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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I'd grab Persona 5 Tactica for that price but I bought it over a month ago when it was $40 and I had already gotten great deals on P5 Royal & P5 Strikers. Oh well. It's beyond the price adjustment window. Kudos to those that held out.
 
I price matched P5T and Marl Kingdom at Target with the extra 5% cartwheel and ended up with both for about $45. It took a few minutes, and the chat support couldn't math for the life of them, but they did finally get it.
 
Stopped by my local gamestop because their site said they had 1 copy of Silent Hope. They did and it was actually sealed! Had to price match it because it's still $50 in store. Used my monthly $5 and I had $3 worth of points, got it for $23.31.
 
If anyone plays gran blue relink say your thoughts. I'm pretty sure I'm passing on it and finishing the original FF7 remake this month and playing the other at the end. Also Shiren the Wanderer is a much higher purchase on my part. The demo was decent at least, but heard it's short.
 
TheKbob said:
GameStop didn't have my game. Guess I'm getting a refund. Sigh.
Click to expand...
Keep an eye on that refund. My last two web-in-store orders were never refunded even though my cancellation emails assured me the funds would be returned to my original form of payment (my debit card). Apparently the refund is actually applied to a non-existent gift card which the store, in conjunction with their inept store service phone line, need to work together to apply. After multiple visits, and multiple calls to this line, I've not received either refund, so basically GameStop had stolen $60 of my money in the last few months. Thankfully, the local management has made things right by refunding me cash from the register each time because nobody else could do anything to fix this. Apparently this is just how their system works - I can only imagine how much GameStop has stolen from its customers who haven't caught this like I did. Seems like they're begging for a lawsuit.

I've read elsewhere that cancelled online pickup orders might work this same way, but I've not experienced it myself yet.
 
Kirin Lemon said:
I've read elsewhere that cancelled online pickup orders might work this same way, but I've not experienced it myself yet.
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I had the same experience with a cancelled store pickup around October. It was just $10 so I just chose not to call a 3rd time and continue to fight. But these cs reps are clearly being taught to shut down issues saying the original payment was refunded. In my case I am certain that was wrong. Payment was trade credit to which the balance is still $0. And their system has never been able to refund trade credit, it has always been the ridiculous solution of mailing a replacement gc. In a separate matter, they also pulled a "cannot return clearance items" on me (no matter what the store employees actually ship you) due to a recent policy change at the end of last year. I still have a worthless membership through '25 but I'm pretty much done doing business there.
 
February is a good time for some visual novels to come out.

First of all the horrible news Nekonyan's release of Angelic☆Chaos RE-BOOT is postponed indefinently as Steam has rejected the game, as it was supposed to release in January . Steam approvers are morons honestly as all the other Yuzusoft games are on Steam. If this gets ready to release I'll put it here as Yuzusoft VNs are fairly popular.

Nekonyan is releasing Irosekai: The Colorful World on February 16th, 2024. This is a very high quality from FAVORITE about a guy who is able to cure wounds by touching others but loses some of his memory as a results. This actually had a Kickstarter from Sol Press aka run off with your money people, of which I lost $35 I think. I'm glad to finally be able to play this game. I'll post the usual 18+ patch on release day. This will also be demosiaced.

Steam

Shiravune have 2 releases coming out soon. First is Dungeon Travelers: To Heart 2 in Another World, which is the prequel to Dungeon Travelers 2 which came out on Johren and Vita only (gross on Johren). This is a dungeon crawling RPG with To Heart girls and some ecchi situations. Even though it's tagged adult on Steam, it doesn't have nudity. This releases February 14th, 2024.

Steam

They also have Ego's Spark coming out February 19th, 2024. This one is a short kinetic visual novel about a robot girl I think and having feelings and such. It looks cute, but likely will be passed as February is a pretty full month of games. This should also have an 18+ patch on release.

Steam
VNDB (NSFW)

Shiravune's Liminal Border Part 2 and Nukitashi 2 also were given Q1 2024 release windows. I believe Mangagamer is going to posting pre-orders for Nukitashi 2 soon, so I'm guessing it will come out in March. Nukitashi 1 was my VN of the year last year, so I can't wait for the new one.

Shiravune also announced Real Anime Situation! 2 from Jitaku studio. This one has a main character who has fetishes, but suppresses them by writing in a diary. He forgets his diary one time in the classroom and goes back to get it. When he finds it he finds a girl reading it and turned on. She is a hentai artist and wants to use the diary to inspire her after being in a slump. In return he can do the crazy things in the diary to her. Of course 2 girls catch the action and declare they want the guy too. This is obviously a nukige, but it sound like an interesting one and has good art. An easy buy on release for me.

