THE iDOLM@STER 2 Demo PS3 Question

[projectfairy]

First post, I tried searching for this topic on the forum, but I didn't find anything, so here goes:

I have no idea why, but I only just now realized that there may be a THE iDOLM@STER 2 Demo on PSN, and after a bit of googling it seems that there should be. I really want to try it, but now I've gone through the Japanese PSN store multiple times, and I can't find anything... So I wanted to ask: has it been removed or am I just bad at searching?
Thanks in advance!

[Roswell]

It's most likely been removed, demos don't stay up for too long.

[projectfairy]

It's most likely been removed, demos don't stay up for too long.

Ah, okay... That's too bad...
I was really looking forward to get a taste of how it is to play the real game by myself, but I guess I'll just have to buy it when I feel like my Japanese knowledge is big enough to handle it!

[Naryoril]

Ah, okay... That's too bad...
I was really looking forward to get a taste of how it is to play the real game by myself, but I guess I'll just have to buy it when I feel like my Japanese knowledge is big enough to handle it!

You can actually enjoy the game with very little to now japanese knowledge. You can use this site http://imas2.wota.info/ to get all the info you need. You will miss out on the story though of course.

[projectfairy]

You can actually enjoy the game with very little to now japanese knowledge. You can use this site http://imas2.wota.info/ to get all the info you need. You will miss out on the story though of course.

Yeah, I've known about this site for a while and I think it's great!
It's just that I really want to experience the story... Especially Takane's, but right now it's not easy to understand what the hell she is saying since she uses a lot of complicated words.
I'll just make "being able to understand the story in im@s 2" my goal and motivator for my Japanese studies, and try to find some translations of the routes in the meantime.

[Notewell]

As far as I know, it's gone. On a side note, finding stuff in the PS Store can be kind of frustrating.

While you're working on your Japanese, this guy has a pretty good LP of im@s 2 that he just completed. Everything is translated. Granted, some of his choices are going to be different and dialog trees will differ slightly, but you get the gist of the story.

[Naryoril]

Yeah, I've known about this site for a while and I think it's great!
It's just that I really want to experience the story... Especially Takane's, but right now it's not easy to understand what the hell she is saying since she uses a lot of complicated words.
I'll just make "being able to understand the story in im@s 2" my goal and motivator for my Japanese studies, and try to find some translations of the routes in the meantime.

I know that feeling. I bought im@s 2 (and a PS3) when it came out. After 6 or so playthroughs i really wanted to understand the story, and i started taking japanese lessons again, after a break of about 13 years. That was 2 years ago. Currently i'm playing through the Yukiho route again (since she's my favourite idol and because my first playthrough was with her i didn't get the true end), and i can understand almost everything. So using im@s as a motivator helped a lot for me. But i'd rather buy the game now if i were you, it might be hard to find in a year. And you can measure your progress by playing it.

If you are serious about learning japanese, i suggest you take a look at wanikani.com, it's a website to teach you reading kanji and vorcabulary (not writing them). I learned about 1100 kanji in a year there, with a retention rate of about 85%. It is a lot of work though, but you can take it slower. And wanikani actually is the main reason why i understand it so much better. While i take classes for grammar and speaking/listening and it's important too, without the vocabulary and the kanji everything is futile.

[projectfairy]

As far as I know, it's gone. On a side note, finding stuff in the PS Store can be kind of frustrating.

While you're working on your Japanese, this guy has a pretty good LP of im@s 2 that he just completed. Everything is translated. Granted, some of his choices are going to be different and dialog trees will differ slightly, but you get the gist of the story.

Okay, and I agree, the PS Store's search system is worthless.

I've actually watched his play through with Chihaya as the leader, and I'm looking forward to his new one. He hasn't announced which idol that will be the leader yet, but right now it's a tiebreaker between Takane and Miki, so I have a chance to get my wish of seeing Takane's story translated granted.
At least he always chooses the "perfect" answers, so I'll get to experience the true ending.
His and 765Subs' (unfinished) are the only translated LP's I've found so far, do you maybe know of another one that I've missed?

I know that feeling. I bought im@s 2 (and a PS3) when it came out. After 6 or so playthroughs i really wanted to understand the story, and i started taking japanese lessons again, after a break of about 13 years. That was 2 years ago. Currently i'm playing through the Yukiho route again (since she's my favourite idol and because my first playthrough was with her i didn't get the true end), and i can understand almost everything. So using im@s as a motivator helped a lot for me. But i'd rather buy the game now if i were you, it might be hard to find in a year. And you can measure your progress by playing it.

