Persona 3 Fes ペルソナ3フェス (Playstation 2)

Quick note: There are 4 releases of Persona 3. The original Persona 3, Persona 3 Fes Append (Right boxart) which is a seperate disc you play after the original, Persona 3 Fes (Left Boxart) is the combination of Persona 3 and Fes Append on one disc. Persona 3 Portable is the final release for the PSP and features a bit of an overhaul. 

Another quick note: This covers only Persona 3/Fes for the Playstation 2. I won't be talking about P3 Portable just yet...

I enjoy playing games like this in their original form. It feels natural. The culture tidbits, the dialogues, all of it is a real treat.

Persona 3 and it's Fes add on make for one of the most enjoyable RPG experiences out there. It's one of my personal favorites and is definitely a game that I recommend to anyone who enjoys RPG's or even slice of life games with a Japanese flavor.

But if you're playing through this your first time and in Japanese none the less, how hard is it?

Well, that depends.

It's an RPG, so right off the bat, you know there are a ton of item names, and effects to remember. Knowing katakana or hiragana may not be helpful in these regards. Knowing the jouyou kanji and jukugo is your best bet for a safe play through.


Aside from the RPG elements of the game, there's the moments when you're not dungeon crawling. These can also be complicated for a beginning and even intermediate japanese learner.

Since you're a student, mingling with students from different areas, expect accents, slang and phrases you've never come across. It's all there.

 I think I learned this from RTK...

The beauty of playing this game however, is something you don't see often in a lot of Japanese media. Text going along with what's being spoken! You'll see plenty of jouyou kanji (常用漢字) but the jukugo compounds are very important in this game. You'll learn plenty of new ones, but it's important to go over basic ones to get a grasp of the story.

I played Persona 3 in Japanese during my early stages of learning the language. Needless to say I missed out on a lot. But at the same time, picked up on so many words I heard before but didn't know how to write and vice versa.

So how can you get this game? It's unfortunate that there is no Japanese language and text option on the English release of the game. Importing is the only way if you want to play fully in Japanese. 

Also unfortunately is that the game is not available for download on the PSN like it's American counterpart (P3P takes its place). 

I had a similar expression when I saw only P3P on the Japanese PSN

The game shows up on eBay from japanese sellers frequently but you'll want to look for the FES edition to get the full story. Buying the regular Persona 3 game and the Fes Append add on is a substitute method, but a bit more of a hassle and can cost more money. 

If you want the game guaranteed new, Amazon Japan is your best bet. However, for the original releases of Persona 3, Fes Appended Edition and Fes Full edition, are ludicrous without shipping included. You'll want to get "THE BEST" edition (with the slightly tacky yellow/gray border on the cover) because it's nearly 1/3 of the price for the same game.

We want to learn Japanese and not get broke in the process...Right? I'll leave a handy guide at the bottom to help with Amazon Japan imports. 

Wrapping Up:

-English version available, no Japanese text or voice options.

-Importing is necessary.

-Importing "new" is best option, but for sake of collectors, "used" may be only affordable option. 

-Have a good grasp of most, if not all Jouyou kanji. The more the better. 

-Know your basic Jukugo as well. 

-You'll learn a lot if you're coming into this game as an intermediate or beginner. You may even pick things up as an expert.

-You'll see some Engrish. It isn't that bad actually.

-Have a dictionary on you at all times, just one small mistake can end your dungeon crawling or ruin a social link. 

That's it for Persona 3/Fes. I'll tackle the other games in the series as soon as I finish them, and maybe add P3P to this article. Maybe one day, someday...

External Links:

Tae Kim Blog Post on Buying Japanese Import Games - I'm sure almost all Japanese language learners have, but if you haven't, definitely check out Tae Kim's website/blog/guide. Full of valuable information, worth its weight in gold. Lots of fun humor as well.

Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Versus Full Boost (Kidou Senshi Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost 機動戦士ガンダムエクストリームバーサス) (Playstation 3)

It's time for more Japanese language video games! But there's something... different about this one.

If you haven't seen this in GameStop or Walmart, I can't say I blame you. This game wasn't released in the USA! Or anywhere else except Japan, and certain parts of East Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan).

This game, is the Japanese arcade smash hit Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost (機動戦士ガンダムエクストリームバーサス)

It's definitely a mouthful, and like its title, this game is large. If you're familiar with the Gundam Universe, it's almost all here. Mobile Suits from the original series to 00, with all major side stories in between, you're sure to find a suit you enjoy. The only exceptions are Gundam Age and Build Fighters. Age was reserved for the sequel (which is in arcades) and Build Fighters recently finished airing.

You want the Star Build Strike don't you?

The basic premise of the game is to combat with a partner against two or more enemies in a very loose arena style battle.

I won't teach you how to play the game here, there's a very handy guide for that, which I will leave a link to at the bottom of the page. Instead, I'll let you know if you can learn something from this game...

...And it turns out you can!

