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2%% The examples on this page have been put into alphabetical order.
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4%% Please add new examples in the correct order.
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7[[quoteright:240:[[VideoGame/Mother3 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mother_3_fan_translation.png]]]]
8A phenomenon that goes hand-in-hand with UsefulNotes/{{Emulation}}, Fan Translation (or "Fanlation") [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin is pretty much what it says]]: The translation of games that only appeared in other languages (almost always Japanese) into the player's native language (almost always English) as a fanmade GameMod or ROM hack.
9
10This most often occurs on Japanese {{R|olePlayingGame}}PGs that were released prior to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Before that game's breakout success, American publishers shied away from Japanese [=RPGs=] because of their relatively poor sales compared to action games. In fact, the fan translation hobby largely began from the efforts to localize ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' and ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' (then known to international audiences by its Japanese name, ''Seiken Densetsu 3''), Creator/{{Square|Enix}} games that were heavily hyped as coming to the US, then [[ScrewedByTheNetwork mysteriously canceled]]. Some older [=RPGs=] were even ''re''-translated due to the "quality" of the translations ranging from a mere BlindIdiotTranslation to an outright TranslationTrainWreck.
11
12{{Licensed Game}}s can also receive this treatment. Often, it takes years before an {{anime}} series is brought over and becomes popular in the West, while the Japanese games based on that series are seen as obsolete by the distributors.
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14While no legal dispute over a fanmade patch has ever occurred, a handful of cease-and-desist orders have been issued regardless of any actual validity. Since ROM patches contain no assets from the original game and no derived assets that are viable without it, no likely basis for arguing infringement is known. The resulting translated [=ROMs=] themselves, of course, fall under the same rules as any other ROM dump if distributed (hence why ROM hacking sites generally only distribute patches, requiring players to find the original ROM elsewhere and use a patching program to actually use the patch).
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16Plus, NoExportForYou already garners enough bad PR, exacerbating it among fans would [[InternetCounterattack definitely not be a good idea]].
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18See also {{Fansub}}s for the {{Anime}} version and {{Scanlation}}s for the manga version.
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20Please note that people aren't getting paid for this and are DoingItForTheArt (though they may have professional translation work as their main occupation, as with Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, the head translator of ''VideoGame/Mother3'', who does fan translations solely as a hobby in his spare time); DevelopmentHell is common, and {{Vaporware}} might happen occasionally (an example of the latter being the aforementioned Clyde Mandelin's abandoned translation of ''VideoGame/TomatoAdventure'', though he ''did'' release the source code for his work in case anyone else wants to give it a shot and a Fan Translation was finally completed in 2021). Any ongoing projects may take VERY long.
21----
22!!Examples:
23[[foldercontrol]]
24
25[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26* ''Anime/SailorMoon'', due to its licensing hangups and complicated dubbing history, had numerous instances where the fans decide to just take it upon themselves:
27** The fifth and final arc season ''Stars'' originally never saw Stateside shores for many years, and the original English Dub [[UnfinishedDub stopped]] at the season finale of ''[=SuperS=]''. It wouldn't be until ''Creator/VizMedia'' decided to dub the entire series from scratch, when the ''Stars'' finally received an English dub. ''However'', there are a dedicated subsect of fans who went ahead to create their own translation of ''Stars'' anyway, as many of them were left unsatisfied with the VIZ dub of ''Stars'' [[note]]The Viz Media Dub of ''Sailor Moon'' was a TruerToTheText translation of the anime compared to the [=DiC=]/Cloverway version, and thus [[DitchingTheDubNames got rid of the dub names]] and lingo, stuck closer to the original Japanese script, changed the music back to its original soundtrack, and eliminated all censorship and cuts. While commended by many, the Viz Media version also [[BrokenBase split the fanbase]] for not being quite the same as the version of Sailor Moon that they grew up with. The [=DiC=]/[=CWi=] version was still many's [[AudienceColoringAdaptation defining]] [[GatewaySeries experience]] with ''Sailor Moon'', and cannot see the show any other way.[[/note]]. Leading to them creating a new translation [[FanEdit that lines up more]] with the original [=DiC=]/Cloverway dub, including keeping all of its names, lingo and style.
28[[/folder]]
29
30[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
31* [[Franchise/StarWars Project Threepio]] (a companion piece to the Despecialized Editions) contains fan translations of the Original Unaltered Trilogy in languages where only the Special Edition was officially released (such as Croatian and Slovene). It also contains retranslations in French, Italian, Hungarian, and Finnish (all 4 of which have non-SE versions with lots of [[BlindIdiotTranslation Engrish]]).
32* There are several rare foreign films unofficially subtitled in private film forums such as Karagarga.
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder:Literature]]
36* The LightNovel translation site [[http://baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Main_Page Baka-Tsuki]] collects various Fan Translation efforts for light novels.
37* ''Literature/BodaciousSpacePirates'' has had 3 attempts by fans to translate the novels to English.
38** A fellow named yukamichi made the first attempt in an effort that lasted a little over a year from May 2018 to July 2019, completing the first 3 volumes before stopping (the [[https://fleshtoplush.blogspot.com/2018/05/miniskirt-space-pirates-volume-1.html blog]] hosting the translation is offline).
39** A translator named [=AkiraTepes=] made another attempt from October 2022 to February 2023, posting his work on Archive Of Our Own, but he didn't even finish the first volume before stopping updates.
40** In October 2023, someone else named archivist recovered yukamichi's work, and then continued work on [[https://miniskirtpiratestranslations.org/ Volume 4 and beyond.]]
41* The ''Literature/BoogiepopSeries'' has an official license by Seven Seas Entertainment but it only released the first 6 novels (the series is ongoing and has 24 volumes published as of the end of 2023). With the English publisher showing no interest in continuing the series, a [[https://www.threatstotheworld.com translation group]] was formed to continue translating the series.
42* ''Literature/TheDeerKing'' had an English fan translation on [[https://infinitenoveltranslations.net/shika-no-ou/ Infinite Novel Translations]] that finished the first two light novels, but it was later taken down in January 2022 when rumors began circulating the series would get an official English license. These rumors turned out to be true when Yen Press licensed the series in April 2023.
43* ''Literature/DigitalDevilStory'', the original source material for the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' video game series, was translated by a fan. Well, the first two novels were, anyway.
44* ''Manga/{{Dororo}}'': Ainikki translated [[https://dororo-novels.blogspot.com/2022/01/toriumi-jinzos-dororo-series-3-books.html Jinzō Toriumi's novel trilogy]] from February to December 2021. She's currently working on Part 2 of [[https://dororo-novels.blogspot.com/2022/01/nakamura-masarus-dororo-movie.html Masaru Nakamura's novelization of the live-action film]] since January 2022, with estimated completion in late August 2022.
45* The ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'' fandom is populated by many amateur translators, as there are no official English releases of any of its content. This applies for the songs as well, but currently ''Literature/ClotureOfYellow'', ''Literature/WiegenliedOfGreen'', and ''Literature/TheLunacyOfDukeVenomania'' either have fan translations or are currently being given one. The series' wiki also does translations that are even rougher to learn what new information is being released in each novel.
46* ''Literature/GrimoireOfZero'' never received a licensed release . The now-defunct group Nanodesu attempted a fan translation that lasted from March 2016 to January 2019 and only got partway through Volume 2 before they folded. In September 2020, Light Novels Translation began their own take on the series starting from the beginning, and [[https://lightnovelstranslations.com/novel/grimoire-of-zero/?tab=table_contents finished all eleven volumes]] in September 2022. Ironically, the series sequel ''Mahoutsukai Reimeiki'' (''The Dawn of the Witch'') does have an official English release by Kodansha USA.
47* Creator/KyotoAnimation's in-house publishing label, KA Esuma Bunko, never licenses any of its light novels for foreign release. As a result, fan translations are the only way to read these stories in English (which all have massive differences from their anime adaptations):
48** ''Literature/BeyondTheBoundary'': 3 volumes published from June 2012 - December 2013. Two attempts at a fan translation stalled out pretty early, with the first only [[https://nakulas.blogspot.com/2013/04/kyoukai-no-kanata-volume-1-progress.html getting up to part of Chapter 2]] and the second not even making it that far, only doing Volume 1's [[https://www.tumblr.com/unlimited-japanese-works/135095369446/kyoukai-no-kanata-prologue prologue]] and [[https://www.tumblr.com/unlimited-japanese-works/142155540961/kyoukai-no-kanata-ch-1-part-1 part of the first chapter.]]