If you are serious about learning japanese, i suggest you take a look at wanikani.com, it's a website to teach you reading kanji and vorcabulary (not writing them). I learned about 1100 kanji in a year there, with a retention rate of about 85%. It is a lot of work though, but you can take it slower. And wanikani actually is the main reason why i understand it so much better. While i take classes for grammar and speaking/listening and it's important too, without the vocabulary and the kanji everything is futile.

I'm so happy for you, it's great that you actually took up your Japanese studies again!
Yeah, it may get extinct when the 3rd vision comes out... but where should I get it then, is ebay my best choice? I've already checked Play-Asia and it seems like it's sold out there.

I've only heard good things about wanikani, and I've been meaning to check that out. I'm going to try the free levels first and see if I think it's worth the price, but I'm getting a feeling that's telling me it will be!

[Naryoril]

I'm so happy for you, it's great that you actually took up your Japanese studies again!
Yeah, it may get extinct when the 3rd vision comes out... but where should I get it then, is ebay my best choice? I've already checked Play-Asia and it seems like it's sold out there.

I've only heard good things about wanikani, and I've been meaning to check that out. I'm going to try the free levels first and see if I think it's worth the price, but I'm getting a feeling that's telling me it will be!

You can buy it here: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BLJS-50025
They only have 2 left in stock though. I've ordered several times from that store and had no problems so far.

About Wanikani: just be aware that the 2 free levels are slow, especially the first one. You will have long wait times between reviews, that's just how the system is made. It picks up already with level 2 and level 3, by level 5 you will have enough to do, by level 20 you will wish you didn't have as much to do as you do. At least if you go at full speed, you can always slow down by not doing all available lessons to decrease your workload.

By level 10 (3 to 4 months) you will probably be able to get the gist of the story in im@s 2, especially since you already know some of it due to the anime. It also helps if you have some basic grammar knowledge, and reading hiragana is a must of course.
I'm level 32 now and i think it's really worth it, I can even play games like Tales of Innocence R and understand a lot of it, and i'v always known what to do next. Something like that was totally out of the question a year ago.

If you decide to try it you can go directly to http://www.wanikani.com/signup to create an account without waiting for the beta invite (usually the invite takes only a few days anyway)

[Daverost]

Yeah, I was trying to help someone find the demo not too long ago and it's definitely been removed. If you know anyone who has it on their account and is trusting enough to let you use it to download it, you could always go that route. I'm uhh... not that trust of a guy, though. Sorry.

[projectfairy]

You can buy it here: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BLJS-50025
They only have 2 left in stock though. I've ordered several times from that store and had no problems so far.

About Wanikani: just be aware that the 2 free levels are slow, especially the first one. You will have long wait times between reviews, that's just how the system is made. It picks up already with level 2 and level 3, by level 5 you will have enough to do, by level 20 you will wish you didn't have as much to do as you do. At least if you go at full speed, you can always slow down by not doing all available lessons to decrease your workload.

By level 10 (3 to 4 months) you will probably be able to get the gist of the story in im@s 2, especially since you already know some of it due to the anime. It also helps if you have some basic grammar knowledge, and reading hiragana is a must of course.
I'm level 32 now and i think it's really worth it, I can even play games like Tales of Innocence R and understand a lot of it, and i'v always known what to do next. Something like that was totally out of the question a year ago.

If you decide to try it you can go directly to http://www.wanikani.com/signup to create an account without waiting for the beta invite (usually the invite takes only a few days anyway)

I ordered a CD from there a year ago, and I remember it being a pretty neat experience. I think I'm gonna go for it!

Okay, I'll remember that when I try the free levels. May I just ask how much time you spend on wanikani each day? Also, does it teach you vocabulary too, or have I misunderstood?
I'm currently taking on the basic grammar and vocab with Genki I, and I feel like I'm really getting somewhere, so that's great, but I'm sure wanikani will make me learn even faster.

Yeah, I was trying to help someone find the demo not too long ago and it's definitely been removed. If you know anyone who has it on their account and is trusting enough to let you use it to download it, you could always go that route. I'm uhh... not that trust of a guy, though. Sorry.

I understand, I'd be careful too.
I've only game shared one time before (I was on the receiving end), and I had chatted with the other person for a couple of weeks, so he trusted me. But I get that it's a really high risk to take. Too bad I don't know you personally!

[Naryoril]

I ordered a CD from there a year ago, and I remember it being a pretty neat experience. I think I'm gonna go for it!

Okay, I'll remember that when I try the free levels. May I just ask how much time you spend on wanikani each day? Also, does it teach you vocabulary too, or have I misunderstood?
I'm currently taking on the basic grammar and vocab with Genki I, and I feel like I'm really getting somewhere, so that's great, but I'm sure wanikani will make me learn even faster.

