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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Moero Crystal H is also available via vgp.ca with free shipping (standard, limited)

Shipped to Canada, it's a whole 8$ cheaper than play-asia (after 3$ coupon). Probably remains true for the rest of the world. I don't know if that means we'll get the game later though.

as always, use paypal

 
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A couple fanatical bundles I thought worth mentioning.  Posting here as the steam thread just wants to talk about laptops and star trek.

Bento Bundle 3 $5.99
Dead or School, Cat Quest, Chaos Code, Shiness, Arcana Hearts Love Max, XBlaze Embryo & Lost Memories, Ninja Showdown

Idea Factory Bundle (3 tiers)
$1 - Fairy Fencer F, Monster Monpiece, Moero Chronicle
$5 - above titles + Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force, Hyperdimension Noire, Hyperdimension Neptunia VII Deluxe
$10 - above titles + Record of Agarest War Marriage, MegaTagmension Blance vs Zombies

I did the $1 tier.  I own Monster Monpiece on PSN and have meant to get to it for a while.. but my vita's battery now hardly works so it's nice to have it on steam as well.

Also if you truly want to be cheap I can give you a referral link over pm that gives you 5% off.

Edit:  I was excited to see they added a Falcom bundle this morning.. but then realized it's badly overpriced at $20.  The game (Tokyo Xanadu eX) has been $10-12 plenty of times, so the current bundle really should be half the price.  I do recommend the game, but not the current bundle.  Sticking to my ps4 version for now.

 
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gospelman said:
A couple fanatical bundles I thought worth mentioning. Posting here as the steam thread just wants to talk about laptops and star trek.

Bento Bundle 3 $5.99
Dead or School, Cat Quest, Chaos Code, Shiness, Arcana Hearts Love Max, XBlaze Embryo & Lost Memories, Ninja Showdown

Idea Factory Bundle (3 tiers)
$1 - Fairy Fencer F, Monster Monpiece, Moero Chronicle
$5 - above titles + Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force, Hyperdimension Noire, Hyperdimension Neptunia VII Deluxe
$10 - above titles + Record of Agarest War Marriage, MegaTagmension Blance vs Zombies
I did the $1 tier. I own Monster Monpiece on PSN and heave meant to get to it for a while.. but my vita's battery now hardly works so it's nice to have it on steam as well.

Also if you truly want to be cheap I can give you a referral link over pm that gives you 5% off.
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Hey, that’s not fair, I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Star Trek in over 24 hours.

It’s worth noting the Kingslayer bundle ($4.99) on Fanatical includes GGXrd Revelator (NOT Rev2, unfortunately), which is lower than the independent historical low for the game. Might be worth holding out for a bundled version of Rev2, instead, though, ArcSys has been pretty aggressive about bundling their back catalog recently. I imagine we could see a cheap bundled Rev2 by around the time Strive releases.
 
gospelman said:
I like to feel that the random pm requests I've submitted on the Amazon page over the last week has something to do with:
:ps4: ryza new $39.99 amz
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Everyone that wants ryza should get this now because it's getting rare and already very expensive. I'm actually shocked to see this price. The ebay prices are ridiculous. I bought one. I

 
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nagpo said:
Everyone that wants ryza should get this now because it's getting rare and already very expensive. I'm actually shocked to see this price. The ebay prices are ridiculous. I bought one. I
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Standard copies seem readily available. It's the Collector's Edition that is impossible to even find, right now. I wouldn't worry too much about copies of this game being expensive. It's been out a long time, it's been available a long time.

 
AugustAPC said:
Standard copies seem readily available. It's the Collector's Edition that is impossible to even find, right now. I wouldn't worry too much about copies of this game being expensive. It's been out a long time, it's been available a long time.
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For a few months, standards seemed to be running over MSRP (I want to say $80-$100, but I wasn't watching particularly closely). My guess is they saw the demand and did a reprint, but obviously it's hard to do a reprint when factories are shut down from a pandemic.

 
Looks like trials of mana dropped to $39 new.

Anyone here finish the game yet?  In particular I'm wondering about the 4th class change.

 
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I have but I stopped after i beat the main game. Honestly this game hasn't aged very well, and yes I know it's a remake. The story was kind of just OK, but it just gets really repetitive and after a while you don't do the same moves in battle over and over. Every class change gets you more combo strings which makes it a little better. I have no idea about the 4th class change, but I was already feeling like the end was padded enough before the post game to continue. I believe for the 4th class change you fight some more boss battles to unlock them. I don't know how much longer that adds to the game though.

 
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Yeah I finished it as well, including the epilogue which is where the 4th class stuff is. Each character has a unique story line where they have to do x thing to get an item to change classes again. After you've done all 3 for your party (took me maybe an hour) you're sent into a massive dungeon that reminded me a lot of post-game dungeons in a lot of tri-ace games. Those ones where they take nearly every map in the game (town, cave, castle, don't matter) and make you fight your way through it while at certain points fighting a boss and then unlocking a fast travel point to that floor.

I'd call it a complete slog but honestly enemies die so fast even on hard difficulty it doesn't matter. By the time I got to the epilogue I was lucky to get a full combo off with Kevin before Angela used some AOE spell that would kill any enemy on screen who wasn't a complete tank.

