Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Top Untranslated Games I Want to See in English

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
Jan 222021
 

Over the years, we’ve talked about a lot of untranslated games and localization campaigns to finally see them in English. Sometimes our hopes have been fulfilled… other times, not so much.

Today I’d like to highlight some of the ones I’m still waiting for. It’ll be structured like a Top 5 list, but based on series rather than individual game (so an entry might have multiple games).

Here are the top untranslated games I most want to see released in English.

5. Tales of Destiny 2, Rebirth, Innocence R

There are a lot of Tales games available, but there’s still a handful of notable ones that never came out of Japan.

One of the biggest is Tales of Destiny 2. Don’t confuse it with Tales of Eternia, which was confusingly released in North America under the title Tales of Destiny II for the PlayStation.

The real Tales of Destiny 2 is a direct sequel to Tales of Destiny, and it seems to have been well-received. Speaking of which, Tales of Destiny also received a remake that didn’t come west, either.

Then there’s Tales of Rebirth, a main entry in the series that was never localized despite positive previews from English publications ahead of its launch.

Meanwhile, Tales of Innocence didn’t get localized either, not even when it was enhanced as Tales of Innocence R. Being a Vita game might have doomed it, despite Tales of Hearts R coming out.

I’d love to see all of these Tales games released in English, especially if the older games could be released in some sort of collection to celebrate the anniversary (or maybe a Tales of Destiny/Destiny 2 dual-pack like they did with Symphonia). I still have a lot of Tales games to play, though, so who knows? Maybe by the time I’ve worked my way through the series, these Japan-exclusive titles will finally be localized.

4. Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

This year is also the anniversary of Fatal Frame… and you know what I’d love to see? A translated Switch port of the fourth game in the series, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.

Unlike the Fatal Frame II remake, which at least came out in Europe, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was never released outside of Japan. A European release was actually planned, but later was cancelled. I guess they really didn’t have high hopes for Fatal Frame in the west at that point.

Fatal Frame IV, or Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, was co-developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, with Suda51 being a co-writer and co-director. They seem to be on pretty good terms with Nintendo, and other Grasshopper Manufacture games have been re-released in recent years, so maybe there’s still hope.

Again, I have quite a few Fatal Frame games to play in the meantime. If I play them all, perhaps the localization fates will reward me with an official Fatal Frame IV translation.

3. Ace Attorney Investigations 2, The Great Ace Attorney, The Great Ace Attorney 2

You knew they were going to be on this list, right?

Once upon a time, I went into every gaming event hoping to see an English announcement for Gyakuten Kenji 2, or Ace Attorney Investigations 2. My hopes have diminished greatly since then, but I still don’t think a Switch collection is out of the question.

Meanwhile, last year’s supposed leak claimed Dai Gyakuten Saiban, or The Great Ace Attorney, and its sequel are planned to be released in a new collection and translated.

There hasn’t been any official word from Capcom yet about this, but I really want to believe it’s true. I’m also all caught up on the Ace Attorney series, so these unlocalized titles are the last ones I need.

2. The Trails Crossbell Arc

Now let’s head back in to the land of JRPGs, where have the long-running Trails series. Fans interested in the overall Trails story will get the best experience if they play all of the current arcs… but unfortunately, one of them is exclusive to Japan.

Set between the Trails in the Sky arc and the Trails of Cold Steel arc, Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki make up the Crossbell arc, and they’re highly praised in addition to being important for the overall story. There have been several hints that the new PS4 versions could be localized, so here’s hoping it finally comes true.

I’ve got a few Trails games to play before I’d need to decide if I want to skip Crossbell or play the fan translation… which means there’s plenty of time for official translations to be announced.

1. Yakuza Kenzan, Ishin, Black Panther, Black Panther 2

And of course, you probably anticipated that my new favorite series would make the #1 spot on my list.

I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the Yakuza games, and there are still four important spin-offs that have never been localized, starting with the historical spin-offs Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan and Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin.

When these games first came out, it’s no surprise they weren’t localized. Yakuza itself was still a pretty niche series in the west, so spin-offs grounded in Japanese history probably looked like a risky bet.

But now? Yakuza’s popularity is growing, we have all of the mainline games in English, and the success of games like Sekiro and Ghost of Tsushima certainly show that there’s an audience here for that setting. They’ve gone on record saying that Kenzan’s best chance of localization is if it gets the Kiwami treatment, since it was a PS3 game, but Ishin being a PS4 game still has a chance of coming over as it is.

The spin-off Kurohyo: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinsho, or Black Panther, and its sequel have never received official translations either. The demand is smaller and I don’t think our chances of getting them are particularly good, but I’d never say no to more Yakuza games.

