Importing vs. Waiting

[RSmiroldo]

I've been a hardcore phantasy star online player since the dreamcast days, and I've always been weary of importing. For those who have and are planning to import can you give some sort of an idea the learning curve of playing the japanese version. I registered at segalink using the tutorial yesterday but before I take the plunge and go for it. How much enjoyment is taken away from not playing the game in english.

[PrinceBrightstar]

While we can't speak for the story mode yet, but the online mode you should be able to just pick up and go. Those of who played the beta did.

[Dhylec]

If you know little or no Japanese, waiting is the best option. Unlike simple JP puzzle games or similar type, PSU has a full offline RPG story, online has numerous menus & options. The guides will help somewhat, but not knowing the language might hamper the enjoyment greatly.
But again, it's your money - do what you like. ;]

[RSmiroldo]

Thanks guys I'm just terrified of another delay it's hard not to atleast consider importing after all august 31st is just right around the corner.

[mechatra]

To be honest it depends on afew factors.

Your willingness to learn at least some basics. Whether that be basic Kana's, or even just memorising the menus from FaQs posted right here on PSOworld.

Your financial situation is a bit of a factor.
I'm going to be importing the JP version then buying the EU version aswell when it gets released here in England. The main reason for this is the split servers.

Those are some things I'd take in mind. Don't forget that there are plenty of English speaking importers on this site willing to help out with any problems or questions.

[RSmiroldo]

Thats true moneys not really a big deal especially for how enjoyable the game is. I forgot the fact that many will be importing I originally was going to wait for the english 360 version, but it appears that version will be the last of the US versions to be released. I think for many players as well as myself I'm very anxious to see if the sign website will except Visa I suppose all I can do is keep my fingers crossed.

[Kamica]

It doesnt take more than 20 hours to learn what you are doing in most online menus. Also, you could not know ANY language and still be able to switch weapons on the fly as the person next to you.

[DoctorShasta]

Some functions are gonna be easy other things are going to take a little bit of learning of just plain memorizing

[Mewn]

Learning katakana will generally take care of names of items/NPCs/locations etc.

For the other stuff you can either learn Japanese fully or use guides and eventually memorize them, I guess.

[PhotonCat]

If you can understand Japanese then I would say go for it. If not, then you should wait. I don't understand people who will just "rush" out and buy a game they can't understand and go online and "play" with people they can't understand.
The servers aren't gonna be connected so why waste all that time and money raising a character only to abandoned it when PSU comes out in English.

Just wait, it is most likley gonna be out in Oct/Nov here. Better to have paitence than to waste money on something you can get cheaper later and in English.

[Jife_Jifremok]

Alright, how good is this game for people who are still learning Japanese? Would the Japanese community be good for some free Japanese lessons and general Nihongo-speaking experience and getting corrected on improperly-spoken Japanese? (No, I don't want to Gaijin Smash my way through. Gaijin desu ga, Nihongo no juugyou no gakusei da kara, Gaijin Smash o shitakunai de, jouzu ni naritai yo! (Sore wa dou?))

And, would I need to get another keyboard to type in Japanese or will my English one do just fine?
And then, will there be any risk of getting laggy? (I haven't had any problems playing US games online...but a JP version might be a different story?)

[Spellbinder]

To Jife: This is just an observation so take it as you will.

This isn't from personal experience, but a good friend of mine imported FFXI when it first came out, and while I don't know how fluent he was beforehand, if you randomly ran across him ingame you wouldn't know he spoke any english, or at least question his nationality.

I'm trying to learn Japanese myself, and he suggested I give importing a go for exposure to the language since it helped him greatly in his learning.

[uhawww]

On 2006-08-12 11:38, Jife_Jifremok wrote:
And, would I need to get another keyboard to type in Japanese or will my English one do just fine?


If you're using XP, you can simply add Japanese IME to your keyboard input. This will activate the language bar where you can setup keyboard shortcuts to instantly switch between any installed language.
If you do not have the IME available, you'll either need the XP CD, or download it from Microsoft downloads.

[Violation]

hmm If you don't understand/ read Japanese you could get stressed out and annoyed. I personally feel it's best to wait. I feel the Japanese version for english readers will cheapen the whole experience. Just be patient as I have been for a while. As you can see by my join date and posts, I just came back http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Tekershee]

I know no Japanese yet I'm importing.

I'm gonna try and learn some Katakana for the items etc. But that'll be it.

There will be a small community of English players on PSU, probably even more than you get on PSOBB right now.

[Jife_Jifremok]

On 2006-08-12 12:29, uhawww wrote:


On 2006-08-12 11:38, Jife_Jifremok wrote:
And, would I need to get another keyboard to type in Japanese or will my English one do just fine?


If you're using XP, you can simply add Japanese IME to your keyboard input. This will activate the language bar where you can setup keyboard shortcuts to instantly switch between any installed language.
If you do not have the IME available, you'll either need the XP CD, or download it from Microsoft downloads.



I'm most likely gonna be using a Japanese PS2. Would that mean I don't even need to download anything?

Oh crap, I better get that network adaptor working and make a Network Settings file for my jp PS2. It's exactly the same process, right?

And, your sig. I can read it but can't understand it. What's ora ora ora ora ora? Some kinda panic thing? (also, what's that "ze" in "yare yare da ze"?)

[uhawww]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jojo%27s_Bizarre_Adventure

[Saner]

it's a pain but I rather wait for the english version.

importing would be a pain anyways since the language and not playing online would be like paying for half of what the game offers, when the english version comes I would get that anyways.

So I rather save $80+ waiting for it. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Saner on 2006-08-13 14:07 ]</font>

[RLoge21]

I've been thinking of importing and I'm sort of leaning towards it at the moment. Sure I don't know the language in any form but you can get used to everything decent enough to know what you're doing... I just won't be talking much if I import http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_mad.gif.