Text-heavy games....do you bother?

[maxlords]

A lot of imports are VERY text-heavy, whether it's just for storyline or for cut scenes or because they're RPGs that rely on text to tell the story. For the non-Japanese speaker, this can make some of the best games inaccessible. Personally, I only play games that have little to no Japanese because I find that even with games with walkthroughs, I just can't get into them the same way I would a game that I could read what's going on. What's your preference for import content?

[jaydubnb]

I'm a complete and utter wuss. The most text heavy came that I own is Fire Pro D for the Dreamcast. The create a wrestler/ref/league options are so deep that I have about 40 pages of translations. But if I had to play a game in which the text was part of the gameplay, I'd bail in a heartbeat lol

[scooterb23]

I don't play too many imports...I do enjoy playing quiz games through MAME just to see how far I can get... :) Usually about 3 questions

[ventrra]

How about: I play several text-heavy imports without having the foggiest idea of what I'm doing, but I enjoy the novel experience of trying it anyway?

[GaijinPunch]

I do what I can. :)

[Kid Fenris]

I've tackled a few import RPGs, consulting a FAQ whenever I got seriously stuck. In most cases, I can get through a game's menus by reading the hiragana and katakana (the latter of which usually spell English words). If there's a plot, I'll work out its basic structure from the visual elements, and later find a website with a story synopsis.

However, I actually played through the original Sakura Wars with an inch-thick printout of the game's translation in front of me. It was like watching a subtitled movie on two separate screens. I doubt I'll ever do anything like that again.

It's always good when games drop an occasional line in your native language, even if it's "Be attitude for gains."

[Funk Buddy]

I'll try anything when it comes to Saturn games. I have played for hours only to end up in the same spot over and over again. I tend to stay away from dating and simulation games. Stay away means, I'll still buy them and try to play them and if I can't, it goes on the shelf. This is only on the Saturn, for newer systems I look at the price before I buy a game. I collect and play, so why spend $50 on a PS2 game I can't play?

[DDCecil]

The only reason why I have some text-heavy games is because they were either cheap, or came with some cool extras. I'd love to play through some of them someday...

[Dire 51]

Most of the games I import don't have a lot of text (what can I say? I'm a huge shmup and action fan), so usually I don't bother. However, I do have a couple of text-heavy games that I can't understand, but I play around with them sometimes just for the hell of it.