Plus Alpha
Plus-Alpha is the localization company that has been responsible for translating Dragon Quest games into English for North American and European territories, starting with Dragon Quest VIII. They are well known for their use of British English, a variety of puns, and pop culture references to, in their own words, "give our products a fresh flavour". Though this method of localization has garnered acclaim from many gamers and critics, it has caused issue with older fans for changing familiar names.
Staff
Plus-Alpha consists of two individuals, who, up until then, were best known for their localization work on Okami: Clare Saracine and Will Blatchley.
Games Localized
Plus-Alpha has performed localization work on the following Dragon Quest titles for Square Enix:
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
- Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
- Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
- Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
- Dragon Quest Swords
And then there were their contemporaries, who continued that same style:
- It was believed Plus-Alpha was working on the English localization of Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, but this task was instead given to 8-4 ltd.
- Plus-Alpha was the inspiration behind the localization style of Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past by Shloc Ltd, with the dialogue being very reminiscent of the team.
Controversy of Localization Changes
With the arrival of the English version of Dragon Quest VIII, it was clear that many things had been changed in the transition from "Warrior" to "Quest". Nearly all character, monster, location, item and spell names of the Dragon Warrior era of Dragon Quest have been replaced with a template that prefers the use of puns, onomatopoeia and general silliness to provide a distinct sense of style. While the opinions of the more scorned fans are perfectly valid, it should be known that all of Plus-Alpha's edits are done under supervision from Square Enix, and permission must be given by Yuji Horii himself before any change can be made official.
