Japanese Voice Over Option – Video Games
last update: May 2008
for a more
complete list ,GO TO
http://japanesevoices.blogspot.com
you also might
wanna stop by there if you want to contribute to the list…
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Intro
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I like watching animes with the original
Japanese voice overs with
English subtitles, I like playing video games in the same way if at all
possible. Reckon you get a better idea of what the creators originally intended, less chance of translators messing with the plot
and less chance of bad voice overs. Made this page to
spread the word and list the games that have a decent amount of Japanese
dialogue and also give a little incidental info on the detail (if I have any).
I only have a passing knowledge of Japanese,
if I was a proficient speaker and knew all the kanji then I would just play the
original Japanese version with no need for this list (at least for me) :) so
take my comments on the quality of the translation with a sack of salt.
This is not a complete list, just the ones
I've heard of. I intend to make as comprehensive a list as possible. With that
in mind, if you have any additions to this list and want to contribute to it,
then go to http://japanesevoices.blogspot.com and leave a
comment on the page with the title of the game…
For a game to be included in this list it
has to have a Japanese voice option that allows you to play the game as it was
originally released in Japan with the added bonus of being able to read the
translation of the dialogue in English. I might include other games which have
a generous amount of Japanese included (of course this only matters if the game
originally came from Japan) but generally the only way a game gets on the list
is if it has a specific Japanese voice option in the options menu.
IGNORE THIS!!!
Oh and I hope you like this web page’s popup
ad mini-game. It wasn’t even my idea or anything it just came with the
site-isn’t it cool!
My best time so far is 0.49 seconds – see if
you can beat that amazing time! Strategy guide on beating this mini-game at end of page. Didn’t want any spoilers…
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Game List
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[ A ]
* ATELIER IRIS: ETERNAL MANA – PS2 - Gust/Koei/NIS
Sprite RPG.
* ATELIER IRIS 2: AZOTH OF DESTINY -
PS2 - Gust/Koei/NIS
A sprite driven, old style
RPG. Smatterings of dialogue throughout the game. Bunch of fight quotes
when you enter battle. A fairly small amount of dialogue. Translation is not
great only passable.
* ATELIER IRIS 3: GRAND PHANTASM - PS2 -
Koei
Similar to previous incarnations, old style
RPG. Only has speech in story critical sections, some incidental stuff like the
intro has English voice overs (even though they have text so you can read along
with it – so uh why did they exclude the original…meh). Still, even though it
is not entirely Japanese voiced it mainly is, and the voice work is pretty
good. There are some annoying translation errors where changes were made for no
other reason I can see except because the translation team wanted to stamp
themselves on the product…but still, overall, it’s a passable job, and if you
have any knowledge at all of Japanese you should be able to pick up on the
changes in tone...
[ D ]
* DISGAEA 2: CURSED MEMORIES - PS2 -
Strategy RPG.
* DRAGONBALL BUDOKAI 3 - PS2 -
Atari/Bandai
Fighting. Tons of
Japanese with original voice actors, original anime music, really good quality
stuff. Anyone who liked the original anime will almost certainly enjoy this
translation since you can hear all the common expressions done by the original
anime voice actors (to my knowledge anyways).
[ E ]
* ENCHANTED ARMS - Xbox 360
and PS3 - Ubisoft / From Software
RPG.
[ G ]
* GENJI: DAWN OF THE SAMURAI - PS2 -
Sony
Action. Hmm not
sure if this has a Japanese voice option or the characters only speak Japanese
with no choice. Either way I’m pretty sure this game has Japanese voices.
Should I even bother putting games on the list if they don’t have the option
but just have the Japanese as standard? Probably yes…I would like to know of
any game that attempted to get as close to the original product as possible…really,
this would be the best outcome…so uh maybe I should stop typing to myself…
* GrimGrimoire - PS2 -
Strategy RPG.
[ H ]
* .hack\\ all 4 games in FIRST series:
1/ Infection 2/ Mutation 3/ Outbreak 4/ Quarantine, - PS2 - Bandai
Action RPG. Not
sure about the PAL version, heard that you have to beat the game to open up the
Japanese voice overs which is a bit of a shame since
I think any emotional bond you make with the character will happen during your
first play through. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please. Oh and all things
point to the second series, GU, as not including the Japanese voice over option
at all. Meh, I thought sequels were supposed to improve on their
predecessors…what a pain. Also there was a B-side joke? Japanese voice over
option in the original Japanese game but that was scrapped from the western
release apparently L.
[ N ]
* NINJA GAIDEN - Xbox -
Tecmo
Action/Stealth.
