Japanese Niche Games Deals & Discussion Thread 4.0

shivan128

shivan128

CAGiversary!
Feedback
163 (100%)
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!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 4 Downvote
62t said:
Damn Switch version sold out.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...
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...
Untitled.jpg
FzKL6IOaQAAGNOT.png
 
Last edited:
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.
 
elessar123 said:
At this point, you might as well wait for the complete edition, since The Answer is already going to be another $35. Then they said they won't add FEMC, but who knows.
Click to expand...

I believe them. Porting the FeMC route without halfassing it means new recorded dialogue for existing content (to replace pronouns, alter gender specific scenes, etc) AND for all of FeMC’s social links, which is a substantially bigger investment than the Answer—not a big enough investment that they couldn’t do it and make a little money off it, but one I’m sure the team leads aren’t keen on with their little men-only man club for MegaTen protags.
 
Souffrir said:
I believe them. Porting the FeMC route without halfassing it means new recorded dialogue for existing content (to replace pronouns, alter gender specific scenes, etc) AND for all of FeMC’s social links, which is a substantially bigger investment than the Answer—not a big enough investment that they couldn’t do it and make a little money off it, but one I’m sure the team leads aren’t keen on with their little men-only man club for MegaTen protags.
Click to expand...
Kazuhisa Wada actually just recently stated FeMC in Reload would have been too expensive to add: https://www.gamesradar.com/persona-...ost-two-to-three-times-that-of-episode-aigis/

I was certain before this article came out that we're never getting FeMC in Reload, considering it always seems like she was made simply to sell Portable to female players and players who had already potentially bought the game twice on PS2 (plus, new FeMC content would help soften the blow of losing a lot of the original game's production values due to the PSP's limitations). I've accepted she's essentially fanfiction, albeit very good fanfiction that I prefer over the male MC. And yeah, the boys club over at Atlus is a little tiring. But hey, we got Ringo in Soul Hackers 2 and she was amazing, easily one of the best MegaTen protagonists.

I'm around 40 hours into the game now and it's still fun as hell. I paid $50 for it and it's easily worth $40 if you want to play it now. There's these new night hangouts with the party members that are really cute and fully voiced! I'm actually stunned by how much dialogue is voiced (a lot still isn't, of course, but it's way more than I was expecting). Still not a fan of Akihiko and now Shinji's VA, while Fuuka and Aigis are fine, I guess. The original Aigis VA sounded more (fittingly) robotic, kind of like Lal from Star Trek TNG, and I feel I'm one of the few people who actually liked Fuuka's first VA. Ken and the Strega members are also fine, nothing special (there is no beating Takaya's original VA). But, I won't beat that dead horse any further. I've gotten used to the new voices.
 
 
Bandai-Namco's hatred for Tales fans continues. All of the games are available on-disc, but the story DLC for Zestiria and all of the other miscellaneous DLC are lost to the digital void.
 
Tothoro said:
Bandai-Namco's hatred for Tales fans
Click to expand...

Other than Pac-Man and anime fans, I’m sure pretty sure you guys are Bamco’s favorite people. They certainly like you more than fans of any of their other RPGs, their back catalog of arcade IPs other than Pac-Man, their fighting games, or their racing games, not to mention people named Takahashi.
 
DesertLeo said:
....shit, now I need to convince myself not to grab Trinity Trigger, Silent Hope, and Loop8 for $60 shipped.
Click to expand...

Yesterday I was able to resist... but today your post had me look again as I wasn't aware of the free shipping... and I ended up caving in on Day 1 editions of Trinity Trigger, Silent Hope, and Akiba's Trip Undead & Undressed and opted out of a standard copy of Loop 8. I have the vita version of Akiba's Trip U&U, but I didn't dig too deep into it and that's more likely to happen on the switch.

$0 shipping on orders over $50 and they didn't collect tax for my zip code. So $59.97 for three day 1 edition games (not that I care about extras). I can't imagine there was going to be a better deal than that later.

Tothoro said:
Bandai-Namco's hatred for Tales fans continues. All of the games are available on-disc, but the story DLC for Zestiria and all of the other miscellaneous DLC are lost to the digital void.
Click to expand...

I would assume Tales Fans buy the games and dlc? IF so, nothing is lost to them. The stuff is only lost to those who are casual fans or who just discovered the series that didn't buy the content when it was listed.

It's like all the fear over Scott Pilgrim or the Capcom Marvel games being delisted on the PS3.... I stil can download those games and all the dlc for scott pilgrim.
 
