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2 reviews
Good tool for learning writing in Japanese.
I like this game a lot. if you are someone who has taken a year or two of Japanese, you will probably do well in this game and have a lot of fun.
The game has a very user-friendly design for learners who know their basic hiragana/katakana. All the kanji used in the main text is written in hiragana in hyperscript above it. 漢字 would have a tiny かんじ above it for example, which helps learners understand what they're reading even if they haven't learned that particular kanji yet.
The only drawback of this game is that you have to have an already working knowledge of the japanese language. I, who has learned much Japanese beforehand but had not studied writing too thoroughly, can play the game and improve my writing. Yet my friend whom I met in Japanese class doesn't understand enough japanese to read the definitions nor does she know enough hiragana or katakana to pronounce most of the game.
The game has many little sections to play from. There's a section that allows you to practice drawing all the characters, hiragana all the way to the last of the 常用漢字 (Total kanji used by common adults in Japan). you are given a small grid like in children's kanji practice books. They show you the character you are to draw on the top screen (you tilt the entire DS counter clockwise 90 degrees to play this game, so the left screen) After you draw and enter the character, it grades how well you drew it, and gives the goods (Circle), okays (Triangle), and bads(X's) of what you did. There are many more game sections, and they mostly use the same method, except it's more fill-in-the-blank than copycat.
The audio is is alright, I turned the sound off eventually because it's nothing too amazing. Relaxing elevator music to me. Nothing great, but easy to ignore.
The game is a little cutesy, but not over-the-top. Not very image-heavy (kana not withstanding) and can be a little boring to look at. Great for studying, but not too interesting. You'll probably play often in many short bursts, which is also great for studying because it's not overwhelming.
As mentioned earlier, the game is great for those who know how to read/recognize (not necessarily needing to know how to write it) hiragana/katakana, but you can learn to write them effectively with this game.
I had my brother play the game and despite not speaking a word of japanese (except maybe sushi and tokyo) he could play the game and get high scores. He didn't know what he was writing, but it's easy gameplay and really reinforces stroke order. He even managed to write complex kanji on normal paper from what he remembered from the game.
Summary;
Gameplay 5/5
Sound 4/5
Visuals 3/5
User friendliness 4/5
Overall Impression 4/5
Very playable, great for studying the writing systems of Japan and a great study tool for your learning needs. Probably won't draw you away from your PS3's, Wii's and Xbox360's, but you'll find yourself playing this game on the bus, in between classes/breaks and in small moments of boredom without even realizing what you're doing until you set it back down. If you can get it for $20 or less, I'd say go for it!Read full review...
kageyama method is great for kanji learner!
I started practicing Japanese and found this nintendo game is terrific! It contains all different types of excercise for you to practice. You can learn how to read/Write/Categorize different kanji correctly. The Character cartoon is also lovely!Read full review...