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Post by Raison D'etritus on Feb 27, 2010 17:10:28 GMT -5
I've recently begun teaching myself the incredibl(y complicated)e language of Japanese, and as a kind of carrot on a string (or cookie on a stick, or what have you) I'm compiling a list of Japanese games to play once my reading skills are up to snuff(which will be long before my speaking skills are, I promise you that!). As you all seem to be an erudite bunch in matters of games both foreign and domesticated, I was hoping some of the resident polyglots might assist me in the matter. The Falcom games are a no brainer (I'm practically frothing at the mouth with anticipation to play the Legend of Heroes games), and while PC and Playstation games are of the most immediate relevance, thanks to emulation and modding(not to mention the potentiality of futural monetary windfalls), I'm adding anything for any system to my list--as long as it's good--. I prefer RPGs, action rpgs, etc, but really I'll play any game --as long as it's good!--
Currently (discounting the obvious ones) my list contains Growlanser, Black Matrix(!!!), Tales of Rebirth, Tales of the Tempest, and the Eldorado gate series. Any additions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Post by ausdoerrt on Feb 27, 2010 21:52:25 GMT -5
Like wyrd said, unless you're a kanji whiz, or want to check a dictionary every 5 seconds while playing, go for a game with full VA. I personally suggest Xuse games, especially Seinarukana.
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Post by ausdoerrt on Feb 28, 2010 8:33:19 GMT -5
It's a VN/sRPG hybrid with beatiful art and minimum H-content. It's the second part of the ongoing trilogy, a non-H version of the first part being translated by Dakkongo. The story revolves around time-space travel, reincarnations of ancient gods and all that jazz. It features a unique TB battle system which is somewhere in between FF and Magic TG, also with some minimal map micromanagement. On the downside, everything is story-tied and there's no "free play" option. On the upside, there's lots of unlockables (two difficulty levels, character-specific skills and missions, etc), and one of my fav. extra content unlockables ever: by beating a character's route, you unlock their "windows system sounds" which I really like to use. Since I'm lazy, here's pretty much the best description I've seen, even with links to other FAQs: blog.seiha.org/2007/08/seinarukana-eien-no-aseria-ii/
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Post by Incog Neato on Feb 28, 2010 11:33:23 GMT -5
I heard that Tales of Innocence for the DS was pretty good. D:
Oh, you can always play Shadow Hearts II: Director's Cut for the additional dungeon and items. XD! AND you get to hear Joachim's weird Japanese voice. ^^; (I find the English version so much better and more appropriate for his character. XD)
....... I'm trying to think of what other RPG games I have in Japanese but I'm blanking here ... o_O;
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Post by Lunar on Feb 28, 2010 17:12:50 GMT -5
First of all, I'd REALLY recommend staying away from Tales of the Tempest. It's probably the low point of the entire series. Why not go for the Destiny remake or Hearts instead?
On top of that, you could try your hand at Bahamut Lagoon, Marl Kingdom, Star Ocean: Blue Sphere(an incredible game, in my opinion), and the Sega Saturn classic Machi
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Post by Raison D'etritus on Feb 28, 2010 22:17:56 GMT -5
Thanks guys: some good titles there.
Seinarukana looks pretty damn good, and I'll definitely look into Tales of Innocence at some point. (I'd actually heard that Tales of the Tempest sucked, but I also heard the story was, contrary to the gameplay, actually good--and the story is usually what sways me.
And thanks Wyrd for reminding me 'bout Popolocrois--I'd read about it in a PSX mag back when PS1 was 'new' (God, I'm old. . .) and wondered why I never saw it again. Completely forgot about it till now!
I've written down all the recommendations and will investigate further at my convenience (I'm not really into games aimed toward 'younger audiences' or 'family oriented', so some of them may get crossed off without being played, but thanks all the same).
Also I have to apologize, as I don't think my initial post was lucid enough. I'm not looking for anything to suit my -current- (practically non-existent) literacy, but for games to be enjoyed much, MUCH later. (I've had a PS1 list for years, and I just crossed off Lunar after playing it for the first time in November. Eternal Blue will get marked off in about a month or two. . . Also I've got a list of Wii games even though I have absolutely no intention of buying a Wii --It's 'just in case').
So don't hold back any great titles just because I can't handle them now. I don't intend to play anything in Japanese until I've learned all the Joyo, and then I'm definitely starting with Ys 5 (to hell with waiting for a translation that will never reach entelechy! Pishaw!) and moving into the Legend of Heroes and Black Matrix games. I fully expect to spend a lot of time in online dictionaries, but working above one's level is how one improves(I credit my mastery of English to nothing other than reading Stephen King and Robert Jordan by the time I was 11). i.e. I'll likely be pretty fluent by the time I get to any of the newer additions to my list.
And, if it helps, my favorite games (ever) are Xenogears and Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1, not the juvenile rubbish they tacked an 'Advance' onto).
Thanks again, you guys (and non-guys) rock. And, uhhh. . . sorry for the freakishly long post.
