Howdy, my dear readers! We’ve been blessed this year with a slew of otome games for us to support, play and enjoy. It’s really about time that otome game fans got the attention they deserved; you can’t really go wrong with our growing community of gamers! This year, we’ve seen games like Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds, Period Cube, Collar x Malice, Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome, How to Fool a Liar King, along with demos and previews of several promising games to come soon!

And then there’s the much-awaited Bad Apple Wars. This is one game that a ton of people were really excited for due to its gripping story line. Most of the people that I’ve talked to that have played the Japanese version of the game told me that this is THE game to look for this year when it’s in English, so I was very much hyped for it! Aksys Games has had a very busy 2017, with not just 1, but 3 otome games released so far. Which is pretty amazing; thank you for believing in our community and for bringing forth these games!

However… With the release of Bad Apple Wars, it was discovered that there were a few things amiss…

These days, with the the era of DLC/patches, it’s easier to release games, because some publisher may have the ability to issue out game patches to fix whatever may have gone wrong. It certainly had made misspellings a bit more common to see in game releases, along with some glitches, in rare cases. Aksys Games is no stranger to having misspellings in their games. Yes, they’re a super small company, and there’s really only so much they can do; they’re only human. But it’s vital to know what can and cannot get done.

In the case of Bad Apple Wars, yes, there was something that was not present in the localization of the game: the translation of the Soul Touch scenes .

If you’re not familiar with the concept of Soul Touch, here’s an explanation of it from Aksys’s Bad Apple Wars website:

As you progress through the story, a touch icon may appear in the upper-right corner of the screen from time to time. While this icon is displayed, you can progress the story by touching certain locations on displayed CG. There are several areas that respond to your touch; once they become unresponsive, try and touch other areas. As you become closer with the person displayed, you might see an effect in which part of his clothes become transparent as you touch. How and where you touch may determine the ending you receive with the displayed character, so pay close attention to his reactions while you touch him.

By Soul Touch, it’ll determine the particular ending you’ll get, so it’s pretty important to pay attention to the characters’ reactions. As you engage in this mode, as you touch that character, they will say certain things that not only will let you know which path you’re on, but it’ll offer a bit of immersion and connection to that character that will make your heart beat faster and twinge a little bit. Bad Apple Wars is a pretty emotional game, so these scenes add more into that emotion that the game aims for you to feel.

In the English version of the game, you won’t see the translated version of those lines. If you don’t know Japanese, I suppose you can test out by checking what pitch their voices are in, but you won’t really know what they’re saying, which will only leave the player a tad confused as they go through the game. Yes, the rest of the game is translated and you’ll know the plot of the game itself, but the player misses the chance of knowing what the characters are saying at the exact moment in which you touch them.

This is a pretty big oversight from Aksys Games; this game, even if it’s only about 100 lines or so that weren’t translated, is clearly NOT FINISHED. Why would they ship out product that’s not entirely finished? Did their testers not catch the untranslated lines? And if they did, were those notes totally ignored? Is there a communication issue between Otomate and Aksys Games that they couldn’t have asked for the audio files with the lines? Were they only able to get the text files? There are so many questions to be asked here, and we can only assume what happened, because we’ll likely get no answers.

Everyone here knows that I’m a huge supporter of localized otome games. So of course, I bought the Gamestop Day One Edition of Bad Apple Wars, because I want to support these games thriving in the West. But after awhile, the constant misspellings, and now not having 100-ish lines translated… It truly feels that these releases are not important to Aksys Games. They’re able to produce top-notch releases like the Zero Escape series, BlazBlue and Guilty Gear, but yet, that quality seems to drop for otome games? Here’s the thing: most of the time, people who play otome games will also play other types of games, so they will notice the change in quality and treatment of a game series. I sure as heck noticed it! And others have as well.

As disappointed as I am, I will keep on supporting otome game localizations, but I will write what I see, play and feel about the level of quality in that localized game. The fact is that between, say, 10 years ago to right now, things are a lot better; we’re getting these games translated, after all! But things could still be a lot better. I truly hope that the localizations of otome games improve as time passes by, that way we won’t feel like we have to reach for a Japanese-to-English dictionary to find out what the heck some of the characters are saying. I am very grateful that Aksys Games sees that we’re a community worth pursuing, so I will keep playing their releases to see how it stacks up against their past games. I want to believe that they can produce better otome game releases in the future.

With that being said… If you’ve played the English version of Bad Apple Wars and you have been wanting to know what’s being said in the Soul Touch scenes… Well, you’re in luck!

My gift to you, dear readers, is ALL the lines from the Soul Touch scenes! I suppose this is somewhat spoiler-ish if you haven’t played the game in full yet? Keep than in mind and enjoy!

Alma

GOOD TOUCH Pt.1

– Ah…

– You’re so warm…

– Good… You’re right here with me…

– I can feel your heartbeat…

– I’m going to protect you…

– This time, I promise I will…

– Just like this… forever…

– As long as you’re here, I…

– I can… stay myself…

– So…!

BAD TOUCH Pt.1

– Ah… No…!

– I don’t want to lose you ever again!

– Don’t leave me!

– Please, just… stay right here in my arms!

– I’m begging you! Please…!

GOOD TOUCH Pt.2

– Ah…!

– Haah… Feels so good… so soothing…

– Why are you so soft all over…?

– You envelop me so gently…

– Even though I haven’t done a thing to deserve it…

– Whenever I touch you, there’s this light…

– It feels like it’s pouring into me…

– Illuminating my pitch-black world…

– The light is… so warm…

– Haah…!

BAD TOUCH Pt.2

– It’s so dark… I can’t see anything but you…

– I can feel only you…

– You are all I need…

– I want to fall into you… so deep, we become one…

– That way we’ll never have to be separated ever again…!

