Summary
The best time to be aJRPGfan is right now: not only are there new high-profile games coming out every year, but you have a vast library spanning almost four decades to explore at this point, and digital services that make it easy. Old games getremakes and remastersthat make them even more palatable now than they were in their heyday. All in all, times are good.
That said, if you can’t read Japanese, there are some JRPGs that publishers haven’t seen fit to give you access to. That’s when the fans swoop in: some of the most iconic and beloved games of the genre only gained worldwide popularity through fan translations. Here are the best ones.
2013
Translation Group
Valkyria Chronicles 3 Fan Translation Project
Valkyria Chronicles wasted no time in garnering a cult fanbase for itself: it was a unique series, mixing anime art styles with a World War 2 setting as easily as it mixed turn-based tactics with real-time navigation. But after itssecond entry failed to meet sales expectations, Sega decided not to localize Valkyria Chronicles 3. This sparked a years-long fan campaign to convince Sega to localize the game, called the Gallian Liberation Front.
It was all for naught, but in December 2013 a group of fans came to the rescue and published a comprehensive fan translation of the game online. In 2014, the patch was updated to be compatible with the game’s Extra Edition. The patch localized all the story text in-game, with only minor item descriptions left untranslated.
2019
Collaborative effort between CJ_Iwakura, NoahSteam and various fans
Though it comes up often in discussions of thegreatest Sega Saturn games, and featured heavily in Sega’s marketing of the console in Japan, Sakura Wars has no official English translation. This rang true for both the Saturn original and the PS2 remake, frustrating would-be fans who wanted to experience the story.
In 2019, the game finally received an English translation. This came courtesy of two different fan translation teams, who combined their efforts in a bid to finally make the game playable in English.
2004
Aeon Genesis
The Shin Megami Tensei series didn’t really come into its own in the West until its third entry, Nocturne. Becoming a commercial powerhouse took even longer, with itsPersona subseriesleading the mainline breakthrough. But while the later games have seen localizations of some description - including a mobile phone port of SMT 1 - the second game has never been translated in an official capacity.
This didn’t deter fans, and the game received an English patch in 2004 by the group Aeon Genesis. It also came with text instructions on how to actually play the game, because despite the series' eventual greatness, the early SMT titles are nothing if not clunky.
2008
TransGen
Namco X Capcom was a slam dunk of an idea: a crossover between two of the most respected Japanese publishers, making use of over 40 of their video game series and having characters from different games meet and interact.
For whatever reason, be it licensing issues or low sales expectations, the game was never officially translated. But the premise clearly captured fans' imaginations - it got an English patch in 2008. Though it has minor issues with formatting and syntax, this patch is the only way you can play the game in English.
Namco X Capcom’s sequel, Project X Zone, was officially localized. Its story makes direct callbacks to Namco X Capcom, despite the game being Japan-exclusive.
2024
Cargodin (solo project)
Linda Cube is a strange case in that the JRPG didn’t become iconic until after it had already been translated. Once it did, however, it didn’t take long to cause a buzz in the JRPG community, with genre fans encouraging each other to try this strange, obscure PC Engine and PS1 title.
Linda Cube is set on the planet of Neo Kenya, with the protagonist and his girlfriend collecting animals before boarding an ark. Much like other PC Engine titles that remained exclusive to Japan, the game has a unique art style and an absorbing story that compensates for its slow-paced combat.
2024 (version 25)
Shining Force 3 Fan Translation Project
The Sega Saturn enjoyed success in Japan thanks to amemorable marketing campaign, but it lacked a strong presence in the West. This led to many games being passed up for localization, with 2D titles and JRPGs being first on the chopping block. Though the first part of Shining Force 3 received an official localization, the second and third parts never did.
This led to a decades-long project being initiated to translate the remainder of the story. The Shining Force 3 translation process began in 2005 and, since then, has seen 25 different iterations. Both scenarios are fully playable in English now, but the translation continues to receive updates.
Various fans led by Gringe on the Serenes Forest Forums
It is a long-running joke in the Western Fire Emblem fanbase that Roy debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee, because his actual game never got localized. Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade was passed up for translation by Nintendo of America due to the series' spotty sales history in the region.
After Fire Emblem: Awakening caused the series to break through in the West, fans waited with bated breath for a Binding Blade localization. It never came: instead, a 2013 fan translation materialized after two years of collective effort.
2021
Life Bottle Productions
You’re probably used toremakes of games that were already good. Tales of Destiny: Director’s Cut is a rework that saves the original game. The PS1 version of Tales of Destiny had a good story that was hampered by stiff gameplay and washed-out visuals. The PS2 remake was exquisite and was held in high esteem by series fans.
It wasn’t until 2021, though, that the game was finally fully playable in English. After years of various failed efforts, Life Bottle Productions surprise-dropped a quality translation that was on par with any official localization the game could have received. The project delighted Tales fans and renewed efforts to translate other unlocalized games in the series.
2000
Gaijan Productions
There’s nothing more iconic for a JPRG than to be credited with inventing an entire genre. You cannot discuss thehistory of survival horrorwithout discussing Sweet Home, the first game that struck fear into video game fans with high stakes and limited resources.
Despite Sweet Home’s constant presence in horror gaming discourse, Capcom has never publicly entertained the idea of localizing the game. It doesn’t need to: Sweet Home received an English translation from fans in 2000, making the game fully playable in English.
Earthbound fan community led by Tomato
There has never been a more high-profile fan translation and there probably never will be. After Nintendo of America failed to express interest in a Mother 3 localization, EarthBound fans quickly announced on Starmen.net that they would translate the game themselves.
The translation process took thousands of work hours: not only was the dialogue translated, but graphical elements were altered to be consistent with the English version of EarthBound. EarthBound fans still demand an official Western launch for Mother 3 to this day, but the fan translation is on par with any professional localization.
