diff --git a/src/game/lang.c b/src/game/lang.c
index 08a3ebf9e..c701ded22 100644
--- a/src/game/lang.c
+++ b/src/game/lang.c
@@ -8,14 +8,50 @@
 #include "types.h"
 
 /**
- * NTSC appears to use a boolean for Japanese support.
- * PAL ignores this mostly and introduces g_LanguageId.
+ * Officially, the NTSC versions are American English only, while the PAL
+ * versions support British English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and
+ * the Japanese version is Japanese only. However all versions actually have
+ * support for all 7 languages, despite some being inaccessible and not even
+ * translated.
+ *
+ * All strings are categorised into areas, which we call banks. There is one
+ * bank per stage, as well as some common banks such as menus and weapon names.
+ * Each bank contains 7 files; one for each translation.
+ *
+ * An example language filename is LoptionsE. "options" is the bank name, and E
+ * means it's the American English file.
+ *
+ * The list of suffixes are:
+ * E - American English
+ * J - Japanese
+ * P - British English (P is for PAL)
+ * _str_f = French
+ * _str_g = German
+ * _str_i = Italian
+ * _str_s = Spanish
+ *
+ * Banks are loaded based on the current stage. When loading a bank, only the
+ * current translation is loaded.
+ *
+ * Text is referenced using a 16 bit text ID. The text ID is made up of a 7-bit
+ * bank index and a 9-bit string index within that bank:
+ *
+ *     bbbbbbbs ssssssss
+ *
+ * For versions prior to PAL, the language files are loaded during stage load
+ * and allocated from memp. This method doesn't work for PAL because PAL
+ * supports changing the language mid-stage and memp allocations cannot be freed
+ * until a new stage is loaded. So for PAL, during stage load a single buffer is
+ * allocated from memp to hold all loaded language files. The buffer is
+ * repopulated when the language is changed, and the lang banks point to their
+ * relevant offsets within that buffer.
  */
+
 #if VERSION >= VERSION_PAL_BETA
 bool g_Jpn = VERSION == VERSION_JPN_FINAL ? true : false;
-s32 var80084664pf = 0;
-s32 var80084668pf = 0;
-s32 var8008466cpf = 0;
+u8 *g_LangBuffer = NULL;
+u8 *g_LangBufferPos = NULL;
+s32 g_LangBufferSize = 0;
 u32 *g_LangBanks[69];
 void *var800aabb4;
 struct var800aabb8 *var800aabb8;
@@ -652,11 +688,11 @@ void langLoad(s32 bank)
 #if VERSION >= VERSION_PAL_BETA
 	s32 len = fileGetInflatedSize(langGetFileId(bank));
 
-	if (var80084664pf + len + var8008466cpf - var80084668pf >= 0) {
-		s32 len2 = var80084664pf + var8008466cpf - var80084668pf;
+	if ((s32)g_LangBuffer + len + g_LangBufferSize - (s32)g_LangBufferPos >= 0) {
+		s32 len2 = (s32)g_LangBuffer + g_LangBufferSize - (s32)g_LangBufferPos;