Steam
VNDB (NSFW)

Sekai Project/Denpasoft are releasing a brand new visual novel from Nekoworks sister company Nie No Hakoniwa - Dollhouse of Offerings on February 16th, 2024 as well. This one is about families and an outsider having a box that would stop oppression. This leads to the formation of seven noble houses and prosperity. One of the houses has no male heir so they adopt a boy and also a girl. They get married and then a nightmare happens. No idea of this as it's a new project.

Steam
VNDB (NSFW)

I also want to point out that Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami released on Steam and PS5. This game is a remake of an older one based off a manga/anime of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs. This is a Shiren the Wanderer type game, so it's interesting it got localized. The timing isn't amazing as the new Shiren the Wander game comes out later in February for the Switch. I play many of these games (don't beat many unless the name has Izuna in it), so I'll get it sometime and play it.

Steam
PSN
 
The price of the most recent P5R CE dropped an additional $10 to 69.99 on woot. I'm keeping the tab open for now, but it will probably take me a few more "1 More!'" price drops to $50ish for me to bite. I'd probably just throw that paper treasure box away and save some space.
 
Souffrir said:
Speaking of stuff on sale on Woot, is Digimon Survive worth $7?

electronics.woot.com

Digimon Survive

Digimon Survive
electronics.woot.com electronics.woot.com
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With no previous digimon knowledge/experience, I played the first 5-10 hours on nsw. Found it mostly boring. Didn't finish. Tactical gameplay was very blah. Plot might be decent at some later point but overall struck me as the most generic schoolhouse mystery ever. At $7, still possibly worth it for existing digimon fans.
 
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The 3 for $100 is really good for Play-Asia exclusives and even some pre-orders for games not out yet. Note pre-orders will ship when it comes out and will hold up orders and can cause issues.

Good stuff from the sale includes things like:

Another Code: Recollection Japanese version with English subs
A Space For The Unbound NA Pre-order
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk NA
Castle of Shikigami 2 NA
Chrono Cross
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water Switch (note the English language was patched in to this...not on cart)
Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster
Ghost Trick
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Oshi no Love yori Koi no Love + Love or Die (English)
Paradise Killer Pre-order NA
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Princess Peach Showtime Japanese version pre-order with English subs
River City Girls 1&2
Romancing Saga 2, Minstrel Song
Sentimental Death Loop
Seven Pirates H, Mugen Souls, Mugen Souls Z, Moero Crystal H
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Multi-Language) (Japanese region with English subs)
Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains Pre-order NA
Yohane games
Tevi, Class of Heroes 1&2, Sea of Stars, Helldivers 2 pre-orders (All NA)
Lots of Play-Asia exclusives including Saint Maker, Kwaidan ~Azuma Manor Story~, River City: Rival Showdown, Dead in Vinland, Sword and Fairy Inn 2 , Startup Company, SENSEs: Midnight, Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe, Omen of Sorrow, Red Colony Trilogy, Twin Blades of the Three Kingdoms, Miracle Snack Shop, and LoveKami Trilogy

Note these savings can be equal to about $30ish for games prices $42-43. Average savings from the deal is about $20.
 
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Yeah that sale looks awesome to me. Several thinks that were already bookmarked on my wishlist. I'm picking up:
  1. Moero Crystal H
  2. Seven Pirates H
  3. Chrono Cross - The Radical Dreamers edition (FINALLY)
seriously go look at videos for those first two. I'm surprised people never talk about them on here. 🤐

There's PS5 FF7 Remake Intergrade (dlc code won't work) and PS5 Crisis Core too, if you're looking to match some stuff.
 
People are not into dungeon crawlers much. Course the fun ecchi elements of those and cute monster and other girls means I already own them.

I'm eyeing the Yohane games myself (the Metroidvania one and a deck building one that hasn't come out) and maybe a pre-order of something else. Also a few Play-Asia exclusives I don't own. I also don't own the Yuri Oshi no Love. Decent stuff for sure.
 
They also have Tokyo Xanadu EX+ in there. While it doesn't say english on it, reading posts about the switch version on gamefaqs forums seems to suggest it does have english subs.

IF interested, maybe dig further into making sure. I'm fairly positive I still have the Vita version.
 
nightc1 said:
They also have Tokyo Xanadu EX+ in there. While it doesn't say english on it, reading posts about the switch version on gamefaqs forums seems to suggest it does have english subs.

IF interested, maybe dig further into making sure. I'm fairly positive I still have the Vita version.
Click to expand...

Looks like it is finally getting a US Switch release.

www.gematsu.com

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ for Switch coming west in June

Aksys Games will release the Switch version of Tokyo Xanadu eX+ in June in the west, the publisher announced.
www.gematsu.com www.gematsu.com
 
nitrosmob said:
The 3 for $100 is really good for Play-Asia exclusives and even some pre-orders for games not out yet. Note pre-orders will ship when it comes out and will hold up orders and can cause issues.