The little stories associated with the 4th class changes are neat but by the time I reached them I was pretty bored with the game as the combat is far too simplistic for how long the story is and it's impossible to die even on hard mode. I was planning on doing 3 playthroughs back to back but I need a massive break from the game before I go back and play it again.

 
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AugustAPC said:
Standard copies seem readily available. It's the Collector's Edition that is impossible to even find, right now. I wouldn't worry too much about copies of this game being expensive. It's been out a long time, it's been available a long time.
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The Ryza version that is extremely rare is the North American Switch version. Europe got a reprint (announced by Koei Tecmo EU.) The limited editions were made to order from the NISA store.

E: Digital sales will hit $42.99 and $35.99 respectively throughout the next couple of years the Ryza sequels/Secret Trilogy of games come out. They've really been pushing digital with Ryza even having a costume and event that was limited to early digital purchases.

 
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I completed YOU and ME and HER: a love story and wow that was not what I was expecting. I was correct about Nitro+ and twists. I wont spoil anything but this is an interesting one. Just know there is great graphics, an interesting story, and the few characters you have are good. The music is great and the voice acting was top notch. My ears didn't bleed, which is a compliment as sometimes characters have extremely high pitched voices, which hurt my ears. Honestly I enjoyed it, but I wasn't crazy about it. It is pretty obvious this influenced a very famous free visual novel on Steam. It took me about I'm guessing 8 hours. I would recommend it for sure since it's not the usual fare and is very unique. I would rate it around 7.5/10. Was a good mix up from me getting a little bit bored of visual novels lately, mainly for the cookie cutter characters and stories.

Also one spoiler about the game : 

It is graphic and can be disturbing.
 

 
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Well, I caved and bought a complete :ps4: Trials of Mana for $25 shipped this morning.  using the $10 off $20 promo on targeted ebay accounts.  I know it will drop lower pretty quickly but the inner nostalgia pressure was just too much.

Due to all the delays and general world craziniess, I completely forgot that  :ps4: Ys: Memories of Celceta finally released today.  If anyone gets their hands on it I'd be curious about the quality of the packed-in collectible stuff.  That would be my only reason to buy considering I already have the game on vita / pc.  Thanks.

 
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Seeing lots of weird reports today about P3 FES and P4G coming to steam.  Not the remake of P3 many of us have been wanting but count me in for FES.

 
It's because some Persona stuff showed up on a Denuvo DRM site. Also Atlus is doing some stuff during the soon upcoming PC Game Show this month and not listed through SEGA. The rumors I'm hearing is that they'll release on the day they're announced, which would be nice if true.

Also recommend CrossCode. If you hate puzzles, it can be a slog but it is otherwise a high quality indie game in my opinion. I assume that the console release this month (Next week I think?) will include the puzzle difficulty slider option to make it easier to complete puzzles that require a bit more precision/speed to properly complete. I know there were some puzzles towards the end of the game that required stupidly precise timing to complete it, which were the only real complaints I had about the game.

 
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Tothoro said:
For a few months, standards seemed to be running over MSRP (I want to say $80-$100, but I wasn't watching particularly closely). My guess is they saw the demand and did a reprint, but obviously it's hard to do a reprint when factories are shut down from a pandemic.
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Kind of want to double dip on a switch version. But I don't mind digital for this so I'll wait for a sale(never ever).

Speaking of, the current switch sale is really good. A lot of new record lows including Taiko no Tatsujin, and Tales of Vesperia,

 
motaku96 said:
Speaking of, the current switch sale is really good. A lot of new record lows including Taiko no Tatsujin, and Tales of Vesperia,
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Yeah, I did the MX eshop transition for the first time. Went fine. Rune Factory 4 SE for $26 was nice, among others. 128gb card now dangerously full.

 
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One of my favorite games of all time (Ao no Kiskei) is now officially underway in the form of a fan translation (now being called Trails to Azure)

It's the sequel to zero no kiseki, which is s solid game on its own merit and required reading to fully appreciate Azure.

 
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Sprit Hunter: Death Mark can be had for as little as $7.50 if you're willing to put up with gamestop's 50% sale and checkout with 5 games.

I added 2 to my order.  I've seen a few Limited Editions at local stores, I'm hoping I get at least one LE converted to used.  Have heard positive things about the game. 

My switch is now my by-far favorite way to play any sort of VN.  Doing a playthrough of U: Prelude to the Fallen right now and really miss the portability.

 
gospelman said:
Sprit Hunter: Death Mark can be had for as little as $7.50 if you're willing to put up with gamestop's 50% sale and checkout with 5 games.

I added 2 to my order. I've seen a few Limited Editions at local stores, I'm hoping I get at least one LE converted to used. Have heard positive things about the game.

My switch is now my by-far favorite way to play any sort of VN. Doing a playthrough of U: Prelude to the Fallen right now and really miss the portability.
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Well Prelude to the Fallen did also release on Vita...

 
I know everyone misses my VN news!

First of all Mangagamer announced MUSICUS, Overdrive's latest and last rock and roll novel. This is old news now but I never posted.

