[Opinions on pie and gameloc are my own.]
Consider a pie. 🥧
A pie is pleasure. It's joy. It's not necessary to life, but it makes it worth living and I want some right now.
But a pie comes in many forms.
A pie can be terrible. Nearly raw or dreadfully overcooked, or the sugar was switched with salt for some reason, the crust tastes like feet, wait, is that mold on the top? You'd probably refuse to eat that pie, let alone pay for it. Depending on who you are, you might even go ahead and write a review. UNEATABLE PIE. 0/5. DID A MACHINE BAKE THIS?
A pie can be average, too. Alright-looking crust. A filling with the right ingredients in more or less the right doses. A brave old pie. An honest pie. It will serve its purpose of filling your belly and giving you some of the energy you need to go through the day. That's already plenty. But will you remember that pie tomorrow? You might have taken note of the pretty napkins or the kindness of the waiting staff. But the pie itself, eh. It won't be hard to forget. (Except if it's your grandma's. Ain't no pie like nana's pie)
A pie can be, on occasions, a Great Pie. A Pie to inspire us and in the Pie-ness bind us. It's gorgeous. It smells heavenly. It is so beautifully done that you just know how hard the Pie Master worked and how good their ingredients and tools were. Fresh toppings. Whipped cream. Perfect filling. And don't get me started on that scrumptious golden crust. What? There's even a little decorative flower on the top!? You'd eat that. And some more. You'd tell your friends. You'd bring your in-laws to the Great Pie Shop. You'd try the new pies on the menu.
Lastly, a pie can be a (very long) metaphor. But you got there on your own.
The fact that gamers are mostly vocal about localization when it goes wrong enough to cause playability issues does not mean that they aren't af
fected by GREAT localizations. They are. They might not fully comprehend it - not because they're dumb, but because, as you know, decent localization is usually invisible. They will feel it, however, and that's even better.
And if all that matters is the numbers, which I guess is often the
case in the industry, well, these can be boosted by an A+ localization as well. A game with a strong identity gets talked about. It sells. A neatly localized game will be catchy, poetic, hilarious, heart-wrenching, unforgettable. Maybe the target audience will quote lines on social media. Maybe they'll make fan-art of that one moment where that one line moved them so very much. Maybe they'll make memes! And maybe the game will stay with them so much that they'll definitely want to get their hands on the next opus, alongside with the army of fans that their enthusiasm has convinced.
A game may be extraordinary in every other aspect, which could get it a free pass here and there. But it would be a mistake to underestimate the power of words.
They are, just like great pie, a sure way into anyone's heart.
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