Another stealth game with this option eh? Makes me think they are a bit worried
that if they don’t include it then the other stealth games will look shinier
and better than them…heh heh, if true then this is a
good omen for the future…too bad this is such an old game but still…
* NARUTO: RISE OF A NINJA - Xbox 360
- Ubisoft
Action. Hmm not
sure if this is a Japanese released game, might be that it was developed
outside of Japan…but seeing as the game only exists because of the Japanese
anime then I guess I’ll include it…The Japanese voices SHOULD, but might not
yet, be available as a free downloadable, I hate patches...even if they do
something cool like this...I still hate 'em...put the option in to start with
you…you…poopy heads!!
[ O ]
* ODIN SPHERE - PS2 -
Atlus
RPG.
* ONIMUSHA: DAWN OF DREAMS - PS2 - Capcom
Action. Option to
have Japanese Voice with English subs has been included in both the NTSC US
release AND the original Japanese release, so anyone who likes to import stuff
and has a chipped PS2, go crazy. Most people seem to think the Japanese version
is cooler as the game has been altered in its foreign release. Again. They keep messing with the games. Why? Cause they are
stupidheads. If they add an extra level or something
cool that’s great but they almost never do that…
PAL territory, option completely
OMITTED…bastards…(the guys selling the product not the
people in the PAL territories…). From what I can tell (only from rumours and other unreliable sources) the Japanese voices are still on the PAL disc
so it might be possible to unlock them through some action replay code or
something…if anyone has any idea about this (very remote) possibility contact
me yo?
* ONIMUSHA WARLORDS - PS2 - Capcom
Action. First in the series. NTSC yes, PAL unsure…other releases in
the Onimusha series omit the Japanese voice option
until Dawn of Dreams.
[ P ]
* PROJECT JUSTICE - DC -
Capcom
Fighting. Sequel to
Rival Schools on PSX. Again the custom fighter creator thingy was cut. And again
there is no Japanese voice option it just comes with Japanese voices, no
English ones. So I'm sorta breaking my own rules for this list, which is uh
bad... The translation is apparently a little better. I suggest buying the
Japanese version and getting a translation of the menus from some site
somewhere, quite a few fans of this game out there so…(hmm maybe I should just
suggest that for every Japanese game out there and then I won’t have to put any
more work into this stupid FAQ thing…)
[ R ]
* RIVAL SCHOOLS - PSX -
Capcom
3D Fighting.
Unfortunately they ripped this game apart from the original version but at
least they left the voices intact...although they messed with some key story
points so the translation is not accurate. Plus this game doesn't have a
Japanese voice option it doesn't give you any other choice...but it is one of
the few PSX games that have Japanese voices at all so I put it in. Why did they
take out the cool lesson/custom fighter mode? (Cause they are lazy and mean and
horrible and junk – duh) Grrr!
*
RPG. This started
as a GBA game and got ported to the PSP.
The only PSP specific game that has this option (that I know of).
Reviews are mixed on how well the voices work, both English and Japanese. Some
have found the voices annoyingly repetitive so...
[ S ]
* SKYGUNNER - PS2 - Atlus
Strategy RPG.
* SONIC ADVENTURE 2 – DC – Sega
/ Sonic Team
Action – Hey it’s Sonic yo!
Now the only problem apparently with this is that there are no subs during cut
scenes translating the Japanese audio so uh this might be a problem. Not that
anyone cares cause this is such an ancient game on a dead system…Still this
game was fun so I put it in…for uh historical reference or something…
* SOUL CALIBUR 3 - PS2 -
Namco
Fighting. Lots of
fight quotes, all can be replayed to your heart’s content in a character
viewing mode (cool). The subtitles are not 100% accurate but are pretty good.
All in all a quality Japanese voiced product.
* SHINOBIDO: WAY OF THE NINJA - PS2 -
Acquire
Action/Stealth.
Nice amounts of Japanese dialogue. Voice overs are good. Plus a lot of
incidental stuff from enemies during play. Good stuff all in all.
[ T ]
* TENCHU: STEALTH ASSASSINS – PSX -
Activision
Action/Stealth. The
Japanese audio is only available via debug mode? Plus it is only for characters
no intros etcetera. Debug mode: Pause games, hold L1 + R2 and then press in
order – up, triangle, down, x, left, square, right, circle, then release L1 +
R2 and press L1, R1, L2, R2, then wait a bit? And press Start, L2 + R2. This is
untested so if your PSX blows up, uh blame someone else…then when in debug mode
to get Japanese voices: At mission select screen hold L1 and press left, left,
down, down, square, square, triangle, circle. Jeez that was easy now wasn’t it. Just in case I didn’t copy that down right look on the
web yo? Good luck!
