Adventure Gamers - Forums

Inspired by discussions in another thread, here’s a new thread to discuss and share information about games that have been fan translated and are available in English.

Note that there are a couple of discussion threads about games which are not yet translated:
Which adventures would you like to see fan-translated?
Interesting untranslated AGs

When you post about fan translations, maybe it’s a good idea to avoid direct links to patches and such, as technically speaking they are not always legal (depends on the type of the patch, obviously). That way the thread is more likely to stay open and alive.

To begin the discussion, I am going to mention a couple of Japanese PlayStation games, which are probably interesting to most readers of the site.
These may already be familiar to many, but I haven’t seen them mentioned much here.

Mizzurna Falls
“Mizzurna Falls is a 1998 Japanese video game developed and published by Human Entertainment for the PlayStation. The game focuses on the search for a lost classmate in a small rural American town.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizzurna_Falls

It was fan translated in March 2021.

Aconcagua
“Aconcagua (アコンカグア) is an adventure video game developed by WACWAC! and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released only in Japan on June 1, 2000. The game is set on a mountain after a plane crash, and allows for the switching between characters.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua_(video_game)

It was fan translated in July 2022.

The two older threads died after the second page. We will see how this one fares. Mizzurna Falls and Aconcagua were two impressive endeavours in both hacking and translation of their graphics. Hopefully more like these are on the horizon and not projects of underwhelming games attached to bigger names. Like Goichi Suda’s The Silver Case and Hideo Kojima’s Policenauts.

Aconcagua always had English and Spanish voice acting during the most relevant scenes. Most of the dialogue isn’t voiced.

Agent Parser - 19 November 2023 12:43 PM

The two older threads died after the second page. We will see how this one fares.

Fan translated (or untranslated) adventure games are like a niche of a niche, so it’s very hard to find even an attempted list of them, even less active discussion.

Actually it seems to be very hard to find active adventure game discussions these days. I follow a number of adventure-related media: a few forums, some in English, some in other languages, some Reddit discussions, maybe five Facebook groups, some Discord discussions, and few podcasts, and sometimes there doesn’t seem to be much activity in days anywhere.

All those sources together do work for the purpose of keeping track of game releases, and sometimes even historical releases. I had a jackpot day a week ago, when through different sources I learned about three 90’s adventure games I had never heard of, during a single day.

But fan translation news or anything like that, that’s extremely rare to see.

Agent Parser - 19 November 2023 12:43 PM

Hopefully more like these are on the horizon and not projects of underwhelming games attached to bigger names. Like Goichi Suda’s The Silver Case and Hideo Kojima’s Policenauts.

Yes, although it’s nice to have all kinds of games available, as quality is always so subjective.

About the ones you mentioned, Policenauts fan translation is available for Sega Saturn and PlayStation. Presumably it’s the same, as it’s released by the same uploader. Some information about it:

Policenauts
“Policenauts is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Konami. It was written and directed by Hideo Kojima, and originally released for the PC-9821 in 1994. A hard science fiction story, Policenauts is set in the mid 21st century and follows Jonathan Ingram, an astronaut recently recovered floating in space in cryosleep after an accident at a space colony sent him drifting into space for 24 years. Now a detective in Los Angeles, Ingram travels back to the colony to investigate the murder of his ex-wife and her husband’s disappearance.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policenauts

It was fan translated in August 2009 (PlayStation) and November 2016 (Sega Saturn).

And about The Silver Case, I think there’s no fan translation for that.
After the remastered game was officially released in English, at least one fan translation project got cancelled. So, basically there’s no way to play the original game translated, but if any translated version is enough, there’s the remaster available.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/476650/The_Silver_Case/

GateKeeper - 20 November 2023 01:20 PM

Actually it seems to be very hard to find active adventure game discussions these days. I follow a number of adventure-related media: a few forums, some in English, some in other languages, some Reddit discussions, maybe five Facebook groups, some Discord discussions, and few podcasts, and sometimes there doesn’t seem to be much activity in days anywhere.

AG posters not venturing much outside of this subforum doesn’t help our case either. Both General and Chit Chat are dead, and these are ideal to bait in new people for conversion into our point and clickin’ cult. I’ve created new threads in both but I’m lucky to get a single reply.

