Q: Why did GBA and PS1 games have priority when taking names?
A: It's not feasible to use all of the retranslated PSP names without changing all of the dialog due to how the newer localization was handled, because things are so stylized (magick etc.).  I also wanted the names to be something the common FF player could catch quickly, so I set this up as a sort of "anchor."  FFT was originally made around the era that many commonly localized Final Fantasy terms get their roots from, and War of the Lions was made hot on the heels of these GBA remakes/ports which all got updated translations in some form.  The rest of the PSP FF ports mostly use the same translation as those before them, so I figured that if WOTL didn't go in the localization direction it did things would be mostly GBA inspired.

Q: Why did you take some things from WOTL?
A: WOTL did sometimes name things better than the original.  When nothing else could suffice and something obviously needed a change, I went to the newer translation to see what it had and sometimes it worked.  I was very selective in this, and sometimes a compromise was struck.  Things like a couple of Ninja Sword changes or Nightblade are actually original intent.

Q: What’s with Blaze Gun shooting ice?  Shouldn’t it be Glacier Gun?
A: It’s a bit of a misconception that Blaze Gun and Glacier Gun’s names were mistakenly switched around.  In fact the original is correct, and Square-Enix itself acknowledges this in things such as trading cards.  Kind of odd, but just assume that in ancient times Blaze Guns were used to put out fires instead of make them!

Q: Why Eschaton instead of Divine/Perfect/All-Ultima?
A: Eschaton was a very big exception to the priorities, as no other games were faced with translating Perfect Ultima up until more Ivalice games came about.  This is better than Divine Ultima mostly because it isn't Holy elemental, while still being a canon localization of Perfect Ultima.  Also I must confess, for one of the final boss's most powerful attacks I wanted something a little more than Perfect Ultima.

Q: What's with Blade Grasp?
A: I realize the context, but one thing about Shirahadori is that it sticks out like a sore thumb.  Yes, the same job in FFV also has this, but most of it's other abilities are also localized in the same way so it isn't alone.  Samurai had this right on top of abilities that weren't translated as such like Bonecrusher/Meatbone Slash, so all Shirahadori does is confuse the player when it comes to picking out reaction abilities.

Hamedo, which is in a similar situation, is kept as the original.  However if you want to First Strike was used in WOTL.


Q: Those Un-Truth names are weird, why did you do that?
A: Un-Truth abilities went through a lot of revisions and talk over updates.  They’re in a slightly odd place in that the intent is harder to replicate: Un-Truth abilities are meant to be reverse versions of Truth abilities (therefore, since these abilities are philosophies and mantras, that would be equal to either talking backwards or an opposite idea).  Vanilla’s terms while being messy, also resulted in Heaven Thunder being too long for the JP menu when in it’s entirety (and as it is a different version of the Truth skill’s name, it needed a fix).  Completely going from WOTL didn’t strike true either.  “Un-” versions wouldn’t work due to reasons explained later about hyphens.  We even considered relocalizing them entirely.

We eventually settled on a compromise between the original and WOTL.  There was talk about relocalizing these completely into a Buddhism angle based on the Kanji which was never completed, if you’d like a look:

Heavenly Thunder>Dundubhi Clap (as in thunderclap, this is shortened for the opposite’s sake.)
Ashura>Asura Fire (Asura is how the sanskrit is usually done in English)
Adamantine Sword>Vajra Sword (Vajra is sanskrit for both diamond and thunderbolt, so this would’ve used the original translation.)
Hydra Maelstrom>??
Celestial Void>Akasa Vault
Sky Demon>??
Un-Truth would’ve been Ura-Truth, and the abilities would’ve been Ura- versions.

It’s a bit on the strange side, but if you’d like to take it go ahead.

Q: Why not Dispelna?  That's not Cleanse!
A: Even though it is referred to as a member of the Dispel family in all languages, funnily enough Deathspell 2/Dispelna is closer to Esuna but with a couple differences in what it cures.  So, strangely enough a synonym is more appropriate.

Q: Geomancy/Geomancer/Nature's Wrath isn't right, is it?
A: Geomancers actually revolve around Feng Shui, but every FF game in existence has localized these as Geomancers or Elementalists.  I didn't want to overstep this one due to the whole point of keeping close to the original translation, plus I know nothing about Feng Shui and didn't want to mess it up.

I should probably mention the oddity with why Ignus Fatuus from FFV was used.  Will-O’-the-Wisp is usually more in the norm for FF, but the hyphen character is bugged to use twice the width it should in FFT.  This results in nearly anything using it looking horrible, Will-O’-the-Wisp the most.  I couldn’t get this looking fine in any matter at all and FFV’s version means the same thing, so there you go.