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Post by ausdoerrt on Feb 28, 2010 22:26:46 GMT -5
Aus: Sounds kinda interesting! Also, if it's as you describe, the battle system sounds less like the kind of sRPG I dislike, and more like what I call a "board game RPG," which I love. If I get a chance, I might have to check that out sometime. -Tom Yeah, it's not the sRPG with grid-based battles (square or hexagon) I so much love and you so much hate I think the only reason it is even called "strategy" RPG is because of the over-map component, which involves a bit of resource management, building, micromanagement of unit movement, etc. You'll also love the extremely short battles Well, voiced games are a good start to help you learn kanji (something I never enjoyed doing). Seinarukana is by no means "simple language", but I managed to get through it after 2 years of learning the language with a partial fan translation and an occasional dictionary reference. You could try playing Leaf games (White Album, Utawarerumono, TTT PS3 version, etc). If you wanna shoot for the stars, read Nasu's works in the original (good luck with that though) Please choose a method in which you want to be figuratively murdered over the internet (that said, try Battle Moon Wars, maybe?)
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Post by Raison D'etritus on Feb 28, 2010 22:44:36 GMT -5
Wyrdwad hates SRPGs?! Madness!!!
Odd, the only people I've ever met who didn't like grid based strategy games fall into a category which I know Wyrd does not (he's obviously quite intelligent).
Oh wait. . . I know. . . You played Hoshigami, didn't you Wyrd?
[shudders] I still wake up sometimes. . . sweating. . . screaming. . . [curls into fetal position] I still remember [violent tremors] the horror. . . the horror. . .
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Post by ausdoerrt on Feb 28, 2010 22:44:40 GMT -5
Popolo are aimed at kids? I though they were like, some of the most depressing games in existence? Or is it an evil emo-breeding machine?
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 1, 2010 1:17:28 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't know that about the twinklies, Wyrdwad! Fascinating read! ...and your perspective on sushi definitely makes sense of the whole thing. I certainly hadn't figured that out by watching the anime. It gives me a new-found (or reborn) appreciation for Popolocrois.
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Post by ausdoerrt on Mar 1, 2010 1:28:10 GMT -5
Oh, so it's a masochist training manual ^______^ I'd wanted to play the games many times, but the GFX style pretty much turned me off. Maybe at a later time, when I have nothing else to kill my time with. At this point, I still haven't finished re-watching all seasons of Sailor Moon
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 1, 2010 4:18:34 GMT -5
Alright! Once PSN is back up, I can download Popolocrois Monogatari II again! And hell... all of my other PSN games! I now have a whole memory stick I can dedicate to PSN! I really like what I hear. // Oh, hell with that, I can access the Japanese PSN via PC! All files shall return! ...if only PSN had a downloader queue. I don't wanna be at it with this all morning, lol!
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Post by Raison D'etritus on Mar 2, 2010 2:16:56 GMT -5
Yeah, I'll definitely be checking out Popolocrois. Sounds like my kinda game!
In truth stories in games don't get much more serious and mature than the characters failing at important tasks and forging on, all existentialist-like. I think FFT (PS1 one) was just a fluke with
****************SPOILER**************
everyone dying except the protagonist and his sister, and even the games narrator getting torched for heresy in the end.
*****************END SPOILER***************
I don't really expect any game adaptations of Shakespeare or Kurasawa as 'normal' people want a happy ending after investing a large chunk of time into a game. Though, personally, I have to say that FF6s actually accomplished world destruction mid way though the game was the best plot device --EVER--!
So I'll certainly be looking into the masochist training manual games (and if I don't like the characters, I'll just think of it as a 'Sadism for Dummies' guide).
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 2, 2010 4:26:48 GMT -5
Pfft, dammit. 800+ MB downloaded from PSN only to have the download crap out on me at 95% -- that's during the actual transfer process! So I tried to load up Popolocrois Monogatari II after that and, to my surprise, the file was corrupt. Looks like I have to start over. Damn Sony and its inability to develop a means of RESUMING PSN downloads!
Say... why did I skip the first Popolocrois and Poporogue again?
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 2, 2010 15:41:34 GMT -5
Ah. I have two 4 GB memory sticks. Well I'll definitely consider everything you've mentioned here, and if I have any problems, I'll be back.
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Post by Raison D'etritus on Mar 5, 2010 3:05:03 GMT -5
So that's it, huh? Too bad, I was hoping for a great big list of wonderous, fantastic, and absolutely magical games I'd missed out on with my language limitations. It's good to know of ANY wonderous, fantastic, and absolutely magical games. . . I just thought there'd be more.
I discovered some SNES ones that look good (Bounty Sword, Bakumatsu Korinden Oni, Chaos Seed, Dark Half, Traverse Starlight and Prairie) by searching for uncompleted translation projects, but I know from experience that looks can be deceiving.
Well, does anybody happen to know of any online sites for japanese games or gaming magazines? Like a japanese Gamefaqs or gameinformer.com? If I knew where to look to increase my exposure to Japanese Media I wouldn't have to rely on others generosity so much (which is highly appreciated, by the way) or limit myself to searching for import lists as I've been doing. If not that's fine, thanks again everyone for your help.
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Post by Raison D'etritus on Mar 5, 2010 3:35:36 GMT -5
HOLY CRAP!!!!
Ask and ye shall receive, eh?
-In a strictly platonic sense- I love ya Wyrd.
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Post by Justin on Mar 5, 2010 15:36:54 GMT -5
In recent, I've heard that Moon was pretty bad. The conception was great, but the actual game was tedious to the core.
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Post by sushi on Mar 5, 2010 16:49:05 GMT -5
I haven't played the game but just based on the conception, tedium and Moon? Science says no. I'm sure Wyrd will tell the truth though...
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 5, 2010 19:47:16 GMT -5
From what I've heard, Moon is exactly Chulip. From what I've preconceived, Moon is exactly what Chulip should've been.
Either way, I'm sure it's too complicated for a non-Japanese-speaking gamer such as myself.
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