I was a Japanese major over 10 years ago and am looking for ways to keep my language skills up to scratch. I'd like to try some games that haven't been translated into English (and likely won't be in the future). Trouble is, almost everything seems to get a translation these days, into English and multiple other languages - even budget games. Are there lots of translation companies in Japan that will do it on the cheap or something?
Anyway, any suggestions of decent games (or indeed any games) yet to have a translation would be welcome - most of the ones I've checked so far are text adventures (which I'm fine with if the story is decent).
@Maikeru There are piles of games in the Japanese eshop with no English option. Lots of visual novels and JRPGs if you're into that. And I understand how you feel about wanting to keep your language skills - I was a Japanese major too. I live in Japan and I still need to keep up the practice. I'll never forget what my professor told me: Language isn't like riding a bike, if you don't use the skill, you lose the skill.
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Sumikko Gurashi games on Nintendo Switch.
Cute games from Nippon Columbia, same developers for Akogare Girl Collection games on 3DS that will NEVER EVER get localized to English version.
But.... Their games used Hiragana and Katakana by mostly with very few Kanji (Their Kanji has Furigana letters) so their games are still understandable with some understanding of Hiragana and Katakana letters.
And Goodness knows
The wicked's lives are lonely
Goodness knows
The wicked die alone...
Took the time to look at Wikipedia and saw a few others. Billion Road, which is a board game like Life, published by Bandai Namco. Beyblade Burst Battle Zero, published by FuRyu. Closed Nightmare, a horror game from Nippon Ichi Software. And a I doubt neither Nobunaga's Ambition nor Winning Post from Koei Tecmo will ever leave Japan either.
Switch Physical Collection - 1,529 games (as of November 20th, 2025)
Switch 2 Physical Collection - 3 games (as of November 23rd, 2025)
I tend to pick up the visual novels. Tons of practice right there.
Taiko is good for the soul, Hoisa!
Japanese NNID:RyuNiiyamajp
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@Maikeru Lol the cynic in me says "They don't even have enough genre filters, forget language!" でも、頑張ったら日本語を話せます。絶対に!僕も頑張っています!(NL please don't kill this comment, I just said "If you do your best[persevere] you can speak Japanese. Definitely! I'm doing my best too!" This thread was about Japanese!)
Nintendo Switch FC: 4867-2891-2493
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Pokemon Go FC: 3838 2595 7596
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Topic: Untranslated Japanese Switch games?
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