A new Japanese learner takes on JRPGs

While playing an RPG has been good for seeing new words, I'm finding it hard to glean the grammar and sentence structure from this exercise. So instead of continuing, I'm currently learning grammar from a textbook! I will return, once I can conjugate verbs at least.

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

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Words/kanji learned: ご苦労さま: thank you for your hard work! 鍵: lock/key 鍵がかかってる: it is locked. 玉座: throne. 恐れ多い: awesome, awe-inspiring, gracious.

Today, we're going to explore the palace, and also complete the next part of カタリナ's plan. There's actually some NPC guards to talk to! I bet they're loaded with information!

...they all say that, actually.

Anyway, let's figure out how to format these more exploration-based sessions! I'll start by listing some actions and the responses they give, similar to how I capture dialogue scenes.

(When I talk to a guard) 「ご苦労さまです！」 (When I examine a locked door) 「カギが かかってるわ。。。。」 (When I go to the throne room and examine the throne) 「ミカエル様の玉座。。。。 恐れ多い」

Then, we can just go through each line, like before!

ご苦労さまです！ ご苦労(くろう)さま: interjection meaning “thank you for your hard work” or “I appreciate your efforts”. These kanji mean “suffering” and “labor”. The さま at the end can be written as the usual kanji for that pronunciation – 様 – or not. Thank you for your hard work!

カギがかかってるわ カギ: either lock or key. But this is カタカナ, why? It turns out that we can use katakana to write regular 日本語 words when we want to emphasize them (like using italics or ALL CAPS). So for everyone's benefit, I'll go ahead and note that 鍵(かぎ) can mean key or lock. かかってる: without Kanji, this verb can mean several different things. But we can figure it out in context, as we'll see on the next line. 鍵(かぎ)がかかってる: phrase meaning “it is locked”. It is LOCKED.

ミカエル様の玉座。。。。恐れ多い 玉座(ぎょくざ): throne! We already learned this as part of 玉座の間 earlier. 恐れ多い(おそれおおい): awesome, awe-inspiring, gracious. Can mean other things, but those wouldn't make sense in this context. Mikhail's throne... awe-inspiring.

Next time, we'll venture into the castle's jail for a small but key interaction. (It literally involves a key.)

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: そうか: really, I see. 明日: tomorrow. ーまで: until, up to. ゆっくり: well, comfortably. なる: to become. よろしい: good, very well.

This is a shorter entry, just two lines of dialogue from the 大臣, then we're back to exploring.

大臣： 「そうか、そうか。 明日までゆっくり お体みになるのが よろしかろう。」

Not a lot of 漢字 this time around!

そうか、そうか。 そうか: really, I see. I see, I see.

明日までゆっくりお体みになるのがよろしかろう。 明日(あした): tomorrow. Like 今日 from the last entry, the reading is unique but also worth learning. ーまで: until, up to. ゆっくり: well, comfortably. Has other meanings too – but in the context of rest, it's the “well” in “sleep well”. なる: to become. Nominalized here with the の ending. よろしい: good, very well. Conjugated somehow. Until tomorrow, to become well rested, would be good.

Why is that, Mr. Minister? What's going on tomorrow, eh? He thinks he's got a surprise for us, but we'll be ready! Next time, we explore the palace and do one more small piece of preparation.

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: 殿: Mr. (polite language) 御用: your business, your need, official business でしょうか: worried and polite question ending どうしておられる: how are you? ーかな: particle indicating uncertainty 今日: today. お疲れ: tiredness/fatigue, or thanks 御: honorable prefix 様子: state of affairs たった今: just now, a moment ago お休み: sleep/rest/holiday なる: to become / to result in

After depositing our 装備 (and I remembered that word, yo), it's time for カタリナ to step outside and explore the castle! ...almost.

As soon as we leave the room, the 大臣 approaches us. We talk:

カタリナ： 「これは大臣殿、 何か御用でしょうか？」 大臣： 「モニカ様は どうしておられる かな？」 カタリナ： 「今日はお疲れの御様子 たった今お休みに なられました。」

これは大臣殿、何か御用でしょうか？ 殿(どの): Mr., in polite language. 御用(ごよう): your business, your need, official business でしょうか: a very informative answer on Stack Exchange helped me here. So this could be a worried and polite question, or it could be a more assertive/rude rhetorical question. Since I think カタリナ was somewhat surprised to see 大臣, the first interpretation is the one I'm going with. Here, Mr. Minister, what is your need?

