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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Saga Frontier 2 (and possibly Patapon 1+2) is about the only import I'm looking to at the moment as well.

I've been buying from Play Asia since...2004!? (I was only 17 lol) 'Rockman Battle and Fighters,' and 'King of Fighters Battle de Paradise' for the NGPC. I still have both games. It's where I would preorder/purchase the last retail Dreamcast releases from Japan. The limited editions like 'Under Defeat,' 'Radirgy,' 'Karous' and 'Triggerheart Exelica.' I still have all those too.

VGP had already taken some of my orders from Play Asia, but, yeah, it would be a bit sad to leave them behind.
 
My playasia order finally arrived in the US, took 21 days, arrived in CA so it still has a while to get to me. Playasia didn't always have free shipping but that sure got me to buy a lot more. I hope it comes back but it doesn't look like it. I also noticed their checkout changed. My first order at playasia was in 2004. I can still remember what I ordered. It was a Korean PS2 Guilty Gear XX #Reload that came in a metal case with a 2 CD soundtrack. It was really cool, it had Korean voices, new Korean music, and an exclusive background.

Also, looks like I'm not getting that Guilty Gear Strive 25th AE PS5 that was on sale at amazon. Ordered it May 2 and it still says order received. I am guessing it's out of print since only best buy seems to still have it in stock.
 
Not going to get my hopes up here on PA, but the judge saying the tariffs are illegal and blocking them... this all might go back to normal soon.

barack obama GIF
 
I see it listed now at $55 as opposed to 30 min ago but there's a problem when trying to add to cart lol

Oh well, surely at some point the insane FOMO on this shit will be over, they've insisted they will keep printing until demand is met
 
nightc1 said:
Not going to get my hopes up here on PA, but the judge saying the tariffs are illegal and blocking them... this all might go back to normal soon.

barack obama GIF
Click to expand...

Tariffs were back on the menu since this morning.

A federal appeals court temporarily reinstated the most sweeping of President Donald Trump's tariffs on Thursday, a day after a trade court had ruled Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them. -Reuters
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"We should all start our own country. With Blackjack! And hookers"
Bender the proper solution is not living on this planet anymore. Then using a doomsday device to get rid of the old one. Or at least California.
 
shadowysea07 said:
"We should all start our own country. With Blackjack! And hookers"
Bender the proper solution is not living on this planet anymore. Then using a doomsday device to get rid of the old one. Or at least California.
Click to expand...
California? Nah. Texas and Florida - we'd all be so much better off without those two states. I'd happily see them leave the republic.

Anyways, back on topic, I placed a PA order a while back and hope to get it eventually. PA is an excellent retailer and I'd like to keep ordering from them but between the tariff uncertainty and no f/s (I had to pay nearly $25 for shipping last time because Trump's idiot tariffs affected my order), I don't see me ordering more from PA anytime soon.

At this point, I'd prefer TACO Trump just go ahead and do his stupid and tank the economy so it happens fast and quick. We're still going to have a recession due to his stupidity but this TACO approach is just making it worse by forcing us to watch it all collapse in ultra slow motion.
 
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One of the largest release weeks for VNs in a while so I'll highlight some recent releases as well as few announcements that are older.

First of all Mangagamer released The Pillagers of Raillore by 3rdEye, the same developer of Sorcery Jokers. Like that VN it is a kinetic novel. It has a launch discount of 15%. It is an action VN as well. I forgot about this one, but it looks interesting, although the price is a bit higher.

Mangagamer (NSFW)
VNDB (NSFW)

Nekonyan finally released Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration. It is available most places but the Steam version is censored and requires a patch as usual. This one is cheaper than I thought it would be and has a 15% launch discount as well. It looks a magical moege with nice art. I'm going to pick this one up for sure.

Steam
Steam 18+ Patch (NSFW)
JAST USA (NSFW)
VNDB (NSFW)

Speaking of sales JAST USA are having a flash sale (NSFW) until June 2nd. Nekonyan also has a sale on Steam as well. These are some of my favorite companies with me owning a lot of their catalogs and played a lot of them. Any questions please ask me and the place for the 18+ patches Nekonyan's other games are also under the Steam 18+ Patch link previously linked.

I rarely get to post any Kagura games since about 90% of their games are RPGMaker games and simulation games (I like these though!). They have released a remaster of an older Alicesoft game Yoru ga Kuru! -Square of the Moon- Remastered. I also forgot this one was coming out and is a fantasy urban dungeon crawler visual novel hybrid game. This hits most of my notes and will also be picked up by me. There is a 20% launch discount.

Steam
Steam 18+ Patch (NSFW)
VNDB (NSFW)

Also an update on a previously released visual novel Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity had an MSRP change sometime after I complained on it (and passed on it on release) being very expensive. This game did have the 18+ patch released, which I believe I mentioned, so this release gets a Nitro approval and is on sale currently on Steam with a lower MSRP.

Steam
Steam 18+ Patch (NSFW)
VNDB (NSFW)

Shiravune has very little on my release or license list for once and will release To Heart Remake on Steam and I believe Switch on June 25th, 2025. It's a pretty famous series and I don't think I ever played the first one.

Steam
VNDB (NSFW)

For the Yuri lovers out there Clover Reset was released. I don't know much about this other than it takes place in an all girls school. It has a 10% launch discount.