GateKeeper - 20 November 2023 01:20 PM

And about The Silver Case, I think there’s no fan translation for that.
After the remastered game was officially released in English, at least one fan translation project got cancelled.

I think Agent Parser is talking about the fact that its translation project was a big deal and involved one of the most recognizable translators, CJ Iwakura, which cancelled it as soon as Grasshopper Manufacture decided to bring it to the west. There were people warning that The Silver Case was too dense with 90’s Japanese sociopolitics and too wordy even for the avg. visual novel (something which this site’s reviewer seems to agree with) while also being a semi-sequel to the Moonlight series which were never localized either. But these are ultimately passion projects and CJ loved the game, so. It created a significant murmur due to its creator; people built too high expectations because of it.

I think people are already aware that both Nanashi no Game and its sequel received English fan-translations, but are they aware there’s still an untranslated follow-up for the Iphone called Nanashi no Appli? And a few spin-offs too. As as side-note, Romhacking.net would really benefit from a better format, especially regarding its genres bracket which can’t be searched and are quite the mess, e.g., it labels the first Nanashi as a Visual Novel and its sequel as an Adventure.

I think Policenauts is the only fan translated adventure game I’ve played.  And it is favorite of mine.  Sort of Gundam + Lethal Weapon, which makes a combination that is both more and less goofy than what you’d expect.

Okay, let’s have some more information about the games mentioned, for those who would like to know more.

Nanashi no Game (The Nameless Game)
“Nanashi no Game (ナナシ ノ ゲエム, Nanashi no Gēmu, lit. “Nameless Game” or “The Game with No Name”) is a first-person survival horror video game developed by Epics and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS. The game follows a university student who becomes cursed by the role-playing game in the title, which causes people to die in seven days upon starting. It was released on July 3, 2008, in Japan.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanashi_no_Game

It was fan translated in November 2011.

Nanashi no Game: Me (Nameless Game: Eye)
“Nanashi no Game: Me (ナナシ ノ ゲエム 目, Nanashi no Gēmu Me, lit. “Nameless Game: Eye”) is a survival horror video game for the Nintendo DS, and the sequel to the original Nanashi no Game. It was developed by Epics, published by Square Enix, and released on August 27, 2009, in Japan.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanashi_no_Game

It was fan translated in August 2015.

And a Hideo Kojima game that was mentioned in another thread (I think).

Snatcher
“Snatcher is a cyberpunk graphic adventure game developed and published by Konami. It was written and designed by Hideo Kojima and first released in 1988 for the PC-8801 and MSX2 in Japan. Snatcher is set in a future East Asian metropolis where humanoid robots dubbed “Snatchers” have been discovered killing humans and replacing them in society. The game follows Gillian Seed, an amnesiac who joins an anti-Snatcher agency in search of his past. Gameplay takes place primarily through a menu-based interface through which the player can choose to examine items, search rooms, speak to characters, explore a semi-open world, and perform other actions.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snatcher_(video_game)

It was fan translated in January 2003.

Let’s keep the conversation going with something Sierra-related, although not actual Sierra.

Mystery House
“Mystery House is likely the very first Japanese full-scale text adventure game with pictures. The game is inspired by Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House and although it uses the same name and gameplay, there is no Agatha Christie-esque subplot, no competitors and the player is alone. The objective of the game is to find a treasure that is hidden somewhere in the house and then escape with it. Several items can be found around the house that can be picked up and used in order to proceed. There are also various hazards that will kill the player’s character if not careful enough.”
https://www.mobygames.com/game/143930/mystery-house/

It was fan translated in March 2022 (PC-6001).

Mystery House II
“Mystery House II is an adventure game in Japanese and the sequel to the 1982 title Mystery House, which is in turn inspired by the 1980 title Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House. Just like in the first game the goal is to explore a mysterious house and discover the treasure hidden inside by gathering four notes that provide clues.”
https://www.mobygames.com/game/144602/mystery-house-ii/

It was fan translated in March 2022 (MSX).

There is even a short YouTube documentary about the game:

This has already been mentioned in another thread, but let’s add it here as well, so all fan translated games are in the same place for those who are interested (hopefully someone at least…).

