Topic: Japanese PS Vita

Hey everyone, I'm quite new to the playstation topic, just bought PS4 recently and didn't own any Sony console since early PSX so hopefully you guys can help me

First of all, are japanese vita games good for learning the language? I had a quick look at the games they offer and a lot of it seem to be kind of visual novels, which is perfect. Does anyone know if the games are fully voiced? I can understand more from listening than writing Is anyone here playing Japanese-only games? What would you recommend for starters?

Secondly, is there a point in importing Japanese version of Playstation Vita, since the games are not region locked? I was looking at the recent PS Vita Debut Pack, as importing is cheaper seems to be cheaper than buying new one here in UK. However, I have one concern: can I create an UK account on Japanese PS Vita? I'm a member of playstation plus here in UK/Europe, would love to use my benefits to the fullest

Thanks!

Japan is the king of visual novels, and tons of these games come to portable devices as well (the major being PC). The PSP had the same path and the vita doesn't seem to be any different. Now let's get to your questions.

Well, if you can study on your own and/or is taking a japanese course, then sure, it can help you learn the language faster. But if you are new, it won't be "that" easy, specially for the writing, since visual novels are mostly text intense than anything else. Not all games are fully voice, so you need to manually check every visual novel you're interested. Some are partially voiced, some just have sound effects and music. I can't recommend visual games for the vita, just action/rpg ones. Would that be enough?

People usually import games because they don't want to go through the trouble of restoring the vita and logging in with a JPN account and all the shenanigans it involves. Since you are thinking of importing them, you can play without switching accounts (specially if you don't have an extra memory card). The only downside is that you won't have access to DLC if you stay in your UK account while playing an imported game.

In a short answer: yes, you can create an UK account on a japanese vita.
Long answer: vitas aren't region locked as well. They tie your account to the new vita device, regardless of hardware manufacture and you can play to your heart's content. The only downside is probably your warranty.

And a minor tip,beware: after you tie in your UK on the vita, regardless of manufacture, and afterwards wants to change accounts (let's say, for JPN), there is a long process to do so. The vita doesn't support more than one account activated at a time. If you are interested, there are tons of guides on the web saying how to do so (it's a good idea to have a spare memory card for this process to save you significant amounts of time).

Thanks for the asnwer Ramlethal, you helped a lot!

My Japanese is at the JLPT4 level + I lived in Japan for a year so my Japanese is alright. I'm MUCH better at communicating verbally than reading/writing due to all the time I spent with my Japanese friends instead of learning the proper grammar and writing system so any full-voiced games would be fantastic way to learn, especially if there's a text along the voice. If you know good and relatively easy to understand action/rpg then I'm all ears to recommendations!

One more question though, so if I import Japanese game and play it on the Vita with UK primary account, I don't have the accress to DLCs, which are on the Japanese eshop, right? Does that include free updates as well or not?

And wait, if I create an UK account on Japanese Vita, does that void my warranty? I think I'll just stick to the UK vita then (if I find a good bargain), seems like it's a less problematic option.

Eeeeeh... Eeeeeh...
I have yet to go to Japan, must be awesome and really unique. Maybe by the end of the year, one can dream.

No no, you don't void your warranty by using a different account on a different region system (even if Sony doesn't like you for doing so lol), so don't you worry about that. What i meant is, you still get technical support for your device, but usually, the warranty only works for the region it was manufactured/selled. Eg. : i have an US Vita, bough it day one on Gamestop while travelling, yet i live on Brazil. Because of Sony's rules, i can't afford warranty services because i'm not a US citizen, hence i'm not eligible for the warranty ( i didn't void it, though) and even if i did, i didn't have any problems with it (and it's already expired lol). So it doesn't matter which device you choose or which account you are currently tied to. As far as i know, you can only void your warranty by doing jail-break or opening the vita itself.

Once again, fully voiced games are still hard to find on portable devices, but they do exist, i just can't say anything about visual novels. For my imported games experience, i usually choose not so kanji-heavy games (since i suck at those yet).
From personal experience, i have Phantasy Star Online 2 and Phantasy Star Nova, Senran Kagura Estival Versus, Final Fantasy Agito (Type-0), God Eater 2 and Gekijouban Madoka Magicka. Those work just fine. If you don't mind playing psp games, i'd recommend Valkyria Chonicles 3 E2 and Queen's Gate (fanservice warning on this last). I literally went through the trouble of doing the switch accounts just to play VC3 E2 on my ps vita haha. There's the newest games like Samurai Warriors 4-II, new neptunia games and Digimon Cyber Sleuth, but as far as i`m concerned, those will probably get localized soon. As far as my little visual novels' vita knowledge goes, i would recommend White Album 2 and Ciel Nosurge. I suggest you study around the web for better info on the matter.

Can't say much about the updates, have yet to try it on a western account. But if it goes by the likes of the ps3, you can still receive game updates (since you don't need to go to the store to do so). But yes, you still don't have access to DLCs, since those are tied to the PSN and their PSN store.

Yeah, Japan was amazing! I was really lucky having an opportunity to go there, but that was already 5-6 years ago, when I was still in high school. Really want to go back at some point, but now i'm extremely busy with studying and probably work right after.

About warranty, I was thinking of ordering from Nippon-Yasan. In case the console stops working I can just send it back to them and they'd send it to Sony for repair. Probably much longer and more expensive process but still, might be worth in case something happens

So full voiced games are hard to find on Vita as well, eh? I got japanese 3ds for the sake of practising Japanese but unfortuanately most of the games are either non or only partially voiced. Still had fun with Monster Hunger 4g or Professor Layton (with huge help from dictionaty ;p) but now I kind of got bored of it, especially after my Wii U broke and Nintendo didn't respect my warranty on it and told me to pay £85 lol, luckily Amazon's customer service is ace and I got full refund for which I bought PS4. Was thinking about trading my 3ds for Vita, but it seems its library isn't any better.

I just discovered this bit of info while looking into something and that is if you want to switch regions you will need two memory cards, one for each region. Your PSN account on a Vita is tied to the memory card so you will need on card for the Japanese games one for Europe.

Hm, that doesn't sound too complicated at all! I'll look more into this as well, thanks!