this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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Just a heads up, if you play a lot of Japanese games. I have had incredible trouble playing pretty much any Japanese game that isn't potato-esq since switching to Linux. I figured I'd get that out there. I gave up on playing them, which stinks because there are some very interesting games out there to play. If I can emulate, I do. But anything from Steam would just crash, within 10-20 minutes of playing them.
I feel like "Japanese games" is pretty vague. Square Enix and Fromsoft are some of the largest Japanese studios out there and their games work great on Linux.
I don't do studios like that anymore but I will say that I have had trouble. Also, as someone who is Japanese, I am not out here trying to bash Japanese games specifically. I just know that I have explicitly had issues repeatedly with Japanese games. Which is why I want to warn people. Because I am not going to go out of my way to play them. I know there are other people who are migrating who are in the same boat. I hate when people say "Oh, everything is peachy" because it's not. There are issues, and people should be aware of them.
I am not a major gamer anymore. I play whatever I want to, when it catches my interest. But I pretty much play simple stuff. When I want to play games with "fancy graphics" it tends to be Japanese based. I like the stylized higher-end graphics of Japanese games over other countries. Even Chinese based ones. There is just a nice beauty to them. I don't know studios like that anymore, which is why I didn't go through the list. But equally, it really isn't important to me personally - so I don't have recall on them. I just know I tried a series of different Japanese games that I had both in my library already, as well as have purchased over the past couple of years. I have had consistent crash issues. I don't think Japanese studios care that much about computer ports. I can't even run Elin on my damn computer. I don't care, because there are many games out there. I can also emulate many of the games I am interested in. The money doesn't go to the developer, but I can't help that if it is impossible for me to play it.
The biggest intention I had in saying what I said - is that I wanted people to know it's not all roses. Even using Wine to emulate wonderful programs that I loved on Windows, Black Ink for example (my most used Steam product) is absolutely abysmal on Linux. I gave up, and switched to Krita. 10/10 would rather use Black Ink. I can dual boot, but Windows is a CREEP. I would rather lose accessibility to items, than continue to work in the Microsoft environment. I just hate when people show only the good sides of things, especially social media content/influencers, when in actuality there are issues which must be addressed and in turn stop the casual user from utilizing something they want to. I am sure there are hoops someone can jump to gain whatever they want. I will jump those hoops for exceptional things. Most things, I will lay to rest. This, I laid to rest. I have had issues with Square Enix games. I do not play their new stuff, so that could be it. Also, just because something is Deck Verified doesn't mean it'll work outside of there. Even when checking Proton.db.
This isn't some "Wuhan flu" stuff. This is me bringing my valid experience while using one of the most commonly sold graphics cards. Just to let others know that while things are great, they're not perfect.
Use Lutris and install all required languages, fonts, and regions through winetricks. I had it set up once, I gotta do it again at some point.
There's an article out there in the wild somewhere. Just search for "how to play visual novels in Lutris". Iirc, I think GE Wine runs VNs better than proton. I enjoy psychological horror VNs and busted ass getting them to work, but they do work and well once you have it set up.
Use one prefix for all your Japanese games so that you don't have to do it every time. Then just select that prefix any time you're installing or playing a VN/Japanese game. You can change region locale through Lutris configuration without the need for a third party app, too.
I can't imagine playing any VisNovels would be difficult, as those I have played from time to time. I am pretty much talking games which require graphics cards. The only Japanese title I have not had trouble with to be honest is Soul Hackers 2. Which people panned, so I don't think people are clamoring to play it. I have had issues playing games from other countries of origin, but have consistently had issues playing Japanese games to the point of noting it. I just emulate instead.
What psych-horror VNs do you play? I love horror and like VNs.
A long looong time ago, my gf found one called Saya no Uta. It has H-Scenes (only a few I think), but its pretty well written. I wasn't as big on it as she was, but that started my adventure down dark mystery/psychological horror VN. To this day its her favorite, though.
I can't remember everything I played and enjoyed (I wish I could but its so long ago now). I actually had to search for my favorite one because I constantly forget it. Its more dark mystery psychological with only a small amount of horror scenes, but its called DIVI-DEAD.
