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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gospelman said:
Any idea how much shipping will be? The fact that amiami doesn't give you shipping upfront has led me to never actually complete an order with them.
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I always use DHL. I am going to guess in the high 2,000JPY range. I think you can email them for a shipping quote.

 
Nothing- said:
I had no idea there was a DQ3 remake coming. That's pretty cool! I much prefer the tradtional NES Dragon Warrior graphics and presentation and the mobile version (Switch) didn't really bother me at all. It feels about 60% faithful to what I expected. A lot of the icons and pixel art loosely resembles the original version. The presentation is not as bad or jarring as I found some of the DS and mobile Final Fantasy games. I also don't know that I would have wanted to play the game outside of its original 2D, top-down look.

Just thinking about these things makes me want to purchase very good condition copies of all four original NES games. Maybe the Super Famicom bootleg ones with English translations as well. Perhaps one day when I hit it big with the lottery. God that is some of the best fantasy box art of all-time. Dragon Warrior 2 was my most magical RPG growing up and its difficulty and secrets are what really got me into fantasy role-playing games, and traditional jrpgs. It was hard as hell; progression felt meaningful.

Didn't really have another experience like that until King's Field 1 on PS1. And guess what. That turned out to be From Software's first game. Unreal!
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The 3 remake was announced during the big DQ event where they revealed Treasures, XII, and a bunch of other DQ games.

Dragon Warrior 2 for me as well was magical. PIcked it up back when rental stores were a thing and they were liquidating their NES games off as they stopped making enough in rental income. I sold off my NES library but kept the hardware. I've thought often of possibly grabbing the NES games even if for just the shelf or display.

These games were part of my thinking in getting the nes classic and snes classic (once the nes was hacked) because I can kind of recreate the experience of playing that stuff on the cheap. Or I could just go with an everdrive (or whatever) cart and play on the original hardware.

The GBC versions are also pretty faithful for 1&2 as well as 3. 3 has some bonus content (I think?).

 
Mattiful-Joe said:
I wonder how badly this bombed. It feels like the game just came and went. I think Sega has come out publicly about its poor reception.
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They took a bit to drop in price so I'm not sure. But it also depends on how much it sold vs what people think it should have sold. As if it sold even 100k that's far more than the average smt does outside of Persona series. If they were expecting p5 numbers that's pretty unrealistic.
 
I know we are mostly about our physical stuff here... but Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is kind of tempting digital.  I loved those games back in the day.  It's $11.99 until the 8th 11:59pm PT on eshop.  This is another situation where I could just emulate and forget it especially since the QOL improvements aren't really that important.  I recently played through Trip World (gb emulated on unmodded new 3ds xl with a R4 cart) and was perfectly fine with that.  Still, nostalgia pulls the ole heart strings.

Here's the reddit thread with all the SE stuff on sale (no not the FF pixel remasters)

https://old.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitchDeals/comments/131zf8s/eshopusa_square_enix_sale_up_to_70_ends_05092023/

 
Apropos of nothing, I just played an actually hard Kirby game. In the original’s extra mode, Dedede was kicking my ass all over the place. Granted, it was primarily difficult due to Dedede’s accelerated speed and lower downtime between attacks combined with Kirby being generally kinda unresponsive in the first game. Takes him probably close to a second or so before you can spit out something you’ve sucked up, which is a long time when you’ve got a giant angry bird that can chain his own suck attack almost immediately after landing a hammer strike. The rest of the extra mode is manageably difficult, but that last fight is a little unbalanced.
 
Souffrir said:
Apropos of nothing, I just played an actually hard Kirby game. In the original’s extra mode, Dedede was kicking my ass all over the place. Granted, it was primarily difficult due to Dedede’s accelerated speed and lower downtime between attacks combined with Kirby being generally kinda unresponsive in the first game. Takes him probably close to a second or so before you can spit out something you’ve sucked up, which is a long time when you’ve got a giant angry bird that can chain his own suck attack almost immediately after landing a hammer strike. The rest of the extra mode is manageably difficult, but that last fight is a little unbalanced.
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Original as in the NES game? I should play that one of these days... I played DreamLand 1 and 2 on the GB back in the day and I think those were reasonably easy for the time, like easier than the Mario/Wario Lands.

