Japanese Import Games for Non-native speakers

[Satoshi Ookami]

Is Mind 0 a good import? I know it has a English release, but it's much higher than the Japanese version.

There are quests you need to read to see where to go and what to do so... dunno if I would recommend it.

[Asph1]

I've found Project Diva and Taiko no Tatsujin very useful for the purpose of playing without fully understanding the japanese language.
Though, if you found that too unchallenging I might suggest you try Ciel Nosurge for the PSVita.
True, it's a novel with much story to follow but almost all of it it's dubbed so you skip all the trouble of reading kanji and you can master your listening/speech-understanding skills.
(And anyway if you don't care much about the story the gameplay is very minimal so you can just skip all the chit chats and go straight for the trophies)

[ShadowReplicant]

Yeah, I recognize and know the readings for the majority of the kanji I've seen so far, but looking up kanji I don't recognize without furigana is a pain.

 

Thanks for the tip! I'm still new to using kanji dictionaries, so I'm a little slow doing the search, but I'm sure that will improve with practice.  I still need to pick up a nice physical kanji dictionary, so I'll look at the ones you have posted.

 

If you have an iPhone or iPad, I can only recommend buying a dictionary from the Japanese app store. I've been using Daijirin (大辞林) and Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English / English-Japanese Dictionary (研究社 新英和・和英中辞典) for years and they should pretty much cover all your needs. To be honest, I haven't touched my electronic- or any physical dictionary in a very long time, with the exception of highly specialized ones (engineering etc.) which I sometimes need for work. It's just so much easier to pop out your phone when you're out and about or even sitting in front of your TV or whatever.

 

Daijirin is a JAP-JAP dictionary, so it won't help you understand the meaning unless you already know Japanese, but it has handwriting support so if you want to find a particular kanji you simply look it up by writing it stroke by stroke with your finger. It'll then give you the reading in kana among other things. It is MUCH faster then looking up kanji in a paper dictionary. The only problem is, you have to know how to write kanji, i.e. to a certain extent you have to be familiar with radicals and be pretty decent at recognizing the amount of strokes in a character and the order you write them in. OR you could buy an app called Tegaki kībōdo (手書きキーボード) and basically give your device handwriting support, which would allow you to write kanji by hand directly into your JAP-ENG dictionary.

 

Anyway, just wanted to point out some alternatives, by all means go for real books if you prefer that. I started out with physical dictionaries too, many moons ago, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that - it's probably even recommended for beginners.

[Komrade_Konrad]

If you have an iPhone or iPad, I can only recommend buying a dictionary from the Japanese app store. I've been using Daijirin (大辞林) and Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English / English-Japanese Dictionary (研究社 新英和・和英中辞典) for years and they should pretty much cover all your needs. To be honest, I haven't touched my electronic- or any physical dictionary in a very long time, with the exception of highly specialized ones (engineering etc.) which I sometimes need for work. It's just so much easier to pop out your phone when you're out and about or even sitting in front of your TV or whatever.

 

Daijirin is a JAP-JAP dictionary, so it won't help you understand the meaning unless you already know Japanese, but it has handwriting support so if you want to find a particular kanji you simply look it up by writing it stroke by stroke with your finger. It'll then give you the reading in kana among other things. It is MUCH faster then looking up kanji in a paper dictionary. The only problem is, you have to know how to write kanji, i.e. to a certain extent you have to be familiar with radicals and be pretty decent at recognizing the amount of strokes in a character and the order you write them in. OR you could buy an app called Tegaki kībōdo (手書きキーボード) and basically give your device handwriting support, which would allow you to write kanji by hand directly into your JAP-ENG dictionary.

 

Anyway, just wanted to point out some alternatives, by all means go for real books if you prefer that. I started out with physical dictionaries too, many moons ago, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that - it's probably even recommended for beginners.

