Good game to play while studying another language!

[KentaRawr!]

I know I shouldn't try to study two languages at once. I'm so unwise. However, hear me out, EoFF!

You see, I have an internet friend who happens to be from France. She's way into American Pop-Culture. The TV, music, movies, and games she play are all from America, or she at least enjoys them in English. She also taught herself how to speak English, which I think is pretty cool! But, I am a dumb American, and thus do not know about the world around me. Or, at least talking to her makes me feel that way. I decided that I'm going to at least learn a little bit of French, just because I feel like it'd be more fair that way. (Plus I kinda just want to impress her by speaking French lolz)

When I first started studying Japanese (which I'm still doing), I decided I'd try to remember some of the kana by playing Final Fantasy 1 in Japanese. With a Kana chart and an English-Japanese dictionary, I was able to translate the parts of the game I was going through, and I felt like that really helped me out with studying Japanese! Now, I'd like to do the same thing with French, even though I'm still studying Japanese, which probably won't end well.

So, I'm just curious what games you think would be best to play while studying another language, and what games you think have a quality French translation. I'm thinking older games, though. Pretty much anything before N64 era, just so they'll be cheaper and most likely text-only. I'm thinking I'll probably play a game like Zelda: A Link to the Past, simply because I've totally memorized that game, which will make it easier to understand. But then, some classic RPGs like Dragon Warrior that I haven't played yet might also be a good idea, because understanding what the NPCs are saying is the key to success (besides grinding). But then, what if the characters are speaking in old-speak to sound more medieval and I don't know it? That would be bad. Or if the translation is bad.

So, yeah. What games would you recommend playing for this purpose? And which games in French do you think have the best translations, or are at least grammatically correct? Also, have any of you guys ever tried to do this with other languages? How'd that go over for you?

Edit: Aw crap. Dragon Quest games never came out in French, and it looks like no one made a translation of those. I've decided I'll probably go with a fan-translated game, just because I trust non-professionals to make better translations for some reason. So, I'll try Chrono Trigger in French, and maybe Ogre Battle. I'm still going to try A Link to the Past, though, just because I love it. :3

[Vyk]

Ubisoft is the only french gaming studio I can think of. And they tend to make pretty good games. If you can find them in french. I would -highly- recommend Beyond Good and Evil if that can be found in french. If their native dialog and story-telling are as good as the american version it'd be a definite treat

I downloaded a lot of ROMs for my GBA emulator for my PSP and a LOT of them seem to be international. So French seems to be an option a lot. Could look into finding international versions of GBA games you like. I can't really think of any actual recommendations that would be strictly text though. I'm not sure what franchises Ubisoft did back then. So I think international GBA might be your best bet

[JKTrix]

[KentaRawr!]

I knew someone was going to say that. XD

[Vyk]

And look who that game is made by. Ha! Or something (I'm pretty sure this statement is basically irrelevant, as I think there's a few games in that series for other languages lol)

[KentaRawr!]

I was pretty curious about something. In some games released in North America, it includes Spanish, French, and English versions of the text. I know that there are differences between French French and Canadian French. If I were to play a game released recently in North America that has the French option, like Metroid: Other M, would the differences between Canadian French and French French be too large for me to put French French lessons to use? :0 Or, do they typically just use the translation that they made for the European version of the game?

(Also, I'm going to play Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen in French for now. :3)

[Vyk]

An interesting concept, and you bring up a good point. I can't pretend to know the details, but I would -hope- that they wouldn't bother with translating a game twice for two similar languages like that. Unless the consistencies between the two are small, where a simple replacement tool set through the whole game on key words (color/colour) could get the job done quickly and painlessly. As I would imagine that people in Quebec can speak French fluently enough to get through a game meant for France itself. I'd be even more surprised if they re-wrote a game for Mexico and Latin America instead of using the release meant for Spain. I know there's a similar difference between Mexican Spanish and Spanish Spanish. I'm not sure which region is less highly regarded in gaming demographics. Or if they're even regarded at all when the games are going to France and Spain