking.net, link is provided in the Youtube videos descriptions) ---

 

[ecto]

Hi, a happy new year to you, too!

Thank you for this new project. I'm (as with all your past translations) very interested in obscure Japanese-only releases!

 

[V800]

Thanks for sharing your work with all of us. Getting updates regularly about these projects makes the wait special.

 

[wiiAdventurer]

Happy New Year Brand! I will be following this one quite closely. Very curious about it.

I guess the biggest question is, how much have you played? The english-player impressions from the game weren't really favorable but I wonder if that was also due to the language barrier. Sure the game isn't super high quality but the gameplay looked intriguing.

The first five minutes looked wonderful. Guessing there will be a lot of text to this one! I thought it was nice that the video cutscene was subtitled (I wonder if there will be many of those).

Thank you again for everything you've done for the Wii community. We are so lucky to have you!

EDIT: found an interesting article where a dev comments on the game after release: https://www.vgchartz.com/article/4225/what-went-wrong-with-kizuna-explained-by-developer/

 

[Brand Newman]

Happy New Year Brand! I will be following this one quite closely. Very curious about it.

I guess the biggest question is, how much have you played? The english-player impressions from the game weren't really favorable but I wonder if that was also due to the language barrier. Sure the game isn't super high quality but the gameplay looked intriguing.

The first five minutes looked wonderful. Guessing there will be a lot of text to this one! I thought it was nice that the video cutscene was subtitled (I wonder if there will be many of those).

Thank you again for everything you've done for the Wii community. We are so lucky to have you!

Good evening @wiiAdventurer ,

I definitely think the language barrier didn't do the game any favour, although I've read the Japanese players weren't really pleased either.

But considering the game starts with a quest where you have to interrogate townsfolk to gather certain information about Water priestesses, I believe the lack of understanding made non-speaker wander from street to street, not knowing what to actually do (and not being able to fight).

And since loading screens are a tad too numerous in this game, I think they eventually gave up and scored the game badly : but even Twilight Princess has a slow start, which would have discouraged many, had it never been localized.

Anyway, I know this game might end up being a downer, but I'm willing to take the chance : I've been willing to translate and play the game for too long.

Have a good night.

 

[wiiAdventurer]

Some higher quality scans of the images Brand put in the opening:

The art is really great, some monster and other artwork I found:

• https://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/73511520081106_191459_5_big.jpg
• https://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/73511520081106_191458_4_big.jpg
• https://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/73511520081106_191458_2_big.jpg
• https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/jin115/imgs/3/d/3dfc281b.jpg
• https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/jin115/imgs/4/a/4a0b38f9.jpg
• https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/jin115/imgs/e/9/e9adbe64.jpg
• https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/jin115/imgs/5/6/5666734f.jpg
• https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/jin115/imgs/5/1/5105df26.jpg
• https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/jin115/imgs/8/f/8fcbb876.jpg

Really hope there is unlockable artwork in the game.

My only negative is I think the girls look a little more masculine in the game as compared with the art work . Still interested to see where this goes!

 

[RetroNerdGamer]

What type of game is this? Action RPG, just RPG, adventure?

Still, might nab a copy if I can off ebay since it looks interesting and the art style? I'm so down for it.

 

[Brand Newman]

EDIT: found an interesting article where a dev comments on the game after release: https://www.vgchartz.com/article/4225/what-went-wrong-with-kizuna-explained-by-developer/

Thank you for providing this information : I might even include it in the "readme" when I release the patch.

I second Hoshi about the loading screens : they're a bit too numerous, and show that the "Town Factory" team must have had some trouble with the Wii, "Ougon" apparently being their first (and only?) game.

You can auto-translate the Japanese wiki page about the game, and see what Jaleco president Takayasu Kato has to say about it : https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/黄金の絆

All that being said, I don't think the filter on graphics looks bad, even in motion, and the gameplay doesn't seem half-bad:


I think the game will turn a little bit "generic" storywise, but I expect some moments with the bosses.

But maybe I'm just wearing pink glasses when it comes to Wii games? This console really has its way to look very weak or very strong, depending on who's developing the game and knows how to exploit its specificity.

 

[wiiAdventurer]

I second Hoshi about the loading screens : they're a bit too numerous, and show that the "Town Factory" team must have had some trouble with the Wii, "Ougon" apparently being their first (and only?) game.

You mentioned Town Factory and I find it interesting because that sounded so familiar. Then I searched and saw that they also developed (or most likely helped develop) one of my favorite Wii games: Little King's Story. They both released the same year in Japan. I've read they were a smallish team, so I'm curious how they were doing two games or what their role was.

You can auto-translate the Japanese wiki page about the game, and see what Jaleco president Takayasu Kato has to say about it : https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/黄金の絆

That's some really crazy words to see from the company who fronted the money for development. I know Jaleco had some major financial issues though. It may be the translation but I don't quite understand what he means. Maybe he is saying he was unhappy with releasing the game in such an unpolished state? It's hard to glean what he wasn't happy with, maybe just the reception overall. However, he does mention something about development being half a year behind.

All that being said, I don't think the filter on graphics looks bad, even in motion, and the gameplay doesn't seem half-bad

I think the game will turn a little bit "generic" storywise, but I expect some moments with the bosses.

But maybe I'm just wearing pink glasses when it comes to Wii games? This console really has its way to look very weak or very strong, depending on who's developing the game and knows how to exploit its specificity.

Yeah. I feel like the graphics are reasonable. The art direction is fantastic. I don't understand the PS1 comparisons.