 
Vinny said:
Original as in the NES game? I should play that one of these days... I played DreamLand 1 and 2 on the GB back in the day and I think those were reasonably easy for the time, like easier than the Mario/Wario Lands.
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Original as in the first Kirby game, Dream Land 1. The normal game is easy, but completing it gives you a code to unlock Extra Mode, which replaces many of the enemies with tougher versions, some of which do more damage, often in places that make it harder to avoid taking damage. It also changes the attacks and boosts the speed of the bosses. It’s not Ninja Gaiden or anything and it offers infinite continues, but I’d say it is actually difficult, which is not what I expected out of a Kirby game.
 
nightc1 said:
I know we are mostly about our physical stuff here... but Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is kind of tempting digital. I loved those games back in the day. It's $11.99 until the 8th 11:59pm PT on eshop. This is another situation where I could just emulate and forget it especially since the QOL improvements aren't really that important. I recently played through Trip World (gb emulated on unmodded new 3ds xl with a R4 cart) and was perfectly fine with that. Still, nostalgia pulls the ole heart strings.

Here's the reddit thread with all the SE stuff on sale (no not the FF pixel remasters)

https://old.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitchDeals/comments/131zf8s/eshopusa_square_enix_sale_up_to_70_ends_05092023/
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Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend sounds like a poorly titled Chinese bootleg.

 
My two FF pixel remaster copies from PA are finally here.

Positives:
Shipped in a box
Gold coins redeemed to my NA account with no problem
Character sprites on the inside of the cover art is a nice touch (NA copies don't have this, if what I read is correct)

Negatives:
4 of the 6 games have patches already.
The first print bonus or whatever is just a set of codes to enter on the SE website to download wallpapers.
 
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Many prices particularly on the PSN/eShop are very stagnant by now. Generally newer releases get about 15-20% off if you're lucky. Many discount top out around 50-60% unless the games are pretty old. On PC the discounts are generally better, but still discounting at a slower rate. It also doesn't help that physical copies for niche games generally make it to around the $25-$30 mark if you're lucky. Most seem to top around the $40 mark.

It also doesn't help that digital games generally cost around the price of the physical copies sans limited game productions of course. An example of this is the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster price compared to digital. I know recently I got the Prinny Collection volume 3 physical, as I know the digital is maybe like 10-15% per game, which is not worth the savings IMHO. Physical != complete anymore, which is kind of sad with how many patches are released nowadays.

We are living in a time with a glut of releases that just flood the market and not always are needed (such as Caligula Reloaded for the PS5). Very few niche games make it to that super cheap price, unless they're a bit more unpopular such as Monarch.

 
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keyblader1985 said:
Is it me, or did the Golden Week sales kind of suck this year? I haven't actually bought anything.
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Haven't found anything here either. I did buy Dicey Dungeons on sale digitally but that's not exactly typical Golden Week faire.

gospelman said:
My two FF pixel remaster copies from PA are finally here.

Positives:
Shipped in a box
Gold coins redeemed to my NA account with no problem
Character sprites on the inside of the cover art is a nice touch (NA copies don't have this, if what I read is correct)

Negatives:
4 of the 6 games have patches already.
The first print bonus or whatever is just a set of codes to enter on the SE website to download wallpapers.
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The PS4 version got a console theme code, at least. But the inside of the cover is blank. Not sure about the NA Switch version. FFII is the only one I've played so far and it did have a patch.

 
gospelman said:
My two FF pixel remaster copies from PA are finally here.
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Thanks for this. I'm not completely against games having updates but these should really have worked without needing updates day 1. I feel my hype fever has broken. I think I may just stick with playing these games on Vita (PSN - PSP/PS1)... or through emulation.

 
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For JRPGs, I'm usually buying in at $30 physically these days since hoping they hit $20 is harder to come by.

I do buy early on imports, though. If I miss an ESRB release, I can typically fall back on an import or wait for a reprint it seems like.

The Switch and PS4/5 are likely my last physical product systems. It's not like I don't have enough physical games to last a lifetime already, though, so I'll be fine.
 
I'm at my point where on my PC it's 100% digital and I like games to be on multiple storefronts for higher chances of sales and better prices. I'm 80/20 for Steam DRM and 20 for DRM Free (mainly my eroges). For consoles I'm likely 60/40 with 60 being physical. I will get indie games cheap and digitally, and also good releases on sale as well. I'm still picking up RPGS/VNs physically along with import games that are say Japanese releases but have English subtitles (like Loopers). I'll take chances on cheaper physicals of games when they go cheaper, but most of my collection is more premium stuff. I've already pretty much sweared off LRG, but shmups are games I would buy physically as well, although I'm not as huge a fan as some. By next generation I'm guessing I'll be more like 40/60 in the opposite direction. A lot of times for AAA releases the disks are nothing more than quick installs that need a bunch of patches anyway, so the physical copies aren't as coveted as before for myself. It does make selling them cheaper if I finish them quickly enough and want no more. Some games like Yakuza I'll always get physical, as I remember when we almost had the series disappear on us, plus the games are cool. Just my 2 cents.