And… yes, I have five whole Yakuza games and two spin-offs to play before I run out of Yakuza, so once again, maybe all I need to do is get through those games…

Conclusion

Tales, Fatal Frame, Ace Attorney, Trails, and Yakuza – all great series with untranslated titles I keep hoping to see localization news about. Right now, Ace Attorney feels like it’s the closest to coming true, while the others still have a mountain of translated games for me to work through first. Here’s hoping the games on this list are translated in the future!

What unlocalized games would you most like to see translated?

Ryuji Goda Yakuza Spin-Off: Real or Fake?

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jan 202021
 

A supposed leak suggests RGG Studio is working on a new Yakuza spin-off starring Ryuji Goda from Yakuza 2.

According to the information, it features locations from Yakuza 5 and 6 and is based on Ryuji’s story in Ryu ga Gotoku Online, the Japan-exclusive mobile game.

(If I were you, I wouldn’t read the comments in that thread. Just look at the screenshots.)

The first screenshot shows Ryuji’s RGG Online character model standing in what appears to be one of the areas from Yakuza 6. The second screenshot shows him again, with Joon-gi Han (a Yakuza 6 character) apparently following him, and a debug menu open along the side of the screen.

There’s good reason to be skeptical about this leak. For one thing, it was only a few months ago that a screenshot began circulating of an Omi Alliance spin-off starring Watase, only for it to be confirmed fake.

However, it would have to be a fairly elaborate fake to use Ryuji’s RGG Online character model in a Yakuza 6 area, and several people say the debug menu in the second screenshot looks legitimate.

If the Ryuji spin-off is real, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I loved Yakuza Kiwami 2 and thought Ryuji was a pretty cool character, so the idea of a Ryuji game is neat. I’ve also completely fallen in love with this series, so I want to play anything that RGG Studio has lined up next.

On the other hand, I’ve been really, really hoping that the long gap between Yakuza 7 and anything new will provide the space we need to get Ishin (and Kenzan!) in the West without oversaturation concerns, so I wouldn’t mind a little more time without a new announcement.

(Please give us the unlocalized spin-offs, I’m begging you!)

So what do you think? Real spin-off or elaborate fake? Share your thoughts in the comments!

I’m No Roguelike Fan, But I Loved Hades

 Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with:
Jan 182021
 

It’s finally time to talk about Hades, which I brought up previously as one of my favorite games I played last year.

I intended to ignore it since the roguelike gameplay loop doesn’t appeal to me a lot, but I saw enough people describing it as a roguelike for people who don’t enjoy roguelikes that I decided to give it a try.

And I loved it.

Roguelikes always struck me as the sort of games where you’d need to keep starting over. You’d make some progress, die, and then start over from the beginning, maybe with some new upgrades or something to make it a little easier, and then try to get further the next time.

At its core, that’s what you’ll be doing in Hades too, but because of the way the story is structured, it never felt to me like I was starting over.

You play Zagreus, the son of Hades who is trying to escape the Underworld for reasons that are explained as the story goes on. Hades has forbidden him from leaving, so he needs to fight his way through the realms of the Underworld to get out. This premise and setting means that all of your attempts and deaths fit into the story.

Die partway through one of the realms? You’re sent back to the House of Hades, where characters comment on your death or developments related to their personal character arcs or the main story, completely acknowledging that you made an attempt to leave.

Early on, I worried that if I died too many times, I’d run out of dialogue. That never happened. There is so much dialogue in Hades. Some of it relates to the main story, some to side quests or individual character stories, some specific to your most recent run – there was always new dialogue from the major characters.

(You also can pet Cerberus while you’re there, a small yet wonderful detail.)

Just having dialogue and story content isn’t enough, of course, so I’m happy to say that the main plot of Hades is pretty interesting and I really grew to love the characters as well. There’s also a lot of funny dialogue and little details that kept me coming back for the story progression.

Meanwhile, the gameplay has you pick a weapon (each with its own playstyle) and head out to fight hordes of enemies. Along the way, you’ll get boons from the major gods of Olympus to give you special powers for that run, as well as resources that let you unlock permanent upgrades once you get back to the House of Hades. That provides a sense of gameplay progression as well, since you’re always getting stronger.

You’ll eventually run out of things to upgrade, but it still gives you reasons to keep playing beyond the story and characters. Different weapons, different weapon aspects, self-imposed challenges to earn more rewards, etc. all provide a variety of things to do.

After playing for 100 hours, I consider my Hades playthrough to be “finished” now. I completed the main story, the epilogue story, and a majority of character stories. But there are still plenty of things I haven’t done and dialogue I haven’t seen, so returning isn’t out of the question even after all those hours.

Hades is an addictive game, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes action games or Greek mythology stories, even if you’re not a big roguelike fan. I doubt I’ll dive into the roguelike genre after this, but now I know that with the right story structure, I can not only find one enjoyable, but consider it to be one of my favorite games of the year.

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