A lesson in speech

by Mistress Nightshadow 

The first thing I noticed when I put in a copy of Chrono Cross and started playing it [apart from the music and graphics of course] was one interesting feature concerning one of the major characters, Kid. [or Kidd, I don't know why people argue over that extra d...] Ok, it's a bloody bit obvious. She has what's heralded [by many Americans at any rate] to be a full blown Australian Accent.

I heard previously that Kid had an Australian Accent, and I tossed it off as minor issue. Australian English isn't really that different to American English anyway, it's not like Australians and Americans can't speak to each other. What knocked me flat was when I put in the game and 'heard' Kid speak.

At first I was laughing hysterically... No one, real or imaginary within Australian history, has ever talked like that. Seriously. I'll be damned if I was caught talking like that, and I've never heard anything of the sort used consistently as a language either in real life or in literature. [I'll admit some contemporary plays might have gotten somewhat close, but they're STILL well off the Australian portrayed here.]

After the giddiness wore away and after a few hours of playing CC [Ok, so I had a lot of trouble in controlling myself for a good ten minutes...] I decided to go online about it and ask about how they thought Kid spoke like. And the responses I got concerning Kid's method of speech was quite startling.

As far as I know, most of #RPGamer is American, or Canadian. I know of only one other Australian who frequents RPGamer, and I'm the only Australian I know who frequents it regularly. To hear every second person seriously believe that Kid had a typical Australian vocabulary will shake you up at 6am in the morning.

I seriously had a hard time swallowing it myself... I was goggle-eyed. "Americans see us like THIS?"

But wait a second, this isn't quite the first time this has happened. I don't mean in the fact in how Breath of Fire 3 used a section devoted to 'Australian' [Remember: Do you want to see the English version?] but the fact that RPGs have displayed how others see other countries.

I went thinking through some RPGs... and two, Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy 7, pop up almost immediately as to perfect examples of this. Remember Barret and Daniel?

To you maybe, they seem as out of touch with the real world counterparts as I see Kid as nowhere near an Australian, but... here, it's somewhat hard to believe that the authority hating, quick tempered, $&)$# talking characters with a real care for their kids, isn't a representation of what 'black' America is really like.

Ok, so I know better... but maybe RPGs refect how we see the world, and how other cultures see us. Maybe it can be almost ridiculous, but I think there's something there. Considering the fact that many RPGs were created by a third culture, namely a Japanese one, it could be said this is what many Japanese people see us like... well, at least how many developers and designers see each respective culture anyway.

After thinking this over again, I think I can see how external views of certain nationalities has influenced many games. Think on Harle in Chrono Cross and her French accent, then think about her 'typical' personality. What about Pierre in Front Mission 3 with his British 'Butler' accent and personality? Look at Parasite eve, and then look at how the Japanese seen their own Scientists in Madea. You can see it as a basis for comunities in several games, one being Robotrek, that 'black' community who believes in Voodoo, live in small communities, and run around with sticks, is something many associate with with the African culture.

The ultimate example of how RPGs portray how we see the world is in Terranigma, where you're required to guide the real world from it's birth. [It never was released to the US though.] It may not be perfect, but it shows many traits of how some cultures are portrayed... The Japanese tendency to dress professional and be really busy [and talk English although they say they can't!], 'Black' America's lower level coolness with Perel, the Brazilian city of Liotto, where people carnival like crazy, twenty four hours, seven days a week. You see how many Asians struggle with their English, ["You no come?"] and how many nodamic tribes think. They show what outsiders think of each prospective culture, past and present.

That's something I'll have to think about as I play Chrono Cross, particularly since it has a big variety of characters. Maybe you should think about that when you play any RPG which shows cultural differences, and more importantly, how it shows how outsiders see any one particlar culture or aspect of one.

If you'd like to say that maybe RPGs reflect how people from outside see different cultures, that inserting all these sterptypes is just a sneaky way to be racist, that maybe that's a reason why Chrono Cross was never planned to make an Australian release, or you'd just like to ridicule me for my lack of 'Australian' and you're going to appeal to the Australian government to kick me out because of my 'un-Australian' accent, drop an e-mail to nightshadow_007@angelfire.com. I definitely want to hear this one.

Trust me, Australian accents are NOT like that. I'm an Australian, I should know!