Behind Squaresoft’s localization curtain

Jerisaka at Square-Haven must have ninja like skills. Somehow he manages to track down people from Square’s localization history. Previously he wrote up an interview with Alexander O. Smith about his work on Vagrant Story. Now there is a new interview with ex-Squaresoft staffer Amanada Katsurada where she talks about her work on Vagrant Story, Legend of Mana and Kingdom Hearts. So how does one get a job localizing the Final Fantasy series? Ms. Katsurada explains at a job fair…

I looked at the list of the companies and I didn’t recognize any of them, except for one, which was Square. I didn’t know anything about their games, really. I knew Final Fantasy because my sister was hooked on IV, V, VI and had the Amano Yoshitaka art book. I wondered what they could be looking for. Would they be interested in someone like me? I went and checked out their booth and there were all these people who were dressed casually. They were smiling, so much more laid-back than all other corporate people. I think they were really enjoying themselves and I thought, I think I like these people.