Japanese Niche Games Deals & Discussion Thread 4.0

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shivan128

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Welcome to the Japanese niche games deals and discussion thread!  Feel free to talk about local and import Japanese games here.  Our goal is to maintain a thread dedicated to active deals on niche games including RPGs, Visual Novels (VN), Shoot'em ups (Shmups), Musou, etc.  Also maintained are pre-orders for standard, limited and collector's edition games with key release dates provided.

I've wikified the thread to make it more friendly and open to others that can actively update with important information. You can find the wiki post directly below this one.

NOTE:  Please, leave the censorship discussion away from this thread.  It's common for japanese games to have questionable content outside of the country.  We want to keep discussions to the game itself and not about cultural/societal tolerance.

A message from Thorbahn:

Our CAG Japanese Niche Games Thread also has a community on PS4, where you can interact and game with other members of the thread.

Our moderators are: Draekon, Las_Hole, and Waffleswanton

You can basically friend any of our members, or any moderator, and you will be able to request to join the community under "Communities friends are in" tab, and a mod will approve your request.

You can also leave your PSN ID in the thread, saying you want to join, and we can invite you directly as well.

As always, have fun and enjoy your stay!

 
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The first game had issues on the first release and the second release that they refused to fix (corrupted saves and crashes), so I avoided the second game like the plague.

 
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I played through the first one on PS3, and found it interesting and comical, but a bit monotonous in gameplay.  I don't remember it being terribly hard.  It crashed probably 3 times in the playthrough, which was annoying (but I save often, so wasn't that bad.)  As a comparison, Secret of Mana definitely crashed more times for me, even after some of the updates.  I did hear about save corruption when I looked into my first crash, and just saved in three slots round-robin, but never actually had a problem.

Have not played the second, but hope that helps on crashiness if it's the same as the first.

-[Unknown]

 
So I was watching a stream called Spawn Cast last night and the youtuber RGT85 said that Chorno Cross Radical Dreamers for switch physical leaked on playasia. Is this true? When I looked all I could find was Front Mission 1 physical and Psychonauts 2 physical.

 
Thanks for pointing out the Pokemon $19.99 game. I saw it on Wario64 Twitter as well and have been waiting for a good price, since it rarely goes down. I almost bit on that one in the buy 2 get 1 free Target deal. Just hoping for a complete copy.

 
gospelman said:
Any input on how these are quality wise? Not really a pokemon guy (have only played Detective Pikachu) but am open to grabbing one to share with my nephews if they're actually decent games.
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I have played all of them sans this one, so my views aren't 100%. In these games you have a team of pokemon walk one tile at a time in a dungeon turn based and are able to use moves like in the Pokemon games (like fireball). I believe they simplified this version to where the game automatically selects which of these 4 moves to use in a situation such as offense on enemy pokemon. I believe if you beat them in the dungeon you can catch them. The dungeons have levels and usually end up at a boss or a quest trigger. They're a simpler Shiren the Wanderer game and are considered roguelike dungeon crawlers. I love these, although this one may be too simplified and easy compared to the ones I've played. Also forgot to say but your mc is turned into a pokemon. The differences between this remake and the old version are linked here.

 
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I played through the Triangle Strategy Prologue Demo this weekend. Was trying to determine if I want to shell out $130 on the imported UK CE I have preordered.
I went in wanting to like it as I really enjoy FFT. Overall I was pretty underwhelmed. The biggest positive is that did enjoy what I saw of battle mechanics. the different kinds of units all seemed well balanced and useful in their own way. There are some interesting, detailed mechanics you don't get to fully explore in the demo. For example, if you cast an ice spell, nearby squares can become frozen, reducing mobility. If frozen tiles get nuked by fire magic, those spaces then become puddles.. which in turn amplifies future lightning magic. There is a significant branching decision in Chapter 2 and I played through each version of Chapter 3 to experience both options. By the end of Chapter 3 (where the demo ends) there was enough worldbuilding to be slightly interesting. Specifically how there are nations ostensibly built upon contrasting values (absolute equality, absolute freedom).

