Having a fictional language is a great way to immerse players a video games' universe. Many of these made-up languages use simple substitution ciphers, but some are complex languages with specific rules. Some of these languages can even be learned thanks to diligent fans who've painstakingly translated them.
Languages are indicators of a living, breathing world. A convincing one can add a dimension of realism to a game few other elements can. A constructed language can be taken out of a game and used in real life, transcending the border between fiction and reality.
10 The Lyrics In The Nier Games Were Written Using Chaos Language
The lyrics from the Nier series' music were sung in Chaos Language. It was created by singer Emi Evans who — together with the sound designers for the game — felt players would be distracted by lyrics they could recognize.
The intent was to create a language which sounded like different modern languages that had gradually become indecipherable to players over thousands of years. Having music in a made-up language produced a mysterious and disorienting effect, leading the player to wonder what was being sung and why it carried such emotion.
9 Ico Uses Two Different Languages For The Protagonists
Ico uses a runic language that contains characters resembling hieroglyphs, with each symbol representing a letter in the English alphabet. The game's protagonists, Ico and Yorda, speak different languages. Yorda's language has a ghostly quality, while Ico's is similar to languages found in East Asia.
Conceived of by Team Ico member Kei Kuwabara, Yorda's language can be translated by taking the first letter of each rune in a sentence, flipping the order of the letters, and filling in the missing vowels. The runic subtitles are exclusive to the Japanese version of the game.
8 Hylian In The Legend Of Zelda Has Changed Over Time
There are several written and spoken languages in the Legend of Zelda games. Spoken in Hyrule, Hylian is the most prominent. Since the language has changed over time, there are six different versions which appear throughout the game series.
Both Old and New Hylian are based on the Japanese kana syllabaries, with the design of the characters conjuring an aura of ancient times. Other spoken fictional languages in the Legend of Zelda series include Gerudo and Minish.
7 Simlish In The Sims Is A Language Of Gibberish
The Sims is famous for its odd fictional language, Simlish. It started out as nothing more than gibberish, but as the games expanded, so did the language. Players have recognized certain common words and attempted to make a Simlish dictionary.
However, since Simlish is a nonsense language, it makes translation an all but impossible task. The creation of Simlish adds a layer of immersion to the life simulation game and gives it a distinctive twist. The Sims 2 introduces Simlish music, which proves all the more bizarre.
6 Qunlat Is The Most Comprehensive Language In Dragon Age
Dragon Age has several fictional languages. Some have fallen away with time, with only a few words and phrases remaining. Tevene, Dwarven, and Elvish have all been usurped in favor of the Trade tongue, invented by the dwarves. Qunlat is one of the more fleshed out languages in the series.
Qunlat is the language of the horned humanoid race, Qunari. Most Qunari can't speak the common tongue very well, and since their culture has high standards, they mostly remain quiet in the presence of foreigners. Qunlat has a comprehensive vocabulary, as well as numerous phrases and idioms.
5 Halo Has A Diverse Collection Of Races And Languages
There are several different Covenant races in the Halo games. The language of the dinosaur-like Kig-Yar consists of hisses, screeches, and squawks, although they can speak the English language as well. The Unggoy use barks and grunts to communicate with one another, while the Huragok use both verbal and sign language.
In order to connect different races and species, however, Sangheili is used as the main Covenant language. Based on the Forerunner language, the letters of the Sangheili alphabet are made up of triangular characters. Covenant ships use translation software to translate the languages of different races.
4 Khalani Is A Language Telepathically Spoken In Starcraft
Telepathically spoken, the protoss species in Starcraft use the Khalani language to communicate. Khalai and Nerazim are kindreds of the protoss and have their own version of Khalani. Like many real languages, certain words and phrases take on different meanings depending on the culture.
However, the protoss have the same glyph-based writing system. The protoss sect Tal'darim also speak a variation of Khalani, while other races hear meaningless sounds when Khalani is being spoken. Blizzard keeps a real-world dictionary of Khalani.
3 Al Bhed In Final Fantasy X Is Easy To Learn But Hard To Master
The fictional language in Final Fantasy X, Al Bhed, uses a substitution cipher. The idea is for players to gradually learn the language as they progress through the game by collecting Al Bhed Primers, which translate letters from the language.
Swapping out different vowels and consonants was a simple way to create a language that sounded entirely different. While its conception was simple, however, learning to speak and understand the language was another thing entirely. There were as many words in Al Bhed as there were in a real-life language, so while there wasn't any new grammar to learn, each word in the vocabulary had be memorized.
2 Dovahzul In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Is The Language Of Dragons
Dovahzul is the language of the Dragons in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and one of the most comprehensive constructed languages in video game history. The alphabet consists of runes made with slashes — as a dragon's claws would mark rocks — and resembles the ancient Mesopotamian language, cuneiform.
Dovahzul's sentence structure is the same as English, but plurals are created by repeating the final letter and adding an "e." When spoken, Dovahzul has a vaguely Scandinavian sound. There are websites dedicated to teaching Dovahzul, so fans can learn the language of dragons.
1 World Of Warcraft Has Multiple Fictional Languages
There's a variety of races in World of Warcraft, and each have their own language. Members of the Alliance speak Common, which is a mixture of English, Latin, Welsh, and other historical languages. Horde members use Orcish as a common language, of which there are variations in dialect.
Some races, such as Goblins, have learned other languages for purposes of trade. Additionally, languages in the game blend with and borrow from each other. For example Gutterspeak uses bits of Dwarven and Thalassian, making for a rich tapestry of languages which only enhances immersion.