Again, it has H-Scenes, but thats not the sole premise. There are so many clues and endings. It has a college campus map, so being in certain places at certain times changes everything. I believe you get a time limit of like... 1 in game week to get the best ending? It goes off the rails a bit here and there, but I have fond, albeit blurry memories of it. It feels so dim and unsettling for such an old game. So good.
I've also seen that CHAOS;HEAD has good reviews, but I don't know much about it- only that I've seen the name before and I think it got an anime a long time ago. I'll keep looking and trying to remember more.
Actually just remembered one. Its called Another. It had a fairly popular anime release, but if you haven't seen it I recommend that one as well. And, of course, there's the well known Doki-Doki Literature Club.
I did some hoping, and some seriously long looks at the list. Thank you for these! I was gunna toss you some back if you don't mind. I realized none of them are JP, but they are all vis-novels.
Mediterranea Inferno Giallo, Homo, Death Game Pumpkin Eater Kinetic, Vomit Fest, Trauma Grotesque Beauty Ito, Dream Realm, Monster We Know the Devil Counter-Culture, Queer, Great OST
Idk if you would like any of these, but they've all been nice games to "play." Some are less interactive than others.
Got these written down in my Obsidian vault (alongside DIVI-DEAD, because I'll be damned if I forget that one again). Interaction is minor. I don't really play VN to interact with anything, but its cool if there's some sort of mechanic.
For example, Kamidori Alchemy Meister actually has fairly compelling adventure, party building, monster catching, shop building, crafting, and shop sales mechanics (much like Moonlighter shop and sales mechanic). Its a huge game with a ton of characters, but still advertises as a VN.
For me, I don't need all that as long as there's a compelling story. I know some VN out there literally don't have choices and just play as... well, as visual novels, lol. Thank you for the list. Pumpkin Eater actually stands out the most to me. It seems reminiscent of analog horror done in a VN watercolor. I like the aesthetic and it already feels unsettling.
If you want some non-VN psychological horrors, my top two are Fran Bow and Sally Face. Sally Face is incredibly good, but Fran Bow is a very VERY close second. They're more point and click puzzlers, but that's another favorite genre of mine.
Its because you need the Japanese locale that windows uses.
Idk, because there are games that were Western ports without any Japanese in them. But also I don't really care, because what I want to play are now probably all considered "retro" games and I just emulate them instead. That works fine.
Really? The only one I've had issues with is Persona 5, and even then I was able to get it working. Which GPU are you using?
Edit: now that I think about it I did have some trouble with Hatoful Boyfriend.
Hatoful I'd say is potato-esq but I haven't played it in a long time so idk how it runs on Linux. I think VisNovels would all be pretty easy to run. I get the font issues. I think often it's some weird resolution issue, maybe with the videos or animations or something. I know it's not just me, as all the titles I see (like No More Heroes) are just plagued with people claiming they crash. Soul Hackers 2, I got working. Yaiba crashed like crazy. Neo Atlas was a crash-a-thon. Some other ones that I had hanging around crashed. I saw consistently it was Japanese games crashing out. I figured there had to be some issue with support, so I gave up. I like older games anyways.
p.s. - Nvidia, partners old gaming laptop. Three series, if that's how you note it =P! Either way, I don't like laptops, but I hate waste more. Would rather have Ryzen, and a desktop.
Funnily enough Hatoful Boyfriend has a Linux release. When I try playing that in Japanese though I get a weird issue with fonts not showing up even though I'm pretty sure I have the correct fonts installed. Maybe it's some weird containerization thing that keeps the game from seeing the font. When I try playing the Windows release it just doesn't launch... is what I was going to say but I just tried it with Proton Experimental and it seems to work perfectly now. Problem solved I guess?
My condolences.
Oh, that's really cute! I never thought about it, but it'd be a really fun game to play in Japanese. I have met my fair share of games East/West that load up on Proton and then close. I tend to return them, unless I know someone in my family wants to play them as well. I am the only one on Linux, tbh.
*No worries! I play pretty much exclusively pixel/text based games. I am not hurting. I can also emulate consoles, so I figure I am winning. I love desktops though. They're just hard to move, and I like to travel light nowadays.
With Proton? What games?
Oh my god, you guys are killing me.
RIP