49** ''Literature/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'': 2 volumes originally published in June & December 2011, followed up by 2 more volumes in March 2014 and December 2017. It took three separate fan translation groups to complete this project:
50*** ultimatemegax completed [[https://god1928.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai-volume-1.pdf Volume 1]] and [[https://god1928.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai-volume-2.pdf 2]] in late 2012.
51*** [=KitaKamiOoi=] completed [[https://kitakamiooi.com/series/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai/ Volume 3]] and 60% of [[https://kitakamiooi.com/2020/12/31/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai-volume-4-chapter-7/ Volume]] [[https://kitakamiooi.com/2021/05/26/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai-volume-4-chapter-8/ 4]] from May 2017 to May 2021.
52*** The rest of Volume 4 was completed in February 2024 by [[https://cclawtranslations.home.blog/chuunibyou-demo-koi-ga-shitai-toc/ CClaw Translations.]]
53** ''Literature/SoundEuphonium'': 12 volumes published from December 2013 to June 2019. Only the first volume has an official English release. For all the others, Team Oumae translated [[https://teamoumae.wordpress.com/second-movement-part-1/ Volumes 8]], [[https://teamoumae.wordpress.com/second-movement-part-2/ 9]], [[https://teamoumae.wordpress.com/true-stories/ 10]], and part of [[https://teamoumae.wordpress.com/secret-stories/ 4.]] A separate group named Team Kuroe started Volume 11 [[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tydE7PY_CLjSFSRtBIz5MlkbKG5cV2C1 but only got the first 2 chapters done.]]
54** ''Literature/{{Tsurune}}'': 3 volumes published from December 2016 to August 2022. All 3 volumes were translated by [[https://thefinalcinderella.tumblr.com/post/616419996520808448/tsurune-novel-index thefinalcinderella]] from July 2019 to February 2024.
55** ''Literature/VioletEvergarden'': 4 volumes published from December 2015 to March 2020 along with about a dozen side stories. Translations of all works were completed by [[https://dennou-translations.tumblr.com/post/159331691639/violet-evergarden-novel-index Dennou Translations]] across 5 years from April 2017 to April 2022. A few alternative translations of some of the side stories were also done by Teck's Treehouse.
56* ''Literature/LordMarksmanAndVanadis'' had a long, arduous road to getting a complete English translation of its 18 volumes that lasted over a decade and involved 3 separate translation groups:
57** [[https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Madan_no_Ou_to_Vanadis Baka-Tsuki]] kicked things off in October 2012, and their efforts lasted until January 2016 when their team quit after completing Volumes 1 to 8.
58** [[https://setsuna86blog.wordpress.com/madan-no-ou-to-vanadis/ Setsuna86]], an independent translator, continued where they left off beginning September 2016. He stopped updating in August 2019, having completed Volume 8 up to the first half of Volume 14.
59** [[https://infinitenoveltranslations.net/madan-no-ou-to-vanadis/ Infinite Novel Translations]] then took up the project in June 2020 and continued Volume 14, eventually finishing up Volume 18 in January 2023.
60* ''Literature/{{Moribito}}'':
61** From August 2016 to December 2019, Tansou Tsukai translated Volume 3, ''Guardian of Dreams'', into English as ''[[https://tansoutsukai.wordpress.com/ Guardian of the Dreams]]''.
62** Inspired by Tansou Tsukai, [[https://guardianofthespirit.blogspot.com/2021/03/uehashi-nahoko-translation-project.html Ainikki]] began a project to translate the remaining volumes. She finished translating the remaining main volumes and all 3 spin-offs into English by September 2022: ''Traveler of the Void'', ''Guardian of the God'', ''Traveler of the Indigo Road'' (as ''Traveler of the Blue Road''), ''Guardian of Heaven and Earth'', and ''Wanderers'' (as ''The Wanderer''). She is currently working on the last two spin-offs: ''Treading the Path of Fire'' (called ''Those Who Walk the Flame Road''), and ''Traveler of the Wind'' (called ''Where the Wind Takes Us'').
63* A fan translation of ''Literature/TheNutcrackerAndTheMouseKing'' can be found [[http://www.springhole.net/writing/the_nutcracker_and_the_mouse_king/index.html here]]. (As the original story is in the public domain, there are no legal issues.)
64* ''Literature/{{Phenomena}}'' is given [[http://norwegianfantasia.tumblr.com/search/fan+translation one]]. It's not very fast but it's something.
65* ''Literature/RecordOfGrancrestWar'' only had its anime and manga released in English. Light Novels Translations [[https://lightnovelstranslations.com/novel/record-of-grancrest-war/?tab=table_contents began work]] on the light novels in May 2023.
66* ''Literature/SacredAndTerribleAir'': The original Estonian book was eventually translated into English by fans in mid-2023.
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Video Games]]
70!!Fans who translate games:
71* [[http://agtp.romhack.net/ Aeon Genesis]], a group headed by ROM hacker Gideon Zhi with the help of various translators, is known for translating various Japanese-only video games and freeware titles. They have released 70 finished game translations as of this entry, and currently have 37 more in various stages of progress. Games they have translated include:
72** ''VideoGame/TheAdventureOfHouraiHighSchool''
73** ''VideoGame/AncientMagic''
74** The original ''VideoGame/{{Clock Tower|1995}}'' for the SNES.
75** The first and third ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' fighting games for the SNES.
76** ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' (original version; modders were able to patch ''[[UpdatedRerelease Cave Story+]]'' with Aeon Genesis' translation over [=NICALiS=]')
77** ''VideoGame/DarkHalf''
78** ''VideoGame/FrontMissionGunHazard''
79** ''VideoGame/HolyUmbrella''
80** ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' (original version)
81** The original ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' for the SNES.
82** ''VideoGame/LunarWalkingSchool''
83** ''VideoGame/MagicalDrop'' (Super Famicom port). Subverted with the Super Famicom port of ''Magical Drop 2'', where the planned translation would end up being officially licensed before it was able to be released as a patch.
84** ''VideoGame/MagicalPopn''
85** ''[[VideoGame/MegaManAndBass Rockman & Forte]]'' (the original Super Famicom version)
86** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII''
87** ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'' (the first game's original Super Famicom version)
88** ''VideoGame/ShodaiNekketsuKohaKunioKun'' and ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirlsZero'', two non-{{Super Deformed}} VideoGame/KunioKun games.
89** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars1'', ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2'', ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Gaiden'', ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsGaiden: The Elemental Lords'', and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsEX''
90** ''VideoGame/TreasureOfTheRudra'', a game which seems to have slipped off Square's radar and to this day has yet to get the VideoGameRemake treatment many of its fellow older [=RPGs=] have received. The entire magic system had to be conceptually reworked to accept English words.
91** ''VideoGame/WarningForever''
92** ''VideoGame/YsIVMaskOfTheSun'' ([[VideoGame/YsMemoriesOfCelceta the Vita incarnation]] of ''Ys IV'', unlike this and ''VideoGame/YsIVTheDawnOfYs'' for the PC Engine, was not outsourced by Creator/{{Falcom}} and received an official translation by Creator/XSEEDGames)
93** ''VideoGame/YsVLostKefinKingdomOfSand'', whose translation patch was finally finished in November 2013 after what Gideon Zhi has described as some of the most difficult hacking work he's done, due to the large amount of reprogramming that had to be done to get the English script to work properly.
94** Retranslations of ''VideoGame/ActRaiser'', ''VideoGame/AssaultSuitsValken'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Rockman 2]]'', whose official translations weren't considered faithful enough.
95* In the early '90s, Russian and Ukrainian programmers translated games to Russian (before you ask, there was no widespread Ukrainian font at the time), some notables are: ''VideoGame/DuneII'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKyrandia series'', ''VideoGame/LandsOfLore: Throne of Chaos'', ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'', ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic 2'' and others.\
96This is reciprocated today by western fans translating much of the burgeoning Eastern European game industry's niche genre output.
