Charting the growth of the Gunvolt franchise through the lens of localization

gamedeveloper.com:

Inti Creates has come a long way since first being commissioned to develop the Mega Man Zero games for Capcom in the early 2000s. After over a decade of making titles for other companies, it decided to venture into the uncharted waters of self-publishing–taking a few cues from genres it  was already familiar with.

The result was 2014's Azure Striker Gunvolt, a 2D action platformer about a boy with electricity powers fighting against a corrupt corporation seeking to eliminate adept, superpowered humans who they claim pose a threat to humanity's survival. Fast forward to 2022, and the Gunvolt franchise has grown significantly. This year alone has seen the release of two titles—spin-off Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 and  mainline entry Azure Striker Gunvolt 3.

While the Gunvolt series was already two games deep by the time Andrew Singleton came aboard as a localization specialist, helping to translate the titles for English-speaking gamers, he still heard plenty of stories from his work partner and eventual predecessor, Matt Papa.

For instance, when Inti Creates released the original Azure Striker Gunvolt for the Nintendo 3DS in 2014, the dev team was so small that they didn't have an in-house localization department. Instead, they leaned on the talents of popular localization company 8-4. The initial English release, however, received a mixed response from players. The Japanese voices were removed, as well as most in-game text between characters during level gameplay, which, Singleton states, is one of the series' main selling points in Japan. 

Some liberties were taken with dialogue as well, such as the inclusion of made-up slang that didn't sit well with many players. One of Papa's first goals after being hired