History GratuitousEnglish / VideoGames

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Sonia Nevermind, the only non-Japanese character in the series, whose family name will [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign raise a few eyebrows for fluent English speakers]] — although in fact her origins are a ShoutOut to ''Music/{{Nirvana}}'', with her being the princess of a small fictional country called "Novoselic". Sonia's dialogue also sees her let out one or two ClusterFBomb in English[[note]]Only made obvious in the Japanese original where she switches to English suddenly; in the English localisation, she just... keeps speaking English. Since canonically the language the characters are speaking in the localisation is still meant to be Japanese she presumably still switches, but as a joke it's a bit lost in translation[[/note]] in rare moments when she loses her composure. Amusingly, while she speaks 30 languages, English feels like an odd choice for her to revert to in moments of stress, given that Novoselic is implied to be in central Europe; although to be fair, its location is never technically specified beyond "Europe", so English is just about as plausible as anything else for her first language.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Sonia Nevermind, the only non-Japanese character in the series' main cast, whose family name will raise a few eyebrows for fluent English speakers — although to be fair, her origins are a ShoutOut to ''Music/{{Nirvana}}'', with her home country being called "Novoselic", so it's not really a case of AsLongAsItSoundsForeign (even if it does stand out among the other members of the cast, who are either plausibly named or have a good in-story reason not to be). Sonia's dialogue also sees her let out one or two ClusterFBomb in English[[note]]Only made obvious in the Japanese original where she switches to English suddenly; in the English localisation, she just... keeps speaking English. Since canonically the language the characters are speaking in the localisation is still meant to be Japanese she presumably still switches, but as a joke it's a bit lost in translation[[/note]] in rare moments when she loses her composure. Amusingly, Sonia is the princess of a small fictional country implied to be in central Europe, so while she speaks 30 languages, English feels like an odd choice for her to revert to in moments of stress. Although to be fair, the country she's from is fictional and its location is never technically specified beyond "Europe", so English is just about as plausible as anything else for her first language.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Used by Sonia Nevermind, the only non-Japanese character in the series' main cast, who once or twice lets out ClusterFBomb in English[[note]]Only made obvious in the Japanese original where she switches to English suddenly; in the English localisation, she just... keeps speaking English. Since canonically the language the characters are speaking in the localisation is still meant to be Japanese she presumably still switches, but as a joke it's a bit lost in translation[[/note]] in rare moments when she loses her composure. Amusingly, Sonia is the princess of a small fictional country in continental Europe, so while she speaks 30 languages, English feels like an odd choice for her to revert to in moments of stress. Although to be fair, her origins are mostly a ShoutOut to ''Music/{{Nirvana}}'', with her home country being called "Novoselic", so English is just about as plausible as anything else for her first language — since the game contains no suggestions that Novoselic has a native dialect of its own, let alone any attempts to make one up.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Used by Sonia Nevermind, the only non-Japanese character in the series' main cast, who once or twice lets out ClusterFBomb in English[[note]]Only made obvious in the Japanese original where she switches to English suddenly; in the English localisation, she just... keeps speaking English. Since canonically the language the characters are speaking in the localisation is still meant to be Japanese she presumably still switches, but as a joke it's a bit lost in translation[[/note]] in rare moments when she loses her composure. Amusingly, Sonia is the princess of a small fictional country in continental Europe, so while she speaks 30 languages, English feels like an odd choice for her to revert to in moments of stress. Although to be fair, her origins are mostly a ShoutOut to ''Music/{{Nirvana}}'', with her home country being called "Novoselic", so English is just about as plausible as anything else for her first language.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Used by Sonia Nevermind, the only non-Japanese character in the series' main cast, who once or twice lets out ClusterFBomb in English[[note]]Only made obvious in the Japanese original where she switches to English suddenly; in the English localisation, she just... keeps speaking English. Since canonically the language the characters are speaking is still meant to be Japanese she presumably still switches, but as a joke it's a bit lost in translation[[/note]] in rare moments when she loses her composure. Amusingly, Sonia is the princess of a small fictional country in continental Europe, so while she speaks 30 languages, English feels like an odd choice for her to revert to in moments of stress. Although to be fair, her origins are mostly a ShoutOut to ''Music/{{Nirvana}}'', with her home country being called "Novoselic", so English is just about as plausible as anything else for her first language.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Used by Sonia Nevermind, the only non-Japanese character in the series' main cast, who once or twice lets out ClusterFBomb in English[[note]]Only made obvious in the Japanese original where she switches to English suddenly; in the English localisation, she just... keeps speaking English. Since canonically the language the characters are speaking is still meant to be Japanese she presumably still switches, but as a joke it's a bit lost in translation.[[/note]] in rare moments when she loses her composure. Amusingly, Sonia is the princess of a small fictional country in continental Europe, and while she speaks 30 languages, English feels like an odd choice for her to revert to in moments of stress. Although to be fair, her origins are mostly a ShoutOut to ''Music/{{Nirvana}}'', with her home country being called "Novoselic", so English is just about as plausible as anything else for her first language.

** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': One of the clues in the first murder case makes the identity of the killer extremely obvious to English-speakers from the get-go. [[spoiler: The victim wrote "LEON" (for Leon Kuwata) in English upside-down behind her before dying. Because all the characters involved are Japanese high-school students, though, most of them thought it was the number 11037.]]
** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': There is a character named Sonia Nevermind...who is a European princess. Although to be fair, it's mostly a ShoutOut to ''Music/{{Nirvana}}'', that and her home county being called "Novoselic".

* All of the songs in both ''VideoGame/ClockworkKnight'' games for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn consist entirely of this. Not only that, but because the singer has such a heavy accent, some people [[IndecipherableLyrics may have trouble understanding some of the lyrics]].

* ''Donald No Magical World'' is a Japanese-exclusive UsefulNotes/GameGear game based on UsefulNotes/McDonalds, which becomes ''Ronald in the Magical World'' [[CountrySwitch when played on a North American Game Gear]]. When Ronald comes to an M sign, he can play a mini-game to earn power-ups. In the English translation, the first and second Fry Kids say "SEARCH FOR SAME PICTURES!" and "LET'S MAKE AN ITEM PANEL!" when selected, but the third one says "DON'T GAMES!".

* ''Last Breakers'', a UsefulNotes/PC98 DoujinSoft ShootEmUp, has this Engrish text in the intro sequence:

* In 2000, the UsefulNotes/{{Satellaview}}, an SNES peripheral that allowed users to play games that were broadcasted via a satellite, broadcasted a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9P1ISfPbsA good-bye notice]] (skip to 1:49 for the notice) before it ceased transmissions. The notice has a short English-language section that uses rather... ''interesting'' grammar.

* In the UsefulNotes/PlayStation game ''Speed Power Gunbike'', the game over screen happily informs you that "Anergy empty! You all over!"

* Likewise, the European UsefulNotes/SegaMegaDrive release of ''VideoGame/ZeroWing'' that spawned the "AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs" meme. The meme spread only because of its [[{{Engrish}} badly worded opening sequence]]. The arcade version's ending is similarly hilarious.

* ''VideoGame/BlazingStar'', and it's [[MemeticMutation memetic]] "YOU FAIL IT! YOUR SKILL IS NOT ENOUGH" screen. Then there's the female announcer who yells English phrases such as "BONUS!" with hilarious results.

* EXEC_CUTYPUMP/. from ''VideoGame/ArTonelico3'' is a strange mixture of Japanese and English. Rather unique and strange for the series, as all other songs in it used either Japanese or the series' own {{Con Lang}}s for their lyrics.

* In ''VideoGame/LiveALive'''s original Japanese version and its remake (along with some other languages), some sentences are in English, such as "Kill you...", "After all... everything was blown away...", "Never End" and "Sad End".

** In addition, about 75% of the attacks in the games are [[CallingYourAttacks called out]] in English. This ranges from the good (Chipp and Sol Badguy call their attacks with SurprisinglyGoodEnglish for the most part) to the laughable (Venom's Double Head Morbid: "DOUBAH HEAD MORBIDOH!").

** By ''Xrd'', Ishiwatari had recruited Naoki Hashimoto to perform vocals for the series' soundtrack, which are ''always'' in English. Often falls into SurprisinglyGoodEnglish, though even when it's incomprehensible it's still awesome.

* ''VideoGame/KanColle'' has Kongou, who, as a nod to her real-life counterpart being constructed in Britain, habitually inserts random English into her speech ([[MemeticMutation "BURNING LOVE" etc.]]). Later, the game would give us their take on American battleship Iowa, whose English is infamous for bring not only more frequent than Kongou's, but far, far worse. Naturally, this resulted in a collective "wut" from Western fans. Kadokawa Games seem to have since learned their lesson, if the later Allied Fleet additions [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish Warspite and Saratoga]] are of any indication.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', Samus's narration over the opening sequence was in SurprisinglyGoodEnglish even in the Japanese version. All the American release did was remove the subtitles. (They were re-added for international versions.)

** ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Even if it's [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish surprisingly good]], English litters the UI even in the Japanese version, and almost every party peppers their speech with random English phrases... despite the game being set almost entirely in Tokyo, Japan.

** "I'm a Lady Now" from ''Megamix'' is mostly in ([[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish actually pretty decent]]) English, which was left as-is in the international release.

** In ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'', Lucas and Zero Suit Samus [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish avoid]] this by having American voice actors--even in the Japanese version.

