So obviously "traduttore traditore" (ie localisation vs translation in this case) but I was comparing the FR and EN versions of Tales from the Shadows, and it's really interesting to me how Emet-Selch is portrayed in those stories, and in particular, his relationship with his fellow Unsundered.
In EN, he is very notably impressed by (dare I say admiring of) Lahabrea. There is a lot more emphasis on how beautiful and spectacular Lahabrea's creations were, and you get the sense that this level of quality is not only expected of Lahabrea, it's as though he keeps raising the bar every time. Lahabrea is(was) someone worth looking up to, was someone he did seem to look up to.
FR has Emet much more subdued. The phoenix has majestic wings (is the apple of the Institute's eye), Ifrita is Lahabrea's greatest work, and both are sublime, but he never lingers on his own thoughts about them. Lahabrea comes across as just another coworker, whose work he is aware of, but has no real opinions on.
At least, until you get to the present day. FR!Emet is so poetic in his mourning for Lahabrea. It wasn't just that he was bold and reckless, it was that he never stepped back when faced with a goal. It wasn't just that he burned out brightly and beautifully, it was that the flame that burned inside him was itself bright and beautiful. It's not that he burned out; it's that even as he burned out, it was all so beautiful. He burned out just like the phoenix and Ifrita: great and blazing.
Contrast that to EN!Emet, who seems so disillusioned and perhaps even disappointed. Lahabrea should have known what was awaiting a burning flame. He was needlessly prolonging an umbral calamity vs already jumping ahead to starting the next one.
Something similar happens with Elidibus, too. EN!Emet finds Elidibus endearing, is explicit in that he gives the Emissary time to choose his words, given his position. Emet is understanding, indulgent even. Even after Elidibus splits from Zodiark, his splintering was shimmering, his smile passing for earnest, compared to the undefined mass that emerges from Zodiark, whose expression only vaguely resembles of a smile.
But FR!Elidibus was not just like a little brother to many of the Convocation members. He was their collective protΓ©gΓ© that everyone appreciated. After Zodiark, everything that was supposed to be familiar about him rang strange: his tone, his attitude, his expressions. Emet is almost empathetic: Elidibus is not just uncertain, he's troubled; not only does he not remember, he has no idea what Emet is even talking about; he's not only made aware he's forgotten an important memory, he's made viscerally aware that Emet knows he's amnesiac. Elidibus refuses to look at his crystal, but in FR, he's never looked at it.
Emet is so gentle with Elidibus in FR. He apologises for getting lost in his thoughts. He doesn't just affect the shrug (although the phrasing is less that he's being fake and more that he's trying to sidestep the awkwardness); he shrugs because there's nothing left to say. There's nothing he can say to convince Elidibus either way. He's even relieved Elidibus spares him the need to change the topic by leaving.
In EN, Emet is still gentle, but his phrasing is as though he's given up on Elidibus as he had Lahabrea. There's a finality to his grief. "Will you not look at your crystal?" vs "Are you sure you don't want to look at it?" "Sounds like a real hero" vs the banter of "Technically, it's not an enemy if it's a hero" (since FR!Elidibus mockingly calls Lahabrea's killer a famous hero). "No match for you" vs "I understand." The explicit phrasing that FR!Emet never once considered he would never see Elidibus again.
(And the new life that sprang forth after the Summoning, while they're still debating what to do for the third(?) round sacrifice: EN's "freshly minted souls" vs FR's "new sprouts." The potential in a sprout, the organic feel of it, vs the detachedness of something being newly minted.)
(FR!Zodiark-Elidibus specifying, "You will do what's needed. I, Elidibus, will help you." That subsumation of the person into the role. That emphasis on unrelenting duty. The fact that in the end, all he wanted to do was help.)
I can't say I prefer one over the other but something about all of this is just so very sad. Which is fitting, given the story of Shadowbringers.