モニカ様はどうしておられるかな？ どうしておられる: how are you? Jisho was little help here – seems like this is a phrase, and I'm not sure how common it is. ーかな: particle indicating uncertainty How is Monica, I wonder?

今日はお疲れの御様子たった今お休みになられました。 今日(きょう): today. Unusual reading for these 漢字, you just have to memorize them. And this is such a common word, you'll want to. お疲れ(おつかれ): tiredness/fatigue. Can also be used as an expression of thanks, but it's not used that way here. 御(ご): honorable prefix. My keyboard couldn't find 御 by itself but when I combined it with the term below and typed ごようす, there it was! 様子(ようす): state of affairs. たった今(たったいま): just now, a moment ago. お休み(おやすみ): sleep/rest/holiday. The お prefix may be optional? WaniKani taught me this word as just 休み, after all. なられました: polite and past tense form of なる, to become / to result in. Today, in the state of being tired just now, [Monica] has become asleep.

大臣殿 will have a bit more to say next time, and then we'll explore the palace and engage in some NPC dialogue!

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: 長弓: longbow 傷薬: potion/salve 精: spirit 霊石: magical stone 防具: armor 威力: weapon power 重量: weight 片手用: one hand use (three separate words) 特殊: special, particular 道具: tool 戦闘: battle 敵: opponent, adversary, menace, enemy 与える: to give (to someone of lower status)

Now, let's take a look at カタリナ's 装備! If we're going to go to the trouble of hiding it, and saving it, and re-equipping it, we should at least know what we're going through the effort for.

This screen is divided into two columns. The left column is for 武器, and the right is for “防具”.

The first column: マスカレイド: the English word “masquerade”, in カタカナ. It's an epee. 長弓(ちょうきゅう): longbow. Jisho claims that “ちょうきゅう” is the reading for this, but the Samsung 日本語 mode didn't offer those kanji as an option. 傷薬(きずぐすり): potion/salve. 精(せい)霊石(れいせき): two separate words. 精 means spirit (among other things, look it up), and 霊石 means magical stone.

The second column: 防具(ぼうぐ): defensive armament. Armor, basically. シルティーク: silk shirt. I get the shirt part, at least.

Underneath these columns is some data about the currently selected piece of equipment. Most of these things don't require any explanation, like the 長弓 or the 傷薬, but マスカレイド and the 精霊石 seem unique, so let's see what the item descriptions are for them!

マスカレイド： 武器威力：９ 重量：１ 小剣、片手用 特殊：ウエイクアップ

威力(いりょく): weapon power. 重量(じゅうりょう): weight. Each piece of equipment has weight, which affects how late the character acts each round. 片(へん)手(て)用(よう): one-sided, hand, use. Indicates that the weapon is one-handed, so the character can also use a shield alongside this weapon. 特殊(とくしゅ): special, particular. Indicates that the weapon has a special property – in this case, the カタカナ seems to say “wake up”.

精霊石： 道具、片手用 戦闘で敵にダメージを与える

道具(どうぐ): tool 戦闘(せんとう): battle. We already learned this as part of 戦闘陣形, but now we see it by itself. 敵(てき): opponent, adversary, menace, enemy. ダメージ: damage 与える(あたえる): to give (to someone of lower status), to cause, to bestow, to provide, to supply, etc. Spirit magical stone: tool, one-handed. During battle, to the opponent/enemy, give damage.

Since マスカレイド is a unique and named item, we definitely want to stash it. We probably don't want it to fall into the hands of the enemy, right? So I'll do that, and proceed with a bit more gameplay next time!

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: 物理: physics, laws of nature. 防御: defense. 魔法: magic, witchcraft, sorcery. 腕力: physical strength. 器用: skill/dexterous. 素早い: quick, swift. 体力: stamina/endurance 魔力: magic powers. 意志力: willpower. 魅力: charm.

When we select the 装備 option, we're first taken to a screen which shows our characters' statistics. If we had multiple people in our party, this would be where we choose one of them to view their equipment. Since we only have カタリナ in our party, she's our only choice.

