Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography

I want to love this game, and I want to recommend it, and I want to *want* to continue playing it. But there is very very little replay value coupled with a very short time to completion, and it ends up feeling like just a fun little game where you can say you're learning Japanese, but not really getting anything long-term beneficial out of it on its own. This game DESPARATELY needs more content. It felt like I was exploring a starter area for a game where I was supposed to then leave and explore the rest of the game, except there was nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do. I have struggled for the last week or so on how I should rate this game. In the end I settled on a negative rating, but only barely. I truly wish there was an option for a neutral rating. I *really* don't want to hate on this game, because as a concept, and for the limited time that it provides, it is very enjoyable. But sadly, both as a game and as a learning tool, it falls a little short. What it came down to in the end was a very literal question: Would I actually recommend this game to anyone as either a tool or a game? The answer? Only if if was on sale for 50% or less. And not because I hated it or that I don't want to see it succeed, but simply as a matter of financial worth. I looked back at my transactions, and I paid just under $18 for this game. I don't feel like I would have paid that if I knew then what I know now after full completion. I don't want to de-value the developers either, because it is a very nicely presented game, and I'm sure that a fair amount of work went into it, but it just feels dramatically incomplete. I want more content, and thinking critically about it, I don't think I'd be willing to pay very much, if anything at all, for additional content until there's more built into the base game. Larger area, more words to learn, etc. Then perhaps I'd be willing to spring for DLC for a new area or something of that nature. At 5.9 hours of gameplay, I have 100% of the achievements and I've "mastered" all 134 words. Though it's difficult to claim mastery. I doubt I could recall many of them out of the context of the game, though if I encountered the word, I would likely recall the meaning as long as I heard it pronounced. It's highly unlikely that I'd remember the Kanji for words that I haven't learned outside of the game. It is somewhat likely that I'm going to go back and replay the game with the spoken words off, and possibly even as kanji only, but probably not immediately after finishing the game. The photo system is a very neat concept though, and I did enjoy taking the photos, and taking the photo and hearing the word together did create a decently strong connection between the spoken word and the image, but it feels like a one-way connection, where I can recall the meaning after hearing the word, but not necessarily see the object and know the correct word. I enjoyed using the filters to play around with an artistic presentation of the flashcards, and the borders were fun, but I feel both of them were poorly paced with the rest of the gameplay. The first filters came pretty late, but then they flooded in and I had them all in no time, and the borders came only after it had already felt like I fully explored the game and I was just finishing out the mastery. By the time I started getting borders for my flashcards the novelty of the photo system was wearing out and I felt little motivation to use them. Meanwhile, the gacha machines were untouched for the last 3 hours or so of gameplay. Put another way, for 60% of the time I played the game, I didn't have any reason for using the gacha machines, and the coins were just piling up with nothing to use them for. The review system made it hard to intentionally master words, I felt often at the mercy of the RNG to get a word to come up, or I was intentionally clearing favorites and then doing a favorites-only review to get them mastered. For what it's worth, I have also been using both WaniKani and Bunpro nearly daily for the last 6 months or so, WaniKani for even longer overall, but not contiguous or consistent until recently. The timing for reviews did not feel in any way like an SRS-based system that those other tools are using, but instead just felt like a weighted RNG. Fine for casual play, but doesn't feel like a serious learning tool.

I found this to be a very interesting concept game, but a bit too shallow of an experience currently. But if this were ever expanded, I think there's a lot of potential. Really, the game all taking place outside is one of the things that's really limiting it right now. More indoor spaces would probably help a lot in introducing more terms for everyday objects. Also some more variety in activities would also give it a little more runtime. As such, there is just not enough to do in the game.

It’s a fun game, you walk around the streets taking pictures of random objects, and everything turns into vocabulary. Each word becomes a flashcard with translation, and there are also quizzes and lessons you can practice. The game is really relaxing, and it’s fun to explore the streets and discover new words at your own pace. I also like how it doesn’t feel like studying at all, it’s more like you’re just casually learning while wandering around.Sometimes I catch myself taking pictures of everything just to see what new words I’ll get, which makes it kind of addictive in a good way. It’s simple, but super enjoyable, and a really creative way to learn. A fun experience if you like chill games and want to pick up some Japanese along the way.