That said, I found the characters and dialogue to range from mildly to severely boring. One problem is that the voicework seems to be produced very poorly, with a lot of lines being muttered dully. Also the soundtrack, from what is heard in the demo, really needs to be engaging to capture interest in a text & grid based game. Sadly I found it pretty forgettable. Falls well short of FFT and even something like the more recent Octopath Traveler.

Based on the demo, I might be willing to give the full game another shot (below $20 or gamepass) but likely won't cough up enough for the CE.
 
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gospelman said:
I played through the Triangle Strategy Prologue Demo this weekend. Was trying to determine if I want to shell out $130 on the imported UK CE I have preordered.
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I'm not quite as unimpressed as you. I agree with the music.

I think it has potential and reminds me of Fire Emblem x Final Fantasy Tactics (and Advance). There's definitely a lot of lore dump in the demo. The pink haired thing reminds me of FFTA too.

I'm less of a fan of some of the jobs. So far, the healer is underwhelming because she heals for like 25 hp when items heal for 50. Anna seems to be extremely OP so far (dodge is above average, 2 actions a turn so she can also use 2 heal items, or heal and attack, or attack twice, etc.). Tanks aren't beefy enough in the demo (at least on hard), and a provoke will pretty much leave them dead before their next turn.

Fire magic is nice too, so far. Lance is nice but if you're hitting 2 people, you don't trigger assists, so that's a downside.

Buying skills is interesting. You get like 1 speed stat for example, and that seems to be it. And the cost seems to rise really fast. Like you need 2 iron for the first, 6 for the second, etc.

Music is... I can't remember the music at all.

That said, I'm likely playing it near release. I was never interested in the CE anyway.

 
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I was reminded today that Nippon Ichi Software’s first ever SRPG was called [customspoiler=Angel Blade.]
37424_jp-Angel-Blade-Neo-Tokyo-Guardians.jpg
[/customspoiler]

No relation.
 
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That's a shame about Triangle Strategy's music, considering Octopath Traveler had an amazing soundtrack. The way the event music would lead into the boss theme made the dramatic moments in the story hit so right. My personal favorite is Olberic's "For Redemption" leading into "Decisive Battle II":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18tp3ZHXzl4

I haven't tried the Triangle Strategy demo because I've already decided to wait for a sale to buy it. I've got way too many games to play as it is and I'm worried about how many people are saying the beginning is really slow. As I've gotten older, I'm really losing my patience for games that take a long time to start. I don't even mind if a game takes 50-100 hours to beat, as long as you get right into it within the first hour or two (or, in the case of something like the Persona series, if the slow beginning is at least interesting). I was so relieved when I started Pokemon Legends Arceus and discovered the tutorial was only a little longwinded, then you were just thrown to your own devices. I'm nearly 100 hours on my save file and almost have a complete dex. It's been my drug lately lol

 
gospelman said:
Just noticed this today on gmg XP page.
attachicon.gif
ccgmg.png
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Looks the steam version of CC remaster is now $14.99 for Gold XP members. I rarely do digital preorders but I think I'm going to pull the trigger. If someone else is interested at $15 but doesn't have gmg gold, pm me as apparently I can share the 25% promo with 5 people.

 
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You have to go to the gold membership page and claim the 25% discount there. The regular page only gives the 20% off.

 
super1upqueen said:
I haven't tried the Triangle Strategy demo because I've already decided to wait for a sale to buy it. I've got way too many games to play as it is and I'm worried about how many people are saying the beginning is really slow. As I've gotten older, I'm really losing my patience for games that take a long time to start. I don't even mind if a game takes 50-100 hours to beat, as long as you get right into it within the first hour or two
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I haven't bothered with the Triangle Strategy demo simply because the games I've tried from Tomoya Asano have some very interesting battle mechanics but they tend to lack on exploration, world, story, and characters,... which makes them no fun to me. This one sounds like it'll fall into the same camp based on others feedback. Even though it's a different developer, it's still the same dude running the development.

