How to Play Video Games in Japanese

I’ve been buying video games in Japanese over the last few years to get games I want that are either too expensive to get in English or just too hard to get. However, I don’t go out and buy games without first considering a few things: How much Japanese will the game have? Is Japanese necessary to play the game? What kind of Japanese do I need to know? If the amount of needed Japanese is low, if there are options to play in English or if the game is translated in both languages, and if the Japanese used is easy, I end up getting the game. Having an intermediate understanding of Japanese makes playing games in Japanese helpful, but it can still be challenging.

On this page I’ll be keeping track of the game I play in Japanese so that other gamers who are considering buying a Japanese version of the game will know what they are getting into and not waste their money on something that’s too hard to play due to the language barrier. I’ll be using the Japanese Language Proficiency Test levels to help people get an idea of how hard the Japanese is in a game; JLPT 5 (Beginner), JLPT 4 (Intermediate), JLPT 3 (Upper Intermediate), JLPT 2 (Advanced), JLPT 1 (Native).

Japanese Gameboy Games

Metroid 2: Return of Samus

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT5
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes

Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT5
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT5
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes

Kirby’s Pinball Land

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT5
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Kirby’s Block Ball

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT5
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Gameboy Wars

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: medium
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 2/1
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? No, need translation

Japanese Gamecube Games

Viewtiful Joe

  • English Settings?: No, but English voice acting
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, (JP only used for tutorials)

Viewtiful Joe 2

  • English Settings?: No, but English voice acting
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, (JP only used for tutorials)

Crazy Taxi

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes (JP only used for techniques)

Chibi Robo

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A lot
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT4/JLPT 3
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? No (too much text)

Soul Calibur 2

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Some (information, profiles, character intros)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 2 (lots of difficult kanji in explanations)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Some (cutscenes, start screen)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 4-3 (katakana and some kanji)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Super Smash Bros. Melee

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (after you switch language settings)
  • Level of Japanese: None
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Mario Kart: Double Dash

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Some (basic Japanese for settings and options)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 4
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Luigi’s Mansion

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium amount (talking with characters, hints)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3 (all in Hiragana)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes (gameplay doesn’t need it much)

Sonic Adventure DX

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (after you switch language settings)
  • Level of Japanese: None
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

  • English Settings?: Yes, both dialog and audio available
  • Amount of Japanese: None (after you switch settings)
  • Level of Japanese: None
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes

NBA Street Vol. 3

  • English Settings?: No (audio is in English)
  • Amount of Japanese: A lot
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes (tutorial audio is still in English)

Pikmin

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A medium amount
  • Level of Japanese: Child mode = JLPT3/Adult mode = JLPT 2 (kanji)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes (it’s a simple enough game to figure out)

Spider-man (The Movie)

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A lot (tips, objectives, and voices are all in Japanese)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? No (You will get frustrated if you can’t understand the tips for the stages)

Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A medium amount
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2 (tips and objectives are in Japanese, as well as the voices)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? No (You will get frustrated if you can’t figure out the objectives)

Starfox Assault

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A lot
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2 (tips and objectives are in Japanese, as well as the voices)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Maybe. (The gameplay isn’t hard but it will take trial and error)

Japanese Gameboy Advance

Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Revival

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Some (menu, fighter’s taunts after battles)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Tekken Advance

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Sonic Advance

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Sonic Advance 2

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small (menus and tips are in Japanese)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3/JLPT 4
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Mario Pinball Land (Super Mario Ball)

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small (menus)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 5
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Some (story, menus, abilities)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 4/3
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Sword of Mana

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A lot (heavy story)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 2/3
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? No. Lots of kanji.

Japanese Nintendo DS Games

Biohazard: Deadly Silence

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium (files, menus, signs)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3/2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes (if you’ve played before, MAYBE if not)

Battle and Get! Pokemon Typing

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Large (text and directions)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 4/3 (all hiragana, good reading practice)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? No

Yoshi’s Island DS

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small to medium (text and directions, some story)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 4/3 (all hiragana, good reading practice)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? (maybe)

Touch! Kirby (Kirby’s Canvas Curse)

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A little
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2 (they give some tips and advice on how to play some parts of the game)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes (it’s a pretty straightforward game)

Japanese Playstation 3 Games

Prince of Persia

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Heavy Rain

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Silent Hill HD Edition (SH2 and 3)

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

The Last of Us

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Killzone 2

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Killzone 3

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Biohazard 5

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Bioshock

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Bioshock 2

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

One Piece: Kaizoku Musou (Pirate Warriors)

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: A lot
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes (Learning the movies might be hard without Japanese knowledge, but the button displays and map helps)

Japanese Playstation 4 games

Horizon: Zero Dawn

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Horizon: Forbidden West

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

The Last of Us: Part 2

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Biohazard RE:2 (Z version)

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Biohazard RE:3 (Z version)

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Biohazard RE: 4

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Biohazard 7 (Grotesque Ver.)

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Nier Replicant

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Nier Automata

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Final Fantasy XV

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Final Fantasy VII Remake

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Death Stranding

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Ghost of Tsushima

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

God of War: Ragnarok

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

The Uncharted Collection

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: None (all in English after you set option)
  • Level of Japanese: N/A
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge? Yes

Japanese Playstation One Games

Parappa the Rapper

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: Small (need for menus)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT4
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, after you change the settings

Um Jammer Lammy

  • English Settings?: Yes
  • Amount of Japanese: Small (need for menus)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT4
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, after you change the settings

Tekken 3

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT5
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, all menus are in English.

Rockman Dash (Megaman Legends)

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3 to JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: No, but the Japanese is about middle school level.

Rockman Dash 2 (Megaman Legends 2)

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3 to JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: No, but the Japanese is about middle school level.

Einhander

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small/Medium
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3 to JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, but some abilities/objectives might be confusing without an understanding)

Ehrgeiz

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small/Medium
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3 to JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, only some Japanese on instructions and menus.

Colony Wars

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Small
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3 to JLPT 2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, all objectives, tips, and menus are in English. Voices are in Japanese.

Japanese PSP Games

Tekken: Dark Resurrection

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Some
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes, all menus are in English. Some story parts and voices are in English too.

The 3rd Birthday

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium/large (reading the documents might be hard)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2 (scientific terms, lots of action game terms)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: No. There is a lot of story and objectives in Japanese you must be able to understand.

Secret Agent Clank

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Large (lots of dialogue and on screen information)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2 (Objectives are easy, but the dialog tends to be joke heavy/non traditional terms)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: No. There is a lot of story and directions in Japanese you must be able to understand.

Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles

  • English Settings?: For voices only
  • Amount of Japanese: Small (some story parts).
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT3/2 (Mostly place names)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: Yes (Voiced parts with Japanese text is very helpful. Menus are easy to use too)

Dissidia Final Fantasy

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Large (menus, story, speaking, etc)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 2 (Very text heavy game)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: No. Lots of Kanji.

Japanese Super Famicom Games

Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana)

  • English Settings?: No
  • Amount of Japanese: Medium (Not super text heavy like most RPGs)
  • Level of Japanese: JLPT 3~ (Good mix of kanji, katakana, and hiragana. Good reading practice)
  • Can be played without Japanese knowledge?: No. Lots of Kanji. (but also Yes if you’ve played it before)