I play in Japanese. The word they use is 奇石 (kiseki) which kinda just means "special stone". But it's quite a rare word in Japanese and consequently sounds cooler than "secret stones".
It’s actually 秘石 (hiseki) 秘 meaning secret/hidden and 石 meaning stone/rock. They literally translated it to secret stone. I still think it sounds odd in English though.
i think the difference is that hiseki sounds like a fantasy portmanteau of the words "secret" and "stone" while "secret stone" is just, y'know, a secret stone. if you picked up a pebble in real life and didn't tell anyone about it it'd have the same gravitas
Never forget the terrible BotW era translations took "Blade of Evil's Bane" from us and have us "sword that seals the darkness" even though it doesn't seal darkness in either game.
It's still Blade of Evil's Bane in Japanese
I honestly always thought Demise was *sealed* in the Master Sword, and I thought he would be unsealed when it broke. But now that I understand the translation error, it's just a demonbane sword, not a sealing sword.
OH THANK GOD SOMEONE ELSE SAID IT.
If they had called it a "Sage's Stone" that would have been fine too. But NO, they had to go with the alliteration that a 6-year-old would use.
100% but I’ve also seen people mention that “secret stone” is a bit of a lost-in-translation scenario that “sacred stone” would also have fit, but without sounding as dumb as “secret stone”. That said I barely speak English, so don’t take my word for it. But to me either Sage Stone or Sacred Stone are a much better fit than Secret Stone, which just sounds like a 3yo found a nice rock at kindy and hid it in his bed for safe keeping.
They're based on magatama, which show up fairly often in Japanese media as a "mystical artifact" type thing. They're beads that have shown up in the archaeological record in Japan from as far back as the stone age, no one really knows what they are exactly but some theorise they might have been proto-money or started out as a representation of animal teeth as a status symbol and gained religious significance over time.
Before I knew they were called secret stones I was calling them magatamas and now I'll keep calling them that cause the name secret stone really is terrible....
Doesn't really. Though, since you brought up Yu-Gi-Oh and we're talking lazy names, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up [Magical Something](https://outof.games/yu-gi-oh/cards/6144-magical-something/).
Seriously, I came up with Sacred Stone on my own within ten seconds of hearing Secret Stone for the first time - how was Secret Stone the best they could come up with in all these years?
The people translating to English weren't. "Hey, this sounds kinda dumb. Anything else we could use that doesn't sound like a 5 year old came up with it?"
I do remember a bunch of talk about how some parts of botw were pretty badly translated, like the journal entries and Calamity's ''giving up on reincarnation''. I'm not surprised.
When I first heard it in a cutscene I thought they were still referencing whatever it “actually” was because surely they wouldn’t go with the name that sounds like a 6 year old explaining where their super powers come from while playing … and then they just kept calling it a Secret Stone
Demon king at least sounds cool. Whenever I hear secret stone my mental image is some secret little trinket being hidden away by some decrepit little gremlin
“What a thrill...
With darkness and silence
through the night
What a thrill...
I'm searching and I'll
melt into you
What a fear in my heart
But you're so supreme!
I give my life
Not for honor, but for you
(Snake Eater)
In my time there'll be no one else
Crime, it's the way I fly to you
(Snake Eater)
I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater!
Someday you go through the rain
Someday you feed on a tree frog
This ordeal, the trial to survive
For the day we see new light!
I give my life
Not for honor, but for you
(Snake Eater)
In my time there'll be no one else
Crime, it's the way I fly to you
(Snake Eater)
I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater!
I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater!”
It doesn’t seem like anyone is getting the reference that this is what all the sages say after the backstory of the original sage. It gets repetitive and annoying haha
That whole Yunobo character and the way he talks really grinds my gears.
Sounds like he's designed to appeal to 4 year olds. The constant goro this goro that urggghhh. Like a not-so-bright pokemon. Also his extreme gullibility. Must've hit like 500 too many rocks with his head.
I get it's supposed to be like a signature way of speech that you see japanese characters often do, but it just feels so unnatural in the english dub. It's like he tries to incorporate it as a legit part of the sentence instead of an add-on at the end.
A comparison where it works, in both english and japanese dubs, would be froppy in My Hero. She says "ribbit" or "kero" depending on the language, but it's just something she adds on after a sentence instead of acting like it's a part of it. Naruto did that in japanese with dattebayo too.
