I am trying to learn Japanese so I can play Binding Blade, is it even worth it?

[kiwilordmaster]

Should I even try?

[Jedi]

Depends on if you have the motivation, I played it completely in Japanese the first time and didn't know what was going on (I made a very odd headcanon too).

With the various translations avalible though.. I dno.

[Chocolate Kitty]

should you learn a language specifically to play a game that is around 13 years old and has multiple translations in the language you understand

no

if you want to do something else with the language(learn the culture, idk) then sure

[Sentacotus]

There are multiple English patches of the game available online and they are really easy to use so no I wouldn't bother learning it just to play one game. If you want to learn it for becoming good at a second language or its utility or to expand your horizons go for it.

[kiwilordmaster]

I kbow there are roms out there, but I also want to learn something as well. I've made it to chapter 7 without knowing what is going on.

[ENS]

At least learn japanese for FE 4, came on.

[Roflolxp54]

If it's to just play Binding Blade as is without any fan translations, then no. Learning to be fluent in another language requires a lot of time and dedication. It would be more worthwhile if you intend to do something like play more untranslated/unlocalized Japanese games or watch lots of raw anime or if you intend to stay in Japan for extended periods of time.

[Klokinator]

Options:

1. Spend 5 minutes learning how to patch a rom so you can play the game in English.

2. Spend 5 years learning how to speak and read Japanese so you can play it in it native language.

One of these options is not like the other.

[shadowofchaos]

I did it for importing games.

So if you're going to do that, do it for more than just one.

Not to be discouraging, but you will give up if your motivation is only that. So you should not try just for one game.

理由はそれだけなら、お前を待っているのは「失敗」だけ。

Edited May 7, 2015 by shadowofchaos

[Rubidium]

Translation patches exist.

Plus, I don't mean to sound cynical, but unless you're planning on moving to Japan, there is no practical use of learning Japanese. Japan is the only country that speak it.

[Bovinian]

Unless you're Chinese, kanji is a bitch. You need to be able to read thousands of characters, and looking them up can get very tedious. For the most part it shouldn't be too difficult to get by gameplay-wise, as long as you can read the few recurring characters that exist in stats and weapon names and whatnot. But there may be occasions where the dialogue contains a hint/piece of information required to accomplish a certain objective.

If you expect to reach a level where you can completely understand the dialogue within a short period of time however.....yeah good luck with that.

[Icarusu]

There IS cooler games that it would be alot more worth studying, like PSP games that didn't get localized, around always the best games so It will be worth alot if you learn

[Radiant head]

I sort of imagine if you're really into anime, manga and Japanese import games, then it's actually not a bad idea to learn Japanese to experience those. But if it's just to play FE6, obviously not.

[gringe]

I don't have much to add, but do try the new translation patch if you just want to play the game and understand it.

There's plenty of reason to learn Japanese if you're willing to put in the effort. It will likely take you a long time before you get a good grasp on it, though.

As someone who's studied Japanese for about 10 years and has lived in Japan a total of 4 years, I'd say the "differences" between English and Japanese versions of games are generally exaggerated by the noisy minority. What I'm getting at is, if you learn Japanese and expect to find all sorts of awesome suggestive dialogue and swearing in your favorite games, expect to be disappointed by universally-used set phrases and the lack of swear words in Japanese. If you want to play import-only games, though, then just go for it!

Edited May 8, 2015 by gringe

[Rewjeo]

Japanese is a really hard language for native English-speakers. Like, according the US FSI, it's in the group that, on average takes 4x as long as, say, French, to learn - except it is also noted as especially difficult within that group. It's a great language, so I wouldn't discourage you from learning it if you want to, but it's kind of an absurd investment just for FE6.

[Roflolxp54]

Unless you're Chinese, kanji is a bitch. You need to be able to read thousands of characters, and looking them up can get very tedious. For the most part it shouldn't be too difficult to get by gameplay-wise, as long as you can read the few recurring characters that exist in stats and weapon names and whatnot. But there may be occasions where the dialogue contains a hint/piece of information required to accomplish a certain objective.

If you expect to reach a level where you can completely understand the dialogue within a short period of time however.....yeah good luck with that.