97* Romhack Hispano was a notable portal for Spanish fan translation groups from 2006 to 2018, but it's been slowly abandoned. There's some new groups popping up, with [=TraduSquare=] being the most prominent.
98* A fan translation group called Dakkodango translated the original Windows version of ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'' in 2009.
99* In 2010, the same group translated a worksafe Windows version of ''VisualNovel/AseliaTheEternalTheSpiritOfEternitySword''. The next year, [=JAST=] licensed the game, and chose to work with the group in order to publish the official translation, which was released in November 2011.
100* A group called Matt's Messy Room has translated a number of games, including a ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' Platform/SuperNintendo game which predates the anime TV series, {{Licensed Game}}s for the Platform/PCEngine based on ''Anime/{{Bubblegum Cr|isis}}ash!'' and ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku'', the Platform/GameGear version of ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari I'', and the PC-FX version of ''Welcome to Pia Carrot.''
101* The translation group M.I.J.E.T. specializes in translations of games for the Platform/SegaGenesis and Platform/SharpX68000, including ''VideoGame/{{Langrisser}} II'', the eight ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' text adventures, and the original computer version of ''VideoGame/{{Valis}} II''.
102* Traducciones del Tío Víctor is a group that specializes in fandubbing games to (European) Spanish. They started with a ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' fantranslation that did [[http://tiovictor.romhackhispano.org/the-world-ends-with-you-version-en-castellano-2-0/ (twice)]] translated and redubbed the game. After that, he got hooked up: [[VideoGame/TimeCrisis the first Time Crisis]], ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'' for the N64, a couple of scenes from ''Shenmue'' I and II...
103
104!!Games translated by fans:
105* Geoff Embree completed a translation patch for ''VideoGame/SeventhDragon'' in April 2014. (The initial "open beta" version was actually released on AprilFoolsDay.)
106* ''VideoGame/{{Armadillo}}'' had a very well-done fan translation that translated 100% of the game's story text to English and modified the title screen. This fan translation is even being sold online in the form of reproduction carts.
107* A game which had been dropped by [=NoA=] despite being late in development, ''ASH Archaic Sealed Heat'', from Mistwalker, had a partial fan-translation leaked by a beta-tester of said fan-project, which has been dropped.
108* ''Bare Knuckle III'', the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage 3'', was fan-translated in response to [[EasyModeMockery the]] unnecessary [[DifficultyByRegion changes]] to the American version.
109* Aroduc is a one man ''VideoGame/BattleMoonWars'' translating machine.
110* The unofficial Russian dub of ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. While 1C-Softclub did release an official localisation of the game, it was only limited to subtitles and UI, so a team of intrepid modders took the effort of producing a complete fan dub. They even got Anna Moleva -- whom Irrational themselves hired to serve as the live-action model after she earned a lot of publicity for her spot-on cosplay portrayal of the character -- to voice Elizabeth.
111* ''Franchise/BreathOfFire''
112** In March 3, 2022, vivify93 from Romhack.com [[https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6611/ released a brand new translation]] for ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireI'' that does the same for the game as d4s and Ryusui did for ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII''. Among the many improvements are: a greatly expanded script with nods to terms and story elements of later games, most of the censorship has been removed as well as an "ensured consistency" with terms used in Ryusui's retranslation of [=BoFII=]. There are also optional patches that doubles the EXP and zenny/money obtained from battles to lesser the need for grinding and/or change the menu icons to use text.
113** ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' is an example of a game that was already internationally localized before it received a Fan Translation. The [[BlindIdiotTranslation unfortunate quality]] of said translation (which was nonetheless re-used for the game's re-release on the GBA) led to fan-based efforts to localize the game. In 2006 a group called d4s released a patch for the SNES version that contained not only a high-quality German-language translation of the game but also added in the gameplay tweaks and fixes introduced in the GBA release and a new intro montage that made liberal use of Japanese marketing materials, including Capcom's in-house game art and the J-pop single originally commissioned by Capcom to be used in its advertising for the game, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8vCaiew0Wk&feature=related "Owaranai Ai"]]. The d4s version is considered so well-done that it has become the basis for numerous other retranslation projects for the game, such as Ryusei's 2009 English translation.
114* ''VideoGame/CaptainRainbow'' is [[http://kirameki.altervista.org/eng/captainrainbow.php currently being translated]] into English and Italian. When finished, it will be run the same way as the ''Fatal Frame 4'' translation.
115* ''Choujin Heiki Zeroigar'', an anime-style ShootEmUp for the NEC PC-FX (and one of the system's very few action-oriented games), received a fully subtitled translation patch in August 2015.
116* The Platform/GameBoyColor version of ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble Donkey Kong Land III]]'' received an English translation patch in October 2012, 12 years after the Japanese release. While there already exists an official English version (the game itself is British) it was made for the original Game Boy, not the Game Boy Color.\
117This English translation was also the basis for a unique Spanish translation about a month later, in November 2012.
118* The ''VideoGame/DigimonAdventurePSP'' game receieved an English translation patch by a team led by Kazari on March 8, 2018, five years after the original Japanese release and also 19 years and a day late [[MilestoneCelebration after the release of the original]] ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' [[MilestoneCelebration anime]].
119* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
120** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters Caravan Heart''. There's also one in development for the CompilationRerelease of the first two games.
121** The [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]] CompilationRerelease for ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI & [[VideoGame/DragonQuestII II]]'', which didn't receive an official localization (unlike the compilation for the Platform/GameBoyColor), received a fan translation. A different group later made fan translations for the Super Famicom [[VideoGameRemake remake]] of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' (which similarly lacked an official translation on that system but not the Game Boy Color) and the Platform/PlayStation2 remake of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' (which was RemadeForTheExport on the Platform/NintendoDS after the Japanese release of the [=PlayStation=] 2 remake).
122* ''VideoGame/EnergyBreaker'' finally received a translation patch in September 2012.
123* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', being a rare very popular mobile game with [[NoExportForYou no official English version]], has a translation on [[https://ensemble-stars.fandom.com/wiki/The_English_Ensemble_Stars_Wiki its wiki]]. Unlike other video game examples, the minimal gameplay combined with the difficulty accessing all of the stories (they are attached to gacha cards and events and while it's not especially hard to unlock any particular current story, it's quite difficult for a newcomer to read older stories) and the VisualNovel style format mean that rather than a patch, the translation is simply uploaded to the wiki in text form with images to show who is speaking. Stories are also translated unequally depending on who is willing to go through the effort, meaning that dramatic stories featuring popular characters are much more likely to be translated than {{Breather Episode}}s about less popular ones. Fans also often do very quick, unedited translations to twitter as soon as a new story is released so non-Japanese-speaking fans can quickly hear about any major new revelations.
124* The original ''VideoGame/EtherVapor'' got an English translation patch -- or rather it used to after it was licensed by Nyu Media to localize its {{updated re|release}}-release.
125* The Platform/PC98 predecessor to ''VideoGame/EVOSearchForEden'', ''46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinkaron'' (''The Theory of Evolution''), received a fan translation at the end of 2016. The same group went on to translate ''VideoGame/{{Rusty}}''.
126* The 3DS version of ''VideoGame/EXTroopers'' received a full English translation in 2019. While the creator admitted it was rough around the edges, the achievement is worth noting. In particular, because CAPCOM didn't want to put in the localization effort for a very unique way of presenting in-game dialogue as they thought the niche title couldn't recoup costs enough for it to be worth it.[[note]]The game's in-game dialogue is mostly usual gaming fare of text rendered in speech bubbles via fonts from text files. However, half the story is delivered in pre-rendered animations and half in real-time in-engine motion comics, both of which use manga-style speech bubbles to deliver "subtitles" and sound effects. These are all rendered textures, meaning that any translation effort would require these scenes be redone from scratch, as the positioning and shape of the text bubbles is [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] every now and again and is generally important for the story flow[[/note]].
127* ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' is currently being translated to Brazilian Portuguese since 2004, and while there is no release date, it's quite certain that it's in a very advanced state.
