4X the Fun: Endless Legend 2 Speaks Turkish
The long-standing strategy genre has left an indelible mark on the gaming world, winning players over with its captivating storytelling and deeply satisfying gameplay. When it comes to 4X strategy games, chances are your mind immediately goes to those late-night sessions with friends—each of you ruling mighty empires, forging alliances, tearing up treaties, and rewriting history with every war declared. And now, the genre welcomes a new contender: Endless Legend 2. In Turkish!
Developed by Amplitude and published by Hooded Horse, Endless Legend 2 is a 4X turn-based strategy game that also carries shades of real-time strategy. At 23 Studios, we’re proud to have brought this epic, fantastical world—its lore, characters, and mechanics—into Turkish. Let’s take a closer look at how we approached this localization.
When localizing 4X strategy games, there are two key challenges: maintaining terminological consistency and preserving the distinct characterization and identity of each empire.
At its core, the 4X genre is much like a tabletop board game, brimming with primary mechanics and secondary features that either strengthen or weaken them. Since both the names and descriptions of these mechanics are crucial for clarity and readability, we put immense care into crafting Turkish equivalents. For example, we localized the main resources—“Food, Influence, Dust, Science, Industry, Population”—as “Gıda, Nüfuz, Toz, Bilim, Sanayi, Nüfus.” Secondary mechanics like “Works, Spire of Industry, Observatory, Common Rights, Dustlytics, Materials Science” became “Atölyeler, Sanayi Kulesi, Gözlemevi, Ortak Haklar, Tozlitik, Malzemebilim.” Every term was carefully reviewed to ensure accuracy and singularity, avoiding any inconsistency or confusion.
Terminology proved to be the most demanding yet rewarding part of the project. Endless Legend 2 contains dozens of interconnected terms. For instance, “District, Territory, Terrain” were localized as “Mıntıka, Bölge, Arazi” to reflect size differences without losing their original meaning. Similarly, with “Turn” and “Round,” the game distinguishes between turns in the main gameplay and rounds in battles. We mirrored this nuance by using “Tur” for global turns and “Raunt” for battle rounds. Leadership terms like “Emperor, Leader, Elder” became “İmparator, Lider, Önder,” preserving distinctions in authority and rank.
Beyond terminology, we worked meticulously to reflect the personality of each civilization:
Aspects, a half-machine, half-coral symbiotic race obsessed with harmony, were given dialogue that emphasized their vigilance and fixation on balance. For example, “Even though much land separates us, word comes of your destabilizing acts. Balance will be restored!” were translated as “İmparatorluklarımızın arasına uzun mesafeler girmiş olsa da istikrarı tehlikeye atan eylemlerinizin duyumunu alıyoruz. Denge onarılmalı!”, which is aimed to highlight their strict obsession with balance and harmony even though your civilization tries to escape!
The Kin, proud warriors fighting for survival, needed a voice that was stern yet measured. Their line “Let me be clear. Should things fall apart between you and them, then we won't be on good terms either.” was localized as “Açık konuşayım. Sizinle onlar arasındaki ilişkiye zeval geldiği takdirde Soy'u karşınızda bulursunuz.” This strategic choice masterfully conveys a dual persona: a calm, direct approach combined with an unmistakable, assertive edge.
Last Lords, automaton-like beings with a knightly code, were portrayed with their longing for chivalric glory. “Disgusting. We are Lords, not vagrants!” became “İğrenç! Bizler Lordlarız, serseri güruhu değil!” This translation emphasizes Last Lords’ deep-seated sensitivity on the matter, while also embedding a sense of their nostalgic longing for past glory into the very style of the leader and heroes.
The Tahuks, desert lizards awaiting the return of the vanished Sages, were expressed with unwavering faith. “We prayed for relief from the wretch, and They heard us. And sent you. You are most blessed to be such an instrument.” turned into “Bu aşağılık yaratıktan kurtulmak için dualar ediyorduk, nihayetinde Onlar sesimizi duydu ve sizi gönderdi. Onların kutsanmış vekilisiniz.” We emphasized the Tahuks' core belief that whatever befalls them is the will of “Them”. We also aimed to preserve their devotion to these entities, whom they call the Sages or “Them”, within the Turkish localization.
The Necrophage, trapped in Saiadha’s depths, consumed everything they touched. Their ravenous line, “We smell you. The more armies you bring, the better we will feed.” was translated as “Kokunuzu alıyoruz. Ordunuz ne kadar kalabalık olursa ziyafetimiz o denli bereketli olur.” to be able to highlight their ravenous hunger and ferocity. Their grotesque hero names were also adapted: “Whispers-to-the-Darkness, Plays-with-Fire, Acid-Clicker, Speaks-In-Riddles” became “Karanlığafısıldayan, Ateşleoynayan, Asitsaçan, Bilmecegibikonuşan.” As for the translation strategy for these words, we decided to follow a direct way of translation to be able to convey both the meaning and the linguistic structure even though they do not exist in Turkish as some phrases.
The Sand Shapers, ancient architects aiming to awaken Saiadha, were voiced with a sharp, uncompromising tone. “You live to ruin, and we, to build. How can there ever be peace?” became “Sizin yaşam amacınız yıkmak, bizimki ise inşa etmek. Barış söz konusu bile olamaz.” Our goal was to convey just how uncompromising the Sand Architects can be in their struggle to raise Saiadha from beneath the waters with this choice of translation. We made sure the texts in Turkish reflect this civilization's longing for their sandy past, coupled with their intolerant stance against those bent on destruction.
By balancing accuracy with creativity, we not only built a consistent and seamless terminology but also ensured each empire’s unique struggles, beliefs, and personalities resonated in Turkish. With its vast stories and fantastical world, Saiadha and Endless Legend 2 are now ready to be experienced in Turkish.
