🎮 Video Game + Visual Novel Natively Levels

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(Note: all levels are approximate. My memory’s also not all that great for furigana support.)
All kana = no kanji in the game (aside from, like, the title or somesuch)
No furigana = the game does have kanji

Unless I specifically mention voice acting, the game probably doesn’t have it.

シアトリズム ドラゴンクエスト

Game link - 3DS - don’t remember furigana status - N3? - There’s very little text in this game; most of it is help text/text relating to your party (names, items, skills, etc.), so even if you’re not 100% sure of what the text’s saying, you can still pretty easily play, since it’s a rhythm game.

ポケットモンスター 緑

Game link -GB - all kana - N3? - Despite being in all kana, the text is generally fairly repetitive; you’re going to see a lot of set phrases (“A wild ____ appeared!” “Dang, I can’t believe you beat me!”, etc.). Understanding the text is not essential to beating the game.

ポケットモンスター 金

Game link - GBC - all kana - N3? - Despite being in all kana, the text is generally fairly repetitive; you’re going to see a lot of set phrases (“A wild ____ appeared!” “Dang, I can’t believe you beat me!”, etc.). Understanding the text is not essential to beating the game.

テイルズ オブ ファンタジア

Game link - SNES - no furigana - N2? - So this is a long RPG (35-45 hours), one where you’re not going to have a fun time if you don’t understand what’s being said. Grammar was fairly easy (~N3 iirc), while vocab was much broader (~N2-ish). Bumped it up to N2 to account for the fact that it is a story-driven game and there’s no furigana. Plus, being a SNES game, you might run into difficulty identifying pixelated kanji.

キングダム ハーツ ファイナルミックス

Game link - PS2 (played on PS4) - no furigana - N3? - Has subs with its voiced cutscenes. Vocab and grammar are fairly run of the mill; any specialized vocabulary is generally written in katakana. I would say you do not need to understand what they’re saying to play through the game, though the plot is pretty important to overall enjoyment.

キングダム ハーツ メロディ オブ メモリー

Game link - PS4 - no furigana - N3? - Similar to シアトリズム, this is a rhythm game where not understanding the text is not detrimental to your playing experience. Lots of repeated words and phrases throughout in menus and items. There’s a tiny bit of story at the end (voiced cutscenes + subs) where you’re going to need actual language skills (N3/N2, depending on vocab) to understand it, but otherwise you can drift on by.

あつまれ どうぶつの森

Game link - Switch - don’t remember furigana status - N3/N2? - Grammar’s easy, and your day-to-day will likely have extremely similar vocabulary, but the vocabulary range is pretty broad. It’s all common daily items, at least, so it shouldn’t be difficult to look things up. No real story you need to follow.

ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 救助隊DX

Game link - Switch - at least some furigana - N2? - There’s a nice story to the game, but I don’t believe you need to understand it to finish the game. There’s generally lots of text everywhere on screen relating to stats, actions, locations, items, etc. while you’re in a dungeon, and it is recommended being at a high enough level to parse all that so you don’t die in strange and mysterious ways.

キャッスヴァニア 暁月の円舞曲

Game link - GBA (played on Switch) - no furigana - N2? - Not really a whole lot of story; you can play the game without it. You do need to be able to read a little bit in order to follow clues to get the true ending, however, as well as understand the monster souls you can equip and what they do. Pixelated kanji + a generally brief and sometimes awkward script had me bump this up to N2; there’s nothing too difficult here, but the full package may make the actual reading bit a bit tougher than it otherwise might normally be.

神巫女 -カミコ-

Game link - Switch - no furigana - N3? - Almost forgot about this one. My memory’s hazy, but I remember almost 0 text, and what was there might have been in ye olde Japanese?? Absolutely no clue at this point. Suffice to say you don’t need to understand anything they might be saying to beat the game.

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