The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including Octopath Traveler, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. No need to import from Japan! This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Here’s my latest grab!
hoka mo hito kuse futa kuse aru renchuu da!
Japanese: 一癖二癖ある
Hiragana: ひとくせふたくせある
Romaji: hito kuse futa kuse aru
It seems this is usually 一癖も二癖もある hito kuse mo futa kuse mo aru and means a person with a very unusual and quirky personality, normally used in a negative context.
There’s actually a lot of good Japanese in this screenshot. You’ll see the speaker is labeled as 客引き kyakuhiki which is often translated as a ‘tout’ but is basically someone who works to attract customers to buy their products, usually by calling out to them.
突如 totsujyo means ‘suddenly’, and isn’t a phrase I was familiar with.
連中 renchuu is a somewhat casual way to refer to a person or a group of people. It’s often used in a slightly negative context, but not always.
Good stuff! I really enjoyed this game. If you’re looking for a classically structured JRPG to play on your Switch, I can confidently recommend this one.
Check my Twitter account @Japannewbie for more occasional Japanese language tidbits from games.
I am not a Monster Hunter expert by any means, but I have attempted to introduce many friends to the game. The action-packed epic battles, the nerdy customization, the cool aesthetic… and it’s multiplayer so I want people to play it with! Here are some answers to common questions I get about this somewhat obtuse game that I love so much.
What do I do with all this stuff? Good thing the Item Box is bottomless!
What do I do with all these items???
You’ll collect dozens (dozens!) of items during your quests that will end up sitting in your supply box. Now what? The answer is that you let them sit there until you need them.
When it comes to many items, you won’t even know what they are for, or why you have them. Random monster fur? What’s that do? Eventually, you will need these to craft some armor, a weapon, or some other item to help you with a hunt. You do not need to consider selling off all your random items for money. In this game, money will rarely be the obstacle preventing you from getting what you need, but rare items are hard to come by! Hang on to your items and you’ll be thankful later when you’re off to craft new gear!
Monster Hunter View of Rathian from a Cliff
The quest is to hunt this monster, but there are so many other monsters on the map too, what do I do about them?
Your goal is to complete the main quest goal. If you don’t complete that goal in the allotted time then your quest will fail and most of your progress for that time will be lost.
So what about the other monsters? In short, if you have the time, you can hunt and carve them for items. That’s it. Nothing else that you do to them will count for anything. So either ignore them, or take them out and get the loot.
He can make many weapons, but which one is for you?
Which weapon should I use?
It may help to think of Monster Hunter as a game like Street Fighter. They are both made by Capcom after all. In Street Fighter when you change your character your entire move set changes, and the strategy that you use to win should also change. Monster Hunter is like that in regards to weapons. Each weapon will dramatically change what the buttons do and how you play the game.
For example, with the long sword you get relatively close and slice and dice. A meter builds up and you can unleash a power attack. With the bow you stay back at a distance and try to line up power shots whenever possible. You’ll press and hold a button to charge up a shot. You also need to have coatings, that can make your arrows poison tipped or explosive, and you’ll change them on the fly in the field.
There is no right answer to which weapon one should use. They are all competitive and it’s up to you to decide which you enjoy the most. For something not as fiddly, try the hammer or long sword. For something more technical, try one of the bows or gunlance. The possibilities are endless!
So many menus!
The menu maze is endless… what do I do with a ll these gestures and the camera and poses and fixed phrases and stuff?
You don’t need to do anything with them. It’s just for fun. Worry about it later!
Fandom Regalia is a company in Toronto that makes high-quality jewelry around geek themes ranging from Mario to Star Trek. I have started a small collection of sterling silver charms for my keychain. The stuff at Fandom Regalia is mainly meant for necklaces, but I’ll do me you do you.
Added some bling to my keychain.
They have many attractive items. As someone who likes video games in particular, I was interested in the Mario Mushroom, the Zelda Boss Key, and the Mario Boo. I ended up going with the Large Zelda Boss Key, mainly because it is a larger size, and it is double-sided while many of the other designs have a flat back. It’s also one of those icons where, if ya know ya know — while if you don’t know, it still looks interesting.
Boss Key!
Ordering was easy and shipping was quick. When arrived it was more detailed than I had imagined. It was also smaller than I imagined, but that’s just silly because the measurements are on the website, and I checked them against a ruler before I ordered. Rest assured it’s sized as documented! The other charms that I have on my keychain are all larger, so it just looks small in comparison. If a double-sized XL Boss Key were ever created, I think I would jump on that.
Der Clou: Roll & Heist is a solo or cooperative print and play roll and write board game. That was a mouthful. All you need to play is to print out a few files, a pencil, and three six-sided dice.
A snapshot of part of one of the character sheets
BoardGameGeek.com rates this game highly. It’s definitely worth a look, especially since it’s free!
To put it simply, in this game you will find yourself rolling dice, and deciding how to use the values to carry out a heist. Get as much loot as you can to maximize your score before you run out of time and set off the alarms. There are different characters and character sheets, and different scenarios which adds to the replayability.
Here’s a thorough review by someone who has played the game several times.
Here’s some videos featuring Der Clou: Roll & Heist.
If you’re looking for another print and play board game that is just a little less involved, try Raging Bulls that I blogged about before. It’s a solid game!
