We all know how bad the localization is in Simon’s Quest, but such a thing is generally more joked about than examined. The NPCs in the game are in many cases useless when it comes to providing guidance. In fact, I’d go so far as to say the only reason anyone ever beat the game back when it was new was because issue #2 of Nintendo Power magazine offered a guide through the game, complete with maps.
One of the more puzzling clues you get in the game from an NPC is the advice to “hit Deborah cliff with your head to make a hole.” While it is understood that some of the villagers in the game deliberately lie to you, it was worth looking into. When Active Gaming Media looked at the original Japanese text, this was very close to the original, which is pretty funny.
They found another clue in the game, in a book hidden inside one of the mansions, which tells you “wait for a soul with a red crystal on Deborah cliff.” The Japanese text originally said, more specifically, “Show/present the red crystal in front of Deborah’s cliff and wait for the wind.” Now I’m not an expert in Japanese, but I believe the words for “soul” and “wind” are the same in Japanese. I call that careless localization. What do you think?
Source: Active Gaming Media via Twitter
"In fact, I’d go so far as to say the only reason anyone ever beat the game back when it was new was because issue #2 of Nintendo Power magazine offered a guide through the game, complete with maps".
^^^ Ha! Would you believe that I beat the game with no help? It took me about a month (yes, a whole month) to beat it but I did. I didn't get Nintendo Power in those days. Never did (I did win a free subscription like two years ago but it wasn't during the NES days).
I dunno if you seen the aNGRY vIDEOGAME nERD (crap, I got the caps lock wrong!) video where he reviewes Simon's Quest. I suffered all the same problems and frustrations that he did when he played it. But I got over them and actually kept on trying to beat it. Like I said, it took me about a month with absolutely no help from any source. There was no internet and none of my friends had played that game so they were no help.
(Continued…)
I remember beating another game that way too. It was called Dungeon Magic for the NES. I didn't had a manual or anything to help me figure out the spells (you had to make spells by combining some stones or runes and they would only work if you knew how to combine them).
Anywhoo, you got here one rare Castlevania fan that beat CVII with no help at all. Other than lots of chips and cola.
I have seen The AVGN's videos about Castlevania, I have some posts about the later ones here on the blog. Nice work with Simon's Quest! That was a long time ago, but I'm pretty sure I had the Nintendo Power issue to help me out with the game. Wish I'd stolen it, it'd be pretty neat to have it now.
I don't remember Dungeon Magic, though. There are a lot of games like that on NES. Legacy of the Wizard comes to mind. I was so stuck in that game that I wrote a letter to Nintendo Power. They mailed me back a map of the game, but it was so small that I couldn't even use it. It didn't help that the print was out of registration too, which made it look like I needed 3D glasses to make it out.