I can see how the gameplay is a bit basic, there is nothing to the attacks. The mobs standing around isn't anything new (see any older Musou game) but without flashy attacks it does make it a lot less exciting.

People complained about the story segments being "boring" presumedly because the characters just stand there and there is text on the screen. I don't see this any differently than a visual novel, so I'm not sure what is with this complaint.

I think there is the basis for a great game here. Whether the Japanese audience was being picky or the game never goes beyond its initial ideas will be interesting to see pan out.

Then again, I also wear rose colored glasses when it comes to Wii games.

Thanks again Brand!

 

[CaptainHIT]

Happy new year! Thanks for your efforts, they mean so much for us!

 

[Brand Newman]

Almost 1:00 AM here in France, and I'm finally done with the heavy modification of the title screen...

I couldn't resist to share the result with you, since recreating the sword was such a hard thing to do (the logo isn't composed of layers, so anything underneath that got revealed by the English titlescreen had to be recreated).

Not to mention gold is never easy to draw for me, as the lower-than-average artist that I am.

Anyway, to keep you informed, I've been mostly focusing on the fonts and menu since my last message (piece of advice: always start with that when you translate a game, this will make things waaay easier later).

And because many of the menus and such are actually images, I'm putting a lot of efforts in not losing details when replacing Japanese with English, should the text happen to overlap graphical resources.

Wishing everybody a good night, I promise I'll bring more news to the table next time I publish a message!

Yours truly.

 

[wiiAdventurer]

Looks great Brand, keep up the good work! Have a good night as well~

 

[Brand Newman]

I got some "mixed" feedbacks on Twitter from people who wanted the logo to look more like its Japanese counterpart (which seemed to have a sword in it).

While I tried to recreate the illusion at first, it turned out the "d" became much harder to read if I changed the golden part : so I went with only altering the silhouette, and would like to know about your opinion.

Which one looks better to you please?

Without the sword

With the sword

(Don't pay attention to the difference in color : the crystal tree is just glowing.)

 

[r1vver]

Have you considered both titles on same screen (attached image, need to tilt the translation text to the right a bit more)?
Or what about overlaying the translated text on the Japanese logo, making the original logo a background for the translated text (too hard for my current editor)?

 

[V800]

I prefer the second one because the first one because the sword effect makes the d look like a different letter. Maybe if the sword was upside down it could work better. Just my two cents here.

 

[Brand Newman]

Have you considered both titles on same screen (attached image, need to tilt the translation text to the right a bit more)?
Or what about overlaying the translated text on the Japanese logo, making the original logo a background for the translated text (too hard for my current editor)?

I prefer the second one because the first one because the sword effect makes the d look like a different letter. Maybe if the sword was upside down it could work better. Just my two cents here.

Thank you both for your feedbacks and suggestions.

I don't really want to leave the Japanese text : I think it makes the title screen a little bit too crowded, and it doesn't make it look like it is an "official" localization, which is the thing I try to attain with my translations (kudos for editing the image so properly in such a short amount of time, however).

I agree with @V800 about how the sword can make the "d" hard to read : sometimes things work better in theory than they do in real life.

I tried to lower the handle however : does it make it better? Anyway, I don't have to choose immediately, so maybe I'll just sleep on it for now, and I don't think the "without sword" is a bad option either.

 

[wiiAdventurer]

I think the original without the hilt is fine. However, in the Japanese version, the "sword" part of the letter looks a bit sharper, it is also more angled. Finally, there is a highlight in the middle giving it a 3d effect. (There's actually a less pronounced white stroke? around the gold letters in the Japanese version which makes the middle part more striking on the Japanese sword)

 

[tswntk]

How about this?

Basically, I shortened the "handle"; copy the "blade" from the Japanese's one then elongated and made it narrower to fit your blade.
As you can see it is just a rough sketch, a lot of touch up has to be done for the final picture.
--Just an idea.

 

[Brand Newman]

How about this?

Basically, I shortened the "handle"; copy the "blade" from the Japanese's one then elongated and made it narrower to fit your blade.
As you can see it is just a rough sketch, a lot of touch up has to be done for the final picture.
--Just an idea.

Thank you all for your feedbacks, and @tswntk for suggesting to copy the original blade.

Below is the new version, which I believe is satisfying : I slanted the letters a bit more to make the junction with the blade "seamless", and it even made it possible to keep the hilt, as the "d" had become more readable (I really liked the idea of the hilt in the Japanese version, and am glad I could somehow keep it).

Post automatically merged: Jan 21, 2023

OK, one last picture of my WIP English translation patch, before I wait for further progress to advertise it more. Notice how I had to redraw all the "ancient writing" behind the text, since most of it is actually a single picture with no layer!

 

[alphaum]

Thank you all for your feedbacks, and @tswntk for suggesting to copy the original blade.

Below is the new version, which I believe is satisfying : I slanted the letters a bit more to make the junction with the blade "seamless", and it even made it possible to keep the hilt, as the "d" had become more readable (I really liked the idea of the hilt in the Japanese version, and am glad I could somehow keep it).

View attachment 348632

Post automatically merged: Jan 21, 2023

OK, one last picture of my WIP English translation patch, before I wait for further progress to advertise it more. Notice how I had to redraw all the "ancient writing" behind the text, since most of it is actually a single picture with no layer!

View attachment 348634

this work of yours is wonderful, it encouraged me to also do this work, but translating it into Portuguese (PT_BR), where the difficulty doubles considerably. Kkkkk... if you can give me any tips after materials to start the work, since you started and it's well advanced, I'm at your disposal!