I did not know the term zubutoi before encountering it here. This term can be used to both praise and criticize. It refers to someone who is bold and self-confident in their actions, not caring too much about what others may think of them. This person remains calm, cool, and collected, thus you’ll often see the word 平然 (heizen) used in the definition of zubutoi. You can probably understand why this could be taken in a negative sense in Japan, where society often drives individuals to think about how their actions might be taken by the entire group.
Fire Emblem Three Houses is FILLED with advanced Japanese phrases and vocabulary. The game is entirely voiced, and you can replay any dialog you want as long as you don’t leave the dialog sequence. The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including Fire Emblem, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. No need to import from Japan! This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Look forward to more. This game is the gift that keeps on giving.
The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including the demo for Project Triangle Strategy, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Here’s my latest grab!
doushita. kao ga massao dazo, Benedict.
Japanese: どうした。顔が真っ青だぞ、ベネディクト。
Romaji: doushita. kao ga massao dazo, benedikuto.
English: What’s wrong? Benedict, Your face is completely pale!
This is pretty self explanatory, but the interesting phrase I wanted to highlight is 顔が真っ青だぞ. 顔 (kao) is face. 真っ青 (massao) means “completely blue” literally. だぞ is for emphasis. Translated, 顔が真っ青だ is used to describe someone’s face when all the blood has drained from it.
Why blue? I don’t have a good answer. But if you think about it… In English we may someone looks “white as a sheet.” But, do people really look that color when the blood has drained from their face when they are sick or suddenly surprised? If you look closely, it’s probably more of a pale blue color. This is where the Japanese term comes from.
And while we’re on the Project Triangle Strategy subject. Did everyone try this demo? Tactics Ogre was one of the first Famicom games I imported, so this is nostalgia right up my alley. I also like Fire Emblem, SMT: Devil Survivor, and Advance Wars in terms of turn-based strategy games. Right up my alley. The demo had far too much dialog, especially after it opened with a warning from the publisher that it may be difficult to follow the story as they are dropping you in partway though… But the game mechanics appear to be solid. Spell effects that change the terrain properties, bonus damage based on positioning, support attacks from nearby teammates — excite! And so much Japanese voice acting!
I sure hope this game is great when it is finally release!
Fire Emblem Three Houses is FILLED with advanced Japanese phrases and vocabulary. The game is entirely voiced, and you can replay any dialog you want as long as you don’t leave the dialog sequence. The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including Fire Emblem, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. No need to import from Japan! This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Look forward to more. This game is the gift that keeps on giving.
By default the Nintendo Switch eShop shares your data with Google Analytics. If you don’t want to feed your activity to “Big Data” you can change your settings with a few easy steps.
On your Switch go to the eShop.
Select your profile icon that is on the top right.
In your profile section you’ll see Available Funds and whatnot. From there, scroll all the way down to the bottom and you will see the Google Analytics Preferences.
Just click the Button that says Change, and on the next screen select the Radio Button that says “Don’t Share.”
That’s it! Note, if you are also on the Japanese eShop, the option is there too.
The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including Octopath Traveler, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. No need to import from Japan! This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Here’s my latest grab!
songiri tte yatsu yo. shitteru yone?
Kanji: 損切り
Hiragana: そんぎり
Romaji: songiri
English: To cut your losses.
Teresa scolds, 「損切りってやつよ、知ってるよね？」songiri tte yatsu yo. shitteru yone? This phrase means, “It’s about cutting your loses, you know that right?”
They key phrase itself should be somewhat easy to internalize, even though I don’t think I had heard it before seeing it in this game. The first character means 損 (そん) “loss.” 損する is the verb form and literally means to “lose” in the sense of profit and loss, not to lose a competition (負ける) and not in the sense of misplacing and object (なくす). The second character means “cut,” so the characters point to the “cut loss” meaning directly.
The grammar immediately following is very informal, as is the entire speech bubble. Our hero says, 損切りってやつよ.
ってやつ is a very informal way of saying ということ. She’s saying, that she’s talking about the thing called “cutting your losses.” She then follows by saying, 知ってるよね, you know that right? It should be a snarky tone, translated something like… “It’s called ‘cutting your losses.’ You have heard of that concept… right?” So sassy!
I tweeted this as well! Check my Twitter account @Japannewbie for more occasional Japanese language tidbits from games.
The Nintendo Switch is region free, and many (not all) games, including Octopath Traveler, have the full Japanese text and audio available in the U.S. release of the game. No need to import from Japan! This is an amazing resource for gamers who are learning Japanese. Here’s my latest grab!
tamageta… koitsu wa shourai, oomono ni naru zo
Kanji: 魂消た (The kanji doesn’t seem to be that commonly used, and it wasn’t in the game.)
Hiragana: たまげた
Romaji: tamageta
English: To be astonished, startled.
I don’t think I had learned the phrase たまげた before… It’s funny. I like it. The Kanji doesn’t seem to be commonly used, but it literally means that your spirit vanished or disappeared.
The Japanese website GOGEN explains that the expression has been around since the Meiji Era and means to have such a surprising experience that your spirit disappears. It also says that now there is also another expression, 魂切る (tamagiru), which currently has the same meaning, but wasn’t always that way.
I tweeted this as well! Check my Twitter account @Japannewbie for more occasional Japanese language tidbits from games.
