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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There are lots of shows I like to rewatch. I do Fullmetal Alchemist pretty often, both 2003 and Brotherhood. It's fun to rewatch Conan while benefiting from knowing everything that's going on. And then there's comfort shows like slice of life/iyashikei.

You wind up seeing less new stuff, but it's not like you could ever watch every single thing you want to watch anyway. I just say time enjoyed is time not wasted.
 
Yeah, there are some great series that I like to rewatch. Some Anime I've finished and went right back to do a second watch it was so good. Especially when you learn stuff that maybe changes the story a bit. Your Lie In April was good for this. Run With The Wind, I couldn't stop thinking about it and had to watch it again.
 
I've seen stuff like Robocop so many times now and I still get a kick out of it every time. Some things just resonate with you and are fun to rewatch. Speaking of stuff not worth rewatching ever I decided to start watching I'm Getting Married to a Girl I Hate in My Class and it was just about every anime cliché about a guy and a girl not liking each other and forced to be in a relationship. The comedy didn't hit, I disliked the side characters, and by the end of the 4th episode I was bored and skipped to episode 12. It still sucked, but it had a whole lot more drama now! I often drop these series and look for another. I like some romance and comedy series, but this was nothing much other than decent animation with just some okay voice acting. A usual 5/10 anime where you can skip it if you've seen just about any other comedic anime. I enjoyed Kids on the Slope with its style, animation and music when I saw it a while ago. Story was not to my liking (started strong but got weaker as the series went on), which I don't remember anything about anymore, but the other parts were good for me. Please let us know if the story keeps going okay throughout the series, as my memories are old now.

My key to new anime seasons is to see what I may like and watch what I likely determine the worse anime first, as I give up on series all the time, and move on to the better looking things from there. Sometimes so many shows end up just making me bored though and it backfires a bit to start a season. I haven't really watched anime much for about a year, but this what I generally do. I also don't even bother with like 80% of isekai shows now, as most of those of them are just fluff, and I prefer my fluff in other things like bundled games and such.
 
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TheKbob said:
There's definitely shows, series, movies, etc. that benefit from a rewatch.
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Absolutely, sometime you don't catch everything in a single watch, but for me I would rather spend a few mins reading what I missed or not understand. Similar to those that beat a game with multiple endings once and go on youtube to watch the alt endings, rather than replaying the game.

To each their own, I also understand the need/want to revisit something you enjoy.
 
pjmomo said:
Absolutely, sometime you don't catch everything in a single watch, but for me I would rather spend a few mins reading what I missed or not understand. Similar to those that beat a game with multiple endings once and go on youtube to watch the alt endings, rather than replaying the game.

To each their own, I also understand the need/want to revisit something you enjoy.
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I suppose if it's like a simple title with multiple endings where there's like 3 options, I'd get that.

But games I've replayed multiple times include Divinity Original Sin 2 and Baldurs Gate 3. Not only are there different endings, I've seen new things every run.

I've got the 100% in BG3 and I learned of an area and encounter I've not seen!

Some games are meant to have multiple playthroughs. No shade on one and done, but things like CRPGs almost require it if you want to go from learning the game to mastering it or seeing different perspective.
 
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Kids on the Slope - I finished it this morning with breakfast. That was just, fantastic. The time period of the late 60s. The music. The situations. The emotional impact. It skipped on a lot of the cliche's and I feel really satisfied by it.

I think at my age, I kind of want more new experiences than old, but I still enjoy rewatching specific moves and shows. And even stuff I thought was once and done, I've come back to because content tends to just show up. A good example of this was when I got my tablo dvr and I first looked at the RetroCrush channel and I saw Magic Knight Rayearth. I had only watched it once before on VHS thanks to my brother and so I dvr'd it and watched it again. It was what started me back down the path of watching anime again. Recently, I was looking at hulu for something to watch and stumbled on Boston Legal. I'm not watching it on the regular, but it was fun to check out as I hadn't watched it since it aired. It's kind of nice I've broken myself from the need to rewatch some things in order. I used to be pretty bad about that. That it was a commitment to start something and see it through. Now I can kind of sample certain thigns. I feel like some anime is going to be very sample friendly for me in the future while others I will want to rewatch. Kids on the Slope, I feel like I do want to experience it again. The low commitment of 12 episodes really helps. Meanwhile one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time, Xenoblade Chronicles 2... if I'm being honest, I don't see myself playing it again. Maybe loading up my save and exploring and calling it a nice visit, but not sure I can start fresh.
 
