I’ve played Zelda in Japanese and there’s a difference within the translations themselves on how they name items, NPC’s or key locations within the game. The quest logs in either ToTK & BoTW in the JP original are written from a first person perspective since it’s Link’s personal entries while the ENG localization rewrote them in second person addressing the player.
Even the perspectives are written differently: like from BoTW when you read Revali’s diary, the Japanese text frames it more around personal confusion and wounded pride as to why a prodigy like him is put in a supporting tier beneath Link. While the ENG localization leans into sharper, more confrontational direct insults, playing up a classic western “cocky rival” archetype.
Most yes, but not all.
Metroid Prime 4 for example would have been english-first as it’s a Retro Studios title with development support from Next Level Games.
What’s interesting is that the North American studios are actually managed by Nintendo Japan and not NoA. There are interviews with ex Retro Studio employees where they talk about how producers from Japan and Shigeru Miyamoto come into the studio once in a while and start telling the Retro Studio staff what minute things they should change in the game they are working on.