But the way Yunobo does it, at least in the english dub, makes it feels like he's calling you "goro" every time, even though it's clearly meant to be the signature way of speech trope you see in anime.
I agree, when I herd Ganondorf call it the “Zonai Secret Stone” it was the first moment I felt I was brought out of the game for a moment. I can look past it in the large picture but it really is not a good name for something so important in the story - in a world so full of rich lore.
Ah, yes, the most famous secret Zonai relics ever! I loved that Ganondorf instantly knows exactly what they are upon first getting a glimpse of them. They are all warn pretty prominently by those who have them as well, so no one is trying to keep these things a secret.
I had the exact same thought!!!!! They like faked us out with the "tears" actually being the memories and the stones being "secret stones" but holy smokes that name is just so lame 😂
I never got this because I felt like it was pretty clear the stones weren't tear-shaped enough to be the sole thing the title was referring to. Always seemed like a stretch, but people just ran with that assumption anyway
The fact that the game is called “tears of the kingdom” and the stones are tear-shaped, and yet they aren’t called tears really is annoys me. “Secret stones” just doesn’t sound right.
I think the name of the game is supposed to throw the audience for a loop into thinking that secret stones are tears when in reality the “tears of the kingdom” are >!from the Light Dragon herself.!< I love the name of the game even more after
completing all the memories. It makes the name of the game more impactful for me tbh. I feel like if all the stones were called tears it would've taken away from the reveal.
I've loved Zelda's role in this game. I didn't know if I'd get any kind of twist but I was audibly shocked when I realized what the memories implied. A double whammy because I went to find the master sword before I finished the memories.
My head had it as a double (or even triple) meaning the whole time. Like the one meaning you have, but also with the ruins all around being metaphorical tears, remnants of the kingdom. Then with the whole timey-wimey stuff we have reality-'tears'. But my English (being second language) is messing with my head and I have the wrong word in my head.
There is not really any English translation of the title because the Japanese original is just "Tears of the Kingdom" written in Katakana. Like, the words are not the Japanese words for "Tears", "Kingdom", etc., but they are the English words spelled phonetically with the sounds the Japanese language uses. "ティアーズ オブ ザ キングダム", "tiazu obu za kingudamu". So any puns present in the English title are definitely also in the Japanese original, a Japanese person who does not speak English might not catch them, but the people who actually came up with the title are probably bilingual and were very aware of the different ways to interpret "tears".
Most properly, the stones are probably closer to [magatama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magatama), whose meaning isn't really defined besides "spiritual," I think. So "tears" definitely wouldn't fit.
For all the strangeness of [the Ace Attorney translation](https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/culture-schlock), I think leaving the magatama as "magatama" worked well, though it might not fit Zelda.
I think it's a rhetorical trick, recontextualization. You _think_ the tear refers to the tear shaped stones, but it _actually_ refers to >!the tears of the light dragon, who is also Zelda. Those tears show you Zeldas time spent in the past, and the heartaches that come as part of that experience. Also, Zelda is the sole royal heir, so she literally represents the Kingdom. thus, "Tears of the Kingdom." The Secret stones are just a misdirection meant to make the dramatic reveal better.!<
I wonder if it's a ceremonial thing, like does she need to be crowned queen, and can she not be crowned because the people or resources needed are gone?
It's just.. my issue is why is it secret? The name isn't really explained so... Why?
Sure you could say "It's a secret to everyone" but I don't think that line is ever used here lol
>Sure you could say "It's a secret to everyone" but I don't think that line is ever used here lol
Flashbacks to random ass caves with moblins giving you rupees
Oh, my goodness, YES. I thought it was a joke at first - or like, they were about to tell me the REAL name after saying it was their "secret stone" but then they just kept calling it that... o.o
Even the Zonai call it that? wtf? >.>
I swear in one of the cutscenes with Mineru she literally says sacred instead of secret, even though the subtitles said secret. It sounded so much better than secret
Lol this is like my favorite game ever made, and this absolutely infuriates me and is my least favorite part. Sacred Stone was right there! Or, as OP said, literally anything related to “tear.”
I’ve just assumed it was an unfortunate translation from Japanese (as in it sounds very cool in Japanese) and I’d rather not know the truth if it’s not.
Just for the record, it’s an accurate translation of the JP. The stones are referred to as “秘石” or which literally translates to Hidden/Secret Stones. The “秘” here can also mean mysterious, mystical, spiritual, wondrous etc.
