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An individual named pzappzap recently released an AI-assisted English fan translation for Xing's 1999 PlayStation 1 mermaid RPG Meremanoid.
But in response, a group of fan translators and hackers are encouraging people online to ignore it, stating that an "all human-made" fan translation is just around the corner.
For the unfamiliar in need of more information (which I'm guessing is most of us here), Meremanoid is a little-known Japanese-exclusive RPG from Xing Entertainment (a Japanese company particularly active during the 32-bit era, publishing sports titles and PlayStation ports of arcade titles like Irem's In the Hunt, Taito's Pu•Li•Ru•La, and Capcom's Three Wonders). It featured character designs by Japanese illustrator Akihiro Yamada, a story by Kenji Terada, and was apparently also the subject of an animated series from Kitty Films and Triangle Staff that debuted before the game's release.
It takes place in a world almost entirely populated by women, and follows an androgynous blue-haired amnesiac named Arden, who discovers a mysterious ring and sets out on an underwater adventure to uncover the secrets of their identity. As is the case with many other RPGs of the era, players will explore a vast world, visit shops, meet NPCs, and do battle with enemies in turn-based combat, with the main twist here being the game's unique ocean-themed setting.
pzappzap published their translation patch for Meremanoid last week, on Friday, October 16th, 2026, stating in the description that "all of the game’s text is translated" but disclosing in the process that the patch's translation was created with "CODEC BABEL’s AI agents."
This led the fan translator Cargodin, whose work we've covered several times before on the site, to come forward and inform people on social media that there is already a crack team of people working on a "human-made" patch, and it's currently in its "final editing pass." In other words, it won't be long before this AI-patch is completely obsolete, if it even manages to capture the nuances of the original Japanese to begin with:
"Please ignore the MTL release of Meremanoid that came out today," Cargodin wrote. "We have had a hearty band at work (Chapu, Popi, Mr. Nobody, Misty, Shentok and I) working hard on an all-human patch. Fully playable in English, in its final editing pass now."
They continue, "This game is set around a matriarchal ideocracy that uses presented gender and one's ability to conform as excuses for xenophobic conquest and religious warfare. Pronouns and who uses them when are half the narrative, and an MTL could NOT bare this game's fangs correctly"
I don't know about you, but I've already lasted decades without playing this game in English. I'm happy to wait a little bit longer, especially considering the stellar reputation of some of the human fan translators involved, when it comes to their output.