Speaking of the Zestiria DLC, I have been watching the Bonus Chapter: Alisha's Conviction for years waiting for it to go on sale, it never has for some reason. I just noticed it came out in 2015! I guess I'm going to have to pay full price. The Evangelion Costume Set is also cool, also never on sale.
 
scorponok said:
Speaking of the Zestiria DLC, I have been watching the Bonus Chapter: Alisha's Conviction for years waiting for it to go on sale, it never has for some reason. I just noticed it came out in 2015! I guess I'm going to have to pay full price. The Evangelion Costume Set is also cool, also never on sale.
Click to expand...

The Alisha DLC was free for a limited time, which is the only reason I played it.
 
nightc1 said:
Yesterday I was able to resist... but today your post had me look again as I wasn't aware of the free shipping... and I ended up caving in on Day 1 editions of Trinity Trigger, Silent Hope, and Akiba's Trip Undead & Undressed and opted out of a standard copy of Loop 8. I have the vita version of Akiba's Trip U&U, but I didn't dig too deep into it and that's more likely to happen on the switch.

$0 shipping on orders over $50 and they didn't collect tax for my zip code. So $59.97 for three day 1 edition games (not that I care about extras). I can't imagine there was going to be a better deal than that later.



I would assume Tales Fans buy the games and dlc? IF so, nothing is lost to them. The stuff is only lost to those who are casual fans or who just discovered the series that didn't buy the content when it was listed.

It's like all the fear over Scott Pilgrim or the Capcom Marvel games being delisted on the PS3.... I stil can download those games and all the dlc for scott pilgrim.
Click to expand...
Tales of wise graces had a smaller print and sales were only around 65k back then. Mostly because bamco mishandled the series. It didn't get localized till years later which is why they had a backlog of unlocalized titles for years. Arise vesperia de and symphonia crappy port aside added an large influx of new players who never played those ps3/vita titles besides symphonia.

So less than 10% of the fan base hasn't played graces to sum things up. Even fewer played Xillia 2 as it was around 40k. But to be fair that was a low budget sequel that reused assets and started the awful trend of forced party members and avatars.
 
shadowysea07 said:
Tales of wise graces had a smaller print and sales were only around 65k back then. Mostly because bamco mishandled the series. It didn't get localized till years later which is why they had a backlog of unlocalized titles for years. Arise vesperia de and symphonia crappy port aside added an large influx of new players who never played those ps3/vita titles besides symphonia.

So less than 10% of the fan base hasn't played graces to sum things up. Even fewer played Xillia 2 as it was around 40k. But to be fair that was a low budget sequel that reused assets and started the awful trend of forced party members and avatars.
Click to expand...

While it's a shame it's not more available as a series to people that newly discover the series, it's kind of surprising a lot of these games managed to survive being available for purchase this long after the death of those platforms.
 
nightc1 said:
While it's a shame it's not more available as a series to people that newly discover the series, it's kind of surprising a lot of these games managed to survive being available for purchase this long after the death of those platforms.
Click to expand...
Probably due to the bundles they did. There was a graces symphonia bundle they did a few years later. I wasn't aware of the Xillia 1 and 2 bundle someone posted on Twitter. I assume that it didn't get localized outside eu.
 
62t said:
I think it was 2 weeks. People were upset that Alisha was only in the game for a short time.
Click to expand...
No it was around a month I believe but may vary depending on your region and platform. I know for pc it was closer to 8 and a half weeks since I was a preorder person so I got the tos freebie plus the God eater and Alisha dlc for free and the other add ons.

Iirc console players got hosed and had to get a code directly from bamco to redeem the dlc within a month.

As for the Alisha debacle that was due to their false advertising and then shady as hell backpedaling and actively going out of the way to update their games to remove any reference for her being the heroine.

Originally Alisha was in the party in the demo for a dragon boss when she isn't for the real game.

A lot of the advertising materials marketed her as well despite her only being in the party till shortly before the end of part 1. Rose takes her slot unless you exploit a glitch to keep her in the party. Said glitch they also quickly patched out. But didn't fix any of the other ones including falling through the ground losing skin among other things. Worst being saves randomly disappeared. I had to start the game over after losing my 11 hour save and later lost a 6 hours worth of progress save. Both reappeared towards the end of the game. There was a positive glitch where instead of repels encounters the holy bottle removed almost all the encounters in the final dungeon.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top