Thanks for the advice! I'll probably try both digital and physical and see which I end up preferring.  I'm currently using my phone to look up words, but I think it would be nice to have a physical dictionary sometimes to cut down on the amount of time I spend looking at a screen and because my battery life isn't the best.  Unfortunately though I use android, so I don't know if those apps are available.  Any recommendations from the android store?

[Kishnabe]

Is Mind 0 a good import? I know it has a English release, but it's much higher than the Japanese version.

Mind Zero is 7;49 Digitally in the US PSN store...if you haven't picked it up?

[Satoshi Ookami]

I'm dying to play god eater, tempted to import it, also really want to play the phantasy star game.

God Eater is coming west in Summer.

 

If you have an iPhone or iPad, I can only recommend buying a dictionary from the Japanese app store. I've been using Daijirin (大辞林) and Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English / English-Japanese Dictionary (研究社 新英和・和英中辞典) for years and they should pretty much cover all your needs. To be honest, I haven't touched my electronic- or any physical dictionary in a very long time, with the exception of highly specialized ones (engineering etc.) which I sometimes need for work. It's just so much easier to pop out your phone when you're out and about or even sitting in front of your TV or whatever.

 

Daijirin is a JAP-JAP dictionary, so it won't help you understand the meaning unless you already know Japanese, but it has handwriting support so if you want to find a particular kanji you simply look it up by writing it stroke by stroke with your finger. It'll then give you the reading in kana among other things. It is MUCH faster then looking up kanji in a paper dictionary. The only problem is, you have to know how to write kanji, i.e. to a certain extent you have to be familiar with radicals and be pretty decent at recognizing the amount of strokes in a character and the order you write them in. OR you could buy an app called Tegaki kībōdo (手書きキーボード) and basically give your device handwriting support, which would allow you to write kanji by hand directly into your JAP-ENG dictionary.

 

Anyway, just wanted to point out some alternatives, by all means go for real books if you prefer that. I started out with physical dictionaries too, many moons ago, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that - it's probably even recommended for beginners.

And for those clever poor of us without overpriced Apple devices? =D

[JapanimeGamer]

 

 

And for those clever poor of us without overpriced Apple devices? =D

 

I already mentioned the best physical kanji dictionaries and the tricks/methods how to use them to locate specific kanji in this thread.

[Satoshi Ookami]

I already mentioned the best physical kanji dictionaries and the tricks/methods how to use them to locate specific kanji in this thread.

Okay, should have been more specific. Without the use of physical dictionaries

[JapanimeGamer]

For me the best thing about owning physical kanji dictionaries is not so I can look up any kanji I want, because I can do that online (or from any one of hundreds of apps if I searched for them) it is the ownership of the book, because reading from it is much better than looking at a printed kanji on a screen,

 

Whilst reading the script in a Japanese book it really feels like the connection is so much stronger and I often look at the next kanji and then the next one and the next one and before I know it I have been reading the book for an hour and I only started out looking for one kanji.

 

That is the biggest advantage in my opinion, is that books are far more immersive and captivating.

[ShadowReplicant]

God Eater is coming west in Summer.

 

And for those clever poor of us without overpriced Apple devices? =D

 

Well, you could always buy an electronic dictionary (電子辞書). If you're truly serious about learning the language - and by that I mean spending years actively participating in classes and using various textbooks, as opposed to learning exclusively from anime and games - you're gonna wanna buy one of these things sooner or later. It's a simple convenience. I mean, it's nice to start out with books and spend your free time absorbing as much as you can by simply browsing them, but you're not gonna be doing that forever, if you get that far. Besides, you're not gonna be lugging around your books everywhere you go (if you plan on using the language outside of your man cave that is ).

 

CASIO makes pretty good ones. They're not cheap (around 250 dollars, depending on the dictionaries it comes with), but they're cheaper than an iPhone I guess.

[Re-LoreLink]

I'm interested in Yakuza Ishin, I know there are a couple of websites with good english guides and stuff like that but I'm still worried since I know nothing about the japanese language, I'm really interested in learning it though. 