 		len2 = len2 / 32 * 32;
-		g_LangBanks[bank] = fileLoadToAddr(langGetFileId(bank), FILELOADMETHOD_DEFAULT, (u8 *)var80084668pf, len2);
-		var80084668pf = align32(var80084668pf + len);
+		g_LangBanks[bank] = fileLoadToAddr(langGetFileId(bank), FILELOADMETHOD_DEFAULT, (u8 *)g_LangBufferPos, len2);
+		g_LangBufferPos = (u8 *)(align32((s32)g_LangBufferPos + len));
 	} else {
 		CRASH();
 	}
@@ -708,7 +744,7 @@ void langReload(void)
 {
 	s32 i;
 
-	var80084668pf = align32(var80084664pf);
+	g_LangBufferPos = (u8 *)align32(g_LangBuffer);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < ARRAYCOUNT(g_LangBanks); i++) {
 		if (g_LangBanks[i] != NULL) {
diff --git a/src/game/langreset.c b/src/game/langreset.c
index 41fed14c2..71bbd0cfc 100644
--- a/src/game/langreset.c
+++ b/src/game/langreset.c
@@ -7,192 +7,50 @@
 #include "data.h"
 #include "types.h"
 
-#if VERSION >= VERSION_JPN_FINAL
-GLOBAL_ASM(
-glabel langReset
-/*  f00b3b0:	27bdffe0 */ 	addiu	$sp,$sp,-32
-/*  f00b3b4:	3c02800b */ 	lui	$v0,0x800b
-/*  f00b3b8:	3c03800b */ 	lui	$v1,0x800b
-/*  f00b3bc:	afbf0014 */ 	sw	$ra,0x14($sp)
-/*  f00b3c0:	2463b5a4 */ 	addiu	$v1,$v1,-19036
-/*  f00b3c4:	2442b490 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,-19312
-.JF0f00b3c8:
-/*  f00b3c8:	24420004 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,0x4
-/*  f00b3cc:	1443fffe */ 	bne	$v0,$v1,.JF0f00b3c8
-/*  f00b3d0:	ac40fffc */ 	sw	$zero,-0x4($v0)
-/*  f00b3d4:	3c02800b */ 	lui	$v0,0x800b
-/*  f00b3d8:	2442b490 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,-19312
-/*  f00b3dc:	24030001 */ 	li	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b3e0:	2401005c */ 	li	$at,0x5c
-/*  f00b3e4:	ac430098 */ 	sw	$v1,0x98($v0)
-/*  f00b3e8:	ac4300a0 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa0($v0)
-/*  f00b3ec:	ac4300a4 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa4($v0)
-/*  f00b3f0:	ac4300a8 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa8($v0)
-/*  f00b3f4:	ac4300ac */ 	sw	$v1,0xac($v0)
-/*  f00b3f8:	14810002 */ 	bne	$a0,$at,.JF0f00b404
-/*  f00b3fc:	ac4300b0 */ 	sw	$v1,0xb0($v0)
-/*  f00b400:	ac43009c */ 	sw	$v1,0x9c($v0)
-.JF0f00b404:
-/*  f00b404:	24010026 */ 	li	$at,0x26
-/*  f00b408:	14810004 */ 	bne	$a0,$at,.JF0f00b41c
-/*  f00b40c:	24050004 */ 	li	$a1,0x4
-/*  f00b410:	3c030001 */ 	lui	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b414:	10000009 */ 	b	.JF0f00b43c
-/*  f00b418:	3463a5e0 */ 	ori	$v1,$v1,0xa5e0
-.JF0f00b41c:
-/*  f00b41c:	3c0e8009 */ 	lui	$t6,0x8009
-/*  f00b420:	91ce1160 */ 	lbu	$t6,0x1160($t6)
-/*  f00b424:	24010001 */ 	li	$at,0x1
-/*  f00b428:	3403dac0 */ 	li	$v1,0xdac0
-/*  f00b42c:	51c10004 */ 	beql	$t6,$at,.JF0f00b440
