Summer Lesson, a rather unique offering among PSVR games, launched alongside the headset in Japan back in November. Now, come April 28th, the game will see a broader release into Southeastern Asia release with English subtitles, opening the door to enjoyment by those who don’t speak the game’s native Japanese language. Those in Western regions interested in the title may be able to download it as well.

IGN reports that during the Bandai Namco Entertainment Product Conference in Singapore this week, the company announced a new version of Summer Lesson which will come bundled with two DLCs, include English subtitles, and launch in Southeast Asian markets. The trailer below shows one of the DLC and its English subtitles:

While there aren’t currently plans for an official Western release of Summer Lesson, it’s expected that the game will be downloadable by US and EU PS4 players to via the PlayStation Store through a workaround.

Summer Lesson falls into the niche game genre of the dating sim. And while certainly more targeted toward Asia than the US and elsewhere, the game does something noteworthy as the first dating sim for PSVR; after trying an early version of the game, the level of immersion led me to feeling uncomfortable when I was placed close to the game’s characters, as though I was invading their personal space. I elaborated on why that discomfort was actually revealing of VR’s unique ability to immerse players:

As the scene moved along, the blonde-haired girl got out a Japanese study book and asked me to clarify some language for her. To do this she got even closer to me, leaned her head over right near mine and asked me to take a look at the book that she now held before us both.

This was every bit as awkward as walking up to a stranger on the street and putting my face inches away from theirs. And it made me feel like a total creep—something no form of media outside of VR has ever done.

There I was, in VR, worried about having invaded the personal space of a virtual character, and yet all the same, unable to turn off that natural human instinct despite knowing full well that she was nothing more than ones and zeros.

In my experience even the most immersive, well directed movie can’t reach out and make you personally—the person sitting in the audience—feel this way. The very best a big screen movie can do is to portray a character on the screen as such, but that still leaves the audience disconnected. Even in (non-VR) games, where the player has agency in a virtual world, there’s still a chasm between the identity of the player and the character that the player controls inside the game.

[…]

The incredible levels of immersion afforded by modern headsets like PlayStation VR can create these intimate human feelings like no media before. This is but one demonstration of virtual reality’s fundamental ability to connect with us on a human level, which will enable VR to convey personally emotional stories.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • ITALI-LORI-MONTI

    se non arriva in europa,non credo mi strapperò i capelli….cè molto di meglio da fare x la VR…FATELO!

  • Nairobi

    Thank god it was subtitles. Would have killed myself if they dubbed over it.

    • J.C.

      Unless the English dub is horridly done, I prefer games to be in English. Honestly, I think people who demand Japanese games are always subtitled because “the original voice acting is great!”, when they don’t even KNOW if it’s any good. They’re just claiming it’s better because it makes them seem more “worldly”. I always imagine these same people have a collection of fedoras and cartoon body pillows.

      • Reels Rihard

        Agree J.C. I’ll take subtitles if it’s all I get, as I’m sure you will. Although, well dubbed English is preferred.

      • Brandon Smith

        I agree with what you are saying, but come to the opposite conclusion. Even though I speak moderate Japanese, I prefer subs to dubs because trying to fit english translations into the mouth movements of Japanese oftentimes sounds awful. And it’s even worse when the english subs try to tonally match the Japanese voice actors.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        It’s better to THINK it sounds great (japanese version), then to KNOW it sounds awful (english dub)..
        To be honest, most english dubs just suck, at least when it comes to movies.

        • J.C.

          Sometimes they’re awful, oh yes. But I’d still rather watch what the director intended to show me, than miss things because I was looking down, reading a text block.

          For VR, specifically, subtitles seem to be a terrible plan. You’d spend most of your time looking at a floating text bar, not at the game itself…why on earth would you bother playing something like that in VR when a DOS box can accomplish the same thing? In a game where it’s about trying to get the player more used to human interactions, distracting them from them is counter productive.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            I know subtitles isn’t the best option for VR. As I am from the Netherlands, we’ve been so used to subtitles as most programs/movies/series are subtitled (thank god for that, as in Germany or france everything is dubbed and mostly is sounds awful)..
            But subtitles in VR could work, if very well placed..

      • Too Coup

        What about amazing japanese voice-acting, which is ruined by god-awful Americanisms in the subtitles? Yakuza 0 as a perfect example.

        That is the absolute worst, imo.

      • VirtualBro

        I used to agree with Nairobi & Co, but then I learned to speak Japanese, and now I realize that a lot of Japanese voice acting is just as hammy and terrible as the English dubs.

        Nowadays I usually prefer subtitles just so I can pretend that I’m learning more Japanese, even though your average video game or episode of Naruto don’t really have much content that’s useful in daily life..

      • Nairobi

        What the hell are you talking about? I don’t like it because of that at all. But because there are words and phrases that you literally have to improvise hard to make an english translation out of. Which always risks losing cultural intents and meaning.

        • J.C.

          Yes but that’s if you actually know Japanese. I don’t. So subtitles < English Voiceover, for me. Even IF I knew enough Japanese to squeak by, I wouldn't grasp the "cultural intents and meanings", because that only actually affects those who grew up in their culture. Don't take my disdain for "voiceover snobs" personally, it's a generalization from …well, every single person I've met who complains about removing Japanese voicework.

          As I said elsewhere on this, VR is an exceptionally poor place for subtitles, as it draws your eyes away from what the devs are trying to accomplish with the medium. With current headsets having issues with readable text outside of near the center of the screens, it pulls your HEAD away from the actual game. Voiceovers for each language they intend to sell their game to are pretty much mandatory, especially in dialogue-heavy titles like this one.

      • Sorry for being necro of one year old post.
        But, I want to share my opinion about Jap VA.

        Some people (me included), just, like japanese, and whenever we understand it or not. Its come out of habit after watching a lot of animes with subs.
        After some time you even make a list of your favorite Seiyuu.
        That’s why, as for me, everytime I hear English dub in Japanish game, my ears bleed, and there nothing I can do about it. :)