Monday, April 27, 2015

Help me blow my hard-earned cash on some un-translated Japanese PSP RPGs

I've now published two posts about the PSP in two days--what's the world coming to, right?

Actually, the fact is that I've had Sony's first PlayStation Portable on the brain since Jess, the proprietor of the Kiblitzing blog, bought and sent me this sparkly purple PSP-3000 system a couple of months ago.

Combine my renewed interest in this console--and its surprisingly fabulous games catalog--with my renewed interest in learning the Japanese language (yes, I'm back to that, and having a better time of it than my last go-round), and you've got the makings of a full-blown PSP obsession.

Specifically, I'm more than a bit obsessed with the idea of playing through a few Japanese PSP RPGs sometime soon. Oh, I don't yet know enough of the language to understand even 20 percent of what's sure to be thrown at me when I play these games, but I should be able to translate a good portion of the menu tabs, weapons, armor, items and magic spells that pop up--along with a few other words and phrases, I hope--and that's good enough for me at the moment.

Given all of the above, I thought I'd ask all of you if you know of any un-translated Japanese PSP RPGs I may enjoy playing.

Three such games that I'm already giving serious thought to picking up as soon as possible are:


Antiphona no Seikahime--This Nippon Ichi-made game is some sort of spin-off of the company's Marl Kingdom titles. I'm not sure why that matters to me, actually, as I haven't played any of that series' entries (although I've owned the related La Pucelle Tactics for years). I guess it has something to do with the fact that I like the aesthetics in these releases. At any rate, this one's definitely on my radar right now.


Sekai wa Atashi de Mawatteru: Hikari to Yami no Princess--If you've been coming to this blog for at least a few weeks, you've likely heard of this game's DS-based counterpart, which made it to North America as My World, My WayHikari to Yami no Princess is more than a simple up-port of that title, by the way, as it throws a second selectable protagonist into the mix (a dark version of the original's spoiled princess), among other additions.


Tengai Makyou: The Apocalypse IV--Speaking of ports, this is a port of a game that initially was developed for the Sega Saturn. If you've never heard of it, this is supposed to be a really wacky RPG that's set in a wildly skewed version of the United States. Also, it's a sequel to two other Japanese RPGs--Tengai Makyou: Ziria and Tengai Makyou: Manji Maru--that have intrigued me since I was a kid.

I'm also curious about a game called Ore no Dungeon that was made by Climax Entertainment (of Shining in the Darkness and Shining Force fame) and published by Sega.

With all of that out of the way, please feel free to let me know (in the comments section below) about any other Japanese PSP RPGs you think might trip my trigger.

20 comments:

Chief said...

Man, there used to be a PSP fan site for just this very question. It's defunct now. It had menu translations, general tips, summaries of what's going on, & helpful screenshots. I wish I had some recommendations. It's been forever since I've thought of PSP imports.


Cheers on the adventure!

L. A. said...

I would go for the crazy tomato head one...

Wilfredo Morales said...

I don't think Valkyria Chronicles 3 was released here. You could check that one out!

thegaygamer.com said...

That's interesting, Chief! No worries that it no longer exists, by the way--the point of this particular post is that I want to work my way through these games myself, in part to bolster my efforts to learn Japanese. In other words, I'd like to translate menus and item names and weapon names and such myself.

Oh, and don't worry about not having any recommendations to share. I appreciate your comment all the same!

thegaygamer.com said...

I can't blame you for feeling that way, L.A.! That game will be in my possession soon, BTW--as will the other two games mentioned here, I think XD

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, good thinking, Wilfredo! I can't believe I forgot about Valkyria Chronicles 3--especially since it's *supposed* to be quite a bit better than the much-maligned VC2.

I guess it might strike some as weird for me to pick up VC3 when I've yet to buy or play the first Valkyria Chronicles or VC2, but who cares what they think, right? ;)

Chief said...

Came back to add this very title :D. Cheers. I enjoyed using a fan translation patch a little over a year ago for it.

Chief said...

Great. I've been meaning to learn a few languages.

thegaygamer.com said...

Great minds really do think alike, I guess!

thegaygamer.com said...

"A few," huh? Good for you! I've got all I can handle with just this one, to be honest. That said, I'm loving the journey so far.

Franggio Hogland said...

Grand Knights History, Last Ranker has always screamed at me. Then we also have Genso Suikoden.
Final Story promise gets an honorable mention as well...But I think that has more to do with the cute Anime boys I saw in the trailer than being seen as a good game :)

thegaygamer.com said...

I'd totally pick up Grand Knights History, Franggio, but I'm pretty sure it's all but unplayable outside of Japan due to how its online component--which I believe make up a large part of the experience--works.

Last Ranker's a distinct possibility based on the good things I've read about it in the past, though, so thanks for reminding me of it.

As for Genso Suikoden and Final Story Promise--I know little to nothing about either of them, so I guess I'll have to hit Google tonight!

thegaygamer.com said...

No worries! And, yes, Prof. Google is a friend to all of us :)

TheGameroomBlitz said...

Glad to hear the PSP is getting a workout!


Anyway, I'm going to try Grand Knights anyway, because it looks gorgeous (in that grand Vanillaware tradition) and there's a perfectly good English translation online. I may also give the English translation of Valkyria Chronicles 3 a spin too, but haven't decided yet.


I still have over a dozen officially localized RPGs on both my PSP and my Vita that I've barely touched. Not really sure why I thought it would be a good idea to add more to my overflowing plate, but I have the same problem at Chinese buffets.

thegaygamer.com said...

Yes, it is, Jess--and things are only going to get "worse" from here on out, believe me! :P


Also, it sounds like both of us like having plates that are overflowing--while at Chinese buffets and while gaming...

Inganno said...

Have you thought about 7th Dragon 2020? I remember that at the time of the original DS release that there was a lot of buzz about bringing it and the later spinoff to the states. Don't know why it never happened considering a lot of people were interested.

Also, unless I'm mistaken, there's also a translation patch for 7th Dragon 2020 PSP available too. Also one for Grand Knights History from I can see. So many untranslated titles...

thegaygamer.com said...

It's funny you should
bring up 7th Dragon 2020, Inganno, as I originally planned to
mention that game and its sequel at the end of this post. In the end, though, I
removed that mention and only pointed out Sega's Ore no Dungeon—for some reason
I can't remember at the moment. Anyway, yes, I'm definitely interested in both
of these JRPGs, just like I'm interested in the original DS game (which I've
owned for some time now, but of course I've yet to stick the damn cart in any
of my DS or 3DS systems). As for Grand Knights History, I'm going to have to
read up on that one this weekend, as my memory of it is that it's basically
impossible to play—or at least enjoy—outside of Japan at this point. If that's
the case, I can't see myself wasting money on it, even if it's cheap. If that's
not the case, though, I'd love to pick it up at some point, as I absolutely
adore the Vanillaware art style.

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Chief said...

I should probably re-learn my "native" languages, Mandarin (business purposes), & Spanish (finish what I started in high school). Just a few.

thegaygamer.com said...

You should! If you want to, I mean. Me, as much as I enjoyed
learning French back in high school, I'm going to leave that one in the past
and focus on Japanese instead!