Xenogears translator struggled with religious themes and limited resources

When Xenogears launched on the PS1 in 1998, its ending — which involves killing God — provoked more unease than similar themes do in modern JRPGs. Translator Richard Honeywood described working on the project as something of a nightmare: at the time he was a Jehovah's Witness and the subject matter hit his conscience, while some US staff feared how audiences might react.

Worries about the game’s religious imagery led two members of the localization team to walk off the project, leaving Honeywood largely on his own. Xenogears went on to avoid major mainstream controversy and earned a reputation as one of the best JRPGs, but that didn’t lessen the immediate pressure on the remaining translator.

Handling the title’s dense literary and psychological references was especially difficult. Based in Japan, Honeywood didn’t have ready access to English or German books, so he relied on the National Library for research; internet access at Japanese companies was rare then, so he couldn’t simply look things up online.

Japan