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Simplification in translation: Horii acknowledges that English often strips some of the “flavor” from the original Japanese scripts, leaving lines that can feel more simplistic than intended. He seems philosophical about it, noting that English just works differently.
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Historical ups and downs: Early Dragon Quest releases in the US were rebranded as Dragon Warrior and often heavily altered. Inconsistent translation choices over the decades—like the British-English style of Dragon Quest 8—have led to a patchwork of approaches.
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Fan translations as a benchmark: For older entries, dedicated fan translations are often preferred because they capture Horii’s intended tone better than official versions did at the time.
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Modern improvements: Localization quality has improved significantly. Dragon Quest 11 is widely praised for its English release, and the Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake shows renewed care for faithful translation.
In short, Horii’s point is that while English can never fully replicate the original Japanese charm, modern localization teams are increasingly closing that gap—though some older games are still best experienced through fan efforts.
If you want, I can make a timeline of Dragon Quest localization quirks and improvements showing the highs and lows across the series.