| #1 by tiduas 2011-10-03 at 11:50 | Firstly, I excuse myself if I'm in the wrong section posting this. I'm currently in a phase in learning japanese where I can start reading some text and actually get out kind of much of it and want to try myself out. What I want is a visual novel that someone here didn't find too complex reading in japanese, is good and doesn't take over 50 hours to read (I want something that I could be able to finish this year). Voice acting wouldn't hurt either I guess. PC, PSP, PS2, doesn't really matter which format as long as someone of you think it would fit me. Genre doesn't really matter either, I trust you guys that it's good. |
| #2 by amestor 2011-10-03 at 12:01 | -Last modified on 2012-12-18 at 22:40 |
| #3 by overmage 2011-10-03 at 13:11 | Is Tsukihime really the best choice? The Nasu Grammar (Tm) can be confusing even for native Japanese. I recommend Baldr Sky and its variants. Despite being SF, it's probably one of the easiest to read. (The game itself is not so simple, only the reading is!)Last modified on 2011-10-04 at 07:54 |
| #4 by pabloc 2011-10-03 at 14:20 | Oh yes, Steins;Gate is indeed a short and easy to read VN, simply perfect for beginners. After all, the quantum-physics/hard S-F kanji are the most basic vocabulary I can think of. Tsukihime is another great suggestion, you'll easily finish it in one weekend, even without a great skill in Japanese.[/sarcasm] Ok, trolling aside, I'm in a rather similar situation. I usually find my VNs myself, but I wouldn't mind some reasonable suggestions for once. I can only speak for myself, but I think that such VN shouldn't be longer than ~10h (more or less SonoHana length). Also I'm not sure if S-F or fantasy themes are a good idea, a simple school/slice of life VN would be much easier to read. I did some searching myself, and my best pick so far is Hanahira (v5244). It's short and very easy. Also, almost all lines are dialogues, and they are voiced (I still suck at kanji so it's a great help -.-'). When I tried reading it, I was able to understand everything without using JWPce every minute. Seems like a perfect VN to start with. The only serious problem I encountered, was a massive nosebleed... This stuff is just so AWWWWWW. XD I have some other types too - v1590, v1262, v5461, v609, v3324. I didn't try them yet though, so it's only my guess that they would be suitable. If anyone knows any of those, I'd appreciate an opinion. ^^Last modified on 2011-10-03 at 14:21 |
| #5 by yimw 2011-10-03 at 16:00 | Of the couple dozen or so VNs I've played in Japanese the easiest to read have been Air v36 (other than some vocab in Summer) and Biniku no Kaori v470. The first is average length and the second is below average (I think, haven't quite finished it yet). They're both good. If you want something particularly short Sanarara v1510 is also good and easy to read. It's divided into four short stories so it goes by even faster. Most VNs I play aren't very difficult to read. Maybe it's because I avoid fighting/sci-fi (partially because I imagine they'd be harder and partially because I'm not big on those genres to begin with). But anything you start with is probably going to be a challenge and is going to take much longer than it would if it were in your native language. |
| #6 by mazyrian 2011-10-03 at 16:38 | Norukasoruka is not too long nor difficult (it's not voiced, though). The sonohana games are also good choices, but a good share of them are already translated and the remaining will probably also be in not too long. Mizuiro is also simple (a little longer than the others, also). Omoi... and Bitter & Sweet are two other simple, short (and unvoiced) shoujo ai games. Since it's all animation, School days and probably it's sequels are another pretty simple ones.Last modified on 2011-10-03 at 16:39 |
| #7 by unkind 2011-10-03 at 16:56 | Any Sono Hanabira game. BaldrSky is pretty easy, I was reading that when I was a huge noob fairly easily. (long as fuck though, and the tutorials weren't as easy). Also, thank you for making a thread like this.Last modified on 2011-10-03 at 16:59 |
