Switching up your immersion
Playing videogames has become the hobby of choice for many individuals and if you're like me has been a large part of your life since a very young age. Any serious learner will know, while trying to learn a language we have to make many sacrifices on how we spend our time, sometimes forgoing our regular hobbies to spend time on improving our language skills
The following games will be a great way to spend your time when you want a change of pace, they have varying levels of difficulty and text density. Sadly as of yet there are not any Korean dubs for Nintendo games which is a fine choice for some as they have no audio or their characters speak gibberish but if it were available it would enhance the immersion quality of a lot of them.
I've included two parameters, immersion quality, which is based on the quantity of text that is available in the game and difficulty which will be based on the content of the text and also whether or not the text can be left on the screen so the player has time to actually read it. At the end will be games that I would consider the equivalent to changing your phone to Korean, they provide little benefit and have a small amount of text.
Note: The Nintendo Switch is not region locked. You do not have to purchase the Korean version of the game, simply just change your console language to Korean and the game will load up with that language if the game supports the language. Make sure your games are up to date as some of the games have Korean added in a patch after their original release.
Pokemon Let's go Pikachu & Eevee (포켓몬스터 레츠고! 피카츄 · 레츠고! 이브이)
Similar to other JRPGS, battle menus and even the encyclopaedic entries of the pokedex it has a nice variety of text and pretty good density especially in towns and while progressing through the story. It's definitely high on the list of games you should try first as the language is targeted towards younger audiences, this also makes it good to learn things that you might not have come across in other immersion sources. There is a little specified vocab such as the Pokemon's names but overall a high quality immersion source.
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Animal Crossing (모여봐요 동물의 숲)
Probably the best game to start with as it has very simple vocabulary and many commonly used daily items. The language is very simple, there's many villagers to talk to with varying personalities, it's a great one to learn the names of many household and every day items. The biggest downside is you can play for long periods of time with just the small text of the menus. Don't try to waste too much time remembering the names of the fish and the bugs though.
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Pokemon Sword & Shield (포켓몬스터소드 · 실드)
Effectively the same as Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee just more. Large array of items and characters to talk to, only downsides are the travelling is pretty bereft of content. There is more overall content than Let's Go which would give it the edge if you had to choose but both are good and use commonly used vocab and phrases. DLC adds more content to immerse with.
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Ring Fit Adventure (링 피트 어드벤처)
Kill two birds with one with this exercise and video game at the same time. This game has every thing bar high quantity of text. the game is constantly giving you orders and trying to encourage you. You will definitely learn quick when you fail because you didn't understand the instructions, it also shows you the action giving you great context.
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Paper Mario: The Origami King (페이퍼 마리오 종이접기 킹)
Conversations galore as you progress through the story. The text is fairly frequent although lacks the menus and equipment of many of the games on the list. Text doesnt auto scroll so you have to time to look up words as you please and the content is relatively easy to comprehend. The gameplay is more akin to a puzzle game which gives it a little more variety than the other games on the list.
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Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (마리오+래비드 킹덤 배틀)
Note: you need the Japanese version of this game to play in Korean outside of Korea
Surprising amount of text with descriptions for items and abilities, the words are fairly common especially for descriptions in books. Playing a simpler game like this will make it easier to transition into the difficult games. The game also has a decent amount of dialogue between the characters making it a pretty good game to start with. The game is not easy however many players who are not used to tactical RPG's may struggle to get through certain parts of the game.
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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (젤다의 전설 브레스 오브 더 와일드)
As expected the game is quite text sparse, being dragged up by the menus and item descriptions. You will likely be playing many hours where text is minimal or non-existent. The characters however do not express themselves in an over simplified way pushing the content difficulty up a bit. Unless you're dying to play this game you shouldn't force yourself to play it with the intention of improving your Korean.
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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (젤다의 전설 스카이워드 소드 HD)
OCTOPATH TRAVELER (옥토패스 트래블러)
As with most JRPG's there is an abundance of text, many lines of dialogue, items and abilities. The game gets a higher content difficulty due to it's use of collocations, idioms and not being afraid to misspell things for added effect. The small text boxes make it easier to digest the content making it almost the perfect immersion material, if a Korean voice over was available it would bump up the immersion quality to a 5 no doubt.
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Fire Emblem: Three Houses (파이어 엠블렘 풍화설월)
Lots of Items names, lots of conversations and a battle screen that's full of text. Once again we're faced with a game that would be a 5 if a Korean dub existed. This one gains extra points due to length and replayability. With 4 different routes to take you could easily squeeze out 100 hours of quality immersion.
The setting means the words are fairly common especially within the fantasy genre. You can learn the names of weapons, attacks and more. It's not great for beginners but once you you have a fair grasp on the language you can easily enjoy the game while learning a few words here and there.
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Xenoblade Chronicles: Remastered (제노블레이드 크로니클스 디피니티브 에디션)
With the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 2's release in Korea on the horizon it's a great time to get through this 100+ hour epic if you haven't played it previously. once again losing points for the lack of dub it has an advantage of being able to read text at your own pace outside of the main cutscenes.