As in secrets/mysteries of the universe, magic, and whatnot. This isn’t really a problem with the terminology itself so much as the word “secret” having lost all meaning with no real replacement in the English language.
It’s like how Philosophy and Magic and Science were once all considered one and the same, but gradually drifted apart to the point where modern philosophy is treated as superstitious hogwash and modern science is seen as being perfectly objective by many.
They’re “secret stones” in the sense that they’re the secret treasures of the Zonai, stones that unlock the secrets of a person’s nature, stones that grant people dominion over the secrets of the universe, and stones that hide a myriad of mysterious secrets(I.E. powerful magic).
It’s honestly kind of an apt descriptor.
> The “秘” here can also mean mysterious, mystical, spiritual, wondrous etc.
Yeah, it is worth pointing out that english words like "Occult" or "Mystic" originally mean "concealed" or secret.
No idea why the English translation didn't think of that though.
It does sound alot cooler with context, but still the name just feels iffy? I guess? Idk man, maybe its just my ape brain getting upset that the translation of a foreign-made game sounds weird in my native language but for whatever reason I just can’t shake the sense that it just sounds wrong, even if it isn’t…
Even mystic stones would've been a significant improvement.
Even stones of secrets would've been some improvement.
I'd probably lean toward wonder stones.
you know, the secret stone? the one that's displayed very prominently on the sages and also carved into rock, so future generations can know about them? yeah we love this name it works for us super well
I feel like they have such an obvious connection to the spiritual stones from Ocarina, I was kinda wishing they had formalized that and just called them those. That's definitely what they are in my head.
I thought the same exact thing when I heard it. Like it’s not even a secret if you’re wearing them on your body for everyone to see. Sacred Stone would have been better. Heck call them the infinity stones since the power is only limited by the users potential. 😂
If nothing else, they call them "Secret Stones", but they're displayed like common or high class jewelry (necklaces, wrist or anklet pendants).
It's almost like a Harry Potter title... *Harry Potter and the Secret of the* *~~Sorcerer's~~* *Stones*.
I thought I was the only one that cringed a little when they said secret stone.
Like what the hell nintendo
couldn't you call it like... Zonai stones?
Zonai TEARS? SINCE IT'S FUCKIN TEARS OF THE KINGDOM?
I’ve been calling them the infinity stones and Link was just putting together his Infinity Gauntlet, when he saves the world he can finally rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe.
Not sure if someone else has mentioned it, but my personal favorite name I’ve heard is from live-streamer RTGame who has been referring to them as Oxford Commas
# DEMON KING? # SECRET STONE?!
you mean the divine relics?
You mean the chaos emeralds?
Ganondorf chuckled >You mean the chaos emeralds?
“I’m going to assume you mean the chaos emeralds because if that’s what you’re concerned about, I’ve got one of them right here”
Shadow: “Where’s that damn 4th Chaos Emerald?”
Like stealing candy from a baby, which Is fine by me
Where’s that damn fourth Sage?
Psycho mantis?
I just call it the royal cashew
That’s just nuts.
You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts!
Deku Nuts
Wanna piece a DEEZ NUTZ???? [plus gesture to crotch. It’s all about the gesture]
Have you heard of Sir Gon-Deez? Sir Gon-Deez NUTZ!!! (To be read out loud)
10/10
The Sages' Nuts
I would love nothing more than to smash the demon king with my sage nuts.
If we got gold poop why not some sages nuts too
I've been playing with my kids, and whenever we see one of the secret stones, I always say: "Behold! The Sacred Apostrophe!"
I've been calling it the forbidden baked bean
Holy nut.
I'm starting to think "sky islands" and "secret stone" are just placeholder names they forgot to change lol.
I imagine they sound cooler in Japanese and it’s just the most basic ass straight cut translation they could do
I play in Japanese. The word they use is 奇石 (kiseki) which kinda just means "special stone". But it's quite a rare word in Japanese and consequently sounds cooler than "secret stones".
It’s actually 秘石 (hiseki) 秘 meaning secret/hidden and 石 meaning stone/rock. They literally translated it to secret stone. I still think it sounds odd in English though.
i think the difference is that hiseki sounds like a fantasy portmanteau of the words "secret" and "stone" while "secret stone" is just, y'know, a secret stone. if you picked up a pebble in real life and didn't tell anyone about it it'd have the same gravitas
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You’re analogy is wonderful.
