- #Learn japanese to survive hiragana battle steam how to#
- #Learn japanese to survive hiragana battle steam series#
#Learn japanese to survive hiragana battle steam series#
Regardless, there isn’t a whole lot of lasting appeal considering one could accomplish everyone in a single playthrough.Īll in all, the first entry of the Learn Japanese to Survive! series definitely hits many positive notes with regards to its educational battle system and effectiveness as a learning tool for those seeking to make sense of the enigmatic language, with tight control as well and a great soundtrack for a Western RPG. Generally, the visuals are by no means a deal-breaker, but could have certainly used more polish.įinally, one can potentially beat the game in one sitting, with a playtime at least six hours, though sidequests can possibly boost playing time. Hiragana Battle has decent anime-influenced art direction, with some nice-looking environments, although the chibi character sprites don’t show much emotion, and in battle, the player’s characters and the enemies telekinetically attack one another akin to classic RPGs such as Final Fantasy VI, and there are occasional visual glitches. The soundtrack is also surprisingly good for a Western RPG, with decent diversity in what kind of music plays depending upon the environment and situation, although there isn’t any variation regarding the vocal pronunciations of hiragana during lessons, and many of the themes such as those in battle not lasting very long before looping.
#Learn japanese to survive hiragana battle steam how to#
The direction on how to advance the central storyline is crystal-clear as well, and pretty much the only real hiccup in interaction is that the player has to back out of a character’s equipment screen in order to bring up another’s gear.
The menu system, navigation, shopping, and such are generally easy to accomplish, and the player can record their progress anywhere, with occasional opportunities to save after things such as completing a hiragana lesson. The game mechanics work well for the most part, although some may bemoan the above-average (though not extreme) encounter rate, and the potential to waste attacks if a targeted hiragana symbol dies beforehand.Ĭontrol is just as solid, if not more so. From the completion of sidequests, it’s also possible to obtain bonus points that the player can use to purchase additional levels for their party. Winning fights nets all participants experience for occasional level-ups and money to purchase weapons, armor, and consumables from shops. Characters also may have MP-consuming magic, although aside from healing spells, these rarely tend to be critical.Ĭharacters can also attempt to escape or use consumable items, with a generous limit in the latter instance, although I rarely, if ever, needed use of these particular options. Guessing the pronunciation or correct hiragana symbol deals damage to the enemy, whereas incorrect guesses result in no damage. As with most traditional turn-based RPGs, the player inputs commands for the four active characters, with the attack command having the twist of being either a reading of a hiragana symbol or, in the mentioned alternate realm, the hiragana a romaji pronunciation indicates. The first entry of the Learn Japanese to Survive! series sports randomly-encountered turn-based battles, with the playable cast squaring off against a number of hiragana-based antagonists. The narrative isn’t anything spectacular, with the main playable cast and villains largely underdeveloped, alongside occasional grammatical errors in the English text, but it’s certainly far from a game-breaker, and there is a cliffhanger ending that likely ties into the next game in the series. Hiragana Battle follows a group of students and their teacher, the former sporadically taught Japanese hiragana characters, including stroke order and pronunciation, necessary to defeat animate hiragana symbols that serve as random encounters (and in the parallel world, the romaji represented by said characters), summoned by an evil wizard.
In my continuous quest to conquer the Japanese language, I would discover a series of RPGs released on Steam that teaches Japanese, the first of which is Learn Japanese to Survive! Hiragana Battle, which is generally an enjoyable title regardless of age group. I was largely unaware, until elementary school, that education and gaming could mix, and remember growing up on edutainment such as OutNumbered! that enhanced mathematical skills in addition to being an entertaining game for young students. I’ve been a gamer for as long as I remember, and saw them as a form of escapism from my hectic domestic and scholastic lives.