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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Got the Senran Kagura Estival Versus LE from Gamestop today, packaging looks like it exploded. So a warning, don't buy from Gamestop if possible. Probably too late for that though. Everything inside is unsealed though.

Got the Asuka cards, nice but I love Yumi more.

 
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BlackRockWaifu said:
Got the Senran Kagura Estival Versus LE from Gamestop today, packaging looks like it exploded. So a warning, don't buy from Gamestop if possible. Probably too late for that though. Everything inside is unsealed though.
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Sounds like Gamestop is being consistent as always.

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
Got the Senran Kagura Estival Versus LE from Gamestop today, packaging looks like it exploded. So a warning, don't buy from Gamestop if possible. Probably too late for that though. Everything inside is unsealed though.

Got the Asuka cards, nice but I love Yumi more.
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Kind of want a picture of that....just for kicks. I think the most damaged thing I ever received was a Growlanser Heritage of Time (Garbage) PS2 game.... top of box looked like an accordion.

 
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BlackRockWaifu said:
Got the Senran Kagura Estival Versus LE from Gamestop today, packaging looks like it exploded. So a warning, don't buy from Gamestop if possible. Probably too late for that though. Everything inside is unsealed though.

Got the Asuka cards, nice but I love Yumi more.
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Yumi is a lot harder to find. I had to go to several GameStops before I found one.
 
dios said:
Sounds like Gamestop is being consistent as always.
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Yeah, ordering online is a complete roll of the dice, ALWAYS! I've seen guys get everything in proper cases with sleeves, and then orders that barely qualify as a retail game.

I used to take gambles now and then, as I had a friend who was a manager where I could go and swap shit out or whatever. Well, last Friday was his last day, so now I'll be sticking to in store purchases only, where I know specifically what I'm getting.

 
nitrosmob said:
Kind of want a picture of that....just for kicks. I think the most damaged thing I ever received was a Growlanser Heritage of Time (Garbage) PS2 game.... top of box looked like an accordion.
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I might have exaggerated a little, but as you can see, the entire top of the shrink wrap is ripped off, and the top cover popped off. Was like that in the package.

LmXVGfk.jpg


N5Zgn3z.jpg

That said, maybe it just wasn't my week for packages, my KOF 14 CE from Amazon also got crushed.

xHXZFLq.jpg

I end up throwing most of these boxes out anyway, so I don't really care too much. As long as the inner contents are fine. Just find it strange how it can come in a cardboard box with air bags and still end up like that. Obviously an employee tampered with it, probably switched my dear Yumi with an Asuka (Ryona is still my fav bae) but did he/she not think I would mind the CE looking like that?

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
I might have exaggerated a little, but as you can see, the entire top of the shrink wrap is ripped off, and the top cover popped off. Was like that in the package.

LmXVGfk.jpg


N5Zgn3z.jpg

That said, maybe it just wasn't my week for packages, my KOF 14 CE from Amazon also got crushed.

xHXZFLq.jpg

I end up throwing most of these boxes out anyway, so I don't really care too much. As long as the inner contents are fine. Just find it strange how it can come in a cardboard box with air bags and still end up like that. Obviously an employee tampered with it, probably switched my dear Yumi with an Asuka (Ryona is still my fav bae) but did he/she not think I would mind the CE looking like that?
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My SK came like your KoF. Not COMPLETELY crushed but still obviously apparent. I think it was because the top portion of the box was so empty that any kind of movement in the box created squishing of it.
 
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There's a bunch of rpgs on sale on psn and yet I came here and see no posts mentioning it.  

Anywho I snagged chrono trigger and suikoden 3 out of the sale since everything else I already had.

besides that

okage

wild arms 3

grandia 3

grandia 1

xenogears

legend of dragoon

ff5

rogue galaxy

are all on sale as well.

 
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Bronson ! said:
how are the grandia games? i haven't played any and am willing to buy any of them during this sale.
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1 is alright just really really reallly long due to the dozens of long ass dungeons you go through for no reason. I also felt that the beginning was a strong start but tapered off really quickly because of the poor pacing. Voice work was surprisingly good for a ps1 game.

3 people say has the best gameplay but the worst story and characters.