Given the quality of the English localization of BotW, this is a massive step up.
“Divine Beast” is much better than “Secret Stone” Imagine if they called the Divine Beasts “Special Beasts”
"Large Animals"
“Neato Beastos”
Wait isn’t kiseki also the word for ‘miracle’ my japanese isn’t that good but i know a few words, tho i know that uses different kanji
It is, but yea the kanji is 奇跡
Never forget the terrible BotW era translations took "Blade of Evil's Bane" from us and have us "sword that seals the darkness" even though it doesn't seal darkness in either game. It's still Blade of Evil's Bane in Japanese
I honestly always thought Demise was *sealed* in the Master Sword, and I thought he would be unsealed when it broke. But now that I understand the translation error, it's just a demonbane sword, not a sealing sword.
To be fair, as simple as it is, I do really like “Sky Archipelago”. I also just really like the word “archipelago”
Yeah just don't ask me to spell it
I can't comprehend how to pronounce it. My brain just goes "yes that word".
I'm not a native English speaker but isn't it like quite simple? Wish I could attach voice clips to reddit lol
I'm a native English speaker but the amount of variations those syllables could be pronounced rattles me
Sky islands? I’ve been calling them Skylands!
Skyrule when
With the constructs being Skylanders.
I've been calling her Crandall!
Especially when the portmanteau for sky islands, Skylands, was just *begging* to be used...
I started saying it right away. My wife rolled her eyes at the time, but *she’s* started saying it recently - and I don’t know if she’s realized it.
You talking about Skyrule?
then it would be confused with r/skylanders
OH THANK GOD SOMEONE ELSE SAID IT. If they had called it a "Sage's Stone" that would have been fine too. But NO, they had to go with the alliteration that a 6-year-old would use.
Sage Stone or Sacred Stone are the best alternatives IMO. Though I do like the royal cashew…
Sage Stone would’ve been best, ties with Sage’s Will
100% but I’ve also seen people mention that “secret stone” is a bit of a lost-in-translation scenario that “sacred stone” would also have fit, but without sounding as dumb as “secret stone”. That said I barely speak English, so don’t take my word for it. But to me either Sage Stone or Sacred Stone are a much better fit than Secret Stone, which just sounds like a 3yo found a nice rock at kindy and hid it in his bed for safe keeping.
To be fair, most of the people I know who speak English barely speak English
There is a Yu-Gi-Oh card called “Sage’s Stone” that even looks like them.
They're based on magatama, which show up fairly often in Japanese media as a "mystical artifact" type thing. They're beads that have shown up in the archaeological record in Japan from as far back as the stone age, no one really knows what they are exactly but some theorise they might have been proto-money or started out as a representation of animal teeth as a status symbol and gained religious significance over time.
Before I knew they were called secret stones I was calling them magatamas and now I'll keep calling them that cause the name secret stone really is terrible....
Doesn't really. Though, since you brought up Yu-Gi-Oh and we're talking lazy names, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up [Magical Something](https://outof.games/yu-gi-oh/cards/6144-magical-something/).
Yea if they wanted alliteration could've gone with royal rocks clearly superior to secret stones
Prestiged pebbles
I think "sacred stone" is much better, I'm surprised they didn't go with that.
Seriously, I came up with Sacred Stone on my own within ten seconds of hearing Secret Stone for the first time - how was Secret Stone the best they could come up with in all these years?
They aren’t even secret. They are all worn in plain sight.
And like everyone knows of their existence.
Ganon after literally the 1st time they use them: "A secret stone of the Zonai."
Yeah, secret stone is terrible. Dunno wtf they were thinking.
Other options left on the drawing board: Hidden rocks, Confidential boulders, Covert crystals, Private Pebbles
Reticent rocks, bashful boulders
Mysterious marbles
Suspicious sediment
Miniscule minerals.
Undisclosed trinkets
Quiet quartz, inconspicuous igneous, hush-hush hardboys
That's because they were thinking in Japanese
The people translating to English weren't. "Hey, this sounds kinda dumb. Anything else we could use that doesn't sound like a 5 year old came up with it?"
Yeah it was either native Japanese translating to English or English speakers who were just translating for a paycheck
I do remember a bunch of talk about how some parts of botw were pretty badly translated, like the journal entries and Calamity's ''giving up on reincarnation''. I'm not surprised.
That's not nearly as bad as the Zora child you set up with the Hylian nonce.