Not recomended. The price is just abusive for a game which is like 30 minutes. The game has olny one area and with a limited vocabulary (sometines so especific). If you're looking for a game to learn Japanese just search for Wagotabi. Sashingo would be worth it if you find it for less than 2 o 3€ (as I did)

The game is really cute and well made. I bought it with the safe expectation that there is more than one environment to explore, for how many words can you learn on a single tiny map. Well, I had to find out it is one map. There seem to be 145 words you can photograph, each one brings another three words on a flashcard, plus 30 pages (like a book) of phrases and grammar. 580 words isn't bad, but most words are on the back of a loosely related photo, you cannot use it to learn them in a somewhat organized way. Is it cute, fun and engaging? Absolutely. Will it make a difference in your Japanese learning journey? Most probably not.

I bought it a while back, in march 2024. On a 11% off discount, and barely touched it till now. Cons -The game is not very intuitive with what can and can't be photographed.Despite a very small map where everything should be named, it's not. You can't photograph leaves,,ground, stone wall, fence (there's one in parking lot that can be photographed, weird rule on what counts), curb to name a few. (Or sometimes if you can't photograph something, zoom in, might suddenly work) Searching around map for objects as a memory test is not the best...on top of memorising items, you have to memorize where they are (it worked better in another game on steam, influent where the map was way smaller.) Even worse when you have to look for a word that only shows up sometimes/under special conditions. Like train. (Edit. Luckily there's a quiz that doesn't require u to run around! There are 2 quiz modes. Although the second one tests you on stuff like adjectives) There's a feature where you can highlight text on ads/signs, but there's a lot of exceptions to that too.. Example. You can't check text of magazine covers in front of 本屋 Pros Every text is clear and readible, I think it's a great small Japanese town immersion tool. Summary. Not the worst, but not the greatest either. It feels like a concept. Rather than a learning application/game. ~~~~ If someone I knew wanted to learn Japanese and asked me if they should get it. I would say "maybe on a very steep discount" and even then it would be low on the list of resources that I would actually recommend. There's only 145 words to be photographed or so, that's like nothing. ~~~ I still found it to be somewhat useful as it exposed me to the vocab that I don't really come across while playing other games. Like 横断歩道, 看板,つた (ivy), 駐車場. However seeing those words wasn't worth the price tag, I could have just easily looked in dictionary

It looks nice, but it is not intuitive and the game is small :( as someone else said it lacks indoor space and naming variety to similar items

It's a great game for people who prefer visual learning. It’s a fun and interactive way to learn while playing, which makes studying Japanese feel less stressful and more enjoyable. The game is helpful for tourists who often visit Japan, since learning basic Japanese words and signs can be very useful when traveling. Moreover, it’s a relaxing game that makes language learning more engaging.

It's a really great game! You learn a lot of new words. Unfortunately, it's kinda a small city and I would love to go inside a store (or a house) to learn some words that you can not find outside. Is it worth 19 euros? Well, there are listening exercises and reading exercises. I can read hiragana and katakana, and if you are learning kanji (like me) then you can also enable only kanji in the settings. If you can't read hiragana or katakana, you can also enable Romanji if I remember it right. I would say if you are really interested in learning japanese then this would be a great game for u!

I kinda hate that I can't recommend this game. It's very charming with a fun premise. I loaded it up and started playing and then realized I had found the bulk of photographables within the first 30-40 minutes. The vocabulary set is extremely limited with some peculiar inclusions. There's only one small area to explore and then you can kind of aim off into the distance to snap a few more vocabulary. Not being able to get vocab for some useful things like stairs, ground/dirt, sidewalk, road, and others seemed not great too. I had to check if I had purchased an early access game because it feels like an unfinished project. The graphics are fine but lots of blocked off areas, open doors you can't enter, and just such a small area to look around holds this back. I am glad I bought this on sale, I would have been upset if I had paid full price for this. As a rating I would give it a 2/5, but as a premise for something bigger it's a 5/5 concept.