* TENCHU: FATAL SHADOWS - PS2 -
Activision
Action/Stealth. Sequel to Wrath. 4th? In the
series. Tenchu
is a great series for the Japanese voice option eh? Tenchu
you rock! Or something…
* TENCHU: WRATH OF HEAVEN - PS2 -
Activision
Action/Stealth. 3rd?
in the series. There is not a ton of dialogue here
mostly incidental voice quotes and the odd story progression cut scene voice
from the characters. Intros are Japanese as well from memory.
[ V ]
* VALKYRIE PROFILE 2:SILMERIA - PS2 - Tri
Ace/Square Enix
RPG.
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Wanna help? + Not sure game list
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Wanna help? These next game titles are
possible inclusions that I'm not quite sure about yet. Send in your answers but
more importantly send in all the other games that I'm positive I've missed
entirely that have a Japanese voice option. After I've confirmed they really
have the Japanese voice option using my psychic powers and junk then I'll chuck
'em in the next update.
Go to http://japanesevoices.blogspot.com if you want to contribute to the list and just
leave a comment on the blog with the game title on
any other Japanese voiced over games that have English subtitles (what a bloody
mouthful) to:
Thanks for any help!
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Final stuff
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The content here is not as up to date as the
blog, Google pretty much ignores this site in terms
of its search engine so I’ll probably put most of my efforts into updating the blog rather than keep messing around here. Although I like
the options available here more, I don’t know if I’ll bother keeping it up to
date or not…
Oh and thanks to the few game
translators/publishers that put the Japanese option into their games (Atlus I'm
looking at you, you sexy cool game company ;). For without them I could not
have made this FAQ ;) It is only a matter of time before all Japanese games
have this option as standard just like almost all animes have when they are
released overseas, but until that happens I will continue to keep this thing
updated, unless I get bored, or don't feel like it anymore or have a nervous
break down etcetera blah blah. But anyways here's hoping that this FAQ will
become a historical reference (heheh yeah right…)
rather than a work in progress, ‘constantly needing updates thingy’ sooner
rather than later and that every game that comes from another country has the
option to play the game subbed and with the original voice overs.
I just wanna play something that is as close to the
original game as possible is that so much to ask? No it isn’t!!! So shut up and
put the damn option in all the games…uh please, if you possibly could…
BIG thank you goes out to the people that sent me leads on new
additions to the list!
IGNORE THIS
TOO!!!
Mini strategy guide on beating this
page’s mini-game called uh...’pop up mania’…or something…
You know you should really play through the
game a couple times before reading this strategy guide yo! It totally spoils
the game…
Well my favourite technique is to right click
on the tab that appears on the bottom of the screen and then highlight ‘Close’
this is my most effective technique, but there are so many other ways of
playing this game so you are spoiled for choice. There is the ‘quick draw’
method – a little bit more technical than the other methods, but some pros
really like to use it (mainly to show off I reckon) well you mash the keys
‘Alt’ and ‘F4’ as quickly as you can as soon as the window pops up this will
kill the blighter real quick. There is the ‘precision’ method again a little
more technical but not as bad as the ‘quick draw’ method, well, this is how it
works, as soon as the pop up enemy appears you quickly search out the target –
a red box with a white ‘X’ inside – pretend you are searching for treasure – I
know some people who shout ‘x marks the spot’ as they click on it with their
mouse pointer so as to add a little drama to the process (and cause they are
bonkers). Now for all you cheaters out there you could get a program
that acts as a ‘pop up blocker’ but you’d only do this if you are soft and weak
and can’t handle the challenge and like cop outs (plus my pop up blocker
doesn’t even work on all of the ads anyways – damn). Then there is the ‘me
wanna buyie’ method, this is something I almost never do, it is only for the
very brave few, the method is to…click on the ad, actually put the mouse
pointer on the flashing picture and see where it leads…oooo go off on a magical
adventure and experience scarynessness.
READ
THIS…MAYBE!!!!
Yeah well these pop ups are cause I’m using
a free site, they have nothing to do with me. So uh sorry but that’s the way it
is. Plus it is a game, and it comes free with the site so you should be happy
and junk…but hey if you have a suggestion for another site (with more traffic
than this site – which is pretty much anywhere) that might wanna post this page
I’m all ears (a stupid metaphor - sorry)…well you see, I’m still new to the
whole web page thing so any suggestions on where the best place to put this
page or any other suggestions on how to get google to
notice it or anything else you could tell me that would help a newbie out, I’m
all eyes, to see your emails on the subject (nope, that metaphor sucks
too…sigh…)
last update: May 2008
