Good Android games (apps) in Japanese?

Japanese
#1

Can anyone recommend anything? I wanted to utilize my downtime somehow and since reading news and articles is not really my thing I figured some kind of a game would be great. The best fit for me would be something with lots of pausable dialogue and descriptions, and also something that can be quit on the fly (or after a quick save). But if you have literally any recommendation then feel free to share it for others too! (Also accepting non-game recommendations, don’t feel restricted.)

I was thinking about Final Fantasy 3 Remake, but I have no idea if there is an option to change language. It has great reviews though. There are also Dragon Quests and Chrono Trigger, although the latter seems to have a messy port.

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#2

I’m not sure about Android games, but do you have a Nintendo Switch?
They have lots of games you can play in Japanese :wink:

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#3

I don’t, I’m not really a portable gamer. I was tempted to buy a Switch many times because you can turn it into an immersion device, but never did and since it’s closing on its 7th anniversary I most likely won’t.

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#4

There are a bunch of visual novels on the Japanese play store, if you have access to that, although I can’t recommend any as they’re not really my thing.

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#5

Yeah, same.

Since we’re talking Japanese accounts, you can also download lots of Japanese games from a third party store QooApp, but I wanted something high quality with no gacha so that’s a no. I played Uma Musume there, which cannot be played normally from Google Store without having some legit Japanese data or something (I think, that was quite a bit of time ago), but as expected gacha and the whole mobile addiction design are not my kink.

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#6

Have you considered watching let’s plays of your favorite games on YouTube? Just search the name of the game in Japanese with プレイスルー (playthrough).

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#8

I did watch some actually, but can’t find a youtuber I would like (not that I’ve been trying particularly hard though).

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#9

I always thought this game was pretty epic. Pretty much fully voice-acted in addition to on screen dialogue.

グランブルーファンタジー

The story is huge too. Can’t remember if there are paid elements. There probably are but they’re not necessary at all.

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#10

Oh wow I’m pretty sure I played it a couple years ago (like three or four), but I think it was the web version and also probably in English. Sadly Japanese Google Play requires some VPN shenanigans as far as I know, but the web version I think worked perfectly on mobile back then. And yeah it’s gacha, so it’s technically free.

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#11

Yeah it appears to be gachya, but from what I remember it really wasn’t necessary at all to the story, and they have story updates quite often.

Actually the PS5 game version of the rpg looks like it’s releasing quite soon!

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#12

The trailer looks good, wonder if it will reach PC though.

Since we’re kinda off-topic (there doesn’t seem to be any mobile players here anyway :sweat_smile:), I am waiting to play Dragons Dogma 2 in Japanese. You either love or hate Dragons Dogma 1 and I am in the first category.

Currently I am playing through Cyberpunk and I’m doing surprisingly well, but I have the advantage of having played it already in English a couple years back so I wonder how will I fare in the new DLC which seems like it has a lot of hard vocab (it’s supposed to be spy thriller kind of story). Anyway highly recommend both games.

Sadly I cannot recommend anything for Android myself since that is why I made this topic.

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#13

Cyberpunk in Japanese is really good! There are a lot of games these days that have a genuinely good Japanese translation. As @bunnypro mentioned, Nintendo is the holy grail of Japanese games.

What the best thing to do though in my opinion is to find games that you can also enjoy in English and then find their Japanese counterparts. Sometimes this may involve playing a type of game that you’ve never really played before in the past.

Mobile is a tough medium, as a lot of (the vast majority of) games are built on the idea that you will eventually pay for something, so the effort that the developers put in before you put a dime into the game is piss poor. This is the main reason I recommend something like Granblue Fantasy. You can potentially play hundreds of hours without spending any money, and just let the whales of the community pay for the development of the story. The same is true for Evertale, but unfortunately Evertale has gone more toward paid in the last few years.

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#14

If you like the Zelda games, セナ is a lot of fun to watch

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#15

What the best thing to do though in my opinion is to find games that you can also enjoy in English and then find their Japanese counterparts. Sometimes this may involve playing a type of game that you’ve never really played before in the past.

By counterparts do you simply mean the same genre?

Mobile is a tough medium, as a lot of (the vast majority of) games are built on the idea that you will eventually pay for something, so the effort that the developers put in before you put a dime into the game is piss poor. This is the main reason I recommend something like Granblue Fantasy. You can potentially play hundreds of hours without spending any money, and just let the whales of the community pay for the development of the story. The same is true for Evertale, but unfortunately Evertale has gone more toward paid in the last few years.

Yeah, that’s why I was hoping for some “premium” game with one time payment, but it may be hard to get anything good on Google Play without a Japanese account. For example Dragon Quest V is available only in English, Professor Layton from what I’ve seen doesn’t have Japanese either. Maybe I’ll check out the web version of Granblue.

If you like the Zelda games, セナ is a lot of fun to watch

Thanks, will check him out!

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#16

I believe the Animal Crossing mobile game lets you choose your language when you first start it.
It’s pretty basic Japanese over all, nothing compared to a visual novel, but you can just pick it up and put it down whenever really.
Also, you don’t have to pay for anything, unless you really want to speed things up. Typical mobile game mechanics sort of thing

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#17

Same genre or same game itself. I try to play most games I would usually play in English in Japanese if available.

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#18

I try to play most games I would usually play in English in Japanese if available.

Yeah that is the direction I’m currently trying to take my journey towards. I figured it’s about the damn time. I think Skyrim would be another great game to play through in Japanese since I know it through and through. But I can’t say anything about the quality of the dub. On the other hand dub in the Witcher and Cyberpunk is praised even by the Japanese.

I believe the Animal Crossing mobile game lets you choose your language when you first start it.
It’s pretty basic Japanese over all, nothing compared to a visual novel, but you can just pick it up and put it down whenever really.
Also, you don’t have to pay for anything, unless you really want to speed things up. Typical mobile game mechanics sort of thing

It does allow you to choose Japanese and it’s a cozy little game to kill some time. On that note, I wonder if Fire Emblem Heroes lets you choose the language too (the same publisher).

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#19

Probably biased opinion, but I honestly think Japanese voice actors are some of the best in the world. Was actually discussing this with the owner of my favorite yakitori restaurant last night in Tokyo. Japanese actors put so much emotion into things, so it really translates well when you can’t see the actual person (such as in an anime or a game), but western actors seem to be better at making things far more realistic in terms of making something believable in movies where they themselves are playing the role etc. This is probably why Japanese dramas and movies get a lot of flak for being ‘over the top’.

Pretty much all of the Bethesda games have fantastic translations, so if that is a game you like, go for it! Another one I really recommend is Hogwarts Legacy. There is so much detail put into the Japanese translation it is crazy. Absolutely mind boggling how much time it must have taken to fully voice act a game like that in many different languages.

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