128* Due to the cancellation of the US and European releases of the game, ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaskOfTheLunarEclipse'' is only available in Japan. However, a group released a patch that runs from the Wii's SD card slot using Riivolution, instead of directly patching the game (since the developers stated that they don't want to promote piracy). Though people have figured out how to do it anyways using their files.
129* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
130** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' for the NES were fan-translated in 1998 and 1999, with ''III'' receiving an additional translation prior to the DS remake's release. The eventual English versions of the former were in the form of remakes, some of which tweak the StatGrinding system, while the latter initially only had an English release of its heavily "reimagined" VideoGameRemake on the Platform/NintendoDS until the 2D ''Pixel Remaster'' remake released 15 years later gave Westerners a version that updated the graphics while making few other changes. Both games received new translations after they were RemadeForTheExport, in both cases giving the original Famicom versions scripts influenced by their remakes' official translations.
131** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' already had an official American release known as ''Final Fantasy II'' (no relation to the real ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''), but differences between the American and Japanese versions as well as a PortingDisaster on the [=PlayStation=] prompted for not one, not two, but ''three'' different fan translations:
132*** First is the [=J2E=] project for the Japanese version, which claims to be "more faithful" than the original English translation. In practice, while there are a handful of corrections, most of what it does either copies the original script or is an outright GagDub-- [[SpiceUpTheSubtitles adding excessive cursing, pop culture references that weren't in either version of the script, or adding lines that break character entirely]]. ''Website/LegendsOfLocalization'' argued that it's a worse translation than the very one it was meant to supplant in [[https://legendsoflocalization.com/final-fantasy-iv/ their comparison]] of the different translations, and it's so bad that there's been addendum updates by various hackers to remove the spiced up parts.
133*** Next is Project II for the English release, which uses a script that takes elements from all the translations of the game, boosts the enemy stats back to what they are in the Japanese version, restored the dummied out battle commands and items, fixes bugs/glitches, and implements 10 other [=QoL=] mods.
134*** Finally is the Namingway Edition for the English release, an updated version of Project II that replaces certain names and terms with their modern official versions. This translation is the one most heavily favored by the folks at ''Legends of Localization'', owing to it having the greatest amount of improvements over the original SNES release.
135** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' was the first of many [=RPGs=] for the SNES to be translated by fans. A patch was released in 1998, one year before Square released an [[BlindIdiotTranslation official localization]] for the Platform/PlayStation. However, Creator/SquareEnix released a far more polished translation for the Platform/GameBoyAdvance several years after the [=PlayStation=] version.\
136A revised version of the fan translation was released about 20 years after the original release of said translation, with most of the changes being minor tweaks to the script aside from changing Bartz and Krile's names to match the official translations, while [[https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3687/ another hack]] released the same year takes a different approach by inserting the script from the Game Boy Advance version's official translation into the Super Famicom version when possible.
137** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' was retranslated by a group called RPGONE, better known for one of the team member's screen names, Sky Render. This version was a literal translation, and was divisive for several reasons, most prominently for transforming Kefka from the love-to-hate-him MonsterClown of the English versions into a much more generic villain, consequently proving firsthand that the official translation was right to so heavily change Kefka's characterization (the StrawNihilist PsychopathicManchild that was so heavily beloved by western fans was a wholecloth invention by translator Ted Woolsey; in Japan, Kefka was just an annoyingly forgettable cardboard cutout of a villain before later portrayals in Japan started carrying over Woolsey's take on the character). Sky Render himself [[http://legendsoflocalization.com/son-of-a-submariner-kefkas-famous-line-in-detail/ posted a comment]] on ''Legends of Localization'' saying that he thinks the translation could have been better, especially compared to his later work.
138** Although ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' did get an official English translation, many fans considered the translation to be poor in areas, introducing a lot of MindScrew that supposedly wasn't there in the original Japanese script. [[http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=14914.msg209227#msg209227 One team]] made a full retranslation of the game, with basis on later localizations (spell names like "Firaga" and "Blizzaga" for instance) with text much clearer and at times more faithful to the original script.
139** News of a practically completed English patch for the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII [[UpdatedRerelease International Zodiac Job System]]'' ended up surfacing after that version of the game ended up being Japan-only.
140* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyLegendII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyLegendIII'', the Platform/NintendoDS [[VideoGameRemake video game remakes]].
141* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
142** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' were both translated by fans. Both also ended up being RemadeForTheExport, the former on the Platform/NintendoDS and the latter on the Platform/Nintendo3DS.
143** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', a Super Famicom game consisting of a remake of the first game (called Book 1) as well as a sequel to the same game (called Book 2), has a translation that's at least more complete than the ones for the Jugdral games. The Platform/NintendoDS remake of Book 2 from that game (since the first game already had a DS remake), ''Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem -- Heroes of Light and Shadow'', would later receive a complete fan translation.\
144The script translator of the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'' (who also led the development of remake's translation) later approved of the development of a revised translation of that version of the game, though the code ended up needing to be hacked from scratch because the original translation's hacker dropped off the radar and the tools used to make said translation were lost.
145** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' were both never officially localized and have received fan translations. In 2016 ''Genealogy'' received a new translation that provides an in-game English translation of the ending for the first time, a feat in itself as the ending is very long and your choices of who you recruit, who lives, who dies, and who falls in love change the ending for a game that was made 20 years ago. The same team behind that translation also wants to develop a new translation for ''Thracia'' as well because the only translation we have is notorious for hilariously broken English, utter nonsense, and sizable amounts of dialogue that simply aren't even translated (for example, many portions of the menus are gibberish due to the removal of the Japanese font). The new fan translation was finally released at the end of May 2019.
146** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''[[note]]AKA ''Sword of Seals'', a commonly used translation from before Nintendo of America settled on the former in [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros official]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening materials]][[/note]] never received an official translation, despite its prequel being the first officially localized installment. This game, which is what Roy's presence in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' was promoting, has a complete fan translation to fill the gap.
147* ''Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru'' (''VideoGame/ForTheFrogTheBellTolls''), the Japan-only Platform/GameBoy adventure/platforming game which is the [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual predecessor]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' (which features Prince Richard from the former as an important character) received a fan translation in 2011.
148* The Front Mission Series Translation Team have released a complete fan translation of ''VideoGame/FrontMission5'', which never made it outside of Japan. They are currently working on fan translations for ''VideoGame/FrontMission2'' and Alternative. Likewise, they are also covering other ''Front Mission'' media, having just completed translating the ''Gun Hazard'' radio drama series. You can learn more [[https://opticalgarbage.com/frontmission/wiki/ here]].
149* The '80s-to-'90s ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeracles'' games were not localized when they were current. However, as of 2016 there are fan translation patches for the first four main installments of the series (two Famicom games and two Super Famicom games), as well as a translation for a Platform/GameBoy spinoff called ''Snap Story''. [=DvD=] Translations, who translated the first game (''The Glory of Heracles: Labors of the Divine Hero''), also produced translations of the NES/Famicom versions of ''VisualNovel/ThePortopiaSerialMurderCase'' and Creator/{{Falcom}}'s ''Romancia''.
150* ''VideoGame/GrandiaParallelTrippers'' got a translation patch in September 2011.
151* Several ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' translation projects have been made mostly by Eastern Europeans to which there isn't an officially localized version of the game, although an official Russian version of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' was released by the 1C Company. Translations of the games to languages like Indonesian, Arabic and Filipino are also available.
152** A certain fan translator has gone low into turning the series as an AuthorTract medium for his views, though. So much that he [[{{Irony}} plastered anti-gaming messages]] in place of the games' billboards and signages, and restricts users of his game modding tools from utilizing his programs for authoring content he deems as offensive or contrary to his ideologies.
153* After over four years ''VideoGame/{{Hellsinker}}'' finally gets one as well.
154* ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster The iDOLM@STER]]'' bringing the series with three translations:
155** ''The iDOLM@STER SP Perfect Sun'' is fully playable in English. Chihaya's route from Missing Moon is also released with Iori and Yukiho from Wandering Star. The people at [=TLWiki=] are continuing to work on the other two PSP game routes.
156** ''The IDOLM@STER One for All'''s main story and the [=DLCs=] are fully playable in English. IM@S OFA Translation Project is currently working on the mail lines translation.
157** ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterShinyColors'' has a fan translation that runs right in your browser and updates automatically. However, much of the dialog is machine translated, but more manually translated commus are added all the time.
158* An attempt to hack an English translation into the Swedish game ''VideoGame/JonssonliganJaktenPaMjolner'' has been made, but so far failed. The reason it is still mentioned on this page is that the translator behind that project then decided to [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=z6P9vybOThU write subtitles for another player's commentary-less longplay which covers the whole game,]] straddling the line between this and a FanSub.
159* ''VideoGame/{{KAMUI}}'' is the only game in ''VideoGame/TheTaleOfALLTYNEX'' series to have a fan English translation. Then Nyu Media localized it for English-speaking players and released it a year and a half later, making the fan patch no longer necessary.
160* The original [=PlayStation=] ''VideoGame/KingsField'' games are a trilogy, but the first in the series was never released outside of Japan. A complete fan translation patch has somewhat corrected that oversight.
161* Dynamic Designs released a translation patch for ''Manga/KishinDoujiZenki: Battle Raiden'' (an action PlatformGame for the Super Famicom by the same team responsible for ''VideoGame/{{Hagane}}'') in January 2016.
162* ''[[VideoGame/KlonoaHeroesDensetsuNoStarMedal Klonoa Heroes: The Legendary Star Medal]]'' finally received a complete English fan translation in March 2022, after going ''two whole decades'' without one.
163* The Famicom platform game based on ''Kyatto Ninden Teyandee'' (better known as ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'') received two fan translation patches, one of which is a straight translation and the other which--like the show it's based on--throws out the original script and writes new comedic dialogue based on the events of the game.
164* ''VideoGame/LANoire'' has also been subject to fan translation -- a team of hackers from Xentax and elsewhere [[http://la.noire.cz/screeny_cestina.php came up with their own Czech translation]] of the game in 2011.
165* Of the five games in the ''VideoGame/TheLegendaryStarfy'' series, only one (the fifth) has been localized to America. Since then, the first game has recieved two English fan translations; one made by a fan called Torchickens and posted [[https://sites.google.com/site/torchickens2/densetsu-no-starfy-translation-project on her website]], the other made by the team [=MiYaku=] Gaming and kept [[https://github.com/MiYakuGaming/Densetsu-no-Stafy-GBA-Translation/tree/master/script on GitHub]]. Neither are full translations as both are still works in progress, though the latter is in general a more literal and less polished translation than the former.
166** The second, third, and fourth games in the series have been covered by Autumnchild via let's plays of the games on [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Autumchild her YouTube channel]], translating what certain important text in the game means. Unfortunately, the translations of the second and third titles can't be seen in the videos anymore, since they were provided by annotations (which [=YouTube=] no longer supports). The translations of the fourth game are still intact due to them being edited directly into the videos.
167* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games on the Platform/NintendoGameCube all received a Korean translation by one Creator/{{Nintendo}} fan and collector, as no Nintendo games other than ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' were ever released translated into Korean until Nintendo of Korea was established in 2006.
168* The group [=TLWiki=] started translation work on ''VideoGame/LovePlus''. It was picked up by Jjjewel and members of the Gbatemp forum some time later. As of January 2012, [[https://sites.google.com/site/loveplustrans/announcement/patchv10released the translation project]] is considered complete.
169* ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'' has a fan translation that keeps the ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' style cutscenes of the Japanese version, which were removed in the American version and are generally considered the saving grace of what is otherwise a pretty blatant FollowTheLeader of ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic''.
170* ''VideoGame/MarvelousAnotherTreasureIsland'' got a fully-made fan translation in 2016, a few years after a previous one had been abandoned part way through development.
171* ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion 3'' got a German Fan Translation.
172* ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'':
173** The Platform/PlayStation game ''Medarot R'' got an English fan translation in 2019. This one [[SpiceUpTheSubtitles adds a lot of swearing and off-color jokes]] that were not in the original script.
174** The [[VideoGame/MedarotKabutoAndKuwagata original game]] got English and Spanish fan translations from a separate group in 2020, with an optional "Portrait" versions that adds the character portraits from the Platform/WonderSwan remake.
175* The Romhacking Aerie's long-awaited translation of ''Megami Tensei: The Old Testament'' was released in August 2014.
176* ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' got a fan translation, because its official translation was [[BlindIdiotTranslation famously horrible and cut out all the jokes]].
177* ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' was fan-translated many years before an official translation appeared as an EmbeddedPrecursor game in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''.
178* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2Dos'' has the DOS English patch by Burango.
179* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
180** ''VideoGame/Mother3'', a victim of TroubledProduction in its original Platform/{{Nintendo 64}}DD incarnation from a series that's been continually ScrewedByTheNetwork, released brand new on the Platform/GameBoyAdvance in 2006 (when the GBA was pretty much dead, as the Platform/NintendoDS turned two years old the same year): A perfect storm of [[NoExportForYou commercial infeasibility]]. Faced with this situation, a group of translators spearheaded by [[FandomVIP Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin]] coalesced around Starmen.net, the series' major fansite, including a number of professionals from the game industry itself. The result, released on October 2008, is one of the most widely heralded fan translations ever (it even has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_3_fan_translation its own Wikipedia page]]) and has received praise from members of the game development community.\
181While this translation was only released in English, its developers encourage speakers of other languages to base their work on it, as the tools used to make it were released to the public and the font it uses includes characters rarely used in English but commonly used in multiple mainland European languages, such as accented vowels. [=EarthBound=] Central, a fansite ran by Clyde Mandelin, often keeps track of translations into languages other than English, such as at least two Italian translations.
182** Some of the ''Mother 3'' translation staff [[http://mother12.earthboundcentral.com/ made a translation]] for the CompilationRerelease ''MOTHER 1+2'' after the former translation's completion, though they only fully translated the ''[[VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings MOTHER 1]]'' half (partially because ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' uses a complex scripting language for its text and partially because it already has a well-regarded official translation, in contrast to the dryness of the first game's then-unreleased localization). Since ''[=EarthBound=] Beginnings'' now has an official release on the Wii U's Virtual Console, Tomato has disowned his fan translation and now advocates the purchase of Nintendo's translation.
183* ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' received a fan translation as well (via PPF patch) since the game was never released outside of Japan.
184* ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'' was technically already released in English as ''Tetris Attack'', but an English patch was released on New Years' 2008 all the same for those who prefer the fairy characters to their ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' replacements.
185* The original ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'' for Platform/{{MSX}} was translated by Takamichi Suzukawa, who was also responsible for the ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' translation mentioned above. Interestingly, he chose to render [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Vic Viper]]'s name as "Big Viper" because, as the author reasons, its name was always romanized as "biggu baipaa" rather than "bikku baipaa".
186* Remember ''VideoGame/Persona2'' and how ExecutiveMeddling kept one-half of the duology in Japan? October of 2008 finally saw the fan translation of the missing half, ''Innocent Sin''. A VideoGameRemake of ''Innocent Sin'' was eventually released worldwide on the PSP, but in an inverse situation, the PSP version of the second part ''Eternal Punishment'' was only released in Japan, and a fan translation of that version was released in 2022.
187* ''VideoGame/PetalCrash'' has been [[https://vgperson.com/games/petalcrashjp.htm unofficially translated into Japanese]] by vgperson.
188* An infamous fan translation is ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar Gaiden'', which [[http://web.archive.org/web/20010414062618/http://home.att.net/~RCgamusic/ps.htm alters the revelation that]] [[spoiler:Minima is a clone of Alisa to make her her daughter instead]].
189* With the English version of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' having languished in DevelopmentHell for years (only being announced as back on track for 2020 by Microsoft at E3 2019, and not counting [[BadExportForYou AsiaSoft's SEA version]]), a large-scale fan-translation project dubbed [[https://arks-layer.com/ Arks-Layer]] rose to translate the Japanese version of the game on PC.
190** These people in fact went above and beyond the call of duty, fixing many issues with the game’s client and adding features to improve the user experience. When the Microsoft Store caused problems for US players, the Arks-Layer team worked their asses off to make their launcher get around as many of those issues as possible, and once the Steam version came out, they added support for that version as well, with the ability to hot-swap between the two US PC versions easily.
191* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
192** There is a fan translation hack of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pokémon Green]]''. The spelling and grammar, however, left much to be desired.
193** Poor-quality translations appearing a few months before English releases is practically a staple of Pokémon games, especially during a new generation. (This practice has dropped off ever since Generation VI, though, when main-series games started being localized as they're being developed so they can receive simultaneous or near-simultaneous worldwide releases.) However, some members of Project Pokémon made a superb, 98% complete translation of ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' before it was released.
194** The sequel to the Game Boy Color's ''VideoGame/PokemonTradingCardGame'', ''Pokémon Card [=GB2=]: GR-Dan Sanjou!'', came out very late in the system's lifespan (exactly one week ''after'' the Game Boy Advance saw release in Japan, to be specific), leading to a case of NoExportForYou until the Fan Translation came along.
195** The ''Platform/PokemonMini'' had half of its entire game library released only in Japan, all of which have been translated since 2019.
196** The [=WiiWare=] ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' games are the only ones that weren't available in English (possibly due to not having as much in common with other games, basically being the LighterAndSofter entry of the series), until the fan translation was released in 2020, more than a ''decade'' after the original release, and a year after the shutdown of Wii Shop Channel made it unavailable legally.
197** Although Pokémon is popular internationally, the games tend to only be released in a handful of languages, so most countries simply end up using the English version if their language isn't included as an official translation. As a result, fan-translations of Pokémon games in languages such as Arabic, Danish, and Korean[[note]]Prior to Generation IV, when Korean games started to receive normal translations. Generation I games are the most common ones to receive Korean fan-translations because Kanto games were never released in Korean officially until Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee in 2018[[/note]] are not unheard of.
198* A translation patch for ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', an early Creator/HideoKojima adventure game [[NoExportForYou which has managed to elude export for almost 15 years]], [[http://www.policenauts.net was released]] in 2009 (by LetsPlay/{{slowbeef}} of LetsPlay and WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}} fame), and has been dubbed by some gaming news sources as the most important Fan Translation ever produced. An updated translation of the Platform/SegaSaturn version was released in 2016.
199* Alfagame's ''Prince Maker - Braveness'' was translated in May 2012. It's a rare example of a fan translation of a game written in Chinese, as well as a fan translation of a RaisingSim.
200* Sometime in 2013, a small fan translation group called TRADUKO Soft announced plans to do a fan translation of ''VideoGame/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaPortable'' One year later, in August 2014, they released a partial translation patch, although there were a few bugs. In September 2015, they plan to release a more detailed patch, with less bugs than their previous one. As of today, TRADUKO Soft is now working on three projects, including the one stated above.
201* A fan group under the name "[[https://www.precisemuseum.com/ Precise Museum]]" is dedicated to creating translations for ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' content, most of which doesn't leave Japan with the exception of a few later games. This includes full translation packs of all of the mainline games and some spinoff titles. The fan forum Puyo Nexus had previously translated the DS versions of ''15th Anniversary'' and ''7'' and were working on one for''Fever 2'' before abandoning it, but those translations (in particular the one for ''7'') have since become [[https://twitter.com/pinkgeekneni/status/1434993361430192132?s=46&t=CTqS5le8E8UN1kwy6oyPcw infamous in the community]] for taking lines out of context, completely rewriting characters and constantly adding in details that had no basis in canon [[RuleOfCool solely because the team thought they sounded cooler than the original Japanese]].
202* ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', the ''other'' sequel to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. There are French and German fan translations based on the English one.
203* ''VideoGame/RetroGameChallenge'' had a sequel that never came out in [[NoExportForYou America]]. When Creator/XSEEDGames refused the call due to [[ExecutiveMeddling poor sales]] a small team painstakingly translated everything including a text heavy adventure game, a JRPG, and every single game magazine into English.
204* ''Rhythm Tengoku'', the Platform/GameBoyAdvance predecessor to ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'', was fully translated in 2013 as ''Rhythm Heaven Silver''. While the audio is not modified in any way, anything text-based (such as menus, title cards, and in-game emails) is now in English, allowing fans to more easily understand and play the game.
205* ''VideoGame/RockManEXE45RealOperation'', originally released in Japan in 2004, was given a full English translation in 2019. On top of the full game, there's also a custom boxart cover, a fully translated instructional booklet, a new unlock method for the Navis that originally required the [=BattleChip=] Gate peripheral to unlock, and even an optional patch to replace the game's unique battle system with the system from the mainline ''Battle Network'' games for people who prefer the latter.
206* Darkside Translations has translated the first ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' for English-speaking players. Since the patch was released, however, the game itself has been getting updates after v1.05c, the version the English patch was made at the time. There has been word of an updated version of the English patch for its latest release, fixing and correcting some things in their original script along with the help of Ryusui, the fan translator of ''Breath of Fire II'', but the updated patch has been under [[{{Vaporware}} hiatus]] for some time. At the end of 2013, Darkside Translations [[http://schwer-muta.blogspot.com/2013/12/good-tidings-we-bring-to-you-and-your.html has given word]] that the game will see an official English release via Playism. The game was released in English on Steam and Playism on Febuary 3, 2017.
207* None of the games in the ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'' series, save [[VideoGame/SakuraWarsSoLongMyLove the fifth game]] and [[VideoGame/SakuraWars2019 the soft reboot]], have ever seen the light of day outside of Japan, even though various anime, manga, and cameo appearances have. In late 2019, however, an [[http://sakurawarstranslation.com/ English patch]] was completed for [[VideoGame/SakuraWars1996 the original Sega Saturn title]], only a few months before the Western release of the soft reboot.
208* ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory'', the Sailor Moon RPG.
209* An English translation of ''VideoGame/SDSnatcher'' was created by the Dutch MSX fan group Oasis as early as 1993, though it wasn't converted to a patch format until four years later. Much of the original text was lost due to their hacking skills and Japanese literacy being only basic, though they made up for that with some {{Woolseyism}}s.
210* The DS game ''VideoGame/SomaBringer'', currently in NoExportForYou hell.
211* Most ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games had never officially been translated into Russian, so some video game pirates translated them by themselves... [[GoodBadTranslation and the result was...let's say "surprising"]].
212* The quality of the official English translations for all ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' games is at best BlindIdiotTranslation, with a shotgun being referred to as a "rifle" and attics being mistaken for basements. A number of {{Game Mod}}s (notably the "Complete 2009" mod packs) incorporate a 100% fan-made translation that's leagues more fluid and correct than what GSC did.
213* ''VideoGame/StarCraftI: Brood War'', had a fan-made Hungarian patch. The Hungarian version of ''[=StarCraft=]'' eventually took a different direction from the official ''[=StarCraft=]'' lore, with its own expansion pack/GameMod, ''VideoGame/{{Huncraft}}: Genocide''. Both are available for free download, in accordance with Blizzard's policies. The same team also created a translation for ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''.
214* ''VideoGame/StarFox2'', a game for the SNES that was never released until 2017 and was in the process of being translated before it was terminated (which makes sense, as it and the first ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' were made in collaboration with Argonaut Games, a British studio), but fans came up with ways to translate it themselves years before Nintendo released it officially.
215* The ''VideoGame/{{SUGURI}}'' series got fan-translation patches by Sara Leen... until [[PromotedFanboy she got promoted]] to work as Rockin' Android's translator and programmer.
216* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'' was released by The Romhacking Aerie right after Christmas 2010.
217* Despite not being a text-heavy game, ''VideoGame/SutteHakkun'' got a fan translation that translated the amount of text it does have into English.
218* [=DeJap=]'s translation of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' is beloved by some fans of the game. There was a mini-controversy in 2005 regarding Nintendo's official translation, because some of the characters' names were changed (e.g., Cless Alvein --> Cress Albane) and some of the adult dialogue was supposedly toned down. However, this was a case of MisBlamed, as a lot of it was actually ''[[SpiceUpTheSubtitles added]]'' in to the fan translation.
219** There are now at least two relatively faithful fan translations of the Platform/PlayStation version of the game (a more straight-up translation [[http://a0t.co/phantasia/download/ from Absolute Zero]], and a more {{Woolseyism}}-filled translation from [[http://www.tales-cless.org/?page=tales Phantasian Productions]]), which remedies a large number of problems with the other translations.
