I was just wondering since I dont have a DS or Nintendo switch or any console for that matter, what are good games to play in japanese to improve vocabulary and such
You really should specify your skill range. For example, just about any natively Japanese game are good in terms of immersion, but the efficiency in doing so? Highly varies depending on how difficult (or a breeze, for that matter) it will be for you.
Are there any video games at all that are like the Sakura Wars games from Saturn through PS2 which had speech synchronized with subtitles?
There are tons of great games for learning Japanese. Check out the GameGengo channel on YouTube for comprehensive overview, but here are some of my favorites: – 9-nine – a visual novel with lots of voice acting, and a single key press to switch between Japanese and English, so you can always double-check your translation – Shin-chan: Me and the Professor of Summer Vacation – voice acting and lots of simple everyday vocabulary – Ni no Kuni 2 – good entry level fantasy story with voice acting – Chrono Trigger – no voice acting but has a script available online, so you can easily look up translations with the likes of Yomichan
I think visual novels are the best thing as they are language-dense unlike a lot of other games. Using a program called Textractor in combination with Yomichan sets you up for a great learning environment.
I’m currently going through Clannad now. Lots of easy and advanced language with supplemental voice acting to practice listening as well.
Skyrim. A few years ago I was starting with english language. Something that helped me a lot was playing Skyrim since it does have a lot of items like blue mountain flower, it is obvious for the shape. In japanese it is written in japanese, but by looking at it one does know that it is a blue mountain flower. Same with most items & names.
You can also play visual novels following this guide, [https://learnjapanese.moe/vn/](https://learnjapanese.moe/vn/) it is very useful
Cyberpunk 2077. It has subtitles and is just a interesting game overall.
A lot of people used to start with handheld games they were familiar with. Titles also popular in Japan.
Many old ones have Japanese downloads for pc or mobile.
Think Pokemon red/blue, dragonquest,harvest moon, monster hunter, etc.
I’m not sure what level you are, but I really enjoy the megaman battle network legacy collection on Steam. I used to play it when I was a kid, so I already knew the story but I was able to understand the plot without much problem when I played it in Japanese. Lots of talking to NPC and interacting with sceneries.
One thing you may not like is the lack of Kanji since it may make reading or picking out context a bit harder. On the bright side, you’ll learn how to read so much Hiragana and Katakana that you’ll improve your reading speed.
I just want to say, if you are so inclined, most pc’s could emulate a ds or gamecube fairly well. Ignore it if not interested in that route 🙂
Boku no natsuyasumi
Go Go Nippon is a visual novel about travelling in Japan, has parallel Japanese and English text lines which can be turned on and off separately.
Visual novels are good because you have all the time in the world to look up words, you usually have audio and some kind of visual feedback. There are even a few where you can see the text in Japanese and English at the same time.
JRPGs often have a dialogue log. Octopath Traveler 2 for instance. It even pauses after each sentence in cutscenes.
The downside is that all of these games have no simple Japanese. With games you don’t really have the option to choose material for children like with tv shows or books. Of course there still are easier games (e.g. Ni no Kuni has easier Japanese than Octopath Traveler 2), but I‘d say with N5-N3 level you have to look up words a lot.
I often see posts from people who quit Japanese, for example in for example in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/1als99c/to_those_who_consciously_decided_to_ditch_a/). Often,…
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You really should specify your skill range. For example, just about any natively Japanese game are good in terms of immersion, but the efficiency in doing so? Highly varies depending on how difficult (or a breeze, for that matter) it will be for you.
Are there any video games at all that are like the Sakura Wars games from Saturn through PS2 which had speech synchronized with subtitles?
There’s a good youtube channel all about this subject https://www.youtube.com/c/GameGengo
There are tons of great games for learning Japanese. Check out the GameGengo channel on YouTube for comprehensive overview, but here are some of my favorites:
– 9-nine – a visual novel with lots of voice acting, and a single key press to switch between Japanese and English, so you can always double-check your translation
– Shin-chan: Me and the Professor of Summer Vacation – voice acting and lots of simple everyday vocabulary
– Ni no Kuni 2 – good entry level fantasy story with voice acting
– Chrono Trigger – no voice acting but has a script available online, so you can easily look up translations with the likes of Yomichan
I think visual novels are the best thing as they are language-dense unlike a lot of other games. Using a program called Textractor in combination with Yomichan sets you up for a great learning environment.
I’m currently going through Clannad now. Lots of easy and advanced language with supplemental voice acting to practice listening as well.
Skyrim.
A few years ago I was starting with english language.
Something that helped me a lot was playing Skyrim since it does have a lot of items like
blue mountain flower, it is obvious for the shape. In japanese it is written in japanese, but by looking at it one does know that it is a blue mountain flower. Same with most items & names.
You can also play visual novels following this guide, [https://learnjapanese.moe/vn/](https://learnjapanese.moe/vn/)
it is very useful
Cyberpunk 2077. It has subtitles and is just a interesting game overall.
A lot of people used to start with handheld games they were familiar with. Titles also popular in Japan.
Many old ones have Japanese downloads for pc or mobile.
Think Pokemon red/blue, dragonquest,harvest moon, monster hunter, etc.
I’m not sure what level you are, but I really enjoy the megaman battle network legacy collection on Steam. I used to play it when I was a kid, so I already knew the story but I was able to understand the plot without much problem when I played it in Japanese. Lots of talking to NPC and interacting with sceneries.
One thing you may not like is the lack of Kanji since it may make reading or picking out context a bit harder. On the bright side, you’ll learn how to read so much Hiragana and Katakana that you’ll improve your reading speed.
I just want to say, if you are so inclined, most pc’s could emulate a ds or gamecube fairly well. Ignore it if not interested in that route 🙂
Boku no natsuyasumi
Go Go Nippon is a visual novel about travelling in Japan, has parallel Japanese and English text lines which can be turned on and off separately.
Visual novels are good because you have all the time in the world to look up words, you usually have audio and some kind of visual feedback. There are even a few where you can see the text in Japanese and English at the same time.
JRPGs often have a dialogue log. Octopath Traveler 2 for instance. It even pauses after each sentence in cutscenes.
The downside is that all of these games have no simple Japanese. With games you don’t really have the option to choose material for children like with tv shows or books. Of course there still are easier games (e.g. Ni no Kuni has easier Japanese than Octopath Traveler 2), but I‘d say with N5-N3 level you have to look up words a lot.