It's more accurate to say that if you're familiar with Chinese characters, then kanji would be easier to learn as a good number of kanji characters are pretty much copies of Chinese characters, like those for water, fire and sky -- one of the main differences would be pronunciations. However, there are other writing systems like katakana.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Roflolxp54

[FionordeQuester]

Katakana (and Hiragana for that matter) are pretty simple anyway though. Like, I've already forgotten most of the Vocabulary words I've learned in my Japanese 1 class, but I can still easily read and remember those two alphabet sets. No, it's the Kanji that'll cause you headache, even if it IS really fun and awesome learning how to draw all those cool symbols!

Of course, like I said, actually REMEMBERING the individuals words is another issue. Like, there's no point in knowing how "Like" is spelled if I don't even remember what "Like" actually MEANS to begin with.

EDIT: Anyways though, I wouldn't learn Japanese 1 for just playing a game, but DO definitely consider it if you love the Japanese culture like I do! It's extremely hard and time consuming, but also extremely FUN with the right teacher!

EDIT2: Also, is there any convenient way to look up whatever Kanji you might see in your video game?

Edited May 8, 2015 by FionordeQuester

[shadowofchaos]

EDIT2: Also, is there any convenient way to look up whatever Kanji you might see in your video game?

1. Knowing radicals and then looking them up via Jisho.org or the like.

2. Having video capture (aka emulator) or something and using Kanjitomo to detect it.

[Bovinian]

It's more accurate to say that if you're familiar with Chinese characters, then kanji would be easier to learn as a good number of kanji characters are pretty much copies of Chinese characters, like those for water, fire and sky -- one of the main differences would be pronunciations. However, there are other writing systems like katakana.

Well yeah, that kinda goes without saying since kanji characters literally are copies of Chinese characters (arbitrary mix of traditional and simplified, with a few unique exceptions). The point is, for someone who has zero knowledge of the Chinese writing system, kanji will be a huge obstacle to overcome before someone can become reasonably fluent in reading Japanese text. In addition to the sheer number of characters, most of these characters also have multiple different readings depending on what word they're being used in, so it can be quite overwhelming.

Hiragana and katakana are trivial by comparison; they can be learned in a day and probably mastered within a week. Fortunately, many of the names in Fire Emblem (and Japanese games in general) are straight up katakana transliterations of English names and words, making life a little bit easier. It might take a bit longer to get used to the conventions for transliterating specific sounds though.

[Junk]

I think kanji have several different meanings anyway so not even Chinese knowledge will help you that much all though it will help for some.

[Dual Dragons]

I'm not sure how it is in the Chinese languages but Japanese Kanji also use the onyomi (Chinese) and kunyomi (Japanese) readings across various words in the Japanese language. It's a matter of memorizing what you're supposed to read.

火曜日 (kayoubi) vs. 花火 (hanabi) - at least these two use fire as a reference, with ka being the onyomi (Tuesday and fireworks)
行く (iku) vs. 行う (okonau) - former is to go and latter is to do (fancier way of saying) and these are both kunyomi readings; 飛行機 (hikouki) is an onyomi reading (airplane).

In regards to the OP's question, since Binding Blade has competent English translations, I wouldn't do it just for Binding Blade.

[Bovinian]

I think kanji have several different meanings anyway so not even Chinese knowledge will help you that much all though it will help for some.

Yeah you get pretty funny situations like how the word 手紙 means letter (tegami) in Japanese but toilet paper (shouzhi) in Mandarin Chinese

Edited May 9, 2015 by Bovinian

[PuffPuff]

For reading just Hirogana and Katakana would be worth it for only two months of learning. It's interesting to know the game that a translation patch would not provide as they go by NOA's translation of the items and weapons. Like Axe Reaver being Axe Buster in Japan. But...knowing Kanji...good luck with that as it takes years of learning. I only know 100 writings and took two years already. Are you up to taking years of time...? If so, then by all means...go ahead. Plus, there is a secret of their cultural habitat that you'd have to know some of the language to understand.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Pan_Chan

[Ozarhok]

You can do I what I did and read the script on this website as you're playing the game. The text in Fire Emblem comes in spurts; when the chapter starts and ends, and then theres sometimes a bit of dialouge mid chapters, so it's very easy to follow and to know when/what to read.