Good stuff from the sale includes things like:

Another Code: Recollection Japanese version with English subs
A Space For The Unbound NA Pre-order
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk NA
Castle of Shikigami 2 NA
Chrono Cross
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water Switch (note the English language was patched in to this...not on cart)
Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster
Ghost Trick
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Oshi no Love yori Koi no Love + Love or Die (English)
Paradise Killer Pre-order NA
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Princess Peach Showtime Japanese version pre-order with English subs
River City Girls 1&2
Romancing Saga 2, Minstrel Song
Sentimental Death Loop
Seven Pirates H, Mugen Souls, Mugen Souls Z, Moero Crystal H
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Multi-Language) (Japanese region with English subs)
Xuan-Yuan Sword: Mists Beyond the Mountains Pre-order NA
Yohane games
Tevi, Class of Heroes 1&2, Sea of Stars, Helldivers 2 pre-orders (All NA)
Lots of Play-Asia exclusives including Saint Maker, Kwaidan ~Azuma Manor Story~, River City: Rival Showdown, Dead in Vinland, Sword and Fairy Inn 2 , Startup Company, SENSEs: Midnight, Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe, Omen of Sorrow, Red Colony Trilogy, Twin Blades of the Three Kingdoms, Miracle Snack Shop, and LoveKami Trilogy

Note these savings can be equal to about $30ish for games prices $42-43. Average savings from the deal is about $20.
Click to expand...
I still say it's a bit overrated of a sale. Some of the games on sale I know have been cheaper on the site and had their prices increased. A lot of the bigger ticket games also lack the "more desired" platform because its either sold out or not added to the sale. Most of the games on my wish list are not in the sale.

Some of those are also touch and go. Xuan-Yuan Sword Mists... over on Steam/most reviews say the translation is awful and the text is hard to read, so I'd we wary of that on the Switch even more. Chrono Cross remake needs a patch to make it perform as intended, making a physical copy kinda moot. Minstrel Saga is a dog on Switch. So on, so forth.

I see it as a "clearing out inventory" sale. Just make sure you're not paying more than prices elsewhere or used, 'cause a lot of those are above what I've paid for them.

I instead bought some stuff on Amazon like Silent Hope, Disgaea 7, Fate/Samurai Revenant, and CRYMACHINA. Good prices on those right now, since NIS and K/T are pretty touch and go if they hit below $40 and are available.
 
Souffrir said:
Man, I’m only 34 pages out of 100 into this list. I do see maybe a few possibilities, since there’s some older stuff sprinkled in.
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Here's the way to do it faster:

Filter games by languages you can understand. English drops it down to 26 pages for me.

Then price... I set it above $35, as anything below and you're not really saving any money. Now it's 20 pages.

My systems (PS, Switch) drops it down to 19.

Pre-orders are just 2 pages and I'm fairly up to date on those in general. Therefore, available drops it down to 17 pages.

Pretty easy to get through 17 pages.

Edit: If I remove ESRB titles from the list, it gets down to 14 pages. PA rarely has the best price on ESRB games.
 
Fan disks and VNs look good to me from Aksys announcements. Still need to play Radiant Tale and the Evermore game I haven't bought the original yet.
 
TheKbob said:
Here's the way to do it faster:

Filter games by languages you can understand. English drops it down to 26 pages for me.

Then price... I set it above $35, as anything below and you're not really saving any money. Now it's 20 pages.

My systems (PS, Switch) drops it down to 19.

Pre-orders are just 2 pages and I'm fairly up to date on those in general. Therefore, available drops it down to 17 pages.

Pretty easy to get through 17 pages.

Edit: If I remove ESRB titles from the list, it gets down to 14 pages. PA rarely has the best price on ESRB games.
Click to expand...

I can read Japanese, so that first one is a bust. The only systems I’m not looking for are Switch and PS5 (and anything Xbox, but that’s rare enough not to be worth it), and I’m open to grabbing LEs from systems I don’t own at these prices.
 
Souffrir said:
Speaking of stuff on sale on Woot, is Digimon Survive worth $7?

electronics.woot.com

Digimon Survive

Digimon Survive
electronics.woot.com electronics.woot.com
Click to expand...

gospelman said:
With no previous digimon knowledge/experience, I played the first 5-10 hours on nsw. Found it mostly boring. Didn't finish. Tactical gameplay was very blah. Plot might be decent at some later point but overall struck me as the most generic schoolhouse mystery ever. At $7, still possibly worth it for existing digimon fans.
Click to expand...

Twilightsparkle said:
If you are not a VN fan then no. You have to play through it twice to get a good ending.
Click to expand...
Agreed that unless you like bloated visual novel titles it's definitely not for you. Very basic gameplay. The sucky part like mentioned requiring multiple playthroughs is just so dumb.