Dead of the Brain
“Dead of the Brain was the first in the “Nightmare Collection” which wound up consisting of three games. It’s a point-and-click adventure game mixed with heavy visual novel elements. What makes it stand apart is its extremely gory presentation.”
https://www.destructoid.com/gory-pc-98-adventure-game-dead-of-the-brain-gets-a-new-fan-translation/

It was fan translated in October 2023 (PC-98).
This translation is marketed as the best translation, as it is new, original translation, but other versions do exist. From the patch README:

“1. Why does this patch exist? Doesn’t a patch for the PC-98 version already exist?
Yes, there is a patch for the same version of the game, which was released in 2019 by Retronomicon.
However, it’s known to be buggy in its original state, and uses machine translation.
Not only that, but it makes a lot of weird changes to the script, which even the creator stated to be true.
This version was made to have a new version for people to play, in a better, more accessible state.”

There is also another translation patch, which is for Turbografx-CD version, and covers Dead of the Brain 1 & 2. It was released at the same time as the PC-98 patch, but by different people.

Apparently we have had so good games listed in this thread that it has left everyone completely speechless!

So let’s keep going, and add a new title in the mix.

...Iru! (...They’re Here!)
“Possibly the most obscure horror title to grace the PlayStation, …Iru! Is a low-budget first-person Lovecraftian adventure from Soft Machine.  -  - 
…Iru! is an inventory-based adventure game first and foremost, and you’re free to wander the halls unmolested to solve puzzles at your leisure. Threats are highly scripted: at key story points, an antagonist descends on Tatsuya as he’s automatically shuffled into the next room. A meter displays how far your would-be killer is from the door and you have to pick out a hiding place before time runs out.”
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/iru/

It was fan translated in July 2021.

Good job, Gatekeeper!

Now I know this isn’t an AG but still it’s an impressive achievement from the fan-translation community: the legendary Samurai Shodown RPG for the NEOGEO finally got an English patch. I can’t remember a more ambitious and awaited project with so many false starts and cancelled ventures, other than maybe SEGAGAGA.

So, yeah, hurray!

The line between adventures and RPGs can be very flexible. Even ScummVM supports RPGs these days, even though they used to be very strict about that in the past.

Very often a group of people call some game RPG, while some others call it adventure.

As far as Samurai Shodown goes, I really wouldn’t call that an adventure, but I’m not judgmental if some of you out there do. 

Anyway, let’s give it a proper introduction in any case:

Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushido Retsuden (Samurai Shodown: Tales of the Bushido)
“Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidōretsuden (unofficially known in the Western world as Samurai Shodown RPG) is a Japanese-style role-playing game based on the Samurai Shodown universe. The player has to explore the world, find items, participate in battles, and acquire accessories that will contribute to his success.”
https://www.mobygames.com/game/34197/shinsetsu-samurai-spirits-bushidoretsuden/

It was fan translated in November 2023.

The important thing to note in that video (somewhere between 2:00-3:00 and repeated between 9:00-10:00) is that the translator was motivated to complete his work based on the feedback he received.
So if people gave positive feedback to fan translators, we could have more nice things, maybe?

So let’s continue in that genre-challenging spirit, and have another fan translated game that some people call adventure (like in the video) and others RPG (the quoted text). It’s also one of the most bizarre games ever made, in case someone likes those.

Planet Laika
“Planet Laika (プラネットライカ) is a role-playing video game developed by Quintet and Zeque for the PlayStation home game console. The game follows the main character, Laika, through a mission to Mars which forces the player to manipulate Laika’s multiple-personality disorder in order to solve puzzles. All the characters in the game have dog heads, a possible reference to the Soviet space dog Laika. The game was only released in Japan.
A major theme of the game is Laika’s different personalities, embodied by three different characters, Ernest, Yolanda, and Spacer. By talking to different characters, Laika absorbs their different colored auras and when a specific color has been absorbed enough, Laika can turn into that personality to solve a problem, such as needing Ernest, the strongest, to lift a heavy shutter.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Laika

It was fan translated in February 2022.

Let’s continue pushing genre boundaries even further.

Some think action adventures are a subset of adventure games, some think they are a combination of genres with strong ties to adventures, and some think they have absolutely nothing to do with adventures.

I don’t know how majority here feels about action adventures. But I think this title is interesting anyway, because I think it has at least its roots in the adventure family.