-/*  f00b430:	2464000f */ 	addiu	$a0,$v1,0xf
-/*  f00b434:	3c030001 */ 	lui	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b438:	346309a0 */ 	ori	$v1,$v1,0x9a0
-.JF0f00b43c:
-/*  f00b43c:	2464000f */ 	addiu	$a0,$v1,0xf
-.JF0f00b440:
-/*  f00b440:	348f000f */ 	ori	$t7,$a0,0xf
-/*  f00b444:	39e4000f */ 	xori	$a0,$t7,0xf
-/*  f00b448:	0c0048e2 */ 	jal	mempAlloc
-/*  f00b44c:	afa30018 */ 	sw	$v1,0x18($sp)
-/*  f00b450:	3c018008 */ 	lui	$at,0x8008
-/*  f00b454:	8fa30018 */ 	lw	$v1,0x18($sp)
-/*  f00b458:	ac224774 */ 	sw	$v0,0x4774($at)
-/*  f00b45c:	3c018008 */ 	lui	$at,0x8008
-/*  f00b460:	0fc5bab6 */ 	jal	langReload
-/*  f00b464:	ac23477c */ 	sw	$v1,0x477c($at)
-/*  f00b468:	8fbf0014 */ 	lw	$ra,0x14($sp)
-/*  f00b46c:	27bd0020 */ 	addiu	$sp,$sp,0x20
-/*  f00b470:	03e00008 */ 	jr	$ra
-/*  f00b474:	00000000 */ 	nop
-);
-#elif VERSION >= VERSION_PAL_FINAL
-GLOBAL_ASM(
-glabel langReset
-/*  f00b330:	27bdffe0 */ 	addiu	$sp,$sp,-32
-/*  f00b334:	3c02800b */ 	lui	$v0,0x800b
-/*  f00b338:	3c03800b */ 	lui	$v1,0x800b
-/*  f00b33c:	afbf0014 */ 	sw	$ra,0x14($sp)
-/*  f00b340:	2463b154 */ 	addiu	$v1,$v1,-20140
-/*  f00b344:	2442b040 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,-20416
-.PF0f00b348:
-/*  f00b348:	24420004 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,0x4
-/*  f00b34c:	1443fffe */ 	bne	$v0,$v1,.PF0f00b348
-/*  f00b350:	ac40fffc */ 	sw	$zero,-0x4($v0)
-/*  f00b354:	3c02800b */ 	lui	$v0,0x800b
-/*  f00b358:	2442b040 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,-20416
-/*  f00b35c:	24030001 */ 	li	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b360:	2401005c */ 	li	$at,0x5c
-/*  f00b364:	ac430098 */ 	sw	$v1,0x98($v0)
-/*  f00b368:	ac4300a0 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa0($v0)
-/*  f00b36c:	ac4300a4 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa4($v0)
-/*  f00b370:	ac4300a8 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa8($v0)
-/*  f00b374:	ac4300ac */ 	sw	$v1,0xac($v0)
-/*  f00b378:	14810002 */ 	bne	$a0,$at,.PF0f00b384
-/*  f00b37c:	ac4300b0 */ 	sw	$v1,0xb0($v0)
-/*  f00b380:	ac43009c */ 	sw	$v1,0x9c($v0)
-.PF0f00b384:
-/*  f00b384:	24010026 */ 	li	$at,0x26
-/*  f00b388:	14810004 */ 	bne	$a0,$at,.PF0f00b39c
-/*  f00b38c:	24050004 */ 	li	$a1,0x4
-/*  f00b390:	3c030001 */ 	lui	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b394:	10000009 */ 	b	.PF0f00b3bc
-/*  f00b398:	3463a5e0 */ 	ori	$v1,$v1,0xa5e0
-.PF0f00b39c:
-/*  f00b39c:	3c0e8009 */ 	lui	$t6,0x8009
-/*  f00b3a0:	91ce1040 */ 	lbu	$t6,0x1040($t6)
-/*  f00b3a4:	24010001 */ 	li	$at,0x1
-/*  f00b3a8:	3403dac0 */ 	li	$v1,0xdac0
-/*  f00b3ac:	51c10004 */ 	beql	$t6,$at,.PF0f00b3c0
-/*  f00b3b0:	2464000f */ 	addiu	$a0,$v1,0xf