[JapanimeGamer]

Well, you could always buy an electronic dictionary (電子辞書). If you're truly serious about learning the language - and by that I mean spending years actively participating in classes and using various textbooks, as opposed to learning exclusively from anime and games - you're gonna wanna buy one of these things sooner or later. It's a simple convenience. I mean, it's nice to start out with books and spend your free time absorbing as much as you can by simply browsing them, but you're not gonna be doing that forever, if you get that far. Besides, you're not gonna be lugging around your books everywhere you go (if you plan on using the language outside of your man cave that is ).

 

CASIO makes pretty good ones. They're not cheap (around 250 dollars, depending on the dictionaries it comes with), but they're cheaper than an iPhone I guess.

 

I have one of the casio Japanese electronic dictionaries, and you really need to have an idea of the language first before using one, at an absolute minimum you need to know kana inside out and back to front and that's just to start using one.

 

PS: In reference to people learning from anime and games, my opinion is you just can't... except for basic phrases that appear over and over etc... someone who just plays video games will never have a meaningful and proper conversation with someone who has studied for years... and let's be totally honest here, speaking is the easiest part of Japanese, reading and writing is where it's really at and watching anime with English subtitles will never provide that.

 

Talking of which, I have just completed my 4th of 5 papers for the reading and writing exam I am studying for.

Edited March 19, 2016 by JapanimeGamer

[thegirlruka]

Okay, should have been more specific. Without the use of physical dictionaries

It's not so much a dictionary, but I'll use this app to draw the Kanji and then wiktionary.org to find the meaning of the Kanji. I'll do the same thing on pc but with Google translate's handwriting tool to input the Kanji.

But I'm also pretty basic

[ShadowReplicant]

I have one of the casio Japanese electronic dictionaries, and you really need to have an idea of the language first before using one, at an absolute minimum you need to know kana inside out and back to front and that's just to start using one.

 

PS: In reference to people learning from anime and games, my opinion is you just can't... except for basic phrases that appear over and over etc... someone who just plays video games will never have a meaningful and proper conversation with someone who has studied for years... and let's be totally honest here, speaking is the easiest part of Japanese, reading and writing is where it's really at and watching anime with English subtitles will never provide that.

 

Talking of which, I have just completed my 4th of 5 papers for the reading and writing exam I am studying for.

 

I pretty much agree with everything you've said. You should be somewhat familiar with the language before buying one of these things. After all, they're made primarily for Japanese people.

 

As for learning from anime and games, you're right, it's impossible if they're your only source. You might pick up random words and phrases here and there, but that's about it. It's a great way to improve your listening/reading comprehension if you're already a student of Japanese, though.

I'm interested in Yakuza Ishin, I know there are a couple of websites with good english guides and stuff like that but I'm still worried since I know nothing about the japanese language, I'm really interested in learning it though. 

 

The Yakuza games are definitely not a good starting point for beginners. I guess you could use a guide and somehow get through the game, but I can't really see the fun in that. There's quite a bit of text in the Yakuza games as it is and they often deal with relatively serious real-world subject matter, not to mention all the gangster slang. The period spin offs like Ishin add another layer of difficulty in form of historic references (names, places, politics etc.) and archaic forms of Japanese.

[jessicaabrahams]

I definitely recommend the new Shingeki no Kyojin PS Vita game.  I bought the game because I love the manga/anime series and really wanted to play the game.  I know extremely basic Japanese (want to change that) and the game is quite easy to play.

[DuckSwimmer]

The one Japanese game that has me constantly playing it is this one.

http://psnprofiles.com/trophies/3685-%E5%A4%AA%E9%BC%93%E3%81%AE%E9%81%94%E4%BA%BA-%EF%BC%B6%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3

 

I always wanted to play the PS2 version of it, but never did.. but it's pretty easy to navigate around this game even though everything is in Japanese. The game is extremely straight forward &fun to play. It's a rhythm game if you couldn't tell/guess lol

[Nitro]

Well I'm sure this has been suggested in this thread before, but honestly... I'm too lazy to look  
So I recommend Hatsune Miku... You can get any of those games - be it F, F 2nd, X etc.