At my age (48), I need games to at least tick a few boxes of what I love in gaming to get me on board. I too don't mind putting a lot of time in for a game (like 120+ into Xenoblade Chronicles 2... before playing Torna) if it's completely enjoyable.

 
Starcrest said:
I knew about this deal, but I was waiting for you to tell us if these are good games worth playing.
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Honestly this looks more like some maybe lower quality RPGMaker type games in this. Livestream actually isn't 18+ but seems like a quality horror/adventure game. Easily the best thing in the bundle, but the other games look to be of the average to below average quality.

 
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DesertLeo said:
Thanks for the heads up! For $21.xx shipped that's good enough for me.
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Yeah, if I were a Disgaea fan this would have been a no brainer purchase.

beenaround said:
I couldn't deal with the dips down to what had to be 15 fps or so on the Switch version, downright pathetic how poorly it ran.
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I don't own it but I read a while back that there is a setting that needs to be flipped to "performance mode" and that helps the framerate considerably on the switch version.

 
Last day to get free DLC for Demon Gaze Extra on PS4:

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000004

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000005

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000006

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000007

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000008

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000001

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000002

And on Switch:

https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/demon-gaze-extra-switch/dlc/

I haven't been able to purchase free DLCs for a while from Nintendo from webstore for a little while now. Usually worked when I change from using Chrome to Edge, but still no dice, so maybe it's related to Nintendo changing their webstore recently or if the game needs to be owned to claim.

 
I claimed the DLC on Switch without owning the game. This was a few weeks ago. The game is way overpriced though IMHO. Should have launched at $40.

 
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eternalblue81 said:
Last day to get free DLC for Demon Gaze Extra on PS4:

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000004
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000005
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000006
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000007
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000008
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000001
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP5946-CUSA30305_00-DGEXDLC000000002

And on Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/demon-gaze-extra-switch/dlc/

I haven't been able to purchase free DLCs for a while from Nintendo from webstore for a little while now. Usually worked when I change from using Chrome to Edge, but still no dice, so maybe it's related to Nintendo changing their webstore recently or if the game needs to be owned to claim.
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None of the links work for me I guess I missed it. Somehow I didn't hear about the free dlc until now.
 
So I took a little bit of a risk and ordered new copies for both The Caligula Effect 2 (PS4) and Sakura Wars from GameStop (because I had credit). Both came sealed and Sakura Wars is the launch edition (although I think all copies are probably the launch edition). I preferred a physical copy for Sakura Wars even though the digital version has been cheaper recently because the physical version comes with the better exclusive DLC out of the two. Physical = theater outfit set. Digital = neko ears. Crazy that you would have to buy the game twice, get the digital deluxe dlc bundle, AND buy the loungewear dlc just to have every single dlc
 
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My first thought when I learned about the 3DS e-shop closing was Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition would probably go up. Sure enough, cheapest one on eBay has 20+ bids and is at $650. Want to say it was $300-$350 a little while ago. Glad I got mine when I did.

I wonder if any other games come installed with DLC.
 
Quick question, can i import an asia english switch game and purchase DLC while living in a different region? I'm just thinking ahead to a possible Dragon Quest X asia english physical release

 
nagpo said:
Quick question, can i import an asia english switch game and purchase DLC while living in a different region? I'm just thinking ahead to a possible Dragon Quest X asia english physical release
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Here is a link explaining the process. You can redeem it quite easily if it's like a DLC code, if you have an account for that region. This also works well for free DLC. Otherwise you need to buy eShop cards for that region, add the funds to your wallet through that region's account, and then buy it. I have a JPN and Hong Kong account as well. The main issue is Malaysia doesn't have it's own eShop, so the DLC may be compatible from the JPN version or the Hong Kong one. I generally prefer getting stuff on PSN if possible as the DLC is an easier beast to conquer, as Malyasia has its own store and PSN cards. My Switch has 3 different region accounts on it, and switching between them is as easy as switching the user.

 
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detsportsfan3 said:
My first thought when I learned about the 3DS e-shop closing was Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition would probably go up. Sure enough, cheapest one on eBay has 20+ bids and is at $650. Want to say it was $300-$350 a little while ago. Glad I got mine when I did.
I wonder if any other games come installed with DLC.
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Woof. And just think that will probably only go up until the bubble breaks.
 