-/*  f00b3b4:	3c030001 */ 	lui	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b3b8:	346309a0 */ 	ori	$v1,$v1,0x9a0
-.PF0f00b3bc:
-/*  f00b3bc:	2464000f */ 	addiu	$a0,$v1,0xf
-.PF0f00b3c0:
-/*  f00b3c0:	348f000f */ 	ori	$t7,$a0,0xf
-/*  f00b3c4:	39e4000f */ 	xori	$a0,$t7,0xf
-/*  f00b3c8:	0c004856 */ 	jal	mempAlloc
-/*  f00b3cc:	afa30018 */ 	sw	$v1,0x18($sp)
-/*  f00b3d0:	3c018008 */ 	lui	$at,0x8008
-/*  f00b3d4:	8fa30018 */ 	lw	$v1,0x18($sp)
-/*  f00b3d8:	ac224664 */ 	sw	$v0,0x4664($at)
-/*  f00b3dc:	3c018008 */ 	lui	$at,0x8008
-/*  f00b3e0:	0fc5bdbb */ 	jal	langReload
-/*  f00b3e4:	ac23466c */ 	sw	$v1,0x466c($at)
-/*  f00b3e8:	8fbf0014 */ 	lw	$ra,0x14($sp)
-/*  f00b3ec:	27bd0020 */ 	addiu	$sp,$sp,0x20
-/*  f00b3f0:	03e00008 */ 	jr	$ra
-/*  f00b3f4:	00000000 */ 	nop
-);
-#elif VERSION >= VERSION_PAL_BETA
-GLOBAL_ASM(
-glabel langReset
-/*  f00b330:	27bdffe0 */ 	addiu	$sp,$sp,-32
-/*  f00b334:	3c02800b */ 	lui	$v0,0x800b
-/*  f00b338:	3c03800b */ 	lui	$v1,0x800b
-/*  f00b33c:	afbf0014 */ 	sw	$ra,0x14($sp)
-/*  f00b340:	2463f1d4 */ 	addiu	$v1,$v1,-3628
-/*  f00b344:	2442f0c0 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,-3904
-.PB0f00b348:
-/*  f00b348:	24420004 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,0x4
-/*  f00b34c:	1443fffe */ 	bne	$v0,$v1,.PB0f00b348
-/*  f00b350:	ac40fffc */ 	sw	$zero,-0x4($v0)
-/*  f00b354:	3c02800b */ 	lui	$v0,0x800b
-/*  f00b358:	2442f0c0 */ 	addiu	$v0,$v0,-3904
-/*  f00b35c:	24030001 */ 	li	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b360:	2401005c */ 	li	$at,0x5c
-/*  f00b364:	ac430098 */ 	sw	$v1,0x98($v0)
-/*  f00b368:	ac4300a0 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa0($v0)
-/*  f00b36c:	ac4300a4 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa4($v0)
-/*  f00b370:	ac4300a8 */ 	sw	$v1,0xa8($v0)
-/*  f00b374:	ac4300ac */ 	sw	$v1,0xac($v0)
-/*  f00b378:	14810002 */ 	bne	$a0,$at,.PB0f00b384
-/*  f00b37c:	ac4300b0 */ 	sw	$v1,0xb0($v0)
-/*  f00b380:	ac43009c */ 	sw	$v1,0x9c($v0)
-.PB0f00b384:
-/*  f00b384:	24010026 */ 	li	$at,0x26
-/*  f00b388:	14810004 */ 	bne	$a0,$at,.PB0f00b39c
-/*  f00b38c:	24050004 */ 	li	$a1,0x4
-/*  f00b390:	3c030001 */ 	lui	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b394:	10000009 */ 	b	.PB0f00b3bc
-/*  f00b398:	3463a5e0 */ 	ori	$v1,$v1,0xa5e0
-.PB0f00b39c:
-/*  f00b39c:	3c0e8009 */ 	lui	$t6,0x8009
-/*  f00b3a0:	91ce2fd0 */ 	lbu	$t6,0x2fd0($t6)
-/*  f00b3a4:	24010001 */ 	li	$at,0x1
-/*  f00b3a8:	3403dac0 */ 	li	$v1,0xdac0
-/*  f00b3ac:	51c10004 */ 	beql	$t6,$at,.PB0f00b3c0
-/*  f00b3b0:	2464000f */ 	addiu	$a0,$v1,0xf
-/*  f00b3b4:	3c030001 */ 	lui	$v1,0x1
-/*  f00b3b8:	346309a0 */ 	ori	$v1,$v1,0x9a0
-.PB0f00b3bc:
-/*  f00b3bc:	2464000f */ 	addiu	$a0,$v1,0xf
-.PB0f00b3c0:
-/*  f00b3c0:	348f000f */ 	ori	$t7,$a0,0xf
-/*  f00b3c4:	39e4000f */ 	xori	$a0,$t7,0xf
-/*  f00b3c8:	0c00490a */ 	jal	mempAlloc
-/*  f00b3cc:	afa30018 */ 	sw	$v1,0x18($sp)
-/*  f00b3d0:	3c018008 */ 	lui	$at,0x8008
-/*  f00b3d4:	8fa30018 */ 	lw	$v1,0x18($sp)
-/*  f00b3d8:	ac2265f4 */ 	sw	$v0,0x65f4($at)
-/*  f00b3dc:	3c018008 */ 	lui	$at,0x8008
-/*  f00b3e0:	0fc5c07b */ 	jal	langReload
-/*  f00b3e4:	ac2365fc */ 	sw	$v1,0x65fc($at)
-/*  f00b3e8:	8fbf0014 */ 	lw	$ra,0x14($sp)
-/*  f00b3ec:	27bd0020 */ 	addiu	$sp,$sp,0x20
-/*  f00b3f0:	03e00008 */ 	jr	$ra
-/*  f00b3f4:	00000000 */ 	nop
-);
-#else
+extern u8 *g_LangBuffer;
+extern s32 g_LangBufferSize;
+
 void langReset(s32 stagenum)
 {
 	s32 i;
+	s32 size;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < ARRAYCOUNT(g_LangBanks); i++) {
 		g_LangBanks[i] = NULL;
 	}
 
+#if VERSION >= VERSION_PAL_BETA
+	// PAL and newer have to support switching languages mid-stage. To do this,
+	// langReload iterates the bank pointers and reloads them if they're
+	// non-zero. Here it's using langReload to do the initial load by setting
+	// the desired banks to dummy (non-zero) values so langReload will load them.
+	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_GUN] = (void *)1;
+	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_MPMENU] = (void *)1;
+	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_PROPOBJ] = (void *)1;
+	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_MPWEAPONS] = (void *)1;
+	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_OPTIONS] = (void *)1;
+	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_MISC] = (void *)1;
+
+	if (stagenum == STAGE_CREDITS) {
+		g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_TITLE] = (void *)1;
+	}
+
+	if (stagenum == STAGE_CITRAINING) {
+		size = 108000;
+	} else {
+		size = 56000;
+
+		if (IS8MB()) {
+			size = 68000;
+		}
+	}
+
+	g_LangBuffer = mempAlloc(ALIGN16(size), MEMPOOL_STAGE);
+	g_LangBufferSize = size;
+
+	langReload();
+#else
+	// Versions prior to PAL load the language directly
 	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_GUN] = fileLoadToNew(langGetFileId(LANGBANK_GUN), FILELOADMETHOD_DEFAULT);
 	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_MPMENU] = fileLoadToNew(langGetFileId(LANGBANK_MPMENU), FILELOADMETHOD_DEFAULT);
 	g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_PROPOBJ] = fileLoadToNew(langGetFileId(LANGBANK_PROPOBJ), FILELOADMETHOD_DEFAULT);
@@ -203,5 +61,5 @@ void langReset(s32 stagenum)
 	if (stagenum == STAGE_CREDITS) {
 		g_LangBanks[LANGBANK_TITLE] = fileLoadToNew(langGetFileId(LANGBANK_TITLE), FILELOADMETHOD_DEFAULT);
 	}
-}
 #endif
+}