How do you play Japanese-only games?

[kawaii-neko]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I'm curious how everyone here handles games that don't have an official localization.
Do you:

Use machine translation while playing?
Play in Japanese because you understand the language?
Wait for an official localization, even if it takes years?
Or just play in Japanese and look things up when you get stuck?
I'm especially curious about people who don't fully understand Japanese but still play the JP version. Do you find machine translation good enough to follow the story, or does it end up taking away from the experience?
I'd also love to know what you usually do with games that you really want to play but have no localization in sight. Do you just bite the bullet and play the JP version, or wait patiently for a localization?
Would love to hear everyone's experiences!

 

[orionsbestie]

people who don't fully understand Japanese but still play the JP version. Do you find machine translation good enough to follow the story, or does it end up taking away from the experience?

I used to rely on google translate for the bits I didn't understand, which were many-- but because I've learned a bunch of dramatic (?) vocabulary from anime and localized otome as well as some random kanji learning apps, I could get the meaning almost perfectly. I couldn't give anyone a decend translation that wasn't too literal, but it worked out for me when playing Dance with Devils for the first time. Nowadays I've gotten a tiny bit better and discovered Meikipop exists, so I just use that to read the kanji I don't understand and if somehow that's not enough, I look it up online.

I don't think it takes away from my experience?? Particularly because of the voice acting. It takes me a **While** to read my/heroine's lines because there's no voiceover other than mine trying not to sound like a toddler with a language disorder trying and failing to pronounce 暖かかった lol but the rest of the lines by the rest of the caracters? I understand those surprisingly well! I've been playing Hakuoki's FD Ginsei no Shou and while there might be some nuances I'm missing here and there, even the super formal way of speaking Saito has makes sense to me when I hear what he's saying instead of just trying to descipher wtf is written in the textbox. I don't think I'd recommend to someone on my level to play any Hakuoki game (except maybe ssl) in japanese tho. I just do it because I was desperate for more Saito content after all these years hehehe

 

[kawaii-neko]

I used to rely on google translate for the bits I didn't understand, which were many-- but because I've learned a bunch of dramatic (?) vocabulary from anime and localized otome as well as some random kanji learning apps, I could get the meaning almost perfectly. I couldn't give anyone a decend translation that wasn't too literal, but it worked out for me when playing Dance with Devils for the first time. Nowadays I've gotten a tiny bit better and discovered Meikipop exists, so I just use that to read the kanji I don't understand and if somehow that's not enough, I look it up online.

I don't think it takes away from my experience?? Particularly because of the voice acting. It takes me a **While** to read my/heroine's lines because there's no voiceover other than mine trying not to sound like a toddler with a language disorder trying and failing to pronounce 暖かかった lol but the rest of the lines by the rest of the caracters? I understand those surprisingly well! I've been playing Hakuoki's FD Ginsei no Shou and while there might be some nuances I'm missing here and there, even the super formal way of speaking Saito has makes sense to me when I hear what he's saying instead of just trying to descipher wtf is written in the textbox. I don't think I'd recommend to someone on my level to play any Hakuoki game (except maybe ssl) in japanese tho. I just do it because I was desperate for more Saito content after all these years hehehe

thank you for sharing!! and i really relate to the "i understand it but couldn't give you a proper translation" part lol. being able to understand something in context and actually translating it naturally are two completely different skills.

 

[Daisy Magnus229]

I'm not that good in Japanese, so I use translator. Before, I used Visual Novel Reader or textractor, but sometimes it couldn't hook into games. Now I use OCR-based translator, like Luna Translator. It's much easier to use.

Still, if there's a proper localization of that game, I'll play it again. Machine translation isn't perfect and can be confusing if you're not used to it after all. Especially if the game set in historical Japan or include some regional accent (like Kansai Accent).

 

[SweetTranq]

Since AI is really advanced now, I use LunaTranslator with an API to help me understand Japanese in games.
Luckily, I've been a big fan of Japanese anime since I was young, so having been exposed to it for so long, I can understand common Japanese phrases.

New games are so tempting — but localizations can take forever. So if I really want to play them, I just have to push through and play in Japanese.
For words I don't know, I use the built-in dictionary in LunaTranslator.

I think when reading in Japanese, you don't necessarily have to understand every single word. Some words just aren't that important — and it's not like we're taking a test.

With AI translation now, I can understand about 98% of it. The other 2% is usually lore or world-building terms specific to the game.

If there's a game I really want to play but it doesn't have localization, I just go with my heart and use a translator. Maybe later, if an official localization comes out, I'll play it again.

 

[nekoky]

You just have to tough it out and play the Japanese version. You can't miss out on something you're interested in, right? And hey, you might actually learn some Japanese in the process.( ﾟ∀ ﾟ) Plus, with AI translation now, you can usually understand most of it – pretty convenient.
Sure, there's always a chance some games will get localized, but it's really a matter of luck. And sometimes the localization quality is all over the place – translations can be inaccurate, lose the original feel, or stray too far from the meaning. So it's pretty common to just go back to playing the original anyway.

 

[luvsubaru]

I always use a translator! But I don't play many recent Japanese otome games, because there's always a chance they'll be localized soon, so I prefer to wait.

 

[Liiiii]

If it's a game that I really want to play and that doesn't have localization in sight, I play it in Japanese. I'm just learning the language, so I'm really, REALLY slow (it takes me about six or seven times longer than an English game), so I haven't done it as much as I'd like. My dream is to one day play all otome games in Japanese with the same ease as English ones, but for now I only play the ones that don't have an English translation in Japanese because of the speed. I also use an app on my phone to manually translate all the words I don't understand yet. My first Japanese otome game (Gensou Manege) was quite difficult and it took me a long time to finish it, so I'm currently thinking about which games are better suited to my Laguige level. So if you know which games are easier than Gensou Manege, please let me know!

 

[6161xx]

When I play Japanese games, I always use an OCR translator or hook the game. Usually, when translating, you can choose multiple channels to translate simultaneously and display them, so in most cases, understanding the game's story isn't a problem. If your computer can handle it, you can use a better translation model for setup, which makes the translation more accurate.

 

[AkaTe]

I use VN Translator Pro, agent and AI to translate the games. Works pretty good.

 

[haiane]

I usually wait a while before playing newly released and popular games because there's a chance they'll get an official localization. I don't mind waiting a few years.

Since my Japanese vocabulary consists of maybe 500 words that I've passively picked up from anime in spoken form (plus the character の), I have to rely on machine translation if I really want to play an unlocalized game.

MTL has come a long way since the 2010s, thanks to AI. Back then, you had to use quite a bit of imagination to figure out what was happening in a visual novel, but now the translations are generally very fluent and accurate, with only minor imperfections.

Tools like HIllya51's LunaTranslator and Minh Shiba's Sugoi Toolkit are also a significant improvement over AGTH, ITH, VNR, and Textractor. I mostly use LunaTranslator with Google translator. I've heard that DeepL is even better, but it has a usage limit.

 

[ksana65]

I use Luna Translator and dictionaries. I've played a lot in this format, so I've already learned many phrases in Japanese, but playing without a screen translator is still difficult.