Thomas James

Japanese-English Translator

Thomas James is a leading freelance Japanese-English translator who's worked around the video game industry since 2013. With credited experience heading up translation efforts for games as wide-ranging as first-party AAA productions to small-scale, independent works, he boasts the insight and know-how to navigate localization projects of all sizes, budgets, and needs, whether it's a straightforward, text-only pass or a fully dubbed, voice-acted experience with casts of characters in the dozens. As a specialist in character dialogue and narrative content in particular, he's fluent in a wide array of games and genres both past and present and how they're best presented in English. From quippy action games full of witty one-liners to dramatic, verbose RPGs, visual novels, dating sims, and everything in-between, he ably adapts his writing to a variety of styles and voices to not only balance the needs of both developers and players alike, but ensure each game he touches puts its best linguistic foot forward every single time.

Many of Tom's localized games have gone on to be best-selling hits critically acclaimed by both players and press alike. Such titles include Ghostwire: Tokyo for Bethesda Softworks (PlayStation 5, PC), Tales of Arise for Bandai Namco Entertainment (PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, PC), and Monster Hunter Generations (Nintendo 3DS), among others. With a proven track record delivering successful English language products for some of the most popular, iconic Japanese video games today, it's no wonder that many of the biggest publishers in the industry entrust their games to him when they need a localization capable of competing at an international scale, demonstrating the best that Japanese games have to offer to a global audience. Contact him today via the form at the bottom of page to find out how your localization can shine with his expert help.

(Serious inquiries only. Proofreading, text review, LQA, and editing services also available.)

Select Review and Editorial Quotes
"[Some] of my favorite dialogues were the more humdrum conversations: Dohalim and Rinwell bonding over a shared love of history, or Alphen and Law encouraging each other. One of my favorite side quests just involves Kisara teaching Shionne to cook. That’s it. In that little side venture, you build up this party as a group that’s travelling together and developing real connections, that then come to bear in the story’s grander moments." -Eric Van Allen, Destructoid Tales of Arise Review

"The moment-to-moment writing is excellent, too... Tales of Arise is a different beast, and comes across as very genuine. As serious as the overarching subject matter is, there are plenty of jokes that are thrown in as relief or character-building exercises, and they are genuinely funny. While the characters all belong to broad JRPG types that we’ve seen before, they’re written in a way that they bounce beautifully off one another, and the growing bond between them comes across as genuine." -Matt S., Digitally Downloaded Tales of Arise Review

"[Tales of Berseria] is also not short of emotionally-affecting or gut-wrenching moments... [Its] characters are often likeable and entertaining, its tale of revenge is intriguing..." -Dennis Carden, Destructoid Tales of Berseria Review

"While the series has never shied away from heavy themes, it’s refreshing to play as a character in a Tales game who’s willing to do whatever it takes in order to get what she wants... [Velvet's] motives [as the protagonist] are believable." -Jacob Dekker, GameSpot Tales of Berseria Review

"[The] superb localisation gives this world its charm and characters..." -Rich Stanton, The Guardian Monster Hunter Generations Review

"[The] quirkiness of characters is just as strong as ever... [The] personalities of the characters make it completely worth reading [the dialogue]." -Patrick Hancock, Destructoid Monster Hunter Generations Review

Game Localization Credits (Most Recent Order)

Note: Click on the linked titles below to view a screenshot of each game's credit when available.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overloard (2024 Remake) (PlayStation 4 and 5/Xbox Series/Switch/Steam; dungeon crawling RPG; published by Digital Eclipse in May 2024). Served as sole translator for 30,000 moji of monster bestiary text commissioned from famed Japanese guide writer and novelist Benny Matsuyama.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (Published by Square Enix; September 2023; PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC). Served as sole editor and proofreader for the entire game script, ensuring stylistic consistency with both the anime source material and the Dragon Quest brand overall. Also contributed to the LQA process from start to finish, implementing corrections and tweaks in response to submitted reports from Square Enix's QA teams across its various international branches.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie (Published by NIS America; July 2023; PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, and PC). Translated roughly 20% of a 2.6 million moji script, primarily NPC dialogue, character barks, side missions, including all PlayStation VR content. Given the series' numerous installments and elaborate storylines/background lore, also performed extensive research to ensure proper consistency was maintained with previous localizations with respect to both glossary terms and character voices for over four dozen returning cast members.

Ghostwire: Tokyo (Published by Bethesda Softworks/Microsoft; March 2022; PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC). Lead translator for the localization process, personally handling roughly 90 percent of the game’s entire written content, including main story, sidequests, NPC dialogue, item descriptions, tutorial/UI text, and more. Intimately involved in preparing dubbing scripts for the game’s large amount of voice acted content.

Tales of Arise (Published by Bandai Namco; September 2021; PlayStaton 4/5, Xbox, and PC). Lead translator for the localization process, handling roughly 70 percent of the game’s full script single-handedly across every sector, including the main story, side quests, item descriptions, tutorial/UI text, and more. Devised much of the game’s official English terminology and greatly defined the speaking styles for virtually all of the cast.

Darius Cozmic Collection (Published by Taito; March 2020; PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch). Translated the entire game's text, including extensive historical profiles providing context on the technological and circumstantial significance for each of the entries in the classic Darius series represented in the collection.

Left Alive (Published by Square Enix; March 2019; PlayStation 4 and PC). Translated tutorial text, menu UI, and item descriptions, as well as assisted with proofreading the main story script, LQA work and international marketing materials.

Tales of Berseria (Published by Bandai Namco; January 2017; PlayStation 4 and PC). Translated character dialogue for both main storyline and side quests, including many lines that are voice acted. Sample work screenshot.

Monster Hunter Generations (Published by Capcom; July 2016; Nintendo 3DS). Translated character dialogue, weapon/armor descriptions, tutorial text translation. Sample work screenshot.

Additional Translation Work
Ship to Shore PhonoCo's Darius Album Liner Notes
40 Years of Sun Denshi: A Look at its Past and Future
The Story of the PS2’s Backwards Compatibility From the Engineer Who Built It

Press Translation Work
Gematsu

Press Interviews

“How Skillful Translations Helped These Japanese Video Games Gain Global Appeal,” by Anthony McGlynn, Digital Trends
"The Real-World Problems Behind Persona 5," by Caty McCarthy, USGamer.