There's the other negative things like certain characters are fixed temps in your first playthrough, route choices determine evolution options so you can end up handicapping your agumon.

However it's definitely not that generic. And with a proper budget the death scenes would have been glorious.
 
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62t said:
Looks like it is finally getting a US Switch release.

www.gematsu.com

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ for Switch coming west in June

Aksys Games will release the Switch version of Tokyo Xanadu eX+ in June in the west, the publisher announced.
www.gematsu.com www.gematsu.com
Click to expand...

That's some amazing timing to release that info. I guess I can hold out on making any decision on that one.

TheKbob said:
Here's the way to do it faster:

Filter games by languages you can understand. English drops it down to 26 pages for me.
Click to expand...

There are a few games I would buy with other languages, so I didn't want to do that. Plus there are some games that have english which is not noted anywhere on the page. Like Tokyo Xanadu eX+ (if what I read elsewhere was correct).

But I did end up stopping the 100 page dive and narrowed to in remove out of stock and then went to smaller platforms one by one to see what they had (3DS, DS, N64, Vita, PSP, Wii-U, Xbox) which cut a little out and then opted to just look at switch and then cut out the preorders. It still ended up 21 pages, but not too bad. I didn't do any price restrictions because the cheapest game (at least on switch) that was there was over $33.33 (I think)... and in the case of having two games higher priced, it still might be worth it to pad an order with something cheaper for less overall savings, but still at least it would have some.
 
Picked up one set from PA, including :switch: Ghost Trick (now that the pc version was forcefully updated with drm) and :ps4: LAD: The Man Who Erased His Name. I guess I'm going to add an asia region account to my ps5 just to do the free ps5 upgrade from the ps4 disc. I was happy to see that adding a 5% code and using a few $ of PA loyalty coins didn't negate free shipping.

Are there any other currently operative 5% codes aside from WARIO2024?
 
Sorry to doublepost, but I’m trying to check out and Play Asia’s trying to charge me $24 shipping. The deal says it’s $100 + free shipping, right? What am I missing?
 
Souffrir said:
Sorry to doublepost, but I’m trying to check out and Play Asia’s trying to charge me $24 shipping. The deal says it’s $100 + free shipping, right? What am I missing?
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They have some items that are not free shipping eligible. I would check that first. I've seen it in the past on figures and such. To your other question: I've seen some older games on PA get seperate pages & descriptions for dinged up condition.

I'm having a problem of my own with Play Asia if anyone knows a workaround. Every time I try to finalize a paypal payment I'm getting a completely empty page that doesn't load at https://www.play-asia.com/checkout-confirmation/
Already tried different browsers with the same result.

Edit: I received an mass email from PA apologizing for technical issues regarding the bundle promo. So I assume the site is having issues and it's not just me.
 
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Did the NA release for Apollo Justice AA Trilogy come out? I think it was set to release in Jan but I can't tell. VGP still hasn't shipped my order... but shows as being available.
 
gospelman said:
They have some items that are not free shipping eligible. I would check that first. I've seen it in the past on figures and such. To your other question: I've seen some older games on PA get seperate pages & descriptions for dinged up condition.

I'm having a problem of my own with Play Asia if anyone knows a workaround. Every time I try to finalize a paypal payment I'm getting a completely empty page that doesn't load at https://www.play-asia.com/checkout-confirmation/
Already tried different browsers with the same result.
Click to expand...

Checking the individual item pages, yes, one of my three doesn’t say it offers free shipping for over $99.99, but the shipping quote for that item alone is $16.90, so I still don’t understand where the $24 figure is coming from.
 
Souffrir said:
Checking the individual item pages, yes, one of my three doesn’t say it offers free shipping for over $99.99, but the shipping quote for that item alone is $16.90, so I still don’t understand where the $24 figure is coming from.
Click to expand...
You're being charged shipping for the other two items as well because you're not hitting the threshold of 100+ of FS eligible items.
 
Not too bad of a deal at PA if you consider the free shipping compared to Amazon Japan.
Haven't gone through much of the list, but right now I'm considering the Cotton Saturn Tribute, Like a Dragon Gaiden & Macross Shooting Insight
 
62t said:
www.gematsu.com

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana coming to PS5, PS4 on May 23 in Japan

Falcom will release Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on May 23 in Japan for 4,400 yen, the company announced.
www.gematsu.com www.gematsu.com

Ys: The Oath in Felghana getting a PS4/5 version
Click to expand...
It will be interesting to see what gets worked out concerning NA publishing since the extant work is an xseed title. For me, this looks to potentially be a great steam deck title while I keep my PSP LE sealed. I wonder if PH3 is working on the technical side of the remaster as they did with nayuta.
 
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