Q: Shouldn’t Calculators be addressed?
A: The Calculator's reaction abilities, Damage Split and Distribute, actually fit the Calculator's motif with the power of division at work.  I just left them as-is because these work fine.  Here are some ideas though:

Distribute:
Average
Mean (double meaning)
Distribution (a probability word)
Partition
Generate/Generator (akin to Regenerator, though also to Degenerator)
Surjection (since it's healing all the party)
Ideal

Damage Split:
Bisect (This was actually what they called about the same ability by a very similar class in the card game/Roguelike Guild of Dungeoneering.)
Equivalence
Symmetric/Symmetry

WOTL is actually right by changing Calculator to Arithmetician.  However, I wanted to limit job name changes to only Dragoon in generic, and the worst cases otherwise.

Q: Why are Priest and Wizard not White/Black Mage?
A: In keeping with the original translation, I kept this around and even fixed a Skillset description error relating to Priest.  Both are pretty well ingrained into the lore and such of the original translation, like it or not.

This is also why no important names were changed, including Lucavi.

Q: Why not fix Limits/use Brave Slash?
A: I stayed out of Cloud's Limit Breaks because they're copied word-for-word from the original FFVII translation and that is exactly how most players know them.  Climhazzard in particular is also in FFIX.  I would probably take the notes from the FFVII fan translation if I was going to change these.  Like so:

Blade Beam>Rending Light
Climhazzard>Crime Hazard
Cross-Slash>Curse Slash
Meteorain>Meteor Rain
Finish Touch>Finishing Touch

Brave Slash isn't in here because Braver is correct, as well as canon in later games.

Q: Did you know about [insert summon here]?
A: In both WOTL and the original Japanese, Summons have their own spells like in other FF games.  These are normally what they're synonymous with, like sylph and whisperwind, but in specifically FFT there are some interesting differences which I have left in notes.  The original translation didn't include these, so I just focused with the translation errors already present in Summons.  If you'd like to put these in yourself using the .ffttext files somehow (I believe the "Summon Draw Out" section of the QuickEdit list in the latest version of TacText should be the correct placement for these), here's what I'd put them in as with a few notes where needed:

Moogle: Mog's Charm (Can either be Mog's or Moogle's, but Mog is an important Moogle in other games plus the name of the Moogle half of the summon in FFVII.)
Shiva: Diamond Dust (Canon name usually, however it does actually use a different name specifically for FFT.  It's Crystal Glacier, but Diamond Dust would still fit here decently.)
Ramuh: Judgment Bolt
Ifrit: Hellfire
Titan: Gaia's Wrath
Golem: Earthen Wall
Carbuncle: Ruby Light
Bahamut: Mega Flare
Odin: Obliteration (Like Shiva, this is different from Zantetsuken.  Unlike Shiva, it's effects are different from most appearances.  A closer to original name option would be something along the lines of Destroying Flash.  WOTL isn't too far off with Obliteration.)
Leviathan: Tidal Wave
Salamander: Dragon's Ascent/Rise (This literally isn't Dragon so much as a Fire Drake, but that's usually splitting hairs.)
Sylph: Whisperwind (Some games have this as Whisper Wind)
Fairy: Fairy Light
Lich: Undying Wings (Literally this is Absurd Wings, my change is based on the Lich's wings.  WOTL ditched this name completely, as honestly it's not the best of ideas when you're talking about Lich.)
Cyclops: Climatic Fear (Literally this is Final Chapter of Terror, so WOTL nailed this one.)
Zodiac: Cloud of Darkness (This is a reference to FFIII's final boss, if this doesn't fit it was Dark Cloud in the original NES release's fan translations.)

Draw Out abilities have the same issue.

Ashura: Spirit Blade (WOTL's Spirit Blade, Phantom Sword, same thing really.)
Kotetsu: Dark Curse (There is no bind side-effect, so WOTL's doesn't fit)
Osafune: Words of Oblivion (If this fits anyway.  Maybe something like “Oblivion Word” instead if it doesn't.)
Murasame: Blessed Rain
Heaven's Cloud: Cloudsea Curse (Literally this is “All-Encompasing Cloud Sea” but that's far too long, WOTL shortened it pretty well)
Kiyomori: Divine Wind
Muramasa: Cursed Ambition
Kikuichimonji: Chrysanth Crest (Chrysanthemums are also known as Mums or Chrysanths, perfect for shortening.)
Masamune: Ghostly Embrace  (“Refined Spirit” sounds more like a descriptor of a ghost than Ethereal)
Chirijiraden: Chaotic Flame

Credits:
Square-Enix for making Final Fantasy Tactics.
Zynk Oxhyde for suggesting stuff, most of which is in the altered patch.  Including Northstar Rapture.
Xifanie for some input on the weirder modificatoins I had made, and mentioning the accidental switch in water movement abilities and Dispelna's property differences.
Guru for coming up with Cleanse.
Limbo for much of the Punch Art, Geomancy, and Truth/Un-Truth updates.
Raijinili for contributing into the Truth/Un-Truth dilemma and suggesting various reversions and name ideas.
FFTacText was used to make this hack.

You are free to use these materials in your own project, no problem!  Just remember to give a little credit, if you wish.