18+ NSFW Lustful Legends Bundle

$5.49 Tier for about 8 more hours (it will increase)

The Alchemist of Ars Magna
Let's Turn Pick-Up Beach to a Nudist F***ing Beach!!
Mature Widow Kazumi and Her Daughter's Boyfriend
Stolen Wife ~Cucked On A Hot Spring Company Trip~
SuccuSeka Resist Succubus Temptation
Sword Maiden of Azure Dragon

These are all DRM free and the main game here is The Alchemist of Ars Magna and its Ninetail developer, which make eroge gameplay plus visual novel games. This one is an alright one that I've played a few hours of and the main character is alright and the gameplay is a bit boring at times, but easy to understand. The other games I believe have been bundled before and I don't have experience with them.
 
I also picked up Guilty Gear Strive GG 25th Anniversary Edition at amazon. It was temporarily out of stock when I ordered it, hopefully they get more in soon. I also picked up Ys X Nordics PS5 for $29.99, who knows if Proud Nordics PS5 is coming out, if it does, I will get that also.
 
Nothing- said:
Finally got that Guilty Gear PS5 Anniversary Edition I've failed to order so many times at Woot, for only $56. Didn't think this one was ever coming back! Cross another one off the top of the clearance bookmarks wishlist.
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Curious to ask if you can post photos when you get it. I picked it up from GameStop last year. Would love to know if it’s an import or knock off. I always check by the UPC as well as product code.
 
Vinny said:
It's weird how VGP sometimes seems to send out emails on this stuff and then other times they don't and post in Twitter.

I should prob just get over it and learn to use twitter.
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You can probably just check polygon or Facebook or whatever since they usually repost about it.
 
Vinny said:
I might have missed it but doesn't PA offer like FS during Golden Week..? Isn't it still technically Golden Week or did I miss it all?

EDIT* LOL nevermind then..
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I just checked playasia's site today and they don't even mention free shipping at all anymore. The banner at the top is missing and the small free shipping icons on the individual eligible items are also missing.

I saw them post that free shipping is temporarily disabled and will be back soon.

I haven't seen anything for golden week there.
 
Vinny said:
I might have missed it but doesn't PA offer like FS during Golden Week..? Isn't it still technically Golden Week or did I miss it all?

EDIT* LOL nevermind then..
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Didn't folks vote this guy in to cut inflation and LOWER prices? Sigh ... It's really going to be a wild, wild summer when retail shelves start to empty out with no new inventory in sight and our prices for everyday goods generally hit the roof.
 
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I just received an email from Play Asia about my April 19th order, that still hasn't shipped, regarding the tarrifs. My order was for the Monster Hunter Wilds Dualsense and SaGa Scarlett Grace Ambisions for Switch (both were on sale and had free shipping).

Currently they applied an additional $145. The order was only $118 to begin with.

I don't seem to have paid that yet, and the order is on hold for weeks, I think to see if Trump caves, but obviously I don't want to pay that.
 
Mattiful-Joe said:
Didn't folks vote this guy in to cut inflation and LOWER prices? Sigh ... It's really going to be a wild, wild summer when retail shelves start to empty out with no new inventory in sight and our prices for everyday goods generally hit the roof.
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I believe with what retailers have said about the lead times we’re already looking at empty shelves through fall actually and we’re already getting very close to not being able to recover by Christmas.

fucking clownshow, every one of these retailers that donated and kowtowed to his whims and now he’s gonna screw them even harder. Hope it was worth it (Target, in particular)!
 
Mattiful-Joe said:
Didn't folks vote this guy in to cut inflation and LOWER prices? Sigh ... It's really going to be a wild, wild summer when retail shelves start to empty out with no new inventory in sight and our prices for everyday goods generally hit the roof.
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They didn’t vote for him to cut inflation, but they’re all about to find out persecuting ‘woke’ comes at a price.

The First Lady, Musty, is cutting the social safety net so shit is about to hit the fan.
 
Vinny said:
I just wanted to see if there's a discount for Golden Week... instead, I'm now thinking of prepping for the end of times.

