Hollow Knight: Silksong developers Team Cherry are “working to improve” the game’s Simplified Chinese translation, following “quality issues” which have seen its Steam user reviews from those speaking the language drop to “mixed”.
As you can easily see thanks to Steam’s recent introduction of language-specific review splits, the mixed reviews are unique to the 6,382 people who’ve left verdicts in Simplified Chinese so far. For every other language, including Traditional Chinese, the impressions being left are either mostly or overwhelmingly positive, though it’s worth noting that a sizeable number are more shows of support for Team Cherry than proper reviews, being based on less than an hour’s playtime.
Team Cherry have clearly spotted this, with the studio’s marketing and publishing director Matthew ‘Leth’ Griffin having posted a message to Chinese-speaking Skongers. “We appreciate you letting us know about quality issues with the current Simplified Chinese translation of Hollow Knight: Silksong,” he tweeted. “We’ll be working to improve the translation over the coming weeks. Thanks for your feedback and support.”
Issues with this translation of metroidvania were flagged online as early as its recent Gamescom demo in late August, with one user describing it as “terrible” and adding “if there are no changes in the official version, I am afraid there is a risk of bad reviews”.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun
Another user in that thread added: “If the demo’s text reflects what we’ll see in the final release, I must say the translation style in the demo differs greatly from the first game. Many lines feel unnatural, and some are even quite awkward or confusing in Chinese.”
According to our Guides Writer Jeremy, who’s half-Chinese and categorises his knowledge of the language as moderate with speaking fluency, the unnaturalness of the translation appears to stem from the use of classical grammar, a bit like an English translation which uses words like ‘thee’ and ‘thou’. Shakespearean Skong. Sounds like it could be a fun time, were you not just trying to lose yourself in a game you’ve waited ages for.
Wherefore art thou, Eric Barone cameo?
Here’s hoping Team Cherry’s planned translantion tweaks do let Chinese players enjoy jumping about as Hornet as much as many other Steam reviewers appear to be, without being subjected to bardly prose.