Symphonia / Phantasia continuity error?

[Cyllya]

The whole string of dialogue. Aside from what seems to be index codes for the voiced lines I don't see any difference in the text, unless I missed it...

Sorry, but "the whole thing" I meant the whole game. ^^

[Cless]

That, I can't tell you. I dumped a few scripts with the ToP PSX script dumper, but getting the rest with that isn't all that convenient, due to filename convention differences. I'll need to knock Klarth around a bit to make a version that's easier to use with the PSP version.

[gyozilla]

I'm not seeing this as a continuity error (and I'm down with octarineblues' reading of the line).

ToP SFC started out with only "あるじの願いとあってもこれは一度、特別だ。" (master's wish). If you think about the dialogue itself, I could argue if Origin threw out something curious like "my first master" to Klarth, wouldn't Klarth go "zomg, all this time and no one else made a pact with you?!" It's like Klarth didn't even notice that little tidbit there, which leads me to think "first wish/request" makes more sense (as that's not surprising).

From a writer's point of view, "first master" is a hell of a tidbit to throw in casually compared to "first wish".

I don't exactly think of it as enslaving. The idea is like that sometimes, but there is a sense of free will for Spirits. Luna, Aska, Gremlin Lair weren't beaten til they acquiesced, ToP SFC's Shadow joined 'cause the rest of his race were brainwashed by Dhaos iirc. I think Luna even said she doesn't like fighting, but would help if it means saving the world. So the free will factor is not that different between ToS and ToP. Klarth having to battle the Spirit first is the same as Shiina having to prove their worth (as Spirits think highly of themselves). It's just a classic trial of worth and willpower.

You can think of Spirits as Genies/Jinn/Jann, and 主/master as "host". It doesn't necessarily imply total subjugation, but the host can control/call on them to do his/her bidding (thus summon/conjure). As a sidenote that I think is important, Klarth could be a parallel to King Solomon, who used a diamond ring to call on the Jinn to help him. Solomon was the host of Jinns and many other things. Keep in mind that Jinns have been described as having free will like humans too. So the reading of "master" can be thought of more as "host". Klarth is the host of Spirits.

You could even make Origin use the word "host" as it's all high-brow and stuffy.

[Altheaas]

A bit late, and I was a bit lazy to read through it all (Sleep time soon) But I was just thinking...

Origin says "My first master's request" but are you sure he didn't mean "My master's first request?" I dunno, I don't know anything at all about Japanese so I could be way off, it's just that when translated into english it'd only be one word off I could be way off.