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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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. Guessing the pronunciation or correct hiragana symbol deals damage to the enemy, whereas incorrect guesses result in no damage. Characters also may have MP-consuming magic, although aside from healing spells, these rarely tend to be critical.
Characters 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. Winning fights nets all participants experience for occasional level-ups and money to purchase weapons, armor, and consumables from shops. 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. 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.
Control is just as solid, if not more so. 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 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 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.
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. Generally, the visuals are by no means a deal-breaker, but could have certainly used more polish.
Finally, one can potentially beat the game in one sitting, with a playtime at least six hours, though sidequests can possibly boost playing time. Regardless, there isn’t a whole lot of lasting appeal considering one could accomplish everyone in a single playthrough.
All 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. Granted, not all is wholly positive, given the generic narrative, average visuals, and lack of lasting appeal, although I found the game to be a good experience for brushing up one of the Japanese language’s character systems, and certainly wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to audiences old and young.
This review is based on a playthrough of a copy digitally downloaded through Steam purchased by the reviewer.
The Good:
+Educational combat.
+Incredibly tight control.
+Great soundtrack.
The Bad:
-Underdeveloped story.
-Average visuals.
-Not a whole lot of lasting appeal.
The Bottom Line:
A good educational RPG.
Score Breakdown:
Platform: PC
Game Mechanics: 7.5/10
Controls: 9.5/10
Story: 5.0/10
Music/Sound: 9.0/10
Graphics: 5.0/10
Lasting Appeal: 4.0/10
Difficulty: Very Easy
Playing Time: 6-12 Hours
Overall: 7.0/10
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