Yeah, I meant like an in-game option. I’m not changing my PS5 to Japanese language or region since I’m mostly playing games in English. Plenty of games these days give the option in-game, so it’s a shame they never added it for FFX.
I guess, but it seems like a pretty minor thing to just switch it back when you’re done playing… but I guess it depends how often you switch games. Tho if this thread is reliable, you can’t even switch the language at all on PS5 
The language thing that drives me crazy is VNs that don’t let you toggle language in-game. Like having to go back out to the main menu is really disruptive if you’re just trying to check something. At least in the ones I’ve played (specifically thinking of F/SN remaster, but others too), it shouldn’t cause any actual issue… If the menu being messed up is a concern, then just have the menu language be fixed
1 Like
I stopped for the same reason much earlier. You can reduce them in the remaster, though.
That aside, I don’t think I’ve finished a single ff… Most of them I just forgot to continue and then forgot the story so it became hard to return to. I played 4, 6, og 7, 7 remake, 10, 13, 15. Oh and some thousand in hours in 14, so I guess that hooked me the most 
.
I think my favorite one of the traditional ones has been 13, which will probably get me skewered here 
. The battle system was interesting, music amazing and the characters mature. The linearity did not bother me, either.
Not sure if you’ve tried this or not, but some of the consoles (PS4, PS5 and Xbox 1 though unsure about s series or x series) allow you to change the console language and it automatically switches in game to match or there is an option in the “manage game content” section before going into the game, that lets you download the language pack.
It doesn’t work for all games though, eg FF7 remake doesn’t let you change the text language to Japanese on my copy but original FF7 and FF3 switches to Japanese if the console language is Japanese (both were bought from the psn store) and for Fallen Order (Star wars game) it only plays in Japanese if you download the language pack and also switch the console language to Japanese.
Just to note, you don’t need to switch your region to Japanese.
I usually just switch the console language to Japanese when I want to play one that switches automatically then switch it back before I switch off the console. Can be a pain though if you want to switch off quickly.
That seems like a non-issue when you are fluent reading Japanese? Takes like 10 seconds to change the console language. At least on Steam the language change is in-game IIRC (or you just set the launcher options for that game specifically).
1 Like
Either I missed that or it still wasn’t enough lol
MMOs are dangerous 
Depends on the game, but usually I’ve found I need to change the language setting in the launcher, and then it downloads what it needs for that
Are you able to change the language of original FF7 and FF3 by pressing start on them on the home screen and choosing “Manage Game Content”? It may be more convenient than changing the console language to Japanese when you want to play them
1 Like
It’s just a hassle to constantly switch it back and forth and I don’t care enough to be bothered.
2 Likes
Unfortunately not, those 2 only changed if the console language is changed to Japanese (though you don’t need to change the region). I found it by accident when I switched the console to Japanese because Fallen Order voice over only works in Japanese if Japanese is selected in the manage game content part and the text only changed if I changed the console language.
1 Like
I just finished Chants of Sennaar, which I played in English but as credits rolled I had the thought that I really wish I had thought to play it in Japanese.
It’s a game where the core loop is to learn language through observation. Now, the language you learn is incredibly limited, but it there are aspects that really do feel like learning an actual language. You guess at the language you’re presented with and your guesses are confirmed when you can solve in game puzzles. Because the words have to be explained to you in order for the game to work, I think someone with N3 and maybe even N4 with decent kanji knowledge could probably get by without looking much up (with the big caveat that I didn’t play in Japanese so this is just a guess).
Anyway it was a lot of fun, fairly short (I spent 16 hours and I did a lot of backtracking I didn’t need to), and really beautiful.
3 Likes
I am a gamer but I haven’t been for some time but has anyone considered playing any farming simulators with social aspects. I’m thinking playing Stardew Valley—with a better Japanese dialogue mod—and Harvest Moon—though I’ve only seen footage for the very first one, which I am not planning on replaying. Mainly because it’s not such a massive deal to know what is being said all the time. However the tradeoff is that I don’t really get to deduct with context
Surprised nobody’s playing ぼくのなつやすみ (extremely chill PS1 game) but everyone has different tastes
Also some questions for the crowd, particularly those who play retro:
- How much does pixelation of characters become a problem?