Higa

GOOD TOUCH Pt.1

– Hnn.. nngh…

– The hell IS this…?

– It’s so warm…

– I want more…

– No… I… wanted to protect you…

– I told myself I needed to…

– …to protect you, at least, if no one else…

– But…

– Why are you…?

– When I’m in your arms, why do I feel so…?

BAD TOUCH Pt.1

– Not… there…

– Don’t touch me there…!

– Stop… Don’t come in…!

– Nngh… Dumbass… Stop that…

– Stop–!

GOOD TOUCH Pt.2

– Ah…! Again…?

– Look at all of me, she says…

– You can’t go around saying that to just anyone, dumbo…

– Why…? Why do you…

– …care so much about a dumbass like me…?

– You’re always so…

– Aagh, damn it… It’s so warm…

– This soft little hand of yours…

– …has saved my sorry hide so many times…

– I…

BAD TOUCH Pt.2

– Agh… ngh… Stop…

– I don’t… want you to see me…

– Not like this… I’m not worthy of you…

– Please, just stop…

– Don’t look! Stop!

Shikishima

GOOD TOUCH Pt.1

– Aaagh…

– It’s no use… I can’t get the message across…!

– I can’t get anyone to understand how I feel…

– I try to reach out, but they’re too far away…

– Is it just… hopeless…?

– Is giving up my only option…?

– No… I refuse…

– Surely there must be something more I can do…!

– I don’t want to give up…

– I…!

BAD TOUCH Pt.1

– Stop!

– If you don’t understand, then just leave me be!

– Just leave me alone!

– Don’t get in my way!

– Don’t… touch me…

GOOD TOUCH Pt.2

– Nngh…

– Let’s stay like this just a little longer…

– I want to feel your touch…

– Aahh… It’s so warm…

– Your tears are so beautiful…

– Why do you shed tears for me, I wonder?

– Why do you care for me so?

– But… that’s enough, now.

– Please, dry your tears…

– I’m hardly worthy of it, after all…

BAD TOUCH Pt.2

– I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…

– It’s my fault… I knew, and yet I tried to fight it…

– Even though there was never any need to fight it in the first place…

– It’s all right… This is enough for me…

– Please, don’t agonize over it any longer…

Satoru

GOOD TOUCH Pt.1

– Oh…

– It’s so warm…

– Aah… It feels good…

– Your feelings…

– They’re flowing into me…

– Why…?

– Why did you reach out to me…?

– I’m powerless…

– I can’t help anyone…

– Why…?

BAD TOUCH Pt.1

– No… Stop…

– Let me go…

– No…!

– Don’t look!

– Don’t come inside me!

GOOD TOUCH Pt.2

– Nngh…!

– It hurts…

– I don’t want to suffer…

– But… more than that, I don’t want HER to suffer…!

– So… I need to protect her…

– I need to work hard…!

– No matter how painful or miserable it gets… I need to endure it…!

– Haha… What am I doing…?

– Why am I putting in effort again…?

– I thought I wanted to let go… so why…?

BAD TOUCH Pt.2

– Nngh… It hurts… so much…

– I’m such an imbecile…

– Even though I can’t protect her…

– Even though putting in effort is a waste of time…

– Even though putting in effort will only lead to despair…

White Mask

GOOD TOUCH Pt.1

– Haah…

– Why… do you…

– …accept me… with such warmth…?

– I know I will never be allowed happiness…

– I know this, and yet…

BAD TOUCH Pt.1

– Nngh…

– What am I doing…?

– Wishing for the right to exist… I’m such a fool…

– I am tainted…

– And I will never be allowed happiness…

– I can’t let this go on…

– Otherwise…

– I will end up tainting you…

– So I must let you go…

– …someplace far away from me…

GOOD TOUCH Pt.2

– Aah… Why…?

– I thought I cut you free… Why…?

– Aahh… I’m inside you…

– You’re so warm… and blindingly bright…

– Agh… haah…

BAD TOUCH Pt.2

– Nngh…!

– Let go…!

– You mustn’t get close to me!

– You mustn’t touch me!

– You want to be with me, but…

– But I…

– I refuse…

– I just can’t take it…

– I’m begging you… Please…

– Please, just set me free…!

Some of these lines are pretty dang emotional, and even if you can hear how they’re saying these lines, if you’re not familiar with the Japanese language, you won’t know what’s being said. It’s a shame these weren’t included in the English version of Bad Apple Wars. I had to PAY a translator to get these lines, and while the amount I paid wasn’t much, I shouldn’t have to do so for a game that’s localized in English.

I truly hope that I won’t see something like this pop up in a future otome game, but only time will tell. I’ll cross my fingers and hope. Oh, but do keep in mind that I’m by no means telling people not to buy this game! I’m merely just talking about what I’ve seen of the game, what others have seen in the game and my views on it. Constructive criticism is a thing!

Many thanks to Molly, who translated the lines! 💖 Here’s a reminder to pay translators well! Translating, especially in a large volume of character count, isn’t as easy peasy as some people make it sound.

EDIT: It was brought to my attention that ever since BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, it was Strangely Compelling that did the localization for BlazBlue and Guilty Gear games. It seems all that Aksys did was marketing. That’s something that I didn’t even know, and I’m sure quite a few of you didn’t either! But even so, they did localize the Zero Escape series, which shows that Aksys does indeed have the capacity to successfully localize a quality game. Will they put that experience to show with other future titles? Thanks to Namiko for letting me know!

Until next time, goodbye and goodnight! 👆

Omake:

Here’s a funny tidbit: when I was given the file with the translation, the character count came to be 420. 😂 It’s the gift that keeps on giving!