Let's review her statistics!

物理防御：３ 物理(ぶつり): physics, laws of nature. 防御(ぼうぎょ): defense. カタリナ has a physical defense of 3.

魔法防御：３ 魔法(まほう): magic, witchcraft, sorcery カタリナ has magic defense of 3 as well.

Although they aren't written in 日本語, it may be worth talking about some of the other stats here.

HP: hit points or health points, very standard in RPGs. Lose them all in battle and your character falls unconscious (and in this game loses an LP too – see below). They can still be revived – by regular healing spells, in this game – as long as they still have LP. A character's maximum HP will sometimes increase after battle, and their current HP will always be refilled to maximum after battle too. LP: Life Points. Somewhat unique to the SaGa games, this represents a character's life force. This value is fixed for each character and never increases. In this game, LP can be restored by resting at an inn or by using (very rare) LP-restoring items. If a character loses all of their LP, they are removed from the party (but can rejoin later). WP: Waza points. Remember 技 from last time? The W stands for waza (and if they're using ローマ字 for this, I can too). This is a resource used for physical techniques. JP: Jutsu points. 術 points. This is a resource used for magic spells. In most JRPGs I'd think of this as MP.

Now, back to the 漢字:

腕力(わんりょく): physical strength. The space here is unusual, but in this case they're lining up the 力's and the さ's in a column. 器用(きよう): skill/dexterous. Not sure what the さ is doing here. 素早(すばや)い: as an い adjective, it would mean quick, swift. 体力(たいりょく): stamina/endurance 魔力(まりょく): magic powers. 意志力(いしりょく): willpower. Probably functions as magic defense in-game. 魅力(みりょく): charm. It is really hard to see the little 厶 in there!

Finally, there are the weapon icons on the right side. Each character can become more skilled with a category of weapon through continued use. They are: sword (covering both one-handed and two-handed), club/mace, spear/épée, arrows, and bare-handed/martial arts. We learned the words for each of these earlier, but it's worth noting that some of these weapon categories share a ranking – for example, getting good with one-handed swords also increases your skill with two-handed swords, even though they use different 技.

(By the way, this game also has some hidden statistics. I'm not sure if we'll ever run into the words for them in-game. I know them in English as “greed” and “battle/event rank”.)

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: 装備: equipment 技: technique, art, skill, move. 術: magic. 持ち物: one's belongings. 戦闘陣形: battle formation. 環境設定: user preferences 冒険: adventure 記: record or history

So カタリナ is pondering whether or not to hide all of her 装備, and since we are カタリナ, we get to make the decision. In order to make the most informed choice, let's go into the menu and look at exactly what that equipment is! On Steam, I press the Y button on my gamepad, and this takes me to the following screen:

Let's learn all of these things!

装備(そうび) – we learned this yesterday. Pay attention, yo! OK, it means equipment – I'll restate it here, so this blog post can be a one-stop source for the RS3 menu. 技(わざ): technique, art, skill, move. This covers weapon/physical techniques that the characters can learn, excluding magic. I know other games use this same term (Chrono Trigger for example) but sometimes include magic under it as well. 術(じゅつ): magic. It can mean other things – like art/technique, or trick/trap. In this case it's definitely magic. 持ち物(もちもの): one's belongings. In this case it means inventory or items. Going here shows both usable items and every unequipped piece of equipment too, so it's not just consumables. 戦闘(せんとう)陣形(じんけい): battle formation. The first two kanjis mean “battle/combat” and the second two mean “tactical formation”. Think of this as a more elaborate version of putting people in back or front rows, like in FF1-9. You learn new 戦闘陣形 by recruiting more characters. 環境設定(かんきょうせってい): user preferences, environment settings. My second post on this blog covered 設定, but this is more specifically for user preferences. セーブ: save. In this game, you can save anywhere outside of battle and cutscenes. A good rule is to leave one save in a safe place, like a town, and another save in more dangerous areas like a dungeon.

