Japanese Niche Games Deals & Discussion Thread 4.0

shivan128

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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shadowysea07 said:
having played star ocean 4 its playable the gameplay opens up a little after you get better characters like Reimi bacchus and meracle but the story is really really REALLY bad. and mages are prettymuch unusable and worse than the other entries before (12 and to a lesser extent 3) and after (5). Bacchus basically functions as a mage without spell casting times. Since his attack skill blackhole sphere is near full screen.

Edge is pretty bad to play with due to more restricted skills and his one later one is basically his only good move. Its a huge version of demon fang sorta similar to aurora blade or whatever from tales of graces. Its off since he's the main character but of them he's easily the worst physical attacker.

Reimi is who you want to use as soon as possible as she plays much more flexible and has really nice combos. Meracle an to a lesser extent edge can be really good once you figure out how to juggle targets and meracles far better suited to that and fast pugilist gameplay. Arumats middle of the road and I mainly liked his one long ranged skill that targets under an enemy wherever they are on the map.

As A warning there are bugs/glitches though. the secret dungeon is prone to crashes at complete random making that unplayable. And there's a crash around the purgatorium inner door that's cracked open. The cutscene starts then the game derps out. Sometimes finishes sometimes crashes before it even starts. I don't believe they ever fixed the secret dungeon issue but the purgatorium one seems to be random as I got a second copy of the game and using the same save got past it. Interestingly the first copy still worked perfectly fine for every portion after the crash area.
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I had fun with SO4's 4K remaster a year or two ago as well. Agree the story in terrible, and I really don't like Edge as a character. In spite of that, it was still a pretty fun journey. Definitely had a few "okay F you, I'm going to go grind in the desert for a few hours and then I'll be back" moments.
I even played on Earth difficulty, I can't imagine trying a harder one (I'm also generally not great at action games, though)
 
Pheria said:
I had fun with SO4's 4K remaster a year or two ago as well. Agree the story in terrible, and I really don't like Edge as a character. In spite of that, it was still a pretty fun journey. Definitely had a few "okay F you, I'm going to go grind in the desert for a few hours and then I'll be back" moments.
I even played on Earth difficulty, I can't imagine trying a harder one (I'm also generally not great at action games, though)
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Even if you aren't there's options for set and forget like reimi and Bacchus. Arumat has the auto target skill I mentioned as well that also would work. But given the join time it's probably not even worth mentioning.

But yeah item creation plus synthesis generally are the ways to break the games. Though I don't recall off hand if it was as simple and early as in 3. But anywho there's ores that add 100 or so attack. You can stack those on a weapon along with the accessories that increase stats by 10%. So after stacking 6-8 plus the 10% accessories your stats are bonkers higher. And generally until the second half you'd be one shotting everything.
 
What visual novels, jrpgs, and other japanese games would you guys recommend in the steam spring sale? Have $250+ steam funds and eyeing umineko
 
Accidie said:
What visual novels, jrpgs, and other japanese games would you guys recommend in the steam spring sale? Have $250+ steam funds and eyeing umineko
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Do you have a built up library already? Almost all the price points on my wishlist are just "the usual" for steam sales. But it's definitely worth investing into some of the greats if you don't own them.
 
gospelman said:
Do you have a built up library already? Almost all the price points on my wishlist are just "the usual" for steam sales. But it's definitely worth investing into some of the greats if you don't own them.
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I have 377 games on steam and I might have some recommended games on switch and playstation but willing to take recommendations
 
Accidie said:
I have 377 games on steam and I might have some recommended games on switch and playstation but willing to take recommendations
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Ok, you happened to ask about my favorite genres on my favorite platform, so I couldn't help skim my library to see some of my favorite titles that are priced well in the current sale. For the most part, they're series-starters that I'd recommend across the board to anyone.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC & SC
Ni No Kuni 1 Remaster
Persona 5 Royal
Steins;Gate (original or elite)
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive
Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception & Mask of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles
Yakuza 0
Ys Origin
Ys VIII
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
I also have Umineko on my wishlist but am somewhat unsure about the different titles and arcs. I guess my plan to play through a free episode first. There are other VN cags here who know much more about them.
 
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I've been gaming my whole life and I have all of those. Puts things into perspective. I'm an jrpg avid fan but only played the generic recommended visual novels so I want some visual novel recommendations. and the niche japanese games. Thank you for taking time to make your list though
 
I myself have played many visual novels on and off of Steam. If you have any questions about most JAST USA, Mangagamer, Shiravune, Nekonyan, etc... visual novels I can answer and say if I recommend it if I've played it. I haven't played Umineko or Higurashi games, but I know they're probably some of the stronger horror visual novels, with likely the more recommendations I've heard for Umineko. For some of my favorite visual novels that would be likely Nukitashi is one of my newer favorites and I really enjoyed Funbag Fantasy and it has some sequels and side games (Side Boob story 1 I found meh). For a more traditional recommendation (I know those 2 have a lot of 18+ content) Da Capo 3 R was just great to me and had some of the better characters in it. The story was really touching though and it is quite long as well and I wish more Da Capo stuff was translated. For a moege type game Nekonyan generally release those and I really liked Kinkoi: Golden Loveriche. It was my VN of the year when it was translated (2021). Fureraba ~Friend to Lover~ also had one of the more simple but nice somewhat realistic (not always true for VNs) relationships. Most people like Making Lovers a lot as the comedy is there, and I do like it too, but it's not a favorite of mine.

