I wasn’t planning on returning to
Emerald Dragon quite so soon, but I’ve seen two important developments. One is a complete fan translation of the PC Engine version, which is my favorite incarnation of good ol’
Emerald Dragon. Released by
Stargood, it covers the entire game and even enables the debug mode’s helpful features. The translator’s notes also go into extensive detail about the various Zoroastrian terms that the game appropriates and how complicated it was to trace some of them. Good on them for not going the easy 1990s route and just renaming Atrushan and Tamryn (or Tamrin) to Alvin and Tammy.
The translators are also blunt about not being too fond of the game, which is refreshing in contrast to official localizations for which the staff are seldom allowed critical comment. I disagree with such opinions, of course, but they nonetheless make clear how
Emerald Dragon is an RPG of a certain era and, more importantly, a certain fashion. That’s part of why I like it.
Anyway, the translation patch is a good excuse for me to play through the PC Engine version again, And hey, if an unofficial English version of the game popped up a month after I finally wrote about Emerald Dragon, perhaps something else will emerge after I mention it again.
The second major Emerald Dragon development: I noticed that one of the enemies turns into a cow.
You see, all of the foes in
Emerald Dragon briefly flash when damaged. So what happens when Atrushan strikes this skull-faced creature, who looks as grim and menacing as one can be when you’re about three square centimeters worth of pixels?
It turns pale and looks like a stupefied cow. Perhaps this is entirely by accident, but I like the idea of a graphic designer noticing this back around 1994, having a chuckle, and deciding not to change it.
In fact, that strikes me more fondly now than ever. As the new year dawns we face a world where many things are now vomited out by soulless, inept corruptions of artificial intelligence, to the point where we might doubt even the genuine creations. It’s enough to tilt me toward older books and movies and music and video games, all free of such uncertainties. I can rest assured that yes, an actual human crafted that momentarily bovine monster in Emerald Dragon.