Word to wise both feature temp party members so make sure to look them up in advance so as not to waste time and items on them.

 
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Got my 2 Zero Time Dilemma watches in today. One has a broken case and one has a button that is just bouncing around in the case, and both are scuffed to hell and covered with sticky marks and shit.

The hell did Amazon/Aksys do to these things? Atleast I can use the one decent case to replace the totally broken one my first had since that watch was pristine

 
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SgtWiggles said:
Got my 2 Zero Time Dilemma watches in today. One has a broken case and one has a button that is just bouncing around in the case, and both are scuffed to hell and covered with sticky marks and shit.

The hell did Amazon/Aksys do to these things? Atleast I can use the one decent case to replace the totally broken one my first had since that watch was pristine
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While the button and case issues are a different story the "scuff marks" are probably the ones that were intentionally manufactured on the watched to give them a more worn look.
 
kmitchell28 said:
While the button and case issues are a different story the "scuff marks" are probably the ones that were intentionally manufactured on the watched to give them a more worn look.
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Scuff marks on the actual case I meant, like deep scratches and shit. My other watch looks the same as these two.

Just sucks since the last watch was in such a nice case suitable for display

 
Bronson ! said:
how are the grandia games? i haven't played any and am willing to buy any of them during this sale.
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GOATest turn based combat in a JRPG. Story is pretty cookie cutter bleh. But it's worth it for the gameplay.

I hear reports that if you buy the SAO:Hollow Realization Deluxe Launch Bundle for vita on PSN, you also get the PS4 version for free due to a store error. Not sure if it's still effective and don't take my word for it, but something to check out if you were planning to get the game anyway.

 
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Bronson ! said:
how are the grandia games? i haven't played any and am willing to buy any of them during this sale.
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Grandia 2 is one of my favorite JRPGs of all time. Music is great, battle system is wonderful, and I loved the overall look of it. I kept hearing how the PS2 version was a terrible port, but I never played it. Dreamcast one was silky smooth.

 
The Dead Texan said:
Grandia 2 is one of my favorite JRPGs of all time. Music is great, battle system is wonderful, and I loved the overall look of it. I kept hearing how the PS2 version was a terrible port, but I never played it. Dreamcast one was silky smooth.
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PS2 does have some slowdown, but being a turn based game it's not really that big a deal. Grandia II isn't on PSN anyway, only the first and III are. III runs great and the battle system is just as good but the story and characters are meh.

 
shadowysea07 said:
There's a bunch of rpgs on sale on psn and yet I came here and see no posts mentioning it.

Anywho I snagged chrono trigger and suikoden 3 out of the sale since everything else I already had.

besides that

okage

wild arms 3

grandia 3

grandia 1

xenogears

legend of dragoon

ff5

rogue galaxy

are all on sale as well.
Click to expand...
Anyone know if the load times are improved in Okage? It was a very early PS2 title and they killed the game back then, but I've been curious if they are better on the PS4.

Also word of warning - not an RPG, but I picked up Ape Escape 2 from the sale and it's the EU version. Same game, but different voice actors (and not nearly as good IMO).

 
Soma_Cruz said:
PS2 does have some slowdown, but being a turn based game it's not really that big a deal. Grandia II isn't on PSN anyway, only the first and III are. III runs great and the battle system is just as good but the story and characters are meh.
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The best way to play it would be on the HD pc port anyway.

 
argyle said:
Anyone know if the load times are improved in Okage? It was a very early PS2 title and they killed the game back then, but I've been curious if they are better on the PS4.

Also word of warning - not an RPG, but I picked up Ape Escape 2 from the sale and it's the EU version. Same game, but different voice actors (and not nearly as good IMO).
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Did you play it on a slim ps2? As the loading times wern't very bad when I played it a few years back. The loading times are also the least of the games problems >.> Not like they were last remnant 360 tier where you have time to make a sandwich, go the bathroom and probably a couple other things inbetween.

