Many of series I enjoy come from Japanese developers, and while localization efforts of the companies involved have been very active in recent years, from time to time they develop a game that remains in Japan, and never to see an official English localization. Not all of the games on this list are from a beloved Japanese franchise. Some are interesting, standalone titles. But in either case, sometimes the only way to get an English translation of a game is to do it yourself, and that’s exactly what the people and teams mentioned in this post did. Here are 10 games from my backlog that I can only play because fans around the world took matters into their own hands, and translated them themselves!

Welcome back to another weekly wrap-up of the games I’ve been playing over the past week!

Be warned, minor spoilers may be contained within. Since The Banner Saga 3 is the last part of the trilogy, there are likely going to be some spoilers for some events from the first two games. If you want to totally avoid all potential spoilers so you can play these games yourself in a blind run, you shouldn’t continue reading!

Click a title to skip to that section. Games contained within this post:

• Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (GBA)
• The Banner Saga 3 (PC)
• The Sims 4 (PC)

Symphony of the Night puts you in control of the vampire Alucard, son of Dracula. Unlike his father, he is an ally to humans. When Dracula’s castle reappears, Alucard awakens from his slumber and heads into the castle to investigate. He leaps over the closing drawbridge, just making it into the castle grounds. From there, his fate is yours to command…

Welcome back to another weekly wrap-up of the games I’ve been playing over the past week!

Fair warning, I spoil the final boss of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in this post, though I am careful to avoid plot spoilers (though there isn’t a very involved plot to begin with). If you want to totally avoid all potential spoilers so you can play Symphony of the Night yourself in a blind run, you shouldn’t continue reading!

Click a title to skip to that section. Games contained within this post:

• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX)
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)

In 2008, Sega released Valkyria Chronicles on the PS3 to great critical reception. In 2014, it came to PC, releasing on Steam. That’s the version I picked up, and though it sat in my Steam backlog for years, I finally gave it a try! Here’s my spoiler-free review of Valkyria Chronicles, a delightful strategy RPG.