The visual novels like the Steins;Gate series. That is a really good one to start with

[Rollers23]

Well I'm sure this has been suggested in this thread before, but honestly... I'm too lazy to look  

So I recommend Hatsune Miku... You can get any of those games - be it F, F 2nd, X etc.

The visual novels like the Steins;Gate series. That is a really good one to start with

 

Mikus and S;G were released in the west so I think recommending importing them is not a good idea 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Mikus and S;G were released in the west so I think recommending importing them is not a good idea 

Well, he did say like S;G =D

[Rollers23]

Well, he did say like S;G =D

 

Importing any text heavy VN isn't really wise for those who don't know Japanese. They are the least accessible games if you don't know the language

[crimsonidol38]

Importing any text heavy VN isn't really wise for those who don't know Japanese. They are the least accessible games if you don't know the language

 

Nah, JRPGs are by far worse if they are story-driven, right Satoshi?

 

 

The one Japanese game that has me constantly playing it is this one.

http://psnprofiles.com/trophies/3685-%E5%A4%AA%E9%BC%93%E3%81%AE%E9%81%94%E4%BA%BA-%EF%BC%B6%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3

 

I always wanted to play the PS2 version of it, but never did.. but it's pretty easy to navigate around this game even though everything is in Japanese. The game is extremely straight forward &fun to play. It's a rhythm game if you couldn't tell/guess lol

 

Taiko is an rather easy game at first but I guess the story mode can still be a struggle for all non-native speakers. For me personally everything was doable up until the 4th (?) chapter but after that it's more of a pain than fun to play that mode as it's not really clear what the different equips really do.

 

Another game that comes to my mind while I write about story mode:

Puyo Puyo Tetris

 

Puyo Puyo and Tetris are rather self-explanatory but this game also has a story mode with some dialogs between the levels and some challenges to do . Most of them are simple and there's a text guide on GameFAQs.

[Satoshi Ookami]

Nah, JRPGs are by far worse if they are story-driven, right Satoshi?

Depends. In JRPGs, you usually have a completely silent protagonist, therefore, the whole Japanese comes from other characters that are usually voiced.

On the other hand, VNs have mute protagonist. So... you see a lot of runes and you yourself have to read it =D

 

But yea, you do have a point that reading quest descriptions is a torture

 

Importing any text heavy VN isn't really wise for those who don't know Japanese. They are the least accessible games if you don't know the language

No hurdles => no motivation to learn

Edited July 27, 2016 by Satoshi Ookami

[windyLVrain]

buy the japan goods can use amazon japan + tenso japan

cheap then the play-asia

[Z1MZUM]

Well I think languages are easier to pick up as a child rather then starting as an adult. I'm not trying to put people off, I am just saying that I started as a child with owning a Famicom and having Japanese neighbors. The way my neighbors explained Kanji was always entertaining and informative, of course I was also interested to learn. I am by no mean a Japanese language pro. I can however generally make it through games with enough information from the Dialogue since the Sega Saturn era. I also bought the 3 western unreleased Yakuza games, Kiwami was a breeze since I already knew the story. I stopped for a break half way through Zero, Zero is a little different because at times you will have no indication where to go. As for Ishin I've only played the first 30 minutes though I think I'll be able to play through ok.  Sure video games will not teach you in an easy fashion though I did learn allot from Sega Saturns Devil Summoner and Soul Hackers, Both which will go down as my favorite 2 Japanese games ever since I seemed to break that barrier.

[JapanimeGamer]

Learning to speak and understand spoken Japanese is a thousand times easier than learning to read and write authentic Japanese script (i do not mean that romaji nonsense).

 

You can to a point pick up basic (often slang) spoken Japanese from video games, but this will get you nowhere in the real world, but for video gaming purposes it is enough for some people.