I stick by the theory that all Japanese is best when playing a Japanese games. The game itself isn't completely in Japanese...However, there is no doubt you'll pick up quite a bit of keywords and kanji compounds (Jukugo or 熟語).

If you know hiragana and katakana in addition to some basic kanji you'll have no problems navigating the game. If you're still a beginner, that's okay! There's a translation guide available if you get stuck. I'll also leave a link to that as well.

There are many instances in game when the menu's are in English (Like the top menu for example), and even menu's with Japanese as the default titles have English right underneath.

Not in English, but good ol' katakana knowledge will help you here

The mission mode found in the game, along with the character/series information pages have the most Japanese language sections in game. There are descriptions for missions which are all in Japanese, no English here. Also, when you're sifting through different settings online (such as creating your own room to host), you most definitely need to know some basic kanji in order to tweak settings to your liking.

The character bios/story information is all in Japanese as well. The Japanese here is beyond what else we've seen in game, featuring heavy kanji use especially. But it's pretty descriptive which is great study material.

I don't think it says anything about his uniform

As I stated before, there is a lot of kanji and advanced Japanese, but at the same time, plenty of beginner/intermediate level stuff along with English in the important areas. Use the guide or a dictionary for reference.

When playing online, you'll also notice there is an option to send messages during the battle and right after. These come preset but you can change them to your liking. However, if you're playing with US players, it's best to have your messages in English. Most of the time, not being able to understand messages in dire situations can lead to easy losses. 

The one thing about this game which can be off putting is the price tag. It's not cheap, with regular copies selling for around $70 not including shipping, and the Premium G Sound edition selling over the $100 mark. There is a downloadable version available on the Japanese PSN which reduces the cost of importing by a bit.

I recommend watching game play videos first, or even picking up the prequel game Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Versus (No full boost in the title), to test the waters. That game can be found very cheap on eBay nowadays. There are differences between the two but the core game play itself is nearly the same.

Wrapping Up:
-There is lots of kanji, but nothing too complicated where it counts.
-Many text menus are in Japanese, but there are some in English and many have translations right beneath them.
-Try and copy down unfamiliar words and study them. Chances are you'll see them often in other games, especially Gundam ones. 
-There are guides available on how to play the game, and countless videos of game play footage on youtube.
-Very enjoyable game, and worth picking up if you're studying Japanese or not. But even better if you're a Gundam fan.

That about wraps it up. I wanted to keep it simple but tried to explain as much about the Japanese language aspect of the game as possible. Thanks for reading!

External links:
Unlimited Brett Works Full Boost Guide
Menu Translations

Pokemon (Pocket Monsters ポケットモンスター) (Gameboy)

To kick off the new blog, we'll start with a nostalgic favorite for most people. Pokemon, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター)

To be as brief as possible,  ポケットモンスター was originally released in two versions，Red (赤) and Green (緑)．Then, a Blue (青) version was later released which featured updated artwork on monsters, a few bug fixes and other minor changes. This was the standard that was used for the US releases of Red and Blue. A Pikachu (ピカチュウ) edition was also released in Japan which was as close to the anime the game could get.

 ミュウちゃん元気そうだね？

BUT! This is not a review of the games. Hopefully by the end of reading this you'll be a bit more informed on what to expect when purchasing these games in Japanese. 

For starters, there is no kanji (漢字) in the games. This may come as a shock, since kanji seems to be everywhere. The Game Boy could not handle all those characters, so what we're left with is hiragana and katakana (ひらがな/カタカナ) with spaces none the less!

Now before you're either
a) Extremely excited to read spaces in Japanese sentences or...
b) Scared there's no kanji

RELAX! Japanese kids played these games just fine didn't they? You're an older, wiser person. You can do it!

If you've played these games before, in English or your native language, it may throw you off to see most pokemon with different names. Pikachu has managed to transcend borders and retain its name, but I myself wasn't used to リザードン(Lizardon, also known as Charizard) right away.

While most characters, towns or items are called different things, the game play is the same. What you see is what you get, Pokemon in Japanese, with no kanji and spaces!

I've played through all 4 of the generation one games in Japanese, and I would suggest having some type of dictionary on hand at all times. The most obscure words are names of people or towns, but it's important especially when dealing with items. Basic katakana should be able to help you figure out a lot of important ones, however.

マスターボール

If this is your first venture into playing a Japanese game, then you're in for a good time. I find there's a nice mix in familiarity and uncertainty. But where to buy?

eBay is the only reasonable place to buy these games. You can find them boxed or unboxed according to your liking and they generally run cheaper than their American counterparts even after shipping. If you have to pick one, I would go for Green (緑) or Red (赤) because of the ridiculous pokemon designs but any choice is fine.

Wrapping Up:
Kanji (漢字)? No
Large knowledge of Japanese? Basic amount
Should I have a dictionary with me? Definitely 


Thanks for reading, hope to see you for the next post!