English names are:
Sandy -> Stella
Ruida -> Patty
Rikka -> Erinn
Raviel -> Pavo
Roxanne -> Sellma (yes, with 2 'l's)

I'll never understand why they insist on changing so many of the names in DQ games when they get localized. It makes it hard to look up certain characters if you don't know their Japanese names.

ebola9717 said:
I'll never understand why they insist on changing so many of the names in DQ games when they get localized. It makes it hard to look up certain characters if you don't know their Japanese names.

For the same reason They change pokemon names(and people). Because little kids would have a hard time saying the names of a different culture.

Tetsamaru said:
For the same reason They change pokemon names(and people). Because little kids would have a hard time saying the names of a different culture.

Except not? Look at Sandy → Stella. Tell me how that's any easier or harder to pronounce. No, from what I've seen, the people over in SE's localization team LOVE their puns - Erinn the Innkeeper, daughter of the guy who won the Inny for Inncreadible Inntertainment... God, I facepalmed SO HARD...

The puns are really bad, and they don't stop. Worst part is that the vast majority of the characters seem to have punny names...

YuriTenshi said:
Except not? Look at Sandy → Stella. Tell me how that's any easier or harder to pronounce. No, from what I've seen, the people over in SE's localization team LOVE their puns - Erinn the Innkeeper, daughter of the guy who won the Inny for Inncreadible Inntertainment... God, I facepalmed SO HARD...

The puns are really bad, and they don't stop. Worst part is that the vast majority of the characters seem to have punny names...

Oh, i guess that would be the case with Dragon Quest then. With Pokemon, they manage to keep only about 1/4 of the puns. The rest of it is just for the sake of the kids.Satoshi/Ash,Misty/Kasumi. And then theres Nyath and Mewoth, so they managed to keep the pun there. But Bulbasaur's pun was lost in translation.

The dragon quest games have always been tongue in cheek and the more recent translations have kept that feel much better than the early "But thou must!" translations. DQ9, despite changing names, has preserved the overall feel of Dragon Quest in my opinion even if they go a little overboard with the puns

I do remember hearing that the DQ games have always been filled with puns so I guess a look into the Japanese names and whatnot would clarify this. I like games that can be silly even with serious things happening (Hello Final Fantasy V). If the Japanese version is anything like the English version then I would understand the name changes because the previous posters didn't notice them. Sometimes names are changed for reasons other than being easier to understand >.>

Terrorbreak said:
I do remember hearing that the DQ games have always been filled with puns so I guess a look into the Japanese names and whatnot would clarify this. I like games that can be silly even with serious things happening (Hello Final Fantasy V). If the Japanese version is anything like the English version then I would understand the name changes because the previous posters didn't notice them. Sometimes names are changed for reasons other than being easier to understand >.>

Yup!