I generally play those kind of life simulation type doujin games. A lot are under baked or terrible, but I did like Summer Memories which has an 18+ patch. You generally go around meeting people and enjoying the summer. Winter Memories is the sequel (and also was on Wario64's Twitter haha) but I find a lot of that game is less exciting and I only got like 1/2 the endings in it.

But for real if you have any questions just ask here or if it's about some 18+ game and you don't want to reveal you play those message me.
 
Took a short break from FFVII Rebirth to try Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes beta. I think I read the beta is between 5 to 8 hours long. In my short time, I do like the art style and presentation of the game. The battle system and formation does feel like the classic Suikoden I & II games. Save mechanic is very old school where you can only save at designate spots or places. Right now you cannot make a save on the world map which is weird because the Suikoden games allow you to do so there, hopefully that change with the full release. So far I liked what I played but would rather wait for the full release to put more time into it.
 
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Finally finished FF7 Rebirth over the weekend. I'm at about 125 hours, having done everything except the Brutal/Legendary Challenges and Hard Mode. I'd say a solid 9/10, possibly GOTY. The game is really, really good but there are a few quirks that annoyed me:
  • The audio balancing is bad. There are times the voices are super low in the mix and there are times I was deafened by sound effects. I don't have a fancy audio setup (LG C2 TV speakers), I don't know why it was this bad. It's not consistent either, so messing with the sliders for master/SFX/voices at the beginning of the game won't fix the issue.
  • The enemy AI is annoying. It very obviously prioritizes whoever the player is controlling, which means it's balanced toward you playing tankier characters like Cloud/Barrett or ranged characters who can dodge. Playing as Aerith means you're going to get juggled and need a second healer. You can kinda-sorta use this to your advantage (switch to a character to heal then switch away to draw aggro) but it's still a pain.
  • The friendly AI relies on materia to dictate its behavior - i.e. using materia or weapon skills. A strategy menu like Tales has would be very welcome, because a bunch of your materia slots end up being taken up for this. Or you can just manually manage everyone's ATB (which is the better way to win the harder fights anyway).
  • They went a bit overboard with the volume of boss fights. Most chapters end in boss fights (like Remake) but when these chapters end in boss fights it tends to be multiple bosses.
  • The open world is a bit repetitive, but that's more of an issue with my gameplay style (you don't have to do everything).
  • The enemy variety is a little sub-standard. It's a handful of enemies with reskins and showpiece bosses, similar to Remake.
  • Chadley won't shut the fuck up.
Most of this is patchable, so I imagine the game will only get better as it gets updated.
 
62t said:
Damn Switch version sold out.
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I would have grabbed a copy at $35 for switch. Even the PS4 version is showing sold out. Just PS5 available.

Oh well. :(

I have seen it still being stocked in some walmart stores around here... so worst case I can just grab a copy that way.
 
Man, I'm jelly you guys are enjoying Rebirth... I'm just happy I was able to finish Intergrade, even though it took me 6 hours over like 2 months.LOL
 
nightc1 said:
I would have grabbed a copy at $35 for switch. Even the PS4 version is showing sold out. Just PS5 available.

Oh well. :(

I have seen it still being stocked in some walmart stores around here... so worst case I can just grab a copy that way.
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It's OOS on Amazon, Target, WM, and even SE store... so, just like that it's gone everywhere. GS has it in stock but shipping only and $11 is too much shipping for what's prob gonna be a gut.
 
Tothoro said:
The enemy AI is annoying. It very obviously prioritizes whoever the player is controlling, which means it's balanced toward you playing tankier characters like Cloud/Barrett or ranged characters who can dodge. Playing as Aerith means you're going to get juggled and need a second healer. You can kinda-sorta use this to your advantage (switch to a character to heal then switch away to draw aggro) but it's still a pain.
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Well crap, that was my biggest complaint about the first game and I was really hoping they'd fix it. I actually started Persona 3 Reload just last night so I won't be getting to Rebirth for a while, but knowing one of the most obnoxious things about Remake is still in Rebirth is kind of killing my hype for it.
scorponok said:
Star Ocean The Second Story R PS5/PS4 $34.99 bestbuy
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Vinny said:
It's OOS on Amazon, Target, WM, and even SE store... so, just like that it's gone everywhere. GS has it in stock but shipping only and $11 is too much shipping for what's prob gonna be a gut.
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I wanted the PS5 version since I heard the loadtimes on Switch were very long, so I grabbed it (plus that HD-2D will really pop on PS5). I'm worried about how it seems to have a low print run and is starting to disappear from a lot of stores. I think $35 is a good price to be safe.
 
super1upqueen said:
Well crap, that was my biggest complaint about the first game and I was really hoping they'd fix it. I actually started Persona 3 Reload just last night so I won't be getting to Rebirth for a while, but knowing one of the most obnoxious things about Remake is still in Rebirth is kind of killing my hype for it.