Atelier Sophie 2 and Blue Reflection Second Light still have a couple LEs in stock at the NISA store.

Aside from the physical items, they each have an exclusive costume, a Ryza themed one for BR, Sophie's 2nd costume from the first game for Sophie 2.

 
bappt said:
Atelier Sophie 2 and Blue Reflection Second Light still have a couple LEs in stock at the NISA store.

Aside from the physical items, they each have an exclusive costume, a Ryza themed one for BR, Sophie's 2nd costume from the first game for Sophie 2.
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I enjoyed Sophie more then Ryza, so I'm getting this game (AS2), but I couldn't spend 120 on that CE. I probably would have spent 100, but eh.

 
detsportsfan3 said:
My first thought when I learned about the 3DS e-shop closing was Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition would probably go up. Sure enough, cheapest one on eBay has 20+ bids and is at $650. Want to say it was $300-$350 a little while ago. Glad I got mine when I did.

I wonder if any other games come installed with DLC.
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I thought the same thing lol I'm curious to see how high it goes. I'm reluctant to sell mine since I'm a hoarder collector, but it's technically my husband's and he said he'd be fine with selling it since it wasn't his favorite Fire Emblem. But still, it's so cool to have. It'll be wild watching it increase in value (until people stop caring about it or if there's a Switch port/remake).

 
I would guess when the next main Fire Emblem entry is announced that it may go up, especially if the 3DS store is closed by that point

 
super1upqueen said:
I thought the same thing lol I'm curious to see how high it goes. I'm reluctant to sell mine since I'm a hoarder collector, but it's technically my husband's and he said he'd be fine with selling it since it wasn't his favorite Fire Emblem.
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I own the SE cart and this is pretty much exactly how I feel about it as well. My experience with Birthright wasn't amazing, and I have yet to want to revisit it to play through Conquest and/or Revelations. I'd rather play Awakening or Echoes again.

My primary gaming display (55" samsung ks8500) apparently just went out when I tried to start playing Robotics;Notes Elite. Crazy vertical bleeding/banding kicks in after 5 min. So yeah, might be selling that Fates SE to offset replacement cost. At least it waited to die until I finished my time with the Hajimari no Kiseki I imported. Handhelds only for now, so back to GAA Chronicles.

 
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I have to agree with gospelman, I was really unimpressed with the Fates "trilogy." Conquest had some fun maps but pretty much everything else about the games was forgettable. I understand the reason the SE is spiking isn't related to quality, just makes me wish I'd held onto my copy instead of selling it out of disappointment after I finished. C'est la vie I suppose.

 
I definitely agree there.  between the maps and lackluster plot and characters it was overall a disappointment.  Though by far I miss the skill/ability system from path of radiance and radiant dawn the most. Having unique skills that were beneficial on units really helped them stand out and many of them had combos or were incredibly handy just to have unlike anything not galeforce from awakening on. 

I will give fates props for the capture mechanic though as being able to recruit bosses and other enemy units is highly unique. 

 
detsportsfan3 said:
My first thought when I learned about the 3DS e-shop closing was Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition would probably go up. Sure enough, cheapest one on eBay has 20+ bids and is at $650. Want to say it was $300-$350 a little while ago. Glad I got mine when I did.

I wonder if any other games come installed with DLC.
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Man I'm extremely glad I got a loose copy back from it's first release. I called to see if my local store could ask another if their copy could get transfered to mine and I wasn't expecting it to happen but they somehow agreed and I got it for $50 with rewards and a birthday coupon.

I still am sad that I never got the original artwork and case for it but hearing this news has me feeling better about it all.
 
GeeWiz said:
Man I'm extremely glad I got a loose copy back from it's first release. I called to see if my local store could ask another if their copy could get transfered to mine and I wasn't expecting it to happen but they somehow agreed and I got it for $50 with rewards and a birthday coupon.

