Localisation: “Yayifications!”
Carpe Fulgur is the new localisation company which is responsible for creating the amusing translation from EasyGameStation’s original Japanese indie game to the English version. The characters are charmingly brought to life and each is charming in its own way, from the cheapskate Louis, your first adventurer who is always complaining about being skint (but actually becomes one of your best customers if you treat him right), to the drunken thief Charme who loves trying to get a rise out of the always very “proper” Tear. Without their humour, the game would probably have fallen flat in the Western market so all credit to Carpe Fulgur – we look forward to seeing their future work! The only small criticism I had of the localisation was that their throwing in the odd French word, such as Tear’s frustrated cries of “Merde!” or referencing Recette as Mademoiselle Lemongrass felt a little out of place. English with the Japanese style I can of course get past for the sake of being able to understand it, but throw in references to another random language and it just feels a bit off. Still, this is a small point and doesn’t detract much from Carpe Fulgur’s excellent work.
Final Verdict: “Exceeded Expectations!”
With its delightful mixture of store simulation and dungeon crawling adventure RPG elements, Recettear is a refreshing twist on the usual adventure style RPG. It’s funny without being annoying, addictive without being too repetitive and has deceptively deep gameplay. Overall, Recettear is a charming game, well worth the money!