220** [[http://www.absolutezerotranslations.com/2010/06/29/tales-of-innocence-patch-released/ Absolute Zero]] released in 2010 a full translation patch for ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'' -- the first full translation of a Tales game not called ''Tales of Phantasia''. They would later do the same for ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheTempest'', releasing the translation for that game on AprilFoolsDay (the "joke" being that it's a translation of one of the less popular ''Tales'' games).
221** Both [[http://www.blade2187.com/ Kajitani-Eizan]]'s ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'' and [[http://www.tales-cless.org/ Phantasian Productions]]'s ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'' have been abandoned, though the former did receive an UpdatedRerelease in English as ''Tales of Hearts R'' for the Platform/PlayStationVita, while the latter is getting a fan translation by a [[https://luminatales.net/2021/05/08/announcing-the-lumina-destiny-project/ different group called Lumina Tales]].
222** Years after Absolute Zero's disbandment caused their ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Director's Cut'' translation to be cancelled, two groups decided to create their own separate translation projects of said game from the ground up. Those being the aforementioned Lumina Tales and Life Bottle Productions.
223** [=DeJap=] was also responsible for English-speaking audiences being able to play the original ''VideoGame/StarOcean1'' (at least, until the 2008 [[VideoGameRemake remake]]), ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' and ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestVI VI]]'' (before they were remade on the Platform/NintendoDS), ''VideoGame/MonsterWorldIV'' (long before Sega released an official translation on seventh-generation systems), and ''VideoGame/BahamutLagoon''.
224** While the Platform/Xbox360 version of ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' was officially released internationally, its UpdatedRerelease for the Platform/PlayStation3 was not, but fortunately [[http://www.talesofvesperia.net/ fans have decided to take matters into their own hands]]. Of course, the fan translation was taken down when it was announced that ''Vesperia'' would get remastered for the following generation of consoles and would include the [=PS3=] content.
225* ''Tenchi Muyo! Game-Hen'', the Tenchi Muyo strategy RPG.
226* A fan translation of the first ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorialGirlsSide'' game for the Platform/NintendoDS was completed during December 2010. It was followed by unofficial translations of the second and third Girl's Side games in May 2011 and June 2015. The Super Famicom edition of the original Tokimeki Memorial got a fan translation in March 2022.
227* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
228** Fans have to rely on fan-translations because of [[NoExportForYou ZUN's reluctance to license the series to the West.]] While many of the main games ended up being released on Steam, they are still only in Japanese, as ZUN does not officially endorse the fan translations. So while they're more accessible now, non-Japanese fans still have to use fan translations to play them in their native language.
229** There are fan translations for the Touhou fangames ''VideoGame/TouhouLabyrinth'', ''Sengoku Gensoirkyo'', ''Touhoumon'', ''VideoGame/TouhouPocketWarsEvolution'', and probably more.
230* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'': The second arc of the series, the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure Crossbell duology]] games weren't released state-side due to the Platform/{{PSP}} having phased out before Creator/XSEEDGames could work on it. Two different translations were made, the first which translates both games for the [=PSP=] that comes with a few minor errors. The second regarded as the Geofront translation, translates several aspects the former were not able to do, but requires the PC version of the games to be used. This has become AscendedFanon, with Creator/NipponIchi using the Geofront translation as the basis for the multi-platform English release of the two games.
231* ''VideoGame/TreasureHunterG'' had a translation that was more or less finished in 2004.
232* The fan translation of ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' (then known by its Japanese title of ''Seiken Densetsu 3'' even among international audiences) is quite possibly tied with ''VideoGame/Mother3'' for the title of most famous fan translation effort in history. It was one of the earliest high-profile fan translations, one of the first with a truly high quality of hacking (especially given how Neill Corlett had to crack text encryption once thought nigh-uncrackable by the hacking community) and a ''very'' solid script... and it gained the dubious distinction of being one of the oldest fan translations to ''not'' be answered with any kind of official release, with ''Trials'' remaining the only ''VideoGame/WorldOfMana'' title to be a Japan-only release. The patch was first released in July 1999, was polished by 2000, and went on to serve the fandom well for nearly two decades when there wasn't even a word from Square, and later Square Enix, of an official English localization. Although after the CompilationRerelease on the Switch in Japan was released in 2017, people from Square Enix were acknowledging a demand for a localization, leading to the official international release of the original version of the game in 2019, plus a full remake in 2020, both featuring an all new translation done in-house.
233* ''VideoGame/TwilightSyndrome'' is notorious for never having received an official localization despite gaining international interest in later years due to it being acknowledged as an influence in various later Japanese mystery/horror games, including being [[CompanyCrossReferences namedropped]] in a a brief {{Pastiche}} parody section in ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' and an implicit ShoutOut in ''VideoGame/NeedyStreamerOverload'', and being noted by fans of Creator/Suda51 as an early work he was involved in (albeit without a lot of creative input). The late 2010s have seen the emergence of subtitled longplays by the [=YouTube=] channel [=aRdW=] for the [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsjgr-vGRfs6wxhuXZrW4anQLQp4C2W0v original]] [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsjgr-vGRfs7gijiS4UgUrpPVVnCMcgEO duology]] as well as ''[[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsjgr-vGRfs51a2dyaQY5_JFpnVrYl05v Saikai]]'', the first sequel produced under Creator/SpikeChunsoft. Tara A. Devlin has also produced an [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_3nZk9WWsQCpuJ7BeDDgVAwgh-Isl7GM incomplete fandub]] of the original duology. Translations of a similar nature have also emerged for the Suda-led CanonDiscontinuity sequel ''VideoGame/MoonlightSyndrome'', and the SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/YuuyamiDooriTankentai'', though as of early 2024 no translations exist for the so-far final official sequel, ''Kinjirareta Toshi Densetsu''. Though it's worth noting that due to not being playable hacks and often focusing on a single one of the branching paths in these games where (with the [[ButThouMust exception]] of ''Moonlight'') the story tends to be heavily affected by the player's choices, these translations are typically not exhaustive.
234* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' got fan-translated to Japanese not long after the PC version release and before the official Japanese translation in 2017.
235* There is a Hungarian translation on ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' floating somewhere around the internet. Unlike most fan projects, this one actually has an '''excellent''' quality dub, laced with {{Double Entendre}}s and [[{{Woolseyism}} Hungarian puns]].
236* The translation patch for ''VideoGame/{{Valis}}'' for the NES was released along with a GameMod intended to make it less frustrating to play.
237* ''White Gold: War in Paradise'' and ''VideoGame/ThePrecursors'' by the developers of ''VideoGame/BoilingPointRoadToHell'' were only released in Eastern Europe, but fans have released an English translation patch in Deep Shadow's official English forums. However, VideoGame/ThePrecursors had already been translated to English by the developers, and the patch merely unlocks it.
238* ''VideoGame/WhiteDayALabyrinthNamedSchool'' was translated into English by Unnamed Studios and fixes the game's bugs and compatibility with newer operating systems -- or rather it used to, as Unnamed was no longer working on fixing and translating the game in at the end of 2013. A French translation was also made by other fans of the game.
239* ''VideoGame/WonderProjectJ'', a Pinocchio-inspired RaisingSim (and a rare male one!) was fan translated in 2001. Almost six years later, a much-anticipated patch for the N64 sequel, ''Wonder Project J2'' was finally released.
240* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'':
241** Jeff "Deuce" Nussbaum helped translate several ''Ys'' games in the years when the series was not receiving international distribution, as well as ''Cyber Knight II'' and the ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' RPG for the Platform/NeoGeo CD (which was never publicly released). He now works for Creator/XSEEDGames, and their official translations of ''VideoGame/YsTheOathInFelghana'' and ''VideoGame/YsOrigin'' are based on the patches he contributed to.
242** ''VideoGame/YsIVTheDawnOfYs'' had its text translated by Deuce in 2004, though the voiced cutscenes were unchanged. In 2012, a new patch by a different group added English voice acting.
