1-1 "Time of Judgment" plays. Most of the intro has credits in a bar across the top of the screen and dialogue in a similar bar at the bottom.

It is a dark night, and an eerie castle glows on a hilltop in the distance. One by one, three balls of colored light fly into the castle. After a brief pause, all three leave at once, flying off in different directions. Soon after, a fourth light, this one red, flies into the castle.

The scene changes.

Inside an elaborate yet eerie shrine of some sort, a woman with mid-back length blue hair walks up a set of stairs, halting before a throne. On the throne sits a character that I would describe as resembling a cross between a regal vampire and an oracle. The overall effect is an impression of something possibly evil, or possibly not, but unmistakably powerful. The woman speaks.

Eriinu is the straight romanization, not eriin. The difference is that the final vowel, though weak, isn't quite silent. Call it a schwa sound. Also, the 'i' is definitely not short, in contrast to what "Erim" implies. In any case, the katakana ヌ (NU) rarely gets much use, though I have seen it several times in the renderings of French names. For instance, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) becomes ジャンヌ・ダルク (jannu daruku).

Eleene is using humble language. The NA version preserves the implied respect, though it loses the basic meaning in the process. Also, its repeated use of "sir" implies that Arekdias is male, even though there's nothing to indicate gender either way. Arekdias speaks more like a Generic Powerful Entity than anything else, and it's unclear whether gender even applies.

The verb for "ask" used here can also mean "accuse", which may suggest that Arekdias is suspicious about something. On the other hand, it's probably more likely that just it's one of those words that isn't used much any more, and they're simply trying to make Arekdias sound ancient.

Was it really necessary to give them a made-up name with an obvious negative connotation? I think it gives too much away too soon, and also implies that there can't be any "Sinistrals" who aren't evil. In the end, NoA's obsession with removing religious references of any kind is the likely culprit...

Additionally, I believe there are later references to the four "Sinistrals" using a different term than the one used here (more on that once I get far enough into the game to confirm). Possibly this means that Arekdias is something other than a "Sinistral", perhaps a higher entity or neutral observer of some kind.

Eleene seems startled at this question, and replies hastily and with more vehemence than seems to be called for.

The NA phrasing can be taken as saying that the judgment will be by means of the Dual Blade. Though it may be implied, Arekdias doesn't actually say that, merely that the time has come, and the blade has as well.

Eleene hesitates for a moment, then turns into a ball of red light and flies away, and 1-2 "Rumbling" starts playing. The ball of light is shown flying over various parts of the world as morning comes. It swerves off as the screen centers on three triangular islands arranged in a triangle (like the Triforce in Zelda games, for what it's worth). The title is shown.

Speaking of the title, the logo is vastly different in the JP and NA versions, and not just because they changed the name.

Did they have to make the NA version logo look so much more... flat, for one thing?

The scene changes.

Inside a building, a woman with shoulder-length blue hair and wearing a pink dress stands behind a counter, talking to a man on the other side who has shiny red hair and wears armor and blue pants.

ティア can be both the name "Tia" and the word "tear" (as in teardrop). Or the name "Tear" if, for instance, you like Tales of the Abyss.

Oh! I almost forgot. You can change Maxim's name when you start a new game. For convenience, I'm leaving it as the default in the transcript and commentary. All the other characters have fixed names, though you also name the capsule monsters when you get them and can rename them whenever you want.

Tia comes around the counter and gives him a quick hug.

Maxim leaves the building, and the scene changes.

A man with somewhat messy golden-blond hair and wearing light armor and green pants stands in a town square. A woman with short straw-blonde hair and wearing a light blue dress walks up to him.

兄さん (nii-san) just means "older brother". Japanese has a tendency to use family terms more often than English.

I prefer the spelling "Jessie", so I'm using it. "Jessy" looks too much like a guy's name to me. Wasn't he the uncle on Full House?

Hilda steps a bit closer.

Guy walks several steps away before responding, as if to avoid retaliation.

The scene changes.

In the streets of a town, two boys with red hair and blue clothes stand on either side of a girl with a light cyan dress and lime green hair adorned with a cute oversized pink bow.

Lamity has apparently earned her reputation, as she breaks down and starts crying with no further provocation.

A woman rushes to the scene. She wears what appears to be blue armor, and her blue-tinged green hair is in a ponytail that extends to about her shoulders.

The boys run off as well as they can manage in their haste. Selena moves closer to comfort Lamity.

Calling Selena お姉ちゃん (onee-chan), which means "big sister", does not mean they're actually sisters. It just means she thinks of her sort of like a big sister. Calling people by family terms is fairly common in Japanese if you're friendly with them (or trying to be).

As she begins to speak, the scene changes again.

High atop a castle, a man with shiny and very spiky blue hair and wearing heavy armor stands, talking to himself.

I previously used Highdekka as an attempt at a phonetic spelling, but was never very happy with it. The better spelling is thanks to... well, there wasn't really a name on the e-mail, so I'll go with the part before the at sign in the address... group-z. Apparently Heidecker is a plausable German name that comes from the Bavarian town of Heideck.

A generic soldier comes out from a door and rushes to Heidecker.

But we don't find out what Heidecker thinks he'll do with the monsters, because just then, the door behind him suddenly bursts open, knocking him into the air and off the wall. A blond man wearing ornate armor and a fancy green cape steps out. A more mundanely attired blond man follows him.

The two of them run off, presumably to try facing the monsters. The generic soldier, who remained respectfully silent and attentive while the prince was present, walks forward to see what became of Heidecker...

The scene changes again.

A green-haired mustachioed man wearing a lab coat stands in a harbor, watching ships sail by. He suddenly starts talking to himself excitedly...

He rushes off into the town, passing by a generic woman and a generic sailor, and still talking to himself.

Lexus rushes out of sight, and the woman walks over to speak to the sailor.

っけ (kke) goes on a question to mean you ought to know the answer, but just can't think of it at the moment.

The scene changes again.

In a peaceful country village, a girl with pointy ears, twin blonde ponytails, and wearing a light cyan sundress stops running as a man, with similarly pointy ears, tidy longish blue hair, and wearing light armor and red pants, calls to her...

Exact spellings, for his name especially, are open to debate. Even official translations don't agree with each other... or sometimes even themselves! (For instance, "Arty's Bow" in this very game.) That said, "Artea" is the most common and consistent spelling, so let's go with that.

He walks up to her. She seems rather nervous, and speaks very deferentially.

As she's speaking, the door of a nearby house opens, and a woman who looks much like an adult version of Milka walks out.

The scene changes again.

We're back in the eerie shrine, where Arekdias remains. The music grows dark...

Arekdias floats from the throne and starts down the red-carpeted stairway.

As Arekdias finishes speaking, an impressive-looking blade shimmers into view, hovering above the stairway... and the music comes to a dramatic conclusion.