 
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I was thinking about it a little, and IMO the days of a physical game being complete may be over now (and not entirely the fault of the developers). Putting aside things like DLC or unfinished products, games have just gotten ridiculously huge in size especially for AAA games, and the bigger they get the more likely it is for a glitch or two to squeeze through the cracks during testing that will need to be patched out. Basically from here on out, unless it's a particularly small game or the devs went through a very extensive testing process, any physical game that gets put out is either going to have some glitches or be missing content in the form of DLC.
 
The right of resale remains the last bastion for physical releases, assuming the second hand price recoups enough cost versus a cheaper digital sale price.

The "code in a box" releases are just plastic waste.
 
Not all day 1 patches completely overhaul the game either. There are definitely plenty of games completely playable from start to finish with little issue unpatched. 

 
Pikagreg said:
Not all day 1 patches completely overhaul the game either. There are definitely plenty of games completely playable from start to finish with little issue unpatched.
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Yeah, this is at least the case with most switch games (especially Nintendo published games). There might be updates later but the games are playable. What's amazing is when the version on the cart is it and there are no updates because nothing needs fixed. Pretty sure that's how it was with Snack World... or maybe it was another level 5 game.

I'm not completely against games getting updates after release, but if it's classic nes/snes games that are being re-released or tweaked to be released on modern hardware, get the job done right to begin with.

 
It's a higher cost used title, Gameye says its $65 used alone (rough measure).

And likely the rights holders only agree to full MSRP for reprints.
 
I'm playing through Final Fantasy III for the first time in my life.  Wow this one feels like an FF4 lite.  It feels directly in-between a FF1 with its presentation and FF4 with the elemental crystals and the towns. It's really weird how you get the Airship and the Canoe right away at the start.  I haven't switched jobs or anything yet, but so far I'm not seeing how that will be necessary.

Most importantly, it feels like real true "Final Fantasy".  Rather than the 3D polygonal look from the 3DS version which I did not care for. 

I thought I was going to go straight for V and VI when I got this Pixel Remaster but instead went to the one I hadn't  played yet.   The game seems pretty simplistic so far.  The OOC run speed is nice and it has probably the best overworld theme music. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbrcw-XQ7dM

repurposed for FF14!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SboPRDYifSg

 
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I remember my first time playing FFIII. It was the DS release and I was super excited for it but I found the game unreasonably difficult for some reason. This was back in the day where I played dozens of JRPGs and rarely struggled with any mainstream JRPG (or games in general) and I barely survived the first boss; I think it was in a cave, I had one character left standing and used up all my items. After that, the game just continued to feel like a slog asI was constantly grinding but continued to struggle. I beat it eventually but ended up hating the game... 

I really need to give FFV another go though. I was playing it on the PS1 release and going up some tower before my PS1 died and many months later, when I finally got another PS1... I just couldn't get back in the game. 

I think to date, FFII is the only main series FF game I never beat and also the only gave up I gave up on because of how stupid the whole leveling mechanics were. 

 
haha yeah we've all got our "things" with various games / jrpgs.  Mine was losing my Mass Effect 2 save file with ~100hrs after I upgraded to a new version Windows, and it erased all of my save files somehow.  I could never go back and re-start that beloved series even though it still holds a special place. 

These jrpgs can have really obtuse dungeon design.  I just breezed through a couple where you had to run from every battle or else you'd wipe, due to being stuck in mini form, and frog form.  Which a player might not have known or understood what to do without having that previous experience from playing FF4. 

 
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I'm not sure about all the ports, but this is why I kind of prefer emulation for the old games.  Keep save states... keep moving forward, maintain a few saves, and if something is too over the top difficult at least it's a bit easier to bail and start back and try some other strategy (or just go grind a while).  I know it's not the full experience of the old slog with these games, but it makes them a little more enjoyable for me.

