Context: Working Designs was a studio that localized several Japanese games for western markets in the 1990s. Besides translation, they would often increase the difficulty of the games they translated
They didnt make games harder. This is what they were known for:
Working Designs became known for its incorporating quirky, distinctively American humor in its translations. President Victor Ireland maintained that the company has always adhered as closely to the original Japanese text as it could while making it understandable to U.S. audiences, and said the addition of American-style humor was necessary to replace Japanese jokes which most Americans would not be able to understand
They definitely made games more difficult as well
In Lunar, for example, the EXP payout was reduced by 15% compared to the japanese original, the silver output was reduced by 11% and the infamous feature that boss enemies leveled with the main character was also made harder.
https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/coverage_companies_workingdesigns.php#5
And lets not forget adding a game over trigger during the finale that just wasn't there originally. Because screw you, the player, I guess.
How about this gem from their localization of Vay:
In the US version, Sirufa's dialogue has been rewritten. Now, her wind powers are due to a bet she lost with an unexplained "Thaldar", as a result of which she "received the curse of eternal seimic flatulence." This is then used to create a mechanic whereby, if Sirufa's teleportation is used without having all party members equipped with "Filtration Masks", the unequipped members will be "overcome by the noxious fumes" and remove the rest of the party's masks before dying, causing an instant game over.
Text from TCRF.
Between that and the "gold vortex", looks like they thought "just" translating was boring (no matter how much of a messy process it really was back then)... So they just thought they'd mess with the game as a challenge and for the hell of it.
Oh for real? I've played Lunar and didnt even know it was made harder. I mean it was hard, but I thought it was just like that.
I kinda loved Working Designs' sometimes hammy script for the PSX Lunar games.
"Ghaleon, no..."
"Oh no, ha ha ha... Ghaleon YES!"
Man, I would be insulted, too. They wrote that game in assembly, and that language was actually created in the US.
Vintage gaming community.
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