- If you’ve played multiple games that are originally in Japanese, have you ever played any that are not translated (either zero official translations OR zero official and fan translations)?
- If you’re a regular in this thread, have you played an JRPG?
- What games are you looking-forward-to/planning-to playing in Japanese?
- What games from outside of Japan have you played in Japanese?
5 Likes
Well I started playing Fate/Stay Night… Again. But I let myself skip through a bunch of parts I tried already last year, and some of the content, particularly the 日常 stuff, feels manageable (other parts really do not, but they’re often very poetic, making the suffering somewhat worth it)
Anyway I sing plan to play a ton, but would like to do a bit each day. It’s interesting that the difficulty seems less abstract now. I guess bc I’m closer in level than before (still not close tho), and more comfortable just diving into things
Otherwise I’m almost done with Link to the Past (3 dark world dungeons + final battle left). From a language learning perspective, it’s really quite minimal (unlike more modern Zelda games there is just very little story text and dialogue). But still satisfying to play and win in JP. Also I did not realize the magic Hammer was named MC Hammer
3 Likes
I’d say it depends on your Japanese level. When I started out I remember that I had problems making out the characters from time to time. Now often I see the general shape of the character and my brain manages to fill in the rest. Though I don’t play the really old stuff.
4 Likes
Hmmm. Generally it doesn’t bother me. The worst case I’ve come across so far is 女神異聞録デビルサバイバーon the DS in terms of both pixelation and a really low resolution screen; some words I could make out a single kanji and have to guess at the word as a whole based off that because the other kanji were either too pixelated and my brain couldn’t fill in the gap, or the mystery kanji were both pixelated and simplified, which made it worse. (I’ve played the game in English many, make times, which made the guessing strategy viable for me.)
Hmmm. Probably? I recently finished playing the SFC version of アンジェリーク, which has no official English loc and no complete fan tl.
シアトリズム ドラゴンクエスト definitely had no official TL, don’t know about fan.
Of course! They’re my bread and butter, easily.
Hmmm. Right now I’m playing テイルズ オブ ザ ワールド レーヴ ユナイティア (which I believe probably fits into the no fan tl category; I don’t check when I pick stuff to play); I have a file for the SFC 真・女神転生 I really should get back to at some point.
I would love to replay the SFC テイルズ オブ ファンタジア at some point (played it pretty early in my Japanese reading career), and there’s some “new” stuff I own I’d love to finally boot up after buying them years ago. XD Most of the stuff I have my eye on playing is retro at this point; very little is modern.
None, but that would be kind of difficult for me, since probably 98% of the games I own come from Japanese developers anyway.
4 Likes
From a language perspective, I think that game is a great choice. From a life perspective, just be aware that game can be extremely addicting I genuinely lost months of my life to that game… Tho MMOs are arguably worse for me
The more retro, the more it’s a problem. Otherwise really depends on your level/what you’re accustomed to, and the language in the game. For Link to the Past, I’ve I figured out a few kanji that I knew (but didn’t recognize), it was fine. But if it was me a year ago, idk. Also if you use your phone OCR (like via Google Lens or something), it can be a big help
I have also lost months of my life to some of those but less dangerous than Stardew. Edit: I realized you probably meant played in JP…
FF12 (complete), various SAO games (partial), Zelda BotW (does that count?)
Pretty sure some number of VNs I’ve tried weren’t translated. I don’t really think about it at this point tho, cuz I’m comfortable enough with most things
There’s some visual novels, plus Hakuoki (乙ゲー with archaic language), various FF games, Trails series, Ys series, some SAO games (that my computer can’t handle right now), Ni no Kuni. Fate/Stay Night is my really big goal game. It’s hard tho
Stardew Valley is the only one I specifically remember rn. Edit: Black Desert Online (had already beaten in English)
3 Likes
I have tried it a few years ago, but it was still too hard for me. Considering my glacial speed at getting better at listening/kanji I’ll try again in a few 
(But I also have to admit that I usually like more exciting stories, so I’m not in a particular hurry.)