243[[/folder]]
244
245[[folder:Visual Novels]]
246!!Fans who translate Visual Novels:
247* Some VisualNovel makers allow patches to be made, since they require the original game anyway; why not broaden the potential audience? Some creators have even encouraged people to create them or occasionally made them official translations after the fact. However, between April and July 2010, several Japanese game companies sent cease and desist letters to fans striving to translate {{porn with plot}} visual novels, with fan translations of titles such as ''VisualNovel/YosugaNoSora'' and ''VisualNovel/{{Air}}'' getting affected. Some of the translation projects ended, while others continued "underground" on [[Website/FourChan /jp/]]. Notable translation projects related to this drama include:
248** Overflow, the company responsible for ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'', was a notable exception. It chose to endorse Sekai Project's translation efforts. [[http://bit.ly/hQyfjw This actually became licensed, with the fan translators becoming the official localization team.]]
249** After much drama and an unofficial release of ''VisualNovel/EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo'' on Bit Torrent, the fan translation group No Name Losers and the original company Minori decided to join forces. An official translation of ''Ef'' was released by Mangagamer in December 2014.
250** A fan translation of ''VisualNovel/StarrySky ~in Spring~'' was released by an anonymous group called Oge during December 2010. Fans wondered if the anonymous release was done in order to prevent a cease and desist request.
251* The site [=TLWiki.org=] used to host info about many fantranslation projects within the genre; while the domain has since expired (making it unlikely that their unfinished projects will be completed), the site can still be viewed in the Website/InternetArchive. Notably, one of the patches available on the site (for ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta'') was eventually used for an official English release. Other games that got fully translated include ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'', ''VisualNovel/TheDevilOnGString'', ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'' and ''VisualNovel/SharinNoKuni'' and ''VisualNovel/YuNo''. The ''YU-NO'' patch also goes beyond merely translating the game, adding the voice acting and other content from the Platform/SegaSaturn version and the FM soundtrack from the Platform/PC98 version, and removing the awkward textual and visual censorship that had been inflicted on the Windows version.
252* The group [[https://alkatranslations.com/ Alka Translations]] has so far provided full translations of ''Anime/AngelBeats 1st Beat'', ''A Sky Full of Stars: Fine Days'', and ''VisualNovel/SummerPockets'' (although they have since removed links to their Summer Pockets translation due to an official one getting published on Steam). They have also started working on one of the ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' spin-off ''Kud Wafter''.
253* Mirror Moon has created translation patches (which still require the original Japanese game) for several games, like ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'', and ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', and is working on many more. There are even voice patches for the former two, which rip the audio from the [=PS2=] version (that you have to provide, of course). Mirror Moon also helpfully provides links to distributors who will sell the games to you. Out of these three ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'' would eventually get an official localization.
254* The ''VisualNovel/GalaxyAngel'' trilogy for Windows was translated by [[https://tenka.seiha.org/ Tenka Seiha]], starting in 2009 with the original game, and the sequels ''Moonlit Lovers'' and ''Eternal Lovers'' in 2011.
255* Between 2005 and 2008, a group known as Insani translated several demos of commercial visual novels, and several freeware/independent visual novels. (The demos made it clear that the full games had harem plots, and often adult content. However, the freeware [=VNs=] had no harem elements, and few of them contained offensive content.)
256* Amaterasu Translations has translated a number of visual novels, including ''VisualNovel/CrossChannel'', ''VisualNovel/SekienNoInganock'', ''VisualNovel/ShikkokuNoSharnoth'', ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvExtra'', ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'', and ''VisualNovel/{{Rewrite}}''.
257* Committee of Zero is a group primarily known for their work on translating and patching games in the ''VisualNovel/ScienceAdventureSeries''. Having completely rewritten the localization for the PC and Switch releases of [[VisualNovel/ChaosHead Chaos;Head Noah]] after the official localization proved unsalvageable, that patch also fixed various bugs unique to those versions and uncensored the game by using assets from the Japanese Xbox 360 version after the official release of those ports was based on the censored Japanese PSP version.
258
259!!Visual Novels translated by fans:
260* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
261** A fan translation of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' was in the works before the official localisation was announced. Dahlia Hawthorne's nickname "Dollie" was a FandomNod by Capcom USA to the fan translation calling her Dolores "Dolly" Willow.
262** A group of fans from Court-Records released a fan localization of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2'' under the subtitle ''Prosecutor's Path'', which featured not only fully-translated dialogue and other text originally in Japanese, but also custom voice-acting for the new voiced characters and an "Overruled!" effect for Justine Courtney. Due to being a GameMod, it also writes out the CopyProtection program.
263** A different group of fans called [[https://scarletstudy.gq/ Scarlet Study]] translated ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney: Adventures'' and were working on its sequel until Capcom announced an official localization. Compared to the ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'' fan localization, it was more literal, keeping the original names due to how intrinsically Japanese the game is.
264* ''VisualNovel/BlackWolvesSaga'' is a case of NoExportForYou, only released in Japan by ''Creator/{{Rejet}}''. It does have a fan translation using Visual Novel Reader, however.
265* ''VisualNovel/Canvas2 ~Niji-iro no Sketch~'' received a fan translation in October 2010. (A manga based on Canvas 2 has an ongoing scanlation. A TV anime based on the original PornWithPlot VisualNovel was fansubbed, and later released on Crunchyroll.)
266* [[https://danganronpa.wordpress.com Project Zetsubou]] translated ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''... and two weeks after they released it, an official English release of the game and [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair its sequel]] was announced, causing the sequel translation to be cancelled about 20% through.
267* ''VisualNovel/DramaticalMurder'' has fan translations for both the original game and the sequel, ''Re:Connect'', well before JAST USA announced an official English localization in 2018.
268* The Super Famicom ''[[VisualNovel/FamicomDetectiveClubTheGirlWhoStandsBehind Famicom Detective Club Part II]]'' remake, which had many people curious because one of the lead characters, Ayumi Tachibana, was a trophy in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' (which had multiple trophies that were many Westerners' first exposure to various Japan-only characters, possibly even to a greater extent than later ''Super Smash Bros.'' games). This fan translation was an early project by Tomato, one of the translators who handled the ''MOTHER 3'' fan translation in the latter half of the '00s.
269* Nazerine originally made a fan translation of the free version of ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend''. However, [[AscendedFan not only did Nazerine's translation become the official one later on, but they were tasked with creating the official translation of the game's sequel, as well.]]
270* The licenser of the ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' sound novels allows them, and there have been some translation projects aiming to retranslate the first English translation, which was infamous for sounding stilted and including amateur typos (most of these projects appear to have been abandoned, though). And although [=MangaGamer=]'s official re-release in 2015 mostly remedied these problems, the spin-off materials (such as ''Matsuri'' and ''Sui'') are still Japanese-only. The fan group [[https://07th-mod.com/ 07th-Mod]] is trying to remedy this by porting the ''Sui'' arc to PC, inserting full voice acting and graphics from the [=PS3=] releases to other arcs, and doing additional tweaks to the game.
271** ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' was fully translated by the (unofficial) group Witch-Hunt. It has to be noted that the author was very pleased with Witch-Hunt's work and named a group in the series after them.\
272Witch Hunt has since then reached (semi) official status with [=MangaGamer=] selling the original games with links to the Witch Hunt translations (though the games are currently unavailable due to the license running out). [=MangaGamer=] has also announced an official release of ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' on Steam with a new translation worked on in cooperation with the Witch Hunt team.
273* Several of Creator/KeyVisualArts visual novels, such as ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'', ''VisualNovel/{{Planetarian}}'', and (most of) ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' have received fan translations; however, the latter two games in question (and most of their all-ages releases) eventually got official translated releases.
274* ''VisualNovel/{{Narcissu}}'' has a fanmade translation which has been acknowledged (and implicitly accepted) by the game's creator.
275* A translation patch for ''Suikogaiden Vol. 1: Swordsman of Harmonia'', a VisualNovel spinoff of ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'', was released in March 2013. In September 2013, the Suikogaiden Translation Project released a patch for ''Suikogaiden Vol 2.: Duel at Crystal Valley'', along with a patch for ''Suikoden Card Stories''.
276* ''Literature/{{Toradora}} Portable'' was made by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment for the Platform/PlayStationPortable in 2009. The first full English patch was released in 2013. It had bugs, but a follow-up patch in 2014 corrected them.
277[[/folder]]

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