 
I mean...the remasters and the newer versions of these games all have QoL fixes for all that stuff.  EXP boost, run speed, battle text and 'action visual' speed increase, auto-battle, save states, and other things that cut down on the draconian wiping and grindfest.  Going all the way back to FF1 on PSP.  They are easy now and much of the unintentional monotony has been removed or fixed, as it should be. 

For instance, going back and emulating Dragon Warrior 1 on NES mini a few years ago was a mistake for me;  the newer version is better.  I believe they greatly adjusted the exp rate so that you aren't stuck grinding ad nauseam around level 11-13+.  The exp gain scales much more linearly now.  You also don't get stuck wiping to OP monsters + unfair encounter rate in the Dragonlord's Castle (final dungeon).

The newer versions are always better; it's just the juxtaposition against how badly you want to experience the retro graphics. 

 
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I've put about 15 hours in FFVI pixel remaster, I could never go back to the original now. I say that as a massive fan too(still have my original snes cart,box,manual and inserts), it's just far too convenient to have quick saves and all the other QoL improvements. 

Ironically even with that I got wiped by Ultros because I forgot the tip to move Bannon to the back row before leaving the Returners hideout. 

 
Yeah I also went straight to VI and have played to the point after the opera scene. The fact that they actually properly remastered to widescreen is great. The new sprites help a lot. The instrumental music is mostly very well done. My biggest concern going in was regarding sprint shoes. They completely added a sprint toggle to the game, making that relic irrelevant. I'm glad I waited on these to own the physical release.
 
gospelman said:
Yeah I also went straight to VI and have played to the point after the opera scene. The fact that they actually properly remastered to widescreen is great. The new sprites help a lot. The instrumental music is mostly very well done. My biggest concern going in was regarding sprint shoes. They completely added a sprint toggle to the game, making that relic irrelevant. I'm glad I waited on these to own the physical release.
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Yeah the fact you can toggle sprint and encounters just by clicking the analog sticks is extremely nice.

 
They definitely add some extra QOL features to these games.  But, I don't mind a little grinding and some of the slow paced wandering around for the nostalgia trip.   Like Dragon Warrior 1... played through it on NES classic (after many times finishing the game on original NES) and was perfectly happy with the experience since it's a really short game compared to later games in the series.  I'll still buy all the Dragon Quest games that come out on the systems I play on... but that's a special series to me.

 
scorponok said:
IFI's Spring Sale is now live.
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Nice, got the DERQ2 wall scroll I wanted, goddesses shirt, and a purple heart sweater which will probably stay in storage for at least another 6 months until it's remotely cool outside here. Added the canvas bag to hit free shipping and had $5.50 in pudding points. Senran Kagura x Neptunia Switch/Steam LE for $65 isn't bad, (I already played the game on PS4 though, myself).

 
Been playing some stinkers or very average games lately. Here are some thoughts on the 18+ simulation game Summer Memories along with the DLC (should have not bought the DLC haha).

First of all this is one of those simulation life raising games where you have 30 days spending time with your aunt and cousins and are some really young looking guy. He of course is a horn dog and has summer studies as well. Every main girl has a summer thing with some annoying mini games. They are all controlled with the mouse. Pretty much you click around to interact with people and have a skill system where you gain points by doing well in things and getting to know your family. This isn't ever terrible and looks OK for the most part. The UI is busy and ugly especially for the skills menu. It doesn't full screen well at all as well. Pretty much you try to win one over and have some adult situations while doing different stuff like homework, catching fish/bugs, some collectible card game and other things. Nothing is amazing and nothing is terrible. Interactions are shallow and repetitive as well, although skills can cause certain actions. Overall it isn't worth the money unless you really want a repetitive 18+ simulation raising game. I think playing as some guy who looks like he's 12 is kind of lame as well. I'm stopping this one and likely not getting to the DLC. Pretty much shows why I play my Steam sale games early for an hour and a bit, so if they are kind of average, bad or just not what I want to play I can refund. I should have refunded this and never bought the DLC. 6/10

Edit: I finished a first route in 3 and a half hours and my opinion is slightly better. It's still a grindfest for scenes/stats/points with repetitive actions, but there is more to the game than I gave it. The UI is still clunky, but there is a bit more to the characters/story. It's still a cycle of gain enough points in a minigame (100) to get to the next level and get the affection to max and sleep with them (actual sleeping) at night to generally trigger new scenes. I'd rate it maybe like a 6.3 or so if I gave decimal point values, but it still rounds down to a 6.

 
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