Games in Japanese (Updated x2)

One of my favorite games of all time is Parasite Eve. The story, scary atmosphere, combat, weapons, leveling, everything about it was awesome. So naturally, I was super excited to play the sequel, which I bought off eBay in college. I got the Japanese version because I was studying Japanese and was kinda hoping it would work on my Playstation (of course it didn’t). So I held onto it for years until I finally bought a PS2 while living in Japan. Man, what a let down. The worst part of the game was the awful Resident Evil style movement. The only other game with a sequel almost as inferior is Chrono Cross.

Anyway, now that I can read Japanese, I’m thinking of replaying classics like Chrono Trigger and ones I missed like Mother 2 (Earthbound) in its original form. However, figuring out what game is available and in what language is a big chore and often times confusing.

For example, the JP version of Chrono Trigger for the DS has both English and Japanese. But apparently, they removed the Japanese in the US version. Yes, they went out of their way to remove something already in the game for the US release. I guess because of the strong yen?

I don’t buy anything from Nintendo anymore because they love to lock things down (except I just pre-ordered this, oops!). Everything is region-locked except for the DS and DS lite. Unfortunately, that was too consumer-friendly so the newer handhelds such as DSi and 3DS are now region-locked. I guess it makes sense because their only region-free system did terrible (ie, fastest-selling handheld game console of all time).

Thankfully, Sony has seen the light as the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita are region-free, which means you don’t have to buy one for each region. Unfortunately, while some games support both Japanese and English, for the most part, you still often have to import a game to play it in Japanese. Some games have dual audio options but don’t allow changing the text which is bizarre to me. In the end, it’s a big and confusing mess though I guess it’s better than the old model of everything being locked down.

The only annoying problem with Sony is that they switched the X and O buttons around for the US? WHY??? Sometimes with a Japanese game on a US console, you have to press X to confirm until you start the game. Then you have to switch to O until you go to save or quit. Then you have to switch back to using X. Argh!!!

Games with full Japanese support

If you have any games that have Japanese language option, please let me know! I like to play games in their original language (English games in English) so I’m more interested in games made in Japan that have dual languages.

Resident Evil Revelations

In the PC version, text and audio can be changed to Japanese in settings. Haven’t confirmed other platforms.


Asura’s Wrath (PS3)

I just got this game so I can’t say much about it except that it does have full Japanese voice and text. For under $20, I can at least say, it’s a good deal. But I read somewhere that you have to pay extra (DLC) to get the true ending…. ugh…


Resonance of Fate (PS3)

The text will be in Japanese if your console’s language is set to Japanese. You can select the language for voices between English and Japanese.


Star Ocean: The Last Hope International (PS3)

Allows choosing between English and Japanese voices, as well as, a larger list of languages for the game text. I just started playing and it looks good for the price. My first annoyance is that ship has too many screen transitions so it takes forever to get around.


The Last Remnant (PC)

The PC version (not Xbox 360) has both Japanese voice and text options. I only played the very beginning. The graphics are pretty good but the dialogue seems slightly out of synch. Might be just a config issue. You can probably get it for a great price if you wait for a steam sale.


Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy (PC)

Called 勇者30 on the PSP, I got this PC version on sale for $5.99. The Japanese text uses too much Hiragana for my tastes (no spoken dialogue) but it is strangely entertaining.


Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3)

Need to set your console’s language to Japanese. It took me forever to beat the first boss so I haven’t touched it in a while but can’t hurt to get it for the price.


Resistance (PS3)

Need to set your console’s language to Japanese. This kind of game is better in English anyway given the setting and genre but I listed it anyway. Have not tried 2 and 3 yet.


Soul Calibur V (PS3 & Xbox 360*)

According to a comment, this has both Japanese audio and text.

*For XBox 360, according to play-asia, only the US version is region free. So don’t buy the Japanese or Asian version and expect it to work on a US console.


Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (PS3 & Xbox 360*)

Lets you change both the text and audio to Japanese via settings.

*For XBox 360, according to play-asia, only the US version is region free. So once again, avoid the Japanese version unless you have a Japanese console.

Vanquish (PS3)

This game has options to change both the voice and text. Sega in generally has been awesome in this regard. Thanks, Sega!!

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PS3/Xbox 360)

This game doesn’t have full Japanese support but it does allow you to change the voice and subtitles to Japanese for the cut-scenes. The option to change subtitles is at least better than most other titles.

I only have the PS3 version so not sure about the 360 version.


Fragile Dreams (Wii)

The Wii is region locked but if you have one already for the US-region, this game apparently has both Japanese audio and text.

Recettear

This game can be configured to run in Japanese by right-clicking and selecting Properties from your steam library. You will then see a tab labeled “Language” where you can set it to Japanese.

Chantelise – A Tale of Two Sisters

Steam shows this game to have Japanese for both the interface and full audio.

Persona 4 Arena (PS3/Xbox 360?)

I almost didn’t want to list this on principle because it’s the ONLY region-locked PS3 game. I mean, like the ONLY ONE. It’s lame that they decided to use region-lock but the small consolation is that they didn’t feel scared about putting full Japanese support thanks to the region lock. I haven’t verified it, but the content is supposed to be identical across regions so as long as you buy the game to match your console, I would guess it has full Japanese support.

Here’s some more I haven’t verified from this link

Battlefield 1943

Devil May Cry 4

Home

Little Big Planet

Lost Planet

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Resident Evil 5

Resurrection

Soul Calibur 4

Street Fighter 4

Digital releases

Digital releases that are download-only don’t come with any physical packaging and so require almost no distribution costs. So we should be able to buy all sorts of stuff from Japan right? After all, it’s just virtual 0s and 1s that speed across intercontinental fibre optic cables. Not so fast. Turns out companies still want to control distribution channels across regions, virtual or not. So here’s the breakdown of the usual jumbled mess of various policies and schemes.

Steam

While you can get a list of games that have Japanese support, it’s not obvious to what degree the support is, whether it’s the text and/or audio. What’s even more baffling, games that were made in Japan like Ys I & II Chronicles+ have absolutely zero Japanese support. Shame on you, XSEED.


Playstation Store

While the consoles are region-free, your PSN account is not. You must select Japan as your region when creating your PSN account and it cannot be changed. You also cannot buy games on the Japanese store without a Japanese credit card or Japanese PSN cards. You can buy the latter on various sites but expect to pay extra for the service.

However, once you purchase a game, you can play it on your console for any user. So for example, I have a US and Japanese PSN account on my PS3 using two different email addresses. Once I purchase a game on one, I can install and play it on the other. However, oddly enough, avatars are tied to the PSN account so even though I downloaded some cool free avatars on my Japanese account, I can’t use it for my US account. There’s no way I’m paying money for those things so oh well…

There are also some imports you can buy directly from the US store!

Nintendo eShop

I don’t own any recent Nintendo consoles so this is on hearsay but the advantage of region-lock means that if you have a Japanese 3ds or Wii U, you can buy Japanese games using a US credit card. Buyer beware though, Nintendo’s DRM policy is apparently very strict and you can only have ONE copy of the game on ONE system. So you know how you can play PSN classics on either the PS3, PSP, or PS Vita? So like, wouldn’t it be cool if you can buy a digital copy of Mother 2 on the virtual console and play it on the 3ds? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Hopefully, I’ll get to check things out for myself once I import me a 3ds.

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