I still am sad that I never got the original artwork and case for it but hearing this news has me feeling better about it all.
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This game brings back memories. BestBuy send me an email saying my credit card was invalid and had to be changed- I couldn't figure out why and they could only tell me the system told them I was using a invalid payment. I tried other credit cards, same things. A CAG here had the same problem and said it they thought it was something to due to the a law that required that all cards have chips, for which... BestBuy's system/policy was screwed up and killed any credit cards that expired after 12/31/2015 and did not have the chip. A week later, BB canceled my pre-order because I didn't have a valid payment method (and 2 of the credit card companies agreed to send me a new card, but it would take weeks to process). I ended up paying $220-ish a few months later for a used copy on eBay because I figured it would keep going up. I never thought though, the impact on physical games after these digital stores closing... guess I lucked out.

 
gospelman said:
I own the SE cart and this is pretty much exactly how I feel about it as well. My experience with Birthright wasn't amazing, and I have yet to want to revisit it to play through Conquest and/or Revelations. I'd rather play Awakening or Echoes again.

My primary gaming display (55" samsung ks8500) apparently just went out when I tried to start playing Robotics;Notes Elite. Crazy vertical bleeding/banding kicks in after 5 min. So yeah, might be selling that Fates SE to offset replacement cost. At least it waited to die until I finished my time with the Hajimari no Kiseki I imported. Handhelds only for now, so back to GAA Chronicles.
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I have a TV from that family too, and it drives me nuts.

TV rant

Control over HDMI is wonky and makes no sense / doesn't play nicely with the consoles or have the granularity to customize like other TV's I've used (turn on TV, console turns on. Turn off console and then turn TV off, oh you want me to turn that console on for you? I got you. Then the console turns the TV back on. I just turned it all off, but it was convenient on my prior TV and worked well), frequently would just fail to connect to my receiver for ARC and need power cycling (which is digging behind furniture and physically unplugging because the power button just down sleep mode).

Firmware updates introduced ads that weren't there when I bought it, and also introduced an annoying regression where Red/Blue color separation for a few frames that occurs in game mode / HDR content. Just randomly maybe every hour or few hours.

The parental controls are also stupid. You can only lock apps that are already downloaded with a PIN, there is no way to stop a new app download and it doesn't require an account of any kind, and the new app defaults to unlocked. So if I want to block all the random weirdo porn apps just in case a kid decides to check one out (also wouldn't be surprised if they were basically malware). I can't, unless I download them all and lock them, but then they're sitting in the list of apps.

TV is awful, enjoy your replacement. Haha.

 
I remember when the fates ce preorders went up... I actually drove to a gamestop and preordered a copy that day during my lunch break as everywhere online had them go quick.  I think I might have even paid in full.  When released, I got the call mine was in and I dropped everything... left work... and got to the store.  I was one of a couple people at the store that had preordered and the person behind the counter was congratulating me on the purchase... and how lucky I was.

The irony is I don't even care for FE... I just bought it for my oldest son to play as there was no way I would buy three versions of the same game and I hated the whole idea of one part being digital only.    I also got the bonus keychains that GS gave for preorders.    I may sell my copy off at some point.... unless I just let my son keep it.

Being a stickler for physical games has often paid off well like this.

 
Vigilante said:
No need to monitor Play-Asia for an Asian English copy of Live A Live because it looks like we're getting it:

https://www.amazon.com/LIVE-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B09T1D8JJ5
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:D/

Live A Live is something high on my radar of possible purchases this year. I don't care about graphics updates (It could be a bonus) ... the concept of the game where different styles of rpg set are set in different time periods and broken up by chapters is the selling point for me. (EDIT) Grabbed the sfc version with english translation to throw on my SNES classic to check it out and if it seems great, then buy the Switch version when it releases in July (will wait for BB to list it or walmart if they carry it in store).

 
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Some decent prices in today's psn sale stack with an extra ps+ discount.  Demon Gaze II is $5.99.  VIIR is $7.49.  My ps+ isn't active and I have both physical discs, but these might be good pickups for someone.

 
https://twitter.com/kagakuadv/status/1496500596031078403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1496500596031078403%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

 
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