Yes, it also teaches vocabulary that is made up of the kanji you learn. So there are no hiragana-only words. Though there are several that theoretically do have a kanji, but are normally written with hiragana, you'll learn them with the kanji.
I can't give an exact number on how much time i spend on WK each day, since i do it in a lot of chunks during the day/evening and it also can vary drastically from day to day due to the number of reviews you have. I'd say it's usually 1 to 2 hours. But you can go with much less if you take it slower. If you want to slow down try to keep your review queue pretty much empty anyway, do the slowing down by keeping lessons in your queue. But in the first bunch of levels it isn't an issue anyway, in fact a lot of low level people complain it is too slow. Nobody above level 10 shares that complain though.

[projectfairy]

Yes, it also teaches vocabulary that is made up of the kanji you learn. So there are no hiragana-only words. Though there are several that theoretically do have a kanji, but are normally written with hiragana, you'll learn them with the kanji.
I can't give an exact number on how much time i spend on WK each day, since i do it in a lot of chunks during the day/evening and it also can vary drastically from day to day due to the number of reviews you have. I'd say it's usually 1 to 2 hours. But you can go with much less if you take it slower. If you want to slow down try to keep your review queue pretty much empty anyway, do the slowing down by keeping lessons in your queue. But in the first bunch of levels it isn't an issue anyway, in fact a lot of low level people complain it is too slow. Nobody above level 10 shares that complain though.

Okay, around 1-2 hours seems pretty reasonable for going at full-speed. I hope I'll be able to keep that up if I ever get to such high levels like you.
Also, thank you so much for all of the helpful information!

[Notewell]

I know that feeling. I bought im@s 2 (and a PS3) when it came out. After 6 or so playthroughs i really wanted to understand the story, and i started taking japanese lessons again, after a break of about 13 years. That was 2 years ago. Currently i'm playing through the Yukiho route again (since she's my favourite idol and because my first playthrough was with her i didn't get the true end), and i can understand almost everything. So using im@s as a motivator helped a lot for me. But i'd rather buy the game now if i were you, it might be hard to find in a year. And you can measure your progress by playing it.

For the longest time I've sort of postponed any attempt to learn Japanese by telling myself it's "not practical," but I guess it doesn't hurt to have some comprehension of any foreign language, especially if it lets me play im@s in its native language and understand the lyrics. I guess it'll be my motivator, too.

Okay, and I agree, the PS Store's search system is worthless.

I've actually watched his play through with Chihaya as the leader, and I'm looking forward to his new one. He hasn't announced which idol that will be the leader yet, but right now it's a tiebreaker between Takane and Miki, so I have a chance to get my wish of seeing Takane's story translated granted.
At least he always chooses the "perfect" answers, so I'll get to experience the true ending.
His and 765Subs' (unfinished) are the only translated LP's I've found so far, do you maybe know of another one that I've missed?

Yeah, it may get extinct when the 3rd vision comes out... but where should I get it then, is ebay my best choice? I've already checked Play-Asia and it seems like it's sold out there.

PS Store doesn't seem to do well with keywords, and it always ends up returning results that are only tangentially related to the actual thing you're looking for, at best.

I'm not aware of any other comprehensive English im@s 2 LPs out there, but if I manage to find one I'll link it here. As for purchasing the game, Play Asia may get it back in stock soon. Coincidentally, I ordered it from PA about a month ago and haven't received my copy yet; though PA staff has been pretty courteous and attentive to my situation so far. I suspect it's been delayed because of my country's government shutdown; customs are bound to move slower with that hindering them. I'd say go to eBay and see what you can find.

[projectfairy]

I'm not aware of any other comprehensive English im@s 2 LPs out there, but if I manage to find one I'll link it here. As for purchasing the game, Play Asia may get it back in stock soon. Coincidentally, I ordered it from PA about a month ago and haven't received my copy yet; though PA staff has been pretty courteous and attentive to my situation so far. I suspect it's been delayed because of my country's government shutdown; customs are bound to move slower with that hindering them. I'd say go to eBay and see what you can find.

Thank you! By the way, Hana Yori Uta posted the first episode of his new LP yesterday and Takane seems to have won the tiebreaker.

I went ahead and ordered it from CDJapan since I trust them, it's just a shame that they only had "The Best" version in stock (you know, the ugly ones with a yellow border). But it's the same game anyway, so who cares. But I'll probably go to PA if I decide to get the G4U games.
Hopefully you'll finally get your copy now that the government shutdown has ended. It's sad that so many things and people had to be affected over a dispute about Obamacare...