Friday, May 10, 2013

Five Famicom games I'm going to (attempt to) play once I've learned enough Japanese

Now that I've broken the ice and written a post about five of the PC Engine games I'm going to attempt to play through one I've learned enough Japanese, I may as well continue that line of thinking and plow through a number of similar posts devoted to other not-available-in-English games I've always wanted to play, right?

I agree. This post, then, will focus on five Famicom games that currently reside on my "play as soon as you've learned enough Japanese" (whatever that means) shortlist, while future posts likely will focus on GameBoy Advance, Game Gear, PlayStation and WonderSwan games. (Don't worry, I'm considering adding Mega Drive, PlayStation 2, Saturn and Super Famicom games to this series, too.)


1. Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei--I've yet to play any of the mainline Megami Tensei or Shin Megami Tensei titles (Shin Megami Tensei IV for the 3DS will be my first), so why do I want to play this one so badly? I guess I'm a sucker for old-school dungeon-crawlers and RPGs. Let's just hope that this one relies entirely (or at least mostly) on hiragana and katakana, rather than kanji, to tell its story--otherwise, I may end up wishing I'd avoided it altogether.


2. Ganbare Goemon Gaiden I and II--A pair of Goemon-based RPGs, you say? And they feature some surprisingly nice (although by no means amazing) graphics? Where do I sign up? Oh, and another feather in the pixelated caps worn by this pair of Konami-made games: both have absolutely breathtaking box art.


3. Lagrange Point--Considering how many Famicom games have been translated into English by fans over the years, I'm more than a bit surprised that this one has yet to join the club, so to speak. I mean, not only was it developed and published by Konami, but it's also a sci-fi RPG, for crying out loud. Maybe the VRC7 chip that was used to enhance the game's music and sound effects has hampered translators? Whatever the reason, I've always wanted to play it, so hopefully I'll be able to do so sooner rather than later. (Although, honestly, I'll take what I can get.)


4. Shin Onigashima--Call me crazy, but I've been curious about this text-based adventure ever since I first laid eyes on a few screenshots of it as a youngster. Back then, I was especially attracted to its overtly Asian art style, but these days I also like that, according to the Shin Onigashima Wikipedia entry, its story apparently is made up of "numerous interwoven Japanese fairytales."


5. Square's Tom Sawyer--I was blissfully unaware of this 8-bit, RPG-ified take on Mark Twain's classic novel from 1876 until my pal, blogger Drew Mackie, published an eye-opening post about it ("An Ill-Advised Trip Down a Pixelated River") last summer. I've wanted to play it ever since. Given that, maybe this should be the first Japanese-heavy Famicom game I attempt once I've learned enough of the language?

See also: 'Five PC Engine games I'm going to (attempt to) play once I've learned enough Japanese'

13 comments:

retr0gamer said...

I'm still waiting on that Lagrange Point fan translation that may never come :/

thegaygamer.com said...

It really is hard to believe no one has translated it yet, especially when you consider all of the comparatively shitty Fami games that *have* been translated!

MattMyx said...

Wow.. I love the Goemon games (and Hardcore Gaming 101) How the heck did I miss two NES rpgs?


I'll have to go look those up. Coolness.

thegaygamer.com said...

I know, right? I didn't know about them until a short while ago myself. I know the HG101 crew doesn't seem to think a lot of them, but I think they look so nice that I have to at least give them a shot :)

KCET-TV SoCal said...

I actually made it through Seiken Densetsu 3 with no English text and minimal guidance. It was kin of a cool experience, honestly.

Drew Mackie said...

I actually made it through Seiken Densetsu 3 without English text -- and with very little guidance, since there wasn't a lot out at the time. (Or I, being 12 at the time, didn't know how to find it.) But it was kind of a trip, and made for a unique experience. I say go for it. besides, I'm dying to know how that Tom Sawyer game actually plays.

thegaygamer.com said...

I like that, Drew! It's kind of like how I got through a good portion of FFV and all the way through FF VI back in the day with no guidance. Neither GameFAQs nor the Internet, really, existed back then. Honestly, I can't believe I did it. Anyway, it's fun to kind of make up your own story, isn't it?

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, I'll let you know how the Tom Sawyer game goes, Drew--no worries there! It'll be a while before I tackle it, though, as I'm still at the very beginning of my Japanese studies.

Drew Mackie said...

Weird, I thought I deleted this comment. Anyway, it was funny, because you saw how silly RPG character motivations can be. "Look, it's the princess of the country we hate. And... we're friends now? And we're travel partners. Huh. That was fast."

thegaygamer.com said...

Ah, sorry! I knew it was from you, of course, but didn't know you tried to delete it. Anyway, yes, I like that it helps shine a light on some of the silliness that is RPG storylines :)

apricotsushi said...

Well, what a fine list! I'm glad you're still motivated to continue your Japanese studies. It can be slow-going, but let me tell you, when you can finally play a game and understand a good chunk of the text, it's the greatest feeling!


I remember importing Final Fantasy XIII when it first came out in Japan (I wanted to be cool and get it early) and I literally cried with joy when I realized I could get through the game without a dictionary, haha (I played JP games before that but it'd always been my dream to play through a Japanese FF game before it was released in the US. Silly, I know). Imagine my disappointment when the game wasn't even that good... Well, that's a whole other discussion ;)


I can't believe I've never heard of Square's Tom Sawyer! I have to say I'm morbidly interested. Also, the box art looks pretty neat! I'll have to keep an eye out for it (and get a system to play it on, hah...)

thegaygamer.com said...

Hey there, Anne!


Oh, yes, I'm going to continue with it. I had a bit of a stumble over the last few weeks, but I picked it up again today. The best news is that David (my hubs) is planning to start freshening up on his Spanish studies shortly, and we've already decided that every night we're going to set aside at least 30 minutes during which we both study our respective languages. I think that should be really helpful, as I've had a harder time than I would've imagined finding even 30 minutes during my workday to get some studying in.


I don't think it's silly at all that you wanted to play through a FF game in Japan before it was released English. I can only dream of getting that far! If I ever do, though, I'd totally want to do the same. Well, maybe not a FF game, but some sort of RPG--or even something like Animal Crossing or Tomodachi Collection :)


I only recently became aware of Square's Tom Sawyer myself, by the way. Drew Mackie mentioned it over on his blog, and that really got the ball rolling for me. It'll be interesting to find out eventually if it's a shame that it never earned a release outside of Japan or not.

Facebook User said...

Very cool! This is a great little idea to go along with you studying Japanese.

I might start learning too just to play these hahahah, and to know one of the coolest languages out there.

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