Below that, we have a couple of カタカナ phrases: フリーファイト: free fight. In this case, it's a 戦闘陣形 where everyone stands equally in the middle. It's our only option for a 1-person party, but it's a bad idea for more than 2 or 3 people. When we change our 戦闘陣形, the name here will update. ロアーヌ侯宮殿: something like Loanne marquis palace. None of my translation services could get a bead on it, but I recognized the letter for marquis at least and the other kanjis both basically mean “palace”. When we visit other locations, the name here will update.

On the lower left, by an X-button icon, are some relatively tiny kanjis: 冒険(ぼうけん)記(き): adventure + record. Like an adventure log or quest log. Jisho says that 記 can be used as a suffix, which makes sense here. In this game, the various quests and adventures you go on are noted when you go to this menu and press the X button. As RS3 is a non-linear game, this is a pretty useful feature.

That's the menu screen! And I highly suspect that some of these terms will be useful in other JRPGs as well, so it's worth putting in some time to remember them.

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: 先ず: first of all 捕まったら: if caught. 装備: equipment. 今のうちに: while we have time 隠す: to hide, to conceal おいた: to put; to do something in advance 方がいい: should; it would be better to -なら: if (another conditional form) いろいろ: various

I now control カタリナ in-game! She's going to try to undermine ゴドウィン男爵's plans here in the castle, and she needs our help!

先ず, we need to explore this room a bit. (先(ま)ず means “first of all” – that's not in the game just now, but I knew it and wanted to say it here.) There's a couple of things here to interact with, and they – along with one other thing – affect how the introductory conflict plays out.

We can examine モニカ's wardrobe and bookshelf, and these both prompt some dialogue from カタリナ. Here is the dialogue when we first examine the wardrobe: 「捕まったら装備を奪われてしまうわ。 今のうちに隠しておいた方がいいわね。 ここなら、いろいろ隠せそうね。」 And then there's a dialogue choice! * アイテムを隠す * 隠さない

捕まったら装備を奪われてしまうわ。 捕(つか)まったら: if (I am) caught. We've already learned another word using the 捕 kanji, but this has a different reading. The -たら ending is another conditional, turning the verb from “to be caught” (捕まる) into “if I am caught”. 装備(そうび): equipment. Since this is a common concept in RPGs, I'm hoping that learning this word will help future gaming efforts too! The kanjis mean attire/dress and equip/provision/preparation. 奪(うば)われてしまうわ: will be snatched away. Here I face my current weak point in 日本語 study – verb conjugation. 奪う means to snatch, れて indicates a passive voice – thus, to be snatched. And somehow the last part sets it in the future. If I am caught, my equipment will be snatched.

今のうちに隠しておいた方がいいわね。 今(いま)のうちに: while we have time, without delay, at once. 今の内に is another way to write this. The に might be part of the phrase, or it could just be a regular に particle – in every example I've seen of this phrase, に is there too. 隠(かく)して: to hide, to conceal. て-form of 隠す. おいた: to put; to do something in advance (after the -te form of a verb). For this word and the next one, Jisho seemed to be unable to help. A bit of web searching turned up the answers I needed. For this entry, this Japanese dictionary was incredibly helpful. 方がいい: should; it would be better to. Here's my source this time. While I have time, I will hide [my 装備] in advance, I should.

ここなら、いろいろ隠せそうね。 -なら: another conditional form, can be applied to nouns いろいろ: various. Taught on WaniKani as 色々. Can be an adjective or a noun. 隠(かく)せそう: some conjugation of “to hide”. If here (the wardrobe), various things, I can conceal.

アイテムを隠す: hide item. We can just read this, at this point. 隠さない: don't hide.

Clearly, カタリナ needs to decide whether or not to hide her 装備 and アイテム. And we're the ones who will decide.

Next time, I want to dive into the menus and see exactly what she's carrying!

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: そんな: no way, never 寝間着: nightclothes, pajamas. 寝巻き: nightclothes, pajamas. 大それた: outrageous, wild, crazy. こと: thing. いい: OK, no problem. 早く: early, quickly 早くしなさい: hurry up! 出(だ)さない: don't let out ように: hoping or wishing.

This should be a shorter entry. The servant is a bit reluctant to dress as モニカ, but カタリナ will try to persuade her. After this, I get to actually play the game!