Steam
VNDB (NSFW)

Frontwing released Perennial Dusk -Kinsenka- with no launch discount. This is a kinetic novel and the description mentions violence and cruelty and is about a group of exorcists in training trying to mend their wounded souls. Any other week I'd likely get this, but no launch discount is a disappointment. To get the full story you need an 18+ patch per usual. I do love this developer though as they release quite a lot of good quality visual novels.

Steam
Steam 18+ Patch (NSFW)
VNDB (NSFW)

Frontwing will release KANADE on June 11th, 2025. This one is about a half alien, half human girl and a love song that will supposedly save the world. Color me intrigued. I have no idea if this is an all ages release or not.

Steam
VNDB (NSFW)

PQube will release IWAKURA ARIA from MAGES on August 14, 2025. It is a suspenseful yuri novel I believe with some very striking looking artwork. An easy pre-order for me.

Amazon
VNDB (NSFW)

Some announcements (not very many) of upcoming releases:

D.C. Re:tune is a remake of Da Capo and comes out October 30th for PC and Switch.

Sekai Project is releasing Dora-Con Cafe from Cuteuphoria. Dragon girls and and a cafe....what more can I say.

VNDB (NSFW)

Mangagamer announced How I Met My Healthy Hentai Neighbors! from ClockUp. This is the third in that series.

VNDB (NSFW)
 
Vinny said:
Suikoden HD is $30 on all systems on Amazon... do I bite or do I wait?
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Wow it’s dropping pretty fast. I bought two copies on launch. Had to support this one. I still have all of my originals since I don’t sell my games anyway. And one sealed / mint copy of the first on PlayStation. Also the first prima guide for it too!
 
I think Suikoden HD will drop a bit more, but I mean just a bit more like maybe to $20 at most. For me for niche games $30 is the buy price with $20 being the I need to buy this or the physical may become rare point for titles I want. Most NISA games bottom out at $25 (Gamestop sale recently was rare $15 for titles), Atlus (Not that niche anymore IMHO) $20, AKSYS VNs/Games usually in the $20s (some even $15 usually the ones that started with lower MSRP), IFI $20s, PQube $15-$20, etc... I still try to keep the cheapassgamer part of my soul in check, and we just don't get niche games for $10 and below anymore physically.
 
pjmomo said:
Good time to use that Best Buy $10 cert on Suikoden (PS5), Touhou Spell Carnival (PS5) for $25 on clearance, Tiny Tina's Wonderland (PS5) for $10 also on clearance.
Click to expand...

I've been a BB member for decade+, never once understood how people get those certs... I think someone said you have to sign up for the marketing emails, and I did but all I got was daily spam for like 6 months before I unsubscribed. I also rarely shopped at BB after they got rid of Gamer Club (man, I miss Gamer Club).
 
Can also check your account, there is a section called rewards. It may show you have a $5 or $10 cert. I did not see an e-mail but did have a $10 cert, which I rarely seem to get either. If you’ve unsubscribed maybe not though.
 
Suikoden (Switch) for $30 on BB is tempting. I think I'm going to hold to my guns and resist. I don't think I'd actually play the games. Sort of like Grandia and the Lunar Collections. I'm glad to see that they exists but I have enough of a backlog that I'd never likely put real time in on them.
 
First great deal on Suikoden.

...annnnd it's another one of those, "well if it's $30 NOW, what price will it be later THEN" situations.

crazy these summer deals popping off now though. I have so much stuff bookmarked that I want to get at discount. It's pretty fun picking up a sale item here or there as they pop off. I'm ordering a couple more Funiroll CEs this week that are heavily discounted.
 
Yeah, $30 is tempting for Suikoden, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t play it. If I had a certificate at Bb I would’ve caved.

I was making great progress in my backlog up until a few weeks ago. I don’t want to add to it. Plus right now I’m in taking care of things around the house and buying things I need for our Japan trip soon. Yeah i know I can buy whatever I forget over there, but it’ll take a lot more effort & time since I don’t know Japanese.
 
Yeah, if I would have had one of the $10 certs, it would have been very tempting for Suikoden, though I would have likely just used it for one of the Trails games or Raidou or something on Switch.
 
Xenogears said:
Can also check your account, there is a section called rewards. It may show you have a $5 or $10 cert. I did not see an e-mail but did have a $10 cert, which I rarely seem to get either. If you’ve unsubscribed maybe not though.
Click to expand...
This^ but also they typically bury the cert notification in the email so you have to really scour them to actually find it. Easiest way to tell from emails often is the usual jibber jabber at the bottom. When you have till to use the cert, exclusions and other boilerplate.

Otherwise yeah you just have to check your account. As often it takes a bit to get the cert added to your account. And like already mentioned sometimes you don't even get an email at all.
 
I am getting Suikoden. Never played them before and I want to finish Suikoden first and give a long break before playing 2.
 
I may be one of the few that really like the sequels. I own A2 myself and I think the more limited systems of the sequels make the game more interesting in that way. It is not more interesting story wise.
 
All the FFTs are nice in their own ways, the GBA one felt a bit cumbersome to play though with limited buttons.

What we really need is a new entry in the Ogre series, not another rerelease of OG Tactics Ogre
 
FFT is one of the few things left from that nvidia leak iirc, so it wouldn't be too surprising to show up at some point if it wasn't canceled.
I'd definitely pick it up if they did a nice HD2D remake along the lines of Triangle Strategy.
 
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