3 Likes
A few others in the same vein you might be interested in:
Coral island
Sakuna of rice and ruin
Rune factory series
Story of seasons (Doraemon versions of this as well)
Shinchan: me and the professor on summer vacation (similar to Boku no Natsuyasumi series).
サニーサイド Sunny Side
I want to play this as it’s supposed to be pretty good for if you are studying Japanese but unfortunately I don’t have access to it (and don’t have an emulator either).
For me, the issue is only if the characters are small. If they are of a decent size, I don’t usually have any issues making out what they are (either to understand them or to draw them if I don’t know the kanji).
I’m a regular lurker (rarely comment) but I have played a few JRPGs in Japanese, though only after I have played them in English. One from Breath of Fire series, secret of Mana, Digimon cyber sleuth/ Hackers memory, original FF7, 7th Dragon, Ghost of Tsushima, some of the Dragon quest games, some of the Tales of series, several of the Legend of Zelda series, Forspoken, Monster hunter stories, Toukiden, Gods Eater series and some of the Pokémon games (if you count those as JRPGs). That’s not to say I always understand the Japanese in them but I have played through them in Japanese.
I have a list of games a mile long I want to play in Japanese, but nowadays I’m less likely to try to play something unless I can understand the majority of it or already know the story. I would love to play the FF7 remake/ rebirth, Monster Hunter series, all the Zelda series, Drakengard (Drag on Dragoon series), their Neir follow ons, Ghostwire Tokyo, and also all the Yakuza games in Japanese. The ones I really want to play and fully understand in Japanese though are FF7 series and 7th Dragon.
Star wars: Fallen Order
Medieval Dynasty
Coral Island
Nexomon/ Nexomon extinction
Baldur’s gate 3
Song of Nunu
Potion permit
Adventure bar story
Blacksmith of the Sand kingdom
Forspoken
Stray
Resident Evil Revelations 1&2
Biomutant
Dragon Star Varnir
Legend of Kay
There are others but these are the majority of the more recent ones. If there is an option for Japanese voice overs I choose those over English regardless of the text language but those above I played with Japanese text and the Japanese voice over if it was available.
4 Likes
Looking at the Goals & Plans 2025 topic just reminded me that I did play a game in Japanese already (present tense more like…)
Super Mario Picross for the SNES, which I was too lazy to check for a translated version.
2 Likes
Finished the main story of Hogwarts Legacy a couple days ago and now just enjoying running around doing side quests. The game is super fun throughout but has a extra layer of fun once you’ve finished the main quest.
1 Like
Funny thing is that ぼくなつ 3 is the game that made me finally take the plunge to learn japanese in 2020. I’ve since played the first game and all the Switch ones that have come out in japanese. Next year I’m planning to play 2 and 4. The year after that I may replay 3, since when I did play it I didn’t know japanese.
The oldest games I’ve played through so far are DS games. It’s not so much the pixelation on those, as it is that they change the way kanji look entirely to accommodate the lack of space.
ぼくなつ１ and 3， ムーミン谷のおくりもの、リヴリーガーデン、and シアトリズムドラゴンクエスト.
A lot.
I'm just going to slap a bunch under the cut
エクステトラ
スイキャラ：スイーツ学校へようこそ
すみっコぐらし：むらをつくるんです
タイムトラベラーズ
チョコ犬の不思議物語：ショコラの魔法のレシピ
とんがりぼうしと魔法の町
メタルマックス4 月光のディーヴァ
喧嘩番長6〜ソウル&ブラッド〜
妖怪：三国志
妖怪ウォッチバスターズ2 秘宝伝説バンバラヤー マグナム
新・ロロナのアトリエ はじまりの物語
牧場物語ふたごの村+
見習い魔女とモコモコフレンズ
いろづきチンクルの恋のバルーントリップ
はぴはぴクローバー
おかえり！ちびロボ！
ココロノココロン
ザックとオンブラ：まぼろしの遊園地
スローンとマクヘールの謎の物語
二ノ国：しこくのまどうし
放課後少年
ギフトピア
妖怪ウォッチ4: ぼくらは同じ空を見上げている
いなか暮らし：南の島の物語
Treasure Report: 機械じかけの遺産
Hideboh: タプダンスHERO
7 Likes