Servant: 「そ、そんな！ これはモニカ様のお寝間着にベッド。 そんな大それたことを。。。」 カタリナ: 「いいから、早くしなさい！」 The servant changes into an outfit identical to モニカ's adventuring clothes (instead of the dress we saw earlier), and gets into the bed. カタリナ: 「声を出さないようにね」 Servant:

そ、そんな！ そんな: no way, never. The leading そ is just the servant stammering, I think. 寝間着(ねまき): nightclothes, pajamas. We've seen these 漢字 before in other contexts – sleep, interval, wear – and together, they make “nightclothes”. Jisho indicates that there are other kanjis for this same meaning (and pronunciation) – 寝巻き seems to be its preference. These are Monica(sama)'s pajamas and bed.

そんな大それたことを 大(たい)それた: outrageous, wild, crazy. こと: thing. Can be written as 事. This is an outrageous thing...

いいから、早くしなさい！ いい: OK, no problem. 早(はや)くしなさい: hurry up! I'd learned 早く, which means early or quickly, from WaniKani. It's OK, hurry up!

声を出さないようにね 出(だ)さない: don't let out. Negative form of 出す, to take out. ように: hoping or wishing. Can also mean “in order to, so that”, but that doesn't seem to fit here. Your voice, don't let out, I hope.

At this point, カタリナ has successfully turned the servant into a sleeping モニカの替え玉 (remember from yesterday?). The game gives me control at this point, so I'll be able to explore the castle, open the game menu, and maybe talk to some NPCs next time!

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

Feel free to follow this blog! On Mastodon or other fediverse services, follow @a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs@qua.name , for RSS use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/feed/ , and for the plain web view just use https://qua.name/a-new-japanese-learner-takes-on-jrpgs/

Words/kanji learned: さて: Well; now; then. まず: firstly, to begin with. 替え玉: stand-in, proxy, double. 用意する: to prepare ーなくては: must do (applied to a verb) 何: what 何でしょう: what is it? 着る: to wear 寝: sleep. ーなさい: polite but authoritative command.

モニカ has left the building – you and カタリナ can both hear her horse's footsteps outside of the window. The events of モニカ's adventure after this are covered in almost every other character's intro. Meanwhile, since カタリナ is our chosen 主人公, we'll be seeing what sorts of trouble she gets into during this time.

カタリナ, standing by the window: 「モニカ様。。。。」 カタリナ moves down to the door and says: 「さて、まずモニカ様のかえ玉を用意しなくては。」 カタリナ then leaves the room, but quickly returns with a yellow-haired servant. Servant: 「何でしょうカタリナ様？」 The two walk over to モニカ's wardrobe. カタリナ: 「これを着て、 このベッドに寝なさい。」

I'll cover this today and the second half next time.

さて、まずモニカ様のかえ玉を用意しなくては。 さて: Well; now; then. まず: firstly, to begin with. I learned this on WaniKani as 先ず, but it's commonly written only with kana. かえ玉(だま): stand-in, proxy, double. RS3 threw me for a loop here, since this word is normally written as 替(か)え玉(だま). I'm fortunate that my IME offered the suggestion, since Jisho and other online sources couldn't make sense of it when it began with か. 用意(ようい)しなくては: must prepare. 用意(ようい)する means “to prepare”, and the ending makes it “must” or “have to”. Tae Kim covers this. Now, to begin with, モニカ's stand-in, I must prepare.

何でしょうカタリナ様？ 何でしょう: what is it? This is our first time encountering 何(なに/なん) on this blog, and it means “what” (or sometimes “which” or “how many” when appropriate). What is it, カタリナ-sama?

これを着て、 このベッドに寝なさい。 着(き)て: connective form of 着る, to wear. ベッド: bed. Just カタカナ for “bed”. 寝(ね): sleep. ーなさい: appended to a verb, this turns it into a polite but authoritative command. So 寝 is just “sleep” but 寝なさい means “go to sleep”. This, wear it; in this bed, sleep. (I've become comfortable with ここ、そこ、あそこ、どこ、これ、それ、あれ、どれ、この、その、and あの. Please let me know if I should go into details about these.)

So Katarina is going to create a fake Monica by having a servant put on Monica's clothes and sleep in her bed. Hopefully that's not the extent of her plan! We'll see what else happens soon.

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Author: @WolfeReader@freeradical.zone

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