I wanted the PS5 version since I heard the loadtimes on Switch were very long, so I grabbed it (plus that HD-2D will really pop on PS5). I'm worried about how it seems to have a low print run and is starting to disappear from a lot of stores. I think $35 is a good price to be safe.
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The more I play Rebirth the less I like the combat. And Chadley, fuck that stupid cyborg.

The story is really the best part, the gating of the open world is obnoxious.
 
With regular encounters you're not going to get to use Synergies or higher-level Limits. The endgame content and Hard Mode let you experiment more, but I really wish there was better enemy variety in some of these challenges. The Six Person Advanced Bouts are the same five enemies reconfigured over and over.
 
HaloGX said:
Have we had complete editions of any of the Yakuza/Like a Dragon/Judgement games? I don't think we have. But I do think Infinite Wealth will drop in price more.
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Agreed, it was already $40 at Best Buy not long ago, I fully expect/hope for $20 by the end of the year (maybe I'll be caught up on all of those by then, ha not likely).
 
I'm not against waiting (not like I don't have all the Yakuza games since 6 to play), but these days games just have a habit of dropping in price... going even lower.. and then poof, gone everywhere and costing more than retail eBay.

But this is also Sega so I think it's safe to wait.
 
Nice to see see P3R is dropping in price. I, however, had given in and purchased it from Target since I needed a copy for my older daughter’s Easter basket. Paid $46. But they must be taking a page from GameStop’s book because it took 4 days before the package was picked up by UPS. It arrived late so I got $10 back.
 
I'm really enjoying P3R so far. I've got over 15 hours in, just started June, and while it's so far very much a straight remake (vastly improved visuals but not a lot of substantial new content), I'm not too bothered by that since it's been a veeeeeeeeeeeery long time since I played the male MC route, so while the gameplay and story are familiar, the Social Links are like a new experience. The remixed OST is pretty good and the new songs are very good. "Color Your Night" is a serious standout, especially since I didn't know Lotus Juice could sing that well! The new VA is all right, with Junpei and Mitsuru being fine replacements, Yukari being ok, and Akihiko just really not fitting the character. His acting isn't bad, by any means, I just don't like the voice. Whenever I hear Officer Kurasawa talk (voiced by Liam O'Brien), I just get sad. They kept Tara Platt for Elizabeth, which is great, but it just makes me question the decision to change the voice cast even more. The Social Links are now fully-voiced, which is very exciting, and the voice cast they got for the non-playable Social Links is great. Even Nozomi, the infamous Gourmet King, has a really great voice (and he makes Louie faces, meaning I haven't stopped playing Pikmin after all lol).

Anyway, gameplay is as fun as any other mainline Persona game, and I like the introduction of Shifting, which is just P5's Baton Pass. It's not particularly difficult (I've only run into a couple of MegaTen bullshit moments so far), but I'm fine with that. I like a hard game every now and then, but I mostly play games to relax. The overhaul to Tartarus is pretty cool, how the appearance of each block changes more beyond just the color of the walls, but it is still mindless dungeon crawling, and honestly, I'm fine with that. I kind of love that crap (probably why I really enjoyed Soul Hackers 2, despite the Soul Matrix being the blandest dungeon I've ever seen). Items have been pretty generous and I've managed to save my money for buying meals and PC software to raise my social stats, instead of equipment, which I instead search for in dungeons and buy from Tanaka's Amazing Commodities. I even got rank 3 academics literally the day before the midterm exams, so I got top of the class. That was a nice feeling.

If I had to rate it right this second, I'd definitely give it a 9/10. Fun gameplay, great story and voice acting, fantastic OST, compelling social links, and very nice visuals (UI is, unsurprisingly, gorgeous), with the cons simply being the game has a slow start (always Persona's problem) and not a huge amount of new gameplay additions. Of course, being only 15 hours in, I'm sure I've yet to encounter more new content, and I can't wait to see it. If you love P3 or have never played it, this is an easy recommendation. If P3 isn't your favorite Persona but you still really like it (like me), it's still an easy recommendation. I guess, if you've played P3 very recently and/or you really don't like it, avoid this since it's such a faithful remake.

Yes, I'll never not be salty about selling The Answer separately, but it is what it is. I just wanted to play this game, already.

EDIT: Sorry, just had to add this...
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I got every Like a Dragon day 1 since Yakuza 5, but I am in chapter 9 with Rebirth and got Star Ocean Second Story coming on Friday. I think there could be another price before I even open the game.
 
Ugh moon link. I refuse to do that one. the superior ones on femc route for p3p especially the party ones are the biggest issue I have with reload since it does not include them.
 
I'm expecting Atlus to release a P3P Complete Edition once the DLC drops in the Fall, so I'm just waiting on that. And if they don't do it I'm sure the game will be like $20-$30 by then. Either way, no harm in waiting.
 
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