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Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (제노블레이드 크로니클스 2)
Sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles a great experience in itself, sadly lacks Korean voice over. There's plenty of text throughout this 100 hour+ game, lots of sci-fi and fantasy lingo. The Torna DLC is not yet available in Korean.
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Bravely Default II (브레이블리 디폴트 2)
Like the other JRPG's on the list, contains a lot of text, an encyclopedia for all the enemies, weapons and items. There's plenty of text to read with all the different jobs. Will boost your Fantasy vocab tremendously and has a fair amount of conversational text, although you can see the formality when the royal characters talk compared to the common folk. Only problem is the lack of voice acting like most games on the list.
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MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3: The Black Order (얼티밋 얼라이언스 3: 블랙 오더)
With the Marvel setting being popular, the names of the characters are well known, however comprehension will be slightly for those who are well versed. While it has quite a lot of text, the lack of voice over and the auto text make it a bit harder to follow along. Due to the audio being in English and the action is fast paced it can be easy to ignore the subtitles and ability names. Ultimate alliance will probably be much better for those who are already fairly comfortable with Korean, it's more of a game to play when know a lot of words than to learn Korean with.
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ASTRAL CHAIN(애스트럴 체인)
Like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Astral Chain suffers from Sci-fi vocabulary and auto text. The game itself is fun although not the greatest way to learn the language it can be great to pick up a word here and there for fairly advanced learners. Without a fast reading speed it will be hard to keep up with all the subtitles and the action. The game is also quite short around 15 hours to complete the story which lowers the quality vs a lot of the other games on the list.
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DAEMON X MACHINA (데몬 엑스 마키나)
Once again highly specific Sci-fi vocabulary also made up words just for the game's universe. Likely the hardest game to understand on the list. This game is probably not worth playing unless you are a high level learner as there will be too many words you don't know to actually enjoy what the story and you'll just be learning the buttons rather than the meaning of the words.
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The honourable mentions
Super Mario Odyssey (슈퍼 마리오 오디세이)
Mario kart 8: Deluxe (마리오 카트 8 디럭스)
Kirby Star Allies (별의 커비 스타 얼라이즈)
Mario Tennis (마리오 테니스 에이스)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (슈퍼 스매시브라더스 얼티밋)
Zelda Link's Awakening (젤다의 전설 꿈꾸는 섬)
Luigi's Mansion 3 (루이지 맨션 3)
Content difficulty: 2/5
New Pokemon Snap (New 포켓몬 스냅)
Content difficulty: 1/5
Coming soon
WarioWare (즐거움을 나눠라 메이드 인 와리오)
Metroid Dread (메트로이드 드레드)
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (포켓몬스터 브릴리언트 다이아몬드・샤이닝 펄)
Pokemon Legends: Arceus (Pokémon LEGENDS 아르세우스)
Some further watching for those who are interested:
For related posts please check out these pages:
- How to Start Reading in a Foreign Language
- Anki Decks for Korean Learners
- 5 Korean Movies Based on Real Life Events
- 7 Sources From Which to Learn 경상도 사투리
- How to Spend as Much of Your Day as Possible Learning Korean
- How to Use Ridibooks(Korean Ebook Store)
- Olly Richards' Short Stories in Korean for Intermediate Learners Review
- I read 61 Korean books in 2020
- Korean Grammar in Use Advanced - Grammar Points Ranked
- 7 Reading Tips to Accelerate Your Korean Learning
- 7 Fantasy Webtoons You Should Read in 2021
Very useful! I saved this page for when I'll buy my Switch.
ReplyDeleteHi, this is great! I've been looking for a resource like this. Thanks for creating it.
ReplyDeleteI was looking into Octopath Traveller on the Nintendo's store though, and it doesn't list Korean as a supported language. I was wondering how you managed to play Octopath Traveller in Korean seeing as how the language isn't listed for a digital copy of the game?
Many thanks,
Peter
It was added in a patch this year. I'm unsure as to why it does not show on the website, my guess is they didn't update it. If you check on steam you will see it has Korean text there also. I asure you it will download the Korean text as part of the latest update.
DeleteThanks so much for your reply!
DeleteI emailed Nintendo customer support as well to double check. They told me that the only info they can give me is what it says on the Nintendo e-shop.
So if I buy a copy of the game (either from e-shop or a physical copy) it'll update with Korean language support? Which channel did you buy it through if I may ask?
Sorry for the multiple questions, it's just that the game looks super interesting based on your article and some reviews I've seen....But money's tight on my end haha.
ye 100% it's part of the patch. I have the game physical, Usually you can get games cheaper on Ebay, in the UK at least, search the game, buy now and sort by lowest price. Just be careful to only buy games that have a picture of the case and not the ones that are just a stock image as they are likely scam listings.
DeleteAsk as many questions as you need to, I'm here to help.
Alright, thanks man I really appreciate it! You've been a massive help. :)
DeleteAlso keep up the good work! I checked out your Youtube channel as well and I have to say the content you produce there is really insightful, helpful and original. Really useful tips and tricks for Korean learners.
Best of luck with your Korean learning journey as well!
No problem, best of luck to you too. If there's anything you want to know just shoot me a message. I'm always looking for ideas for blog posts and YouTube videos.
Delete