* Creator/{{Taito}} was particularly notorious for this in their arcade games in the 1980s. Notable examples include the opening screens for both ''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Volfied}}''. Although one game, ''VideoGame/{{Rastan}} Saga'' (or just "Rastan" depending on the version) does have [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish the other kind of English]].

* ''VideoGame/Mother3'': "Welcome to [=MOTHER3=] World." Also, the voice clip played when you name your characters is [[Creator/ShigesatoItoi Itoi himself]] saying, "OK desu ka?" (Is this OK?) According to Itoi, he was tricked into saying it by Hirokazu Tanaka (who had a tape recorder behind his back). ''[[VideoGame/EarthBound Mother 2]]'' also has many random [=NPCs=] (including the Runaway Five's announcer) speaking English in katakana, though the English translation just has them speak like anyone else.

** [[VideoGame/EarthBound Ness]] and [[VideoGame/FZero Captain Falcon]] use gratuitous English when [[CallingYourAttacks calling their attack names out.]]

** One of the cassette tapes in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' features Snake and Kazuhira Miller talking about the origins of Cecile's full name, Cecile Cosima Caminades. Kaz notes that in Japanese, "Cosima" is pronounced the same way as "Kojima," an obvious fourth wall-breaking reference to Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series. He then realises that Caminades is pronounced (almost) the same way as "kaminandesu," which, in Japanese, means "is God." He then puts two and two together and proclaims that "Cosima Caminades" means "Kojima is God." In the Japanese version, he then chants "Kojima is God!" in English, before saying "Everybody say!", also in English, which prompts Cecile to join in.

* Averted by ''VideoGame/KnightsInTheNightmare''. The Japanese version is fully voice acted in ''English'', and while the delivery is often highly enunciated for the Japanese audience, leading to alternate [[LargeHam cheese and ham]], it's still good English with a good accent. Atlus even saw fit to leave it in during localization, probably for the occasional NarmCharm. Sadly, this only holds true for the voice acting. The Japanese version of the game also featured a lot of English text, including such instant classics as "How to Reinforce Least Knight" and "Touch the Box to Be Defeated Enemy".
* The H-game ''Koikatsu'' invokes this with the Returnee personality. The girl will occasionally pepper her dialogue with English words, given her loose grasp of Japanese.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' has "SHINE GET!" (The "get" was wiped from the North America releases, though.)

** Fox and Falco had this in ''Melee'' but gained region appropriate voice actors from ''Brawl'' onwards.

*** Ditto the narrator in all three games.

* The first minigame in the original ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'' is accompanied by a woman saying phrases such as "Hey, baby, how's it going?" and "I can give you the sense of rhythm."
** At the end of the "Frog Hop" minigame in the DS game, the singer says, "Sankyuu! Verrrrry much-a!" For whatever reason, this remained untranslated in the English version, unlike the rest of the song.
** The DJ in "DJ School" speaks entirely in short English phrases like "let's go," "check it out," and the ever-popular "break, c'mon, ooh! Sukuratcho, hey!"
** The background music for the Honeybee Remix in ''Rhythm Heaven Megamix'' is also in English. Mostly SurprisinglyGoodEnglish, except for a bit where the singer slips up and clearly says [[JapaneseRanguage "beautifur"]].

** "I'm a Lady Now" from ''Megamix'' is entirely in ([[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish actually pretty decent]]) English, which was left as-is in the international release.

** More ''X-Men'' engrish: the first Japanese theme song produced when [[WesternAnimation/XMen the '90s animated series]] was brought to Japan has a few random English phrases. The most obvious one is at the end where the singer practically screams with much gusto the line "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6hB33rUQTQ CRY FOR THE MOON!]]"

* Creator/{{Taito}} was particularly notorious for this in their arcade games in the 1980s. Notable examples include the opening screens for both ''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'' and ''Volfied''. Although one game, Rastan Saga (or just "Rastan" depending on the version) does have [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish the other kind of English]].

* In a similar vein, Sodom from the ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' and ''Videogame/StreetFighter'' games is an American who's trying to be Japanese. He actually ''inverts'' the trope because he never speaks English, but instead speaks Gratuitous ''Japanese'' by mashing English words together that sound like Japanese phrases. For example, when trying to say "shoushi senban" (meaning "truly pathetic") he says "SHOW SEA SEND BANG!"

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Several of the first generation mons' Japanese names are simply English words, like Spear (Beedrill), Fire, Thunder and Freezer (Respectively Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno), or Sleep and Sleeper (Drowzee and Hypno).

** [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown Samurai Shodown IV]] instead proudly proclaims "VICTOLY!"

* The ending from the first ''VideoGame/{{Metroid|1}}'' game is written entirely in dodgy English even in the Japanese version. The American version only removed an extraneous "the".
-->"Great !! You fulfiled your mission. It will revive peace in space. But,it may be invaded by the other Metroid. Pray for a true peace in (the) space!"