Summary
I would like to preface this article by saying that I have never played aLike A Dragongame in English. After getting thoroughly clowned by a friend in my teens for watching anime dubbed instead of subbed, and being schooled on the intricacies of Japanese voice acting versus the often subpar English voice acting, I have never made that mistake again. Nowadays, I always default to the language the game or show or movie was made in.
And I have never once wanted to play a Like A Dragon game in English, either. The games are made in Japan, set in Japan, voiced by iconic Japanese voice actors, and portray Japanese culture. It makes perfect sense to play the games in Japanese, and it makes for a far more immersive experience. I’d go so far as to say it feels like committing heresy for me not to.
Infinite Wealth? More Like Infinite Japanese Speakers
That is, untilInfinite Wealth. Being set in Honolulu, Hawaii, there are alotof Americans in this game, and a lot of English-speakers. I’ve been playing the game in Japanese, and for the first time, I’m kind of wishing I wasn’t. It’s surprisingly immersion-breaking to play this particular game in Japanese and see tourists speak to Kasuga in seemingly perfect Japanese, with no rhyme or reason as to why they’d be having this conversation in that language. While the game does explain that there are a lot of Japanese people in Hawaii because of tourism, I’d go so far as to say that most of the side characters you interact with should logically be English speakers. It’s very disorienting to watch all these characters talk to each other, and to Kasuga, in Japanese.
There are clearly Western characters in previous Like A Dragon games, but it makes sense for them to be speaking Japanese as they’re in Japan.
The thing is, I don’t want to play in English. I want to hear Kasuga and friends chatting away in their native language, especially because their actors have lent such iconic performances to each role. These voices are the ones I’ve come to associate with the characters, and it feels entirely natural and right to want them to continue speaking in Japanese. It would be immersion-breaking for them not to. The English version of the game is not for me.
But it seems that in both cases, I’m still finding myself in situations in the game that make me raise my eyebrows. Why do American police officers, random unhoused people, and children manning lemonade stands all speak perfect Japanese? I sorely wish there was an in-between option, one where Kasuga talks to strangers in English and his Japanese friends in Japanese. As it stands, I have to choose one language or the other, and both have shattered the careful world-building and immersion that I love the series for. After all, even though the game is ridiculously campy, it’s still grounded in realism.
Even ifRyu Ga Gotokuhad said “Kasuga has a real-time AI language translator in his ear at all times, which is why he hears everything in Japanese”, I would’ve accepted it as a valid explanation. The lack of a story reason for this is what’s pushing my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. Is it a game-ruining flaw that has to be fixed? No, it’s still a great game. But as it is, I’m really wishing that there was an in-between language mode.
