Does anyone play them in Japanese?

Hello, Everyone.

I have been a fan of Final Fantasy for many years now. The very first one I played was FFVI on SNES, and I've played almost every FF (except for X-2 and XI). I haven't been much of a collector however.

I recently have decided to start a video game collection. But I keep thinking, most of the games I like come from Japan. Wouldn't it be better to play them in Japanese? I know the Final Fantasy games (as well as other Japanese RPGs) are heavily influenced by the West, and contain many English words. Still, I feel that having them in Japanese would be more authentic. Another thing is that some older games weren't officially translated. But now every FF game is available in English, so it's difficult for me to decide.

[Kenhiroshin]

i'd really want to play the japanese versions. from what i've seen with anime, playing them in japanese may be totally different.

[Georg Prime]

Trust me..unless you know japanese right now there is no point in learning it to play the japanese titles

I don't care how hardcore an anime/videogame fan you are, that's probably the worst reason ever to learn a language. I mean it's a very hard language to learn and it'd be a complete waste of time only to play a few games. Sure, the official versions might be more authentic, but for the most part the translations are good, especially nowadayz were translations are getting a lot better than what they once were. But if you know japanese already then there's no reason not to.

And if you are talking about *cough*cough* roms *cough*cough*, i'd wait for them to be fan translated because more and more are being translated all the time.

I myself have played a huge handful of rpgs that were once japanese only titles, and a few more i've been waiting on that translations are coming along. I actually have a handful of japanese rpg roms for the snes and have managed to play a small amount into them without even knowing the language just to get a feel for the gameplay but it's not worth playing a whole rpg that way.

I do agree though, some of the best rpgs are/were japanese only, and it is a shame. But honestly, playing them in japanese really isn't different at all, same story, same characters, minor variations, but overall not worth the time i'd say.

[Crazy Chocobo]

I have one game in Japanese but it has english subtitles. It's Dragonball Z: Budokai. It has the original voices from the Japanese Anime. It's rather interesting to hear them talk Japanese but it's extremely difficult to understand. Just as well they have subtitles.

I haven't played any Final Fantasy games in Japanese, that wouldn't be too good because I wouldn't be able to understand a word of it. My friend has played one or more of the games in Japanese... I think? I wouldn't be able to do that unless they had subtitles.

[maxpower]

I played Final Fantasy III and V in Japanese before they were released in the US. I lived in Japan for a while and have a minor in Japanese so I speak, read, and write Japanese pretty well. Still I found that it was harder to enjoy both games because I did not feel as comfortable with the language and actually had to try to read the story instead of just sitting back and enjoying the story line as it came.

I will admit however that anytime I can get a game that you can play in Japanese with English sub-titles (like disgaea) I like to play that way because it assures that I am paying attention.

[Georg Prime]

Originally Posted by «Geomancer»

Actually, there, General my friend, I didn’t state that my reason for learning the language was just to play some games that are pretty much the same as the ones released here in NA. I just said how far I was into learning it....(So, I’m glad I won’t be considered by someone on a forum to have the worst reason ever to learn....*joking*)

(Watch out, a rant before I go on topic )
I’ve had a facsination with the Japanese culture for a long time.
The first anime I watched, though I didn’t really know or cared at the time was none other than Astroboy. I really loved that series, and once I got older and learned about it’s history, like created long ago (1952 in manga form) by the ‘Godfather’ of manga, Osamu Tezuka I just got more interested!

I really respect their way of doing things, unlike here in NA, where anything pretty much goes, and “classes” of people that don’t respect other “classes”. Over there, they at least still show respect, (bowing, way they use the language with others) and are reserved in real life, but may show it more in their work ethic and such.

Also, since the culture is like a far off extension of my ethnicity, (supposedly, people from Asia crossed what is known as the Berring Sea, around the last Ice Age (about 30,000 years ago?), and when the ice slowly receded moved up to this arctic area (10,000 years ago?). I find similar style wordings with their language as to my native tongue, where you add certain post words to modify it. Quite interesting really. (I’ve illustrated a children’s book last century and included references to Japan. It was during the Nagano Olympics!)

Yeah, they have crazy stuff over there that wouldn’t be appreciated by folks on this side of the Pacific. That’s too bad for them, I guess. I’m for sure going to keep trying to understand more of the whole Japanese culture (language, history, etc.), because I do enjoy learning in general, especially other cultures and languages. And would love to visit there sometime!

So, is better to play games in their original language, in this case Japanese? Well, it’s really up to you, if you want to learn a new language in general and get to play fun imports, go for it. Though, you may just have as much fun playing the translated versions, and be able to play them right away!

Oh no i wasn't saying you personally, i'm just saying in general if you have no understanding of the language prior that it might be a lot of work. Mostly just addressing the creator of the topic. It sounded like you knew some japanese already. You're right though, i am very interested in their culture as well.

I'm really not trying to shoot anyone's dreams down, but for me personally, with college, jobs, etc, its a very unrealistic and time consuming thing for me to try to learn a language in order to play japanese games. If you already know it though, you are perfect. Otherwise, seems like it's a bit too much work unless you are using it in other ways. Of course if you have a minor in Japanese, then you're very well off!