This shit is gonna be like COVID all over again isn't it?
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Self inflicted this time, to boot.

Focus on non-perishables, don't go in debt for stuff, and learn to do without.

As for games, going to be fun seeing all the publishers use this as justification to up pricing or cancel physical editions.

Luckily Japanese origin games still seem to be A-Ok. Probably just Asian releases to be hit.
 
Gotta keep an eye on exchange rates for imports, too. USD has fallen 5-10% in value compared to most international currencies since the beginning of the year. The yen in particular is still really down from where it was five years ago, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the USD continue to dip as the year goes on.
 
I worry for my local weeb shop. They do anime, manga, figures, and gunpla. Loads and loads of gunpla.

They've got stuff on hand and I know many of the LN/Manga publishers have US printers, but they're already behind on getting stuff in and reprints on high demand stuff takes forever. Maybe that's normal, but the few years I've been shopping there, it normally takes months for special orders to arrive.

I could always get them cheaper, faster from Amazon, but I want to keep a weeb shop open. I find new stuff on their shelves and they do used LN, manga, and anime.

Local game stores are gonna be weird, too.
 
Vinny said:
I just wanted to see if there's a discount for Golden Week... instead, I'm now thinking of prepping for the end of times.

This shit is gonna be like COVID all over again isn't it?
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It does feel very similar to COVID. Batten the hatches and hang on.

I started prepping for the game side of this back in December with my last round of imports. I think I'm good on older releases... but there are games later this year I want on Switch that I might go ahead and lock in preorders on best buy.
 
I just bought a PS5 Pro on a whim. I kept going back and forth on one and thought I had settled on being happy with my standard PS5 but figured, with how things are going, it's prob not going to get any cheaper any time soon.
 
TheKbob said:
They've got stuff on hand and I know many of the LN/Manga publishers have US printers, but they're already behind on getting stuff in and reprints on high demand stuff takes forever. Maybe that's normal, but the few years I've been shopping there, it normally takes months for special orders to arrive.
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I have a friend who does translation stuff for some LN/manga companies. Based on what he's said, I will be surprised if any of the smaller companies make it through the next four years. A lot of printing takes place in Canda/Mexico and the industry is heavily skewed physically. Not being able to reliably plan print runs on an already niche product due to tariff volatility is really rough for them.
 
Tothoro said:
I have a friend who does translation stuff for some LN/manga companies. Based on what he's said, I will be surprised if any of the smaller companies make it through the next four years. A lot of printing takes place in Canda/Mexico and the industry is heavily skewed physically. Not being able to reliably plan print runs on an already niche product due to tariff volatility is really rough for them.
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I'm glad I've been hoarding, like a squirrel in an oak forest, anything I remotely want. I just found Book 16 of Goblin Slayer used to complete my set. Same for Berserk, a used Deluxe Ed Book 5 completed my set. I paid less than $25 for each book!

I've been waiting to get my gap books of Frieren for so long now...

I don't want to have to get digital LNs if I don't have to, but just another was this year will twist the knife.
 
Not to distract from the impending doom... but, I was shocked looking through upcoming game releases (primarily just switch stuff) and stumbled on Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening ... um... wait... what! So it's a side scrolling action game. Even though it leans a bit generic and appears to retread the same content as the series, I could very well be down for this. It's also on PS5. I watched that series (and the movie) last year or maybe the year before for the first time.
 
nightc1 said:
Not to distract from the impending doom... but, I was shocked looking through upcoming game releases (primarily just switch stuff) and stumbled on Space Adventure Cobra - The Awakening ... um... wait... what! So it's a side scrolling action game. Even though it leans a bit generic and appears to retread the same content as the series, I could very well be down for this. It's also on PS5. I watched that series (and the movie) last year or maybe the year before for the first time.
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Saw that a few weeks ago, game looks bland but the boxart looked cool enough I started watching it. I enjoyed the beginning of the series but then they seem to ditch continuity and it's just random episode after random episode? But the 2 arcs it did have were enjoyable.
Didnt watch movie yet
 
BrandonBlank said:
Saw that a few weeks ago, game looks bland but the boxart looked cool enough I started watching it. I enjoyed the beginning of the series but then they seem to ditch continuity and it's just random episode after random episode? But the 2 arcs it did have were enjoyable.
Didnt watch movie yet
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The movie is pretty solid. It's definitely a product of it's time (i.e., the writing isn't subtle), but it's a fun film. The ending is a bit meh.