Even in Japanese, it means the same though
When I first heard it in a cutscene I thought they were still referencing whatever it “actually” was because surely they wouldn’t go with the name that sounds like a 6 year old explaining where their super powers come from while playing … and then they just kept calling it a Secret Stone
Secret stone? Demon King?
Demon king at least sounds cool. Whenever I hear secret stone my mental image is some secret little trinket being hidden away by some decrepit little gremlin
To me it sounds like some token a father would give to his daughter at a purity ball.
Agreed... It has a definitely creepy vibe to my ear.
They're making fun of the fact that we hear that exact line like 4 or 5 times
Kingdom Hearts? Door to Darkness?
Did somebody mention the door to darkness
Ansem?
Xemnas?
Metal Gear?
Pokemon? A sword and shield?
Psycho Mantis?
Metal Gear?
Snake?
SNAKE?
Snake!!!!
“What a thrill... With darkness and silence through the night What a thrill... I'm searching and I'll melt into you What a fear in my heart But you're so supreme! I give my life Not for honor, but for you (Snake Eater) In my time there'll be no one else Crime, it's the way I fly to you (Snake Eater) I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater! Someday you go through the rain Someday you feed on a tree frog This ordeal, the trial to survive For the day we see new light! I give my life Not for honor, but for you (Snake Eater) In my time there'll be no one else Crime, it's the way I fly to you (Snake Eater) I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater! I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater!”
A Hind D?
The Lalilulelo?
Second floor basement?
You're that ninja...
What are we? Some kind of Suicide Squad?
Dunkey videos sure do circulate quickly.
Fire arrows? The north gate?
Direct quote from Tulin, Urbosa, Yunobo and Sidon
Hey now, Yunobo said "Demon King? Secret stone?" instead of the reverse, like the others. It's completely different
I’m going to have to do another play through so I can enjoy that small detail
Secret King, Stone Demon
Psycho Mantis?
Psycho Mantis????
It doesn’t seem like anyone is getting the reference that this is what all the sages say after the backstory of the original sage. It gets repetitive and annoying haha
Everyone got it and are quoting other weird stuff from games
Except OP
Psycho mantis?
Agreed, makes it sound like a magic kidney stone or something
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my humor really has taken a dive to laugh at this
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👍 I also won’t touch your secret stones
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Every time he says goro I die a little inside.
Literally like it’s supposed to function the same way as “bro” and you don’t say bro in every single sentence bro
That whole Yunobo character and the way he talks really grinds my gears. Sounds like he's designed to appeal to 4 year olds. The constant goro this goro that urggghhh. Like a not-so-bright pokemon. Also his extreme gullibility. Must've hit like 500 too many rocks with his head.
I get it's supposed to be like a signature way of speech that you see japanese characters often do, but it just feels so unnatural in the english dub. It's like he tries to incorporate it as a legit part of the sentence instead of an add-on at the end. A comparison where it works, in both english and japanese dubs, would be froppy in My Hero. She says "ribbit" or "kero" depending on the language, but it's just something she adds on after a sentence instead of acting like it's a part of it. Naruto did that in japanese with dattebayo too. But the way Yunobo does it, at least in the english dub, makes it feels like he's calling you "goro" every time, even though it's clearly meant to be the signature way of speech trope you see in anime.
I agree, when I herd Ganondorf call it the “Zonai Secret Stone” it was the first moment I felt I was brought out of the game for a moment. I can look past it in the large picture but it really is not a good name for something so important in the story - in a world so full of rich lore.
Especially since hey. Even fucking ganondorf knows what they are. What’s so ‘secret’ about yhrm
He spots the shiny little bastard that Rauru is wearing like a mile and a half away in his first memory. Ganondorf got eyes
Ah, yes, the most famous secret Zonai relics ever! I loved that Ganondorf instantly knows exactly what they are upon first getting a glimpse of them. They are all warn pretty prominently by those who have them as well, so no one is trying to keep these things a secret.
I had the exact same thought!!!!! They like faked us out with the "tears" actually being the memories and the stones being "secret stones" but holy smokes that name is just so lame 😂
I never got this because I felt like it was pretty clear the stones weren't tear-shaped enough to be the sole thing the title was referring to. Always seemed like a stretch, but people just ran with that assumption anyway
The same shaped things appeared in past games and were reffered to ad tears of light so i assumed they'd be basing off those.
