I used to be able to complete RPGs not in English when I was a kid. I played imports of Final Fantasy and have no trouble figuring things out even though I have no idea what's happening. After I became an adult, I find myself not bothered with RPGs in Japanese anymore mainly because I don't know what is happening.
Well, there is not much point in playing a game where you don`t understand what the characters are saying, or cannot read the story as it unfolds. I played import games too when I was younger, but always with subtitles. If I could not use subs, I wouldn`t bother playing it.
Nope. I can't play a game that I cannot understand, most especially a Role Playing Game! I've seen a number of people do it import a game from Japan and play it even though they don't understand a single Japanese word. I think that this takes the fun out of the game. If I'm going to play a game that's in Japanese, I'd have to learn the language first.
I wish I can actually do that There's a lot of interesting games out there that doesn't have a proper translation, and seeing how a lot of the games are from Japan, the ability to read and understand Japanese will definitely be very useful to me. If I can understand Japanese I will no longer have to go "No!!! This game deserves a localization!!! Please don't abandon it!!!" Seriously though, there's a lot of great RPG out there that didn't make it to the whole world and just stays in Japan. Well, sometimes we got lucky and there's a fan translation, but to be able to understand Japanese will truly be awesome......
I use a method which I call Immersion Gaming for learning Japanese. It is a method which means playing games exclusively in Japanese. I use flash card tools like Kanjibox to learn katakana, kanij and hiragana in order to understand conversations with NPCs. By doing this, not only do you learn the character but it also help build up your vocabulary in order to follow the cutscenes. Though this method may not help if you are looking to get into the conversational level of the Japanese language (which is why I didn't play the Japanese server of PSO2 because chances are I will have to speak to Japanese players and I still can't express myself properly in Nihongo lol), but it does help in understanding the language. At least you already have the vocabulary and just need to work on your grammar if you want to take it to the next level. I first tried this method with Katamari Damacy. The core gameplay mechanic in this series is perfect for that; as players roll things into a giant ball and the names of those things are instantly displayed onscreen. Therefore, if you see an object you'd like to know the Japanese word for, simply roll your 塊 over it. For Japanese learners, a Katamari game doubles is an interactive dictionary. Furthermore, your katakana skills will definitely improve while playing.
I don't know why you would want to do this unless you wanted to try and learn to language, but I wouldn't I like to understand what am doing.
There are a number of RPGs that I've managed to complete in their japanese forms. These would be Megaman Battle Network, Monster Hunter and Kingdom Hearts. To me, some games just need no explanation, while for others, translations can be found online, depending on the amount of effort you're willing to put into searching for them.
It's different when you're a kid, you're playing the game for the gameplay, not for the story. As you get older you tend to pay more attention to detail, and it's hard to do that if you don't understand what's going on.
I cannot read Japanese, and in speech, I can only understand a few things that I learned from watching anime. So even if I wanted to, I can't. For gaming, I will have to avoid them because of the language barrier. For anime, I can still watch it if it has subs. I prefer subs with Japanese audio to keep the emotions intact. Dubs ruin it most of the time.
Well, i never understood japanese, but playing them with hopes to somehow understand them is something fun to do in my opinion. I'd agree, Dubs Suck, Subs Rule, it hampers the possibility to learn the original language man.
It would be possible for me to play a game in Japanese if I have already played it many times before in English. Otherwise, I wouldnt even bother with it.
I also used to play the FF games in Japanese when I was younger. Usually when it came to selections, nothing terrible would happen. I can't remember if I finished anything. Off topic I used to play tons of fighting games in Japanese, those were a lot easier.
When I pick a game which I feel like starting to play I don't pay attention to the language if I find a suitable guide to get the basic options and controls in the game. In addition, it is good way to learn a language step by step by playing game in foreign language.
Most games are easy enough to understand as far as the plot is concerned, whether or not you can read or understand the spoken words in a game. They're enjoyable either way.
You mean a Japanese made game or the language? A Japanese RPG I can get into but if the language/voices is in Japanese also then no. If you can't understand what they're saying then half the fun of the game is gone.