 
 
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I got this email earlier this morning from Amazon:

The NES Classic will be available for sale at 2:00 P.M. PT on Friday, November 11. Purchases are limited to one per customer, and 1-Click Ordering will be disabled for this item. Please make sure you've updated your credit card and shipping information to help you move quickly through the checkout process. We have very limited quantities of this item, however we will be receiving additional quantities over the coming weeks. Please act quickly at 2:00 p.m. PT on Friday for your best chance at buying an NES Classic.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/ref=pe_195680_214739220_pe_button/?ASIN=B01IFJBQ1E

Also, somewhat unrelated. Overwatch is having a free weekend next weekend on the 18th to the 21st.

[customspoiler='More unrelated Overwatch that some may enjoy']
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkrUEpJ3S2E[/customspoiler]

 
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kintanos said:
Nice, which days are you going? I will probably be stopping by there for a few days next month also.
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Cool! I'll be there from December 17th through January 2nd.

Also, I just noticed the Mousepad CE for Fate/Extella back in stock on Amiami....but I already have the Regular PS4 CE ordered.....I'm tempted to get the mousepad one, but I don't need 2 PS4 copies.....decisions :/

 
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Been playing some Criminal Girls 2. It feels more grindy than the original. I had to grind a while to get through every girl's first phase motivation and it seemed to take a long while. I also didn't like that as you got lower in the skill tree for the specific motivation that the motivation required more and more things to take care of. I do like it shows more of the motivation, but it makes them last longer, so that's not great. Also the bosses are a beast and they made some skills like the group defend cost MP so the boss fights are harder. I'm not liking the story as much either, but the animations are improved and it's still pretty good. I also find it funny that one of the girls says oh man i'm so weak and she is my strongest fighter LOL.

The item limit seems a lot higher (which is good) and I'm not much of a fan of the coach motivation. Adds extra steps to normal fights that seem to just bloat the fighting system. I don't feel it's a train wreck like some other reviewers do, but I dislike that the grind seems much higher. It may be just me but it takes more motivation sessions to get skills too. Just a pain, but I will keep playing.

 
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nitrosmob said:
Been playing some Criminal Girls 2. It feels more grindy than the original. I had to grind a while to get through every girl's first phase motivation and it seemed to take a long while. I also didn't like that as you got lower in the skill tree for the specific motivation that the motivation required more and more things to take care of. I do like it shows more of the motivation, but it makes them last longer, so that's not great. Also the bosses are a beast and they made some skills like the group defend cost MP so the boss fights are harder. I'm not liking the story as much either, but the animations are improved and it's still pretty good. I also find it funny that one of the girls says oh man i'm so weak and she is my strongest fighter LOL.

The item limit seems a lot higher (which is good) and I'm not much of a fan of the coach motivation. Adds extra steps to normal fights that seem to just bloat the fighting system. I don't feel it's a train wreck like some other reviewers do, but I dislike that the grind seems much higher. It may be just me but it takes more motivation sessions to get skills too. Just a pain, but I will keep playing.
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That's good to know. I'm on my Nightmare playthrough for Trails of Cold Steel II, so it'll be some time before I start GC2, but I've been looking forward to it. I really enjoyed the first game and do remember some serious grind leveling before bosses, and especially at the end of the game for the girls' specific endings. It's nice to know about certain things beforehand, so thanks for the mini-review.

 
Cloyd said:
That's good to know. I'm on my Nightmare playthrough for Trails of Cold Steel II, so it'll be some time before I start GC2, but I've been looking forward to it. I really enjoyed the first game and do remember some serious grind leveling before bosses, and especially at the end of the game for the girls' specific endings. It's nice to know about certain things beforehand, so thanks for the mini-review.
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Oh that grind at the end of Criminal Girls 1 is torture. I remember getting used to that command and hearing that girl scream luring more monsters. I'm still not done with the platinum. The grind is real....though I need to finish off the last part.
I had everyone in their final form and was about to do the extra girls....but too much grinding for the moment.

I was a huge defender of Criminal Girls 1 and thought the story was pretty good and the gameplay fun even with some grinding. I don't know why it feels so much more grindy for the sequel. I do like the S&M system of skills and you can change them anytime. I recommend this for boss fights since you usually want certain skills for those and the attack all skills are usually worthless there.

 
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Hmm so no niche games or vita games for blackfriday so far. Theres still gamestop, they usually have a tales game or something niche on sale.
 
 
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