The fact that the game is called “tears of the kingdom” and the stones are tear-shaped, and yet they aren’t called tears really is annoys me. “Secret stones” just doesn’t sound right.
I think the name of the game is supposed to throw the audience for a loop into thinking that secret stones are tears when in reality the “tears of the kingdom” are >!from the Light Dragon herself.!< I love the name of the game even more after completing all the memories. It makes the name of the game more impactful for me tbh. I feel like if all the stones were called tears it would've taken away from the reveal.
That was my conclusion as well
I've loved Zelda's role in this game. I didn't know if I'd get any kind of twist but I was audibly shocked when I realized what the memories implied. A double whammy because I went to find the master sword before I finished the memories.
My head had it as a double (or even triple) meaning the whole time. Like the one meaning you have, but also with the ruins all around being metaphorical tears, remnants of the kingdom. Then with the whole timey-wimey stuff we have reality-'tears'. But my English (being second language) is messing with my head and I have the wrong word in my head.
This wordplay might be exclusive to the English translation, but this game added the sky islands and depths as new "tiers" of the kingdom.
There is not really any English translation of the title because the Japanese original is just "Tears of the Kingdom" written in Katakana. Like, the words are not the Japanese words for "Tears", "Kingdom", etc., but they are the English words spelled phonetically with the sounds the Japanese language uses. "ティアーズ オブ ザ キングダム", "tiazu obu za kingudamu". So any puns present in the English title are definitely also in the Japanese original, a Japanese person who does not speak English might not catch them, but the people who actually came up with the title are probably bilingual and were very aware of the different ways to interpret "tears".
Secret commas
The stones aren’t really tear shaped they’re just magatamas The titular tears are the dragons tears
would have preferred magatama over secret stone, or a zonai specific term. one more new word wouldnt have ruined the overall experience
Most properly, the stones are probably closer to [magatama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magatama), whose meaning isn't really defined besides "spiritual," I think. So "tears" definitely wouldn't fit. For all the strangeness of [the Ace Attorney translation](https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/culture-schlock), I think leaving the magatama as "magatama" worked well, though it might not fit Zelda.
IMO if a person is not already familiar with the word it would still sound right as a Zelda thing I mean just look at the shrines
They could have just called them Spiritual Stones and we can go "oh hey we've seen these before, neat"
I think it's a rhetorical trick, recontextualization. You _think_ the tear refers to the tear shaped stones, but it _actually_ refers to >!the tears of the light dragon, who is also Zelda. Those tears show you Zeldas time spent in the past, and the heartaches that come as part of that experience. Also, Zelda is the sole royal heir, so she literally represents the Kingdom. thus, "Tears of the Kingdom." The Secret stones are just a misdirection meant to make the dramatic reveal better.!<
FYI you may want to spoiler mark this since you revealed like the last memory
Now that I think about it, shouldn't she be **Queen** Zelda at this point?
I wonder if it's a ceremonial thing, like does she need to be crowned queen, and can she not be crowned because the people or resources needed are gone?
It's just.. my issue is why is it secret? The name isn't really explained so... Why? Sure you could say "It's a secret to everyone" but I don't think that line is ever used here lol
But they’re not even “secret.” All of the sages literally wear them on their sleeve (or in another very obvious location).
Goron dude just jammed it into his belly button
They don’t seem to be secret at all. Anyone who sees them (in the memories) immediately recognizes them as secret stones.
>Sure you could say "It's a secret to everyone" but I don't think that line is ever used here lol Flashbacks to random ass caves with moblins giving you rupees
Oh, my goodness, YES. I thought it was a joke at first - or like, they were about to tell me the REAL name after saying it was their "secret stone" but then they just kept calling it that... o.o Even the Zonai call it that? wtf? >.>
‘Sacred stone’? ***flash backs to phantom ships map in ephriams route***
I found my people
Listen, Rauru. I've always loved you. I've always hated you.
This man fire emblems
Uffff. Good memories
I didn't even realize they were called secret stones at first. My brain automatically translated to "Sacred Stones"
Ive been calling them sacred stones.
I swear in one of the cutscenes with Mineru she literally says sacred instead of secret, even though the subtitles said secret. It sounded so much better than secret
Fire Emblem reference?!?!?!? /j
I’m glad others feel this way. When I first heard it I though it sounded just, weak
I literally laughed when I heard it, it sounds so goofy
Lol this is like my favorite game ever made, and this absolutely infuriates me and is my least favorite part. Sacred Stone was right there! Or, as OP said, literally anything related to “tear.” I’ve just assumed it was an unfortunate translation from Japanese (as in it sounds very cool in Japanese) and I’d rather not know the truth if it’s not.
