Ah i mean i kind of would had guessed considering PSP patches seem very accurate and i think also interchangeable in terms of the font "easy" but never looked into like directly game files since with me enjoying to mess with things i get to touch on i often enough break things
But PS3 i had only in my head could have been possible as you could essencially make an "update" file (pkgs) to add onto the game to change different variables but i think thats the same as editing the whole iso by itself, as in MH3rd Portable HD's case it even installs a second application which is a PKG meaning urgh.. youd have to edit the iso AND the pkg they give you :p (unless maaaybe capcom did something crazy by only making the "game launcher" the required additional install and all data is on the iso directly)
You are right but video game modding, especially console ones gets different due to these stuff:
1) Custom compression
Imagine whole game is "compressed" like how Windows users use 7Zip or something but the difference is there are known compression methods because they are are possible techniques to shorten file size, but how they are "coded" depends on how the compession program did. So the modder first have to decompress the file to its original self. There are ways to do it so it's possible.
2) Packages
Games being compressed to one file is one thing and then files packed into one file!!! You need to repack them. There are ways to see difference between file formats by checking patterns.
3) Seperating files from each other
It seems files are merged into each other as if like 100 person sharing same body by being overlapping each other. You need bio-engineering to seperate them.
4) Find the file that has the texts
Either gotta find text or image file. Sometimes font files are "different".
5) Study game engine
6) Study how game display text
7) Study how text can be changed
8) Study how a language's text can be displayed
9) Study adding characters of your target language or edit the existing ones or do both
10) Fix whatever issue comes with translating the game
11) Make sure file size doesn't increase than the original file
It's when your idea gets useful, easing modding. I'm glad Switch support add-on logic because of it. But for example PS2 doesn't so your whole mod goes to waste just because file size increased a lot and you cannot rip something else more lol.
TBH console games relatively using the standard model and textures in their own contexts so it's easier to change models and textures than actually whatever text file they using because it's usually a custom one. As for comprassion it gets easier to change Dragon Quest 8's model and textures than translating a PS3 game, and it gets even easier to translate PS1 game. It's because when you replace model and textures you don't have to change how game display model and textures but you almost always have to change the engine to befit it for the language you translate. Sometimes translating games are easy but not actually adding characters of your language so it may get impossible to even translate English language game to another latin alphabet language that require extra characters.
However when a console and/or game engine doesn't support add-on logic:
12) Pack the game and compress it again so you may have to study how to do it for this specific game too
Then we may have "not enough RAM problem". Sometimes game engine need to use specific part of memory in an order of what files are processed and changes in games make memory "flood" to other data spaces and it make game crash, make text not displayed, make models and textures look corrupt. It can make translation effort start from step 5. Dude, I rather crack Denuvo lol. To avoid this I hacked my brain to understand Japanese and English long time ago lol.
Long story short don't underestimate translating games lol.
