Sonata of Memories: How a Japan-Only Alchemy RPG Got an English Voice
Released by Bandai in Japan on 22 July 2004, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Omoide no Sonata (Fullmetal Alchemist: Sonata of Memories) was only the second Game Boy Advance RPG based on the anime and manga. It continues from Stray Rondo, and follows Ed, Al and Winry as they look into a series of terrorist attacks and the strange appearance of chimeras.
At a glance
- Original: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Omoide no Sonata (Bandai, Japan, 2004)
- Translation by: Iredc, with x-comp's walkthrough as the base of the story text
- Patch released: 2 January 2021, version 1.0
- Genre: Role-playing game
- What sets it apart: Never released outside Japan before this patch
The translation story
The English patch grew from a gap in the game's fan coverage. The main story translation is taken from a walkthrough written by x-comp on GameFAQs, and Iredc translated everything else: the NPC dialogue, skill and item descriptions, and the side quests. Farlight handled script editing and revision, and Phantom made graphics. Iredc did the hacking and the rest of the graphics.
Nearly everything is in English. Only a couple of graphics, the level-up and Alchemy stats screens, remain in Japanese, and their translations are given in the patch's readme.
Connection to the earlier game
Stray Rondo, the predecessor, was itself translated by the fan mz in February 2017. Fans who played that version can follow the sequel's setup directly.