To give some background information, there is a game called Nanatsu no Hikan, which is a somewhat traditional adventure game for Japanese consoles at the time, Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation.

“In this mystery adventure game, a young man called Ippei has been given the key to the seven mansions his uncle wants to restore and turn into a resort. But these mansions were never fully explored and his uncle suspects a great treasure to be hiding somewhere on the premise, and Ippei is tasked to look into it. However, he is warned that there may be dangerous people lurking around. The game uses 3D graphics and a first-person perspective to let the player full explore the mansion up close.”
https://www.mobygames.com/game/138100/nanatsu-no-hikan/

There is even a very interesting, if very loose, connection to Western games here.
“Nanatsu no Hikan was released a second time on the Sega Saturn to be coupled with Myst. The two games were advertised as an adventure pack and were available for purchase in Japan since March 28, 1997.”
https://koei.fandom.com/wiki/Nanatsu_no_Hikan

Before anyone gets too excited, as far as I’m aware of, there’s no fan translation for that. One of the reasons is probably that the text in the game is written traditionally, vertically, so any fan translation would also need to have extensive reprogramming to make all texts horizontally oriented.

Another interesting reason can be that the game was planned to have an English language release!
“Nanatsu no Hikan (七つの秘館) is an adventure game by Koei for the Sega Saturn. It was released exclusively in Japan, though Koei at one stage planned to release the game in North American as Mystery of the Seven Mansions in December 1996.”
https://segaretro.org/Nanatsu_no_Hikan

So it is possible that somewhere is an unfinished copy of Mystery of the Seven Mansions that hasn’t so far been leaked and publicly discovered. Maybe some day it will be rediscovered and patched to complete, if it exists at all.

Anyway, there is an action adventure sequel to that game, only for Sega Dreamcast. Apparently the developer did “LucasArts thing” and went from more traditional adventure to more action like Indiana Jones did and Full Throttle was planned to have done.

The storywise unrelated sequel, Nanatsu no Hikan: Senritsu no Bishou, has been fan translated. It has some interesting features, such as selecting the protagonist will determine whether the gameplay is more action or puzzle oriented. So here’s the introduction of that in the usual format of this thread:

Nanatsu no Hikan: Senritsu no Bishou (Seven Mansions: Ghastly Smile)
“Nanatsu no Hikan: Senritsu no Bishō (Japanese: 七つの秘館 戦慄の微笑, lit. “Seven Mysterious Mansions: Shivery Smile”) is a survival horror video game developed and published by Koei for the Sega Dreamcast. It was released on January 20, 2000, in Japan. Plans for a western release were planned but later cancelled. The game is a sequel to the 1996 Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn game Nanatsu no Hikan.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanatsu_no_Hikan

It was fan translated in December 2020.

Because this thread is not specifically about Japanese games, let’s take few European games next. People are probably more familiar with those, and have possibly more to comment about them?

Although we barely scratched the surface with Japanese games so far, so there’s lots to cover about those later too. 

The thing about cancelled release of Mystery of the Seven Mansions brings to mind another fan translated game that most people know and have played, but because some people can be a bit unfamiliar with the whole fan translation scene, so to speak, it’s probably a good idea to cover them all in a single thread.

And we are of course talking about Pendulo’s Hollywood Monsters, so here we go:

Hollywood Monsters
“Hollywood Monsters is a 1997 graphic adventure game developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios and published by Dinamic Multimedia. It takes place in an alternate-history 1950s, where the creatures from Golden Age monster movies are played by real monsters who lead otherwise normal lives. Controlling reporters Sue Bergman and Ron Ashman, the player seeks to unravel a mystery surrounding the murder of Frankenstein’s monster. In the process, the player undertakes a globetrotting journey to locations like Transylvania and Egypt, while solving puzzles and interacting with characters such as Count Dracula, the Invisible Man and the Mummy.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Monsters_(video_game)

It was fan translated in March 2012.

But as has been discussed in almost every adventure-related forum, there is a beta version of an official English language release that was given to some people, for review purposes I guess, but years later it got leaked and has slowly become more and more known in adventure communities.
From the first time I heard about it, it took a while to find myself a copy of that, but it’s doable, it’s out there. I am not going to give any information about where to find it if you want it, but I’m sure there are some kind of archives somewhere over the Internet where you can find it.