Japanese Sapphire FAQ

Japanese Sapphire FAQ

Q: Why are you playing on Japanese?

A: 1) I received it as a gift, 2) I like Japanese, 3) there are a few small differences between English and Japanese that make for some routing differences, 4) it lets me enjoy the game a bit more instead of just committing hardcore to the 2:02 grind in the English version, which I don't really have the time nor wherewithal to do right now.

Q: How do you know what's going on if you can't read it?

A: 1) I can read it, 2) speedrunning in a nonnative language is a thing that people learn to do all the time. Ask Buster how he speedruns English Sapphire.

Q: What are the differences between English and Japanese?

A: The main difference is of course that there is much less text (I am not sure how much time this saves but it is in the order of several minutes). Second, a lot of trainers have different field of vision between versions. This causes me to have to take a different path around some optional trainers, and actually makes two extra trainers unavoidable which I would otherwise avoid in English (Hiker in Rustturf Tunnel, which is actually required in English Emerald as well, and an extra grunt in Aqua Hideout). The other difference is that some opposing Pokemon have different natures, changing their stats. In some cases it is for the better, others for the worse.

Crucially, Mudkip manipulation works identical to the English version.

Q: Can this be WR!?

A: The English-speaking Pokemon community has previously ruled (unlike some other games in the speed community) that only runs on the English version will be considered for leaderboard purposes. In that sense it is considered incomparable to English runs and so I will not submit any time to the speedrun.com leaderboard.

Q: Okay, so it can't stand for "WR", but...what's WR?

A: 2:03:52 RTA by Buster_poke (the Japanese community uses real-time to time their runs).

Q: What's your goal time?

A: Idk. I'd like to beat Buster's time, but for now I just want to do runs.