Years ago it was very rare to see games translated into Brazilian Portuguese, but as the video game market has grown and evolved, fortunately we have reached a point where almost all major productions arrive on our consoles properly localized for our language.
Even so, we occasionally come across releases that end up not being adapted to our language. Sometimes this generates outrage, memes, virals and petitions on social networks, other times it goes a little unnoticed. Thinking about it, we decided to list 10 games that should have received dubbing or subtitles in Portuguese and that would benefit from a patch even today. Check out the list below!
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch)
This is certainly one of the most requested games by fans when it comes to subtitles in Portuguese, and there are good reasons for that. After all, the Nintendo Switch is a worldwide sales phenomenon and one of the most popular consoles in history. In addition, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has received every possible award and is one of the best games ever made, with a very cool story held back for many by the language barrier. It’s still not too late for a patch!
Nier Automata (PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
With millions of copies sold, a recent anime adaptation, spin-off books, ports and a legion of fans worshiping Yoko Taro’s masterful sci-fi universe, it was only to be expected that at some point Platinum Games’ masterpiece would receive subtitles for help in understanding all of its multiple routes, but so far, nothing…
Persona 5 Royal (PlayStation 5, PS4, PS3, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC)
The Persona series grew a little more famous with each new numbered chapter, reaching the height of popular recognition in the superb Persona 5. It’s just a shame that neither the release of its enhanced version, Royal, nor the ports to other consoles were the result. enough to motivate SEGA and Atlus to give due recognition to their Brazilian fans, who can be left afloat with all that amount of JRPG text.
Pokémon Scarlet e Violet (Nintendo Switch)
Even though we chose Scarlet and Violet as an example (more because they are the most recent titles in the franchise than anything else), the fact is that The Pokémon Company owes its fans a long time! Owner of the biggest entertainment franchise today, the studio even localizes some mobile spin-off titles, but the main games in the series never appeared in our language, which prevents gems like Pokémon Legends: Arceus from receiving even more affection.
Tactics Ogre Reborn (PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4)
Square Enix must be one of the most cited companies when it comes to not bringing games to our language. The Japanese giant does a great job when it wants to, as we saw in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but other times it leaves Brazilians aside, as in Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion. Even when it comes to re-launching one of the most popular strategy games in the industry, the producer disappoints and prefers not to invest in localization.
High on Life (PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One)
The Xbox Game Pass has a relatively lower price and ends up offering some good ways to democratize access to video games a little more. Even for that reason, it is shocking when a title released day one and with great success there completely ignores our language. In the case of High on Life, the problem is even greater because its biggest attraction is the sense of humor of Justin Roiland, the creator of Rick and Morty. But speaking of problems, now the hole is much lower and it’s better not to talk much more about Justin here and leave the topic only for the police pages…
Kingdom Hearts III (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
The most recent chapter of the main Kingdom Hearts chronology even maintained the sad coherence of the series by not having localization, but an intriguing element of its sales logistics is that it was widely distributed in physical stores for the main Brazilian retailers with the whole box in Portuguese. How many people didn’t buy a game disc animated with Disney pictures only to get home to find it was all in English?
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Nintendo Switch)
Falling into the cliché of complaining about the lack of localization in Nintendo games, it’s really a shame that one of their best games of 2022, an adventure that tells such a beautiful and exciting story, is restricted to those who understand English or Japanese. It is true that Big N is bringing more and more games to our language, but it still needs to contemplate its denser adventures full of text, precisely the titles where fluent reading matters most. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll get there.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 5, PS4, PS3, Nintendo Switch)
Despite the campaigns organized by some fans, which flopped just like the petitions asking for Persona in Portuguese, Microsoft and Bethesda continue to relaunch Skyrim on all possible platforms and in the most varied editions with extras and additional content. But what do they all have in common? However, none of them have subtitles in Portuguese.
L.A. Noire (PC, PlayStation 4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch)
Not even Rockstar Games, one of the biggest and most acclaimed developers in the world — and also one of the biggest darlings of Voxel readers — escapes making mistakes. His investigative drama LA Noire tells a long and fun detective story, but good luck solving the cases and questioning the suspects if you don’t know how to speak English, as the location was far from the beautiful streets of Los Angeles…
And these were just 10 among the dozens or even hundreds of great games that could (and should!) be available in Portuguese. Do you remember any more? Tell us about Voxel’s social networks!