Yeah, I'd heard about a game coming and talk about left field. Now we need to get a City Hunter game - at least that would make more sense given we've gotten three modern day films (2 anime, 1 live action).
 
BrandonBlank said:
Saw that a few weeks ago, game looks bland but the boxart looked cool enough I started watching it. I enjoyed the beginning of the series but then they seem to ditch continuity and it's just random episode after random episode? But the 2 arcs it did have were enjoyable.
Didnt watch movie yet
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I though there was continuity through the whole series with tracking down each of the sisters. The movie tells the same basic story but cuts a lot out. I ended up enjoying them both. That opening theme is a banger.

Mattiful-Joe said:
Now we need to get a City Hunter game - at least that would make more sense given we've gotten three modern day films (2 anime, 1 live action).
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I'm trying to imagine what the game would be and all I can imagine is sneaking through his HQ trying to peep on the various clients that have to stay there to be protected. 🤣
 
nightc1 said:
I'm trying to imagine what the game would be and all I can imagine is sneaking through his HQ trying to peep on the various clients that have to stay there to be protected. 🤣
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And as Ryo, trying to get away or avoid Kaori from clobbering him with her gigantic hammer--lol. Those would be some amusing stealth sequences.
 
TheKbob said:
I'm still on edge about my Fuga pre-orders, but I'm bought it now, so hopefully something doesn't change in the next 24 days 18 years.
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I ended up canceling mine for the trilogy box on amazon japan (still available though for those who want it). The first two games were discounted significantly digitally and I just got them that way. I tried the demo and the games look like they'll be fun, but not worth ~$120, especially when I'm not really interested in that tank figure.
 
Covnam said:
I ended up canceling mine for the trilogy box on amazon japan (still available though for those who want it). The first two games were discounted significantly digitally and I just got them that way. I tried the demo and the games look like they'll be fun, but not worth ~$120, especially when I'm not really interested in that tank figure.
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I ordered the standard editions.

I saw the digital sale, but really wanted physical.

And, let's be further honest, the value of the previous Little Tail Bronx series makes it likely they're not bad investments, either. I am buying them to play, but know they're also likely to only increase in price once they're gone.
 
Souffrir said:
Has anyone tried Ed-0: Zombie Uprising? I learned it existed a few days ago and I’m kinda tempted at $6.

EDIT: Well crap, the sale’s actually over already, never mind.
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It will go on sale again. I'll go ahead and try it within the week or so since I got it from some bundle before for next time it's on sale. It honestly looks like it could be my type of game with it being kind of rogue lite and some action.
 
Covnam said:
The first two games were discounted significantly digitally and I just got them that way.
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The digital option was pretty tempting. It gives a good sign that the third Fuga game will get discounted in the future. I like physical games, but it's hard to justify even the $90 for the standard versions when you might end up getting them all digital for under $30 (or around $40 for the top ultimate editions with all the digital extra stuff).
 
HaloGX said:
I just received an email from Play Asia about my April 19th order, that still hasn't shipped, regarding the tarrifs. My order was for the Monster Hunter Wilds Dualsense and SaGa Scarlett Grace Ambisions for Switch (both were on sale and had free shipping).

Currently they applied an additional $145. The order was only $118 to begin with.

I don't seem to have paid that yet, and the order is on hold for weeks, I think to see if Trump caves, but obviously I don't want to pay that.
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*sigh* They were going to apply the $145 because of tariffs, so I had them cancel my order. That's a bummer. I really like that controller, and SaGa Scarlett Grace had never been that cheap before. Patience, now.
 
HaloGX said:
*sigh* They were going to apply the $145 because of tariffs, so I had them cancel my order. That's a bummer. I really like that controller, and SaGa Scarlett Grace had never been that cheap before. Patience, now.
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It's truly insane... the tariffs are more than the cost of my items I wanted from PA.
 
I'm glad the only import thing I really want is Saga Frontier 2 Remastered whenever the physical comes out, but P-A is sounding like the place not to get it at least. Sadge imports were expensive before and now are just ridiculous.
 
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