Hey there, detectives! I’m sure a lot of you have been wondering where Geofront was going to go next with the completion of Ys vs. Trails in the Sky. Well, that’s what the announcement of D Sector here is for. And to explain what D Sector will be working on: Dinosaur Resurrection!
“Wait, who the heck are you?”
It might be a decent idea to introduce myself.
My name’s Fishbone and I’m heading up a new sector of Geofront that will be handling the next major release. About half a year ago or so, I approached a friend of mine with a more or less complete translation of the 2002 Windows PC game Dinosaur Resurrection. They directed me to Geofront and, being thoroughly impressed with their craftsmanship on other projects, I decided to join on up.
My interests with Geofront are generally outside of the more contemporary or Trails/LoH related content. I typically have much stronger interests in older entries in Falcom’s catalog—so expect more of that sort of thing from me in the future once Dinosaur is released.
“Why not release the game all the way back then?”
I could have and I certainly did consider it. However, what Geofront brings to the table, perhaps better than any other active translation group, is talented editing and the ability to turn an old game into a truly premium package with hacking and the introduction of new tech. I think Dinosaur Resurrection really deserves that treatment, being one of Falcom’s more unique titles. There was a bit of delay since we did not want to disturb Geofront’s ongoing projects, but once Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure more or less wrapped up, Dinosaur began to get some editing focus.
“What the heck is Dinosaur Resurrection?”
Dinosaur Resurrection is a 2002 Windows PC remake of an old PC-88 title simply called Dinosaur. Despite what the name might suggest, it does not really contain any dinosaurs. If you want those, go play Ys VIII.
It is Falcom’s only first-person dungeon crawling RPG and is noted for its lightning-fast turn-based combat. It stars Ash, a warrior, who has come to the land of Zamhan and the allies he makes along the way as he explores the deadly Castle Arcadia and Its surrounding area. Saying much more beyond that would put us firmly into spoiler territory. However, if you’re a fan of the Etrian Odyssey or Wizardry series, you’ll feel right at home.
What makes Dinosaur special, and what it’s known for in the Japanese Falcom communities, is its remarkably novel atmosphere and its really understated plot. Nothing is ever as it seems in Dinosaur—and you can never really know who to trust. Even the land itself is not to be trusted. Much like Dark Souls or other such games that would do this later, Dinosaur tells most of its worldbuilding through environmental storytelling and subtext. It’s very blink-and-you-miss-it and reading between the lines is an absolute must. Whatever ending you get in the game (and there are sort of 4, but more realistically 3), you’ll probably want to give the game another playthrough to make sense of it. It is not a happy game, nor is it a particularly funny one (though it has its gags at times). It’s a story of time, dreaming, war, and stagnation.
Not only will the game itself be translated, but the backstory in the manual explaining what led Ash initially into the land of Zamhan (and additional info for many of the characters) will also be presented fully in English.
“When does it come out?”
I feel like you should know the answer to this one already. It’ll be ready when it’s ready. Right now it’s fully translated and completable from start to finish, but it needs a lot of polish – and, more importantly, a lot of tech work to make it feel like a modern game with modern features.
Surprising probably no one who has any history of keeping track of fan translation, there is no estimate at the current time. But rest assured, it will certainly come out.
The Team
Hey, I’m Fishbone and the lead translator of Dinosaur Resurrection and the head of D Sector. I have a longer introduction up in the article somewhere, but I really enjoy Falcom’s back catalog and plan to work with it more in the future.
Greetings and salutations, beloved readers. They call me Matt (allegedly). I’m the lead editor of Dinosaur Resurrection. The team and I are going to do our best to deliver unto you the best localization we can, as is The Geofront way. It’s my hope that when it releases, you’ll play Dinosaur even if you’re not the biggest fan of the dungeon crawler genre. It’s a special game and one that I feel you all will enjoy!
Yo! My name’s Schtolteheim. I’m doing work on non-scenario scripts like items and skills, plus a few late-game dungeons featuring some delicious Saturday morning cartoon villains. I’ve wanted to work on this game for ages, and now that the opportunity’s here, I’ll give it everything I’ve got!
Hello there! I’m Zerker—you might recall my name from the Crossbell projects—and I’m going to be an editor on Dinosaur Resurrection. As always, look forward to a killer fan localization in the Geofront fashion you’re accustomed to!
Hey, guys, it’s Arvin. I’ll be helping the newer editors polish their text in the second pass this time around. I hope you all enjoy the game.
Hey! Sorcerian here. Like in Zero and Azure, I’m excited to work in this hidden gem as a graphics editor! I feel very lucky to work in this piece of Falcom’s legacy.
Hi, JoseJL here. Now that the work in Crossbell is done, it’s time to go back to Dinosaur. I’ll do my best to make this 2002 game feel like a modern release.
Ribose here. So, this patch is finally being…resurrected. Like before, I’m supporting JoseJL and this project with programming. Please look forward to Dinosaur Resurrection for PC.
The fan art featured here was created by the artist (and Dinosaur loremaster) アイサギ. Please give their site a look.
Oh my god Yes