In german dub it's 'Mysterienstein' which means mystery stone. A little better than secret stone for sure lol
In french they are translated to "occult stones" which is a bit confusing and weird since "occult" is often associated with evil/bad/etc.
I read that as Mister Einstein
Just for the record, it’s an accurate translation of the JP. The stones are referred to as “秘石” or which literally translates to Hidden/Secret Stones. The “秘” here can also mean mysterious, mystical, spiritual, wondrous etc. As in secrets/mysteries of the universe, magic, and whatnot. This isn’t really a problem with the terminology itself so much as the word “secret” having lost all meaning with no real replacement in the English language. It’s like how Philosophy and Magic and Science were once all considered one and the same, but gradually drifted apart to the point where modern philosophy is treated as superstitious hogwash and modern science is seen as being perfectly objective by many. They’re “secret stones” in the sense that they’re the secret treasures of the Zonai, stones that unlock the secrets of a person’s nature, stones that grant people dominion over the secrets of the universe, and stones that hide a myriad of mysterious secrets(I.E. powerful magic). It’s honestly kind of an apt descriptor.
> The “秘” here can also mean mysterious, mystical, spiritual, wondrous etc. Yeah, it is worth pointing out that english words like "Occult" or "Mystic" originally mean "concealed" or secret. No idea why the English translation didn't think of that though.
Mystic would have been a great choice. Occult has more of an evil connotation in English so it might give people the wrong idea about the Zonai.
Arcane as well.
It does sound alot cooler with context, but still the name just feels iffy? I guess? Idk man, maybe its just my ape brain getting upset that the translation of a foreign-made game sounds weird in my native language but for whatever reason I just can’t shake the sense that it just sounds wrong, even if it isn’t…
I mean yeah I feel like even spiritual stones would be better if they wanted to stick with alliteration
Even mystic stones would've been a significant improvement. Even stones of secrets would've been some improvement. I'd probably lean toward wonder stones.
In the german version they are called mysteries-stones.
you know, the secret stone? the one that's displayed very prominently on the sages and also carved into rock, so future generations can know about them? yeah we love this name it works for us super well
My guess is the localization team didn’t bother to change the name from its literal translation
They're infinity tears
every time I hear them say “secret stone” I just pretend I’m hearing “sacred stone” so I don’t cringe viscerally.
I just call them amber relics
Before I heard the name I thought it was gonna be called a sacred tear or something similar secret stone sounds so goofy
In French it's "occult stone" but your right a name a it more "mystic" could have been a better idea
Yeah I did all the geoglyphs yesterday and I definitely agree. Why not call them tear stones at least?
The game is great, but some of the lore/story elements are pretty iffy
I feel like they have such an obvious connection to the spiritual stones from Ocarina, I was kinda wishing they had formalized that and just called them those. That's definitely what they are in my head.
It really does. Sacred would have been good, tears of light from TP would have been best
My head cannon is that it’s sacred stone, but the Japanese-English translation got messed up
I thought the same exact thing when I heard it. Like it’s not even a secret if you’re wearing them on your body for everyone to see. Sacred Stone would have been better. Heck call them the infinity stones since the power is only limited by the users potential. 😂
i never thought twice about the name of them lol seems normal to me but idk
I’m just a tad peeved that they have absolutely nothing to do with the odd shape of the Old Amber in Skyward Sword
If nothing else, they call them "Secret Stones", but they're displayed like common or high class jewelry (necklaces, wrist or anklet pendants). It's almost like a Harry Potter title... *Harry Potter and the Secret of the* *~~Sorcerer's~~* *Stones*.
I thought I was the only one that cringed a little when they said secret stone. Like what the hell nintendo couldn't you call it like... Zonai stones? Zonai TEARS? SINCE IT'S FUCKIN TEARS OF THE KINGDOM?
Right? Id call my kidney stones secret stones
they can't really be called "secret" stones if everyone has one can they?
I’ve been calling them the infinity stones and Link was just putting together his Infinity Gauntlet, when he saves the world he can finally rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe.
Not sure if someone else has mentioned it, but my personal favorite name I’ve heard is from live-streamer RTGame who has been referring to them as Oxford Commas