| #8 by tiduas 2011-10-03 at 17:48 | Thanks for all the replies folks, it makes me happy that there are a lot of people out there that are willing to expand my (and all others who read these tips) japanese skills. Even though someone push a link with tsukihime for example in my face from this thread I won't be naive to think I could read it easily. I'm right now checking through all the tips I've got from you people to see what kind of VN that seems to fit my taste the most. Otherwise, I really think VN's are a great start to develop good japanese skills. Of course it depends on the VN itself but like any langauge you get better by reading books and this is a so much more manageable way of doing that. I can easily loose myself for hours just sitting and try to figure out sentences just because it's so much damn fun! |
| #9 by darkmac 2011-10-03 at 20:32 | Hanahira's by far the easiest thing I've read. Would definitely recommend that for beginners. Sono Hanabira's nice and light too. Other than that, if you don't mind the type, sticking with nukige for the first couple games you play would be helpful. They have a far smaller variety of words than other games, so they're just right for beginners. link You can also check out this list. Number of kanji is a general indicator of difficulty, especially if you take length into account. |
| #10 by moogy 2011-10-03 at 22:05 | Himawari is both very good and quite easy to read, there's also a voice patch available so you don't need to worry about the lack of voice in the original. Also, if you can stand moege, Hoshizora no Memoria is just about the easiest thing to read in Japanese that I've ever come across and is a pretty good game with nice characters, music, and art. |
| #11 by clephas 2011-10-04 at 06:48 | Draculius. It has an excellent story and is pretty easy to read. If you utilize the jparser function on the translation aggregator program you can also get around any limitations with kanji you might have. link It only has two paths, a true path and a side-path. |
| #12 by colorofjustice 2011-10-19 at 06:07 | If you're going to be tackling a VN in Japanese, I highly, highly, recommend you get "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" and the continuation "A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar." It'll help you when you come across new grammar concepts and help you pick up some of the nuances of the Japanese language. link link I'm still going through them and it has done wonders to my reading comprehension. I was able to enjoy my first short story a few days ago. |
| #13 by bminorkey 2011-10-19 at 14:38 | From my vote list: Axanael, Kanon, Himawari, Steins; Gate, Killer Queen, Real Imouto ga Iru Ooizumi-kun no Baai, Mugen Kairou (1&2), Samin Jikken, Soushinjutsu (3&Rei), Clannad. Most of these have pretty enjoyable stories. My favourite out of that list would be Himawari, which you can see I voted 8, so it's very good. Mugen Kairou is very good but appeals only to a very, very narrow audience, I'm just pointing it out for completion since it was my first game and probably the simplest I've read. Subarashiki Hibi is also not too hard. Definitely not a good choice for a first eroge, but if you're very interested in it (like some people are), I recommend reading it as your 3rd or 4th game. Finally, I recommend not thinking too much about 'which games are easy to play' and more about 'which games interest me enough that I'm driven to finish them'. Enjoyment is much more important. And honestly, most eroge aren't so hard to read, and the few exceptions are usually obvious.Last modified on 2011-10-19 at 14:46 |
| #14 by overmage 2011-10-19 at 15:06 | Anything with sci-fi in it are hard due to the additional, very specialized kanji needed. |
| #15 by bminorkey 2011-10-19 at 15:40 | That's false. Jargon can be pesky but this does not make the work hard - Himawari is very easy to read despite rather extensive talks about biology and space. What determines difficulty is solely the writer's style . |
| #16 by overmage 2011-10-19 at 15:56 | I respectfully disagree (about style being the sole deciding factor of difficulty), but to each his own. Yes, himawari is easy for beginners, but I feel that's an exception rather than the norm. Having attempted to translate between English and Chinese, I have found that often in addition to style, vocabulary is another excellent indicator of difficulty. While there definitely exist cases where that is not always true, by and large having to flip a dictionary for hard words too often tends to make reading something very annoying very fast, even if the style is itself straightforward. At least when starting out learning I'd rather focus on comprehending the grammar structure first, not remembering a large amount of technical jargon.Last modified on 2011-10-19 at 17:58 |
| #17 by bminorkey 2011-10-19 at 19:29 | The limited additional jargon due to a sci-fi setting is irrelevant when taken together with the writer's personal vocabulary. A writer who regularly employs complex analysis of a protagonist's psyche or liberally uses street slang is much harder to comprehend than a straightforward writer in a sci-fi setting, both grammar and vocabulary-wise. This is why Steins;Gate and Himawari are much easier to read than say, Cross Channel. The thematic foundation and narration style of a work is so much more significant than its setting you should disregard the setting altogether.Last modified on 2011-10-19 at 19:40 |
| #18 by pabloc 2011-10-19 at 20:04 | Ok, I agree that in terms of difficulty, the narration style is more significant than the vocabulary. But that doesn't make the latter not important. So when it comes to beginners (like me), I'd recommend avoiding BOTH unconventional writing and specific jargon. Reading a simple VN with just a freshly aquired, basic skill in Japanese is enough of a challege. Rising difficulty even further is really not necessary. Well, that's my opinion anyway. :P |
| #19 by moogy 2011-10-19 at 20:24 | Oh yeah I forgot to mention this the last time I posted here but eden* is both easy to read and short. And I thought it was pretty all right. Might be a good choice for people who like pretty and shiny things. Also bminorkey is right listen to him |
| #20 by bminorkey 2011-10-19 at 20:27 | Pabloc: You didn't read what I wrote correctly. A work's style has much more effect on vocabulary than its setting. If the writer likes to put classical Japanese quotes everywhere or tends to digress into discussions about Greek architecture, that's much more significant than a work being sci-fi or not. If a work employs in-depth analysis of a character's thoughts and emotions, the vocabulary (and grammar) employed can be a lot more daunting than whatever you might encounter in Star Wars. If a writer liberally employs slang, that's a lot more confusing than a rudimentary discussion about quantum physics and time travel a la Steins; Gate.Last modified on 2011-10-19 at 20:33 |
| #21 by pabloc 2011-10-19 at 21:12 | Hmm, maybe I didn't make it clear enough. I understend your point, and I do agree with you on that part. My point was that the setting-specific vocabulary still increases the difficulty level, so it shouldn't be completely disregarded. Also, I'm talking about the 1st, 2nd VN, later a few weird kanji probably won't make a difference. That aside, I'm very happy to hear that Mugen Kairou is easy (I'm most likely that "narrow audience", yes). I think I like pretty and shiny things too. Damn, that significantly increased my motivation to screw studying important stuff and concentrate back on Japanese. :P |
| #22 by overmage 2011-10-20 at 04:50 | Yeah, I think pabloc put what I wanted to say better. :X Although yeah you have a good point bminorkey so.Last modified on 2011-10-20 at 04:54 |
| #23 by darkmac 2011-10-20 at 07:26 | Jargon can be pretty bad sometimes. 11eyes has a ridiculous amount of magic/sword kanji that I've never seen anywhere else, for example. But yeah, it really depends on the game. Steins;gate wasn't that bad at all. |
| #24 by metaler 2011-10-26 at 18:33 | I'm starting to play eroge in Japanese myself. First games I'm playing are the SonoHana games. They're pretty short, so you can finish one of them quickly, and they pretty simple grammar and writing style. And, of course, they're extremely enjoyable if you're into yuri and fluff. Also, since most of the games have an English translation already, you can finish them and then replay them in English to check if you really understood everything. I heard Sanarara is pretty simple as well, not to mention it was illustrated by Ume "Hidamari Sketch" Aoki, so if you don't mind having your nutbladder turned into a pile of dust, then go for it.Last modified on 2011-10-26 at 18:35 |
| #25 by gabezhul 2011-10-26 at 18:51 | *sigh* At least read back a little before you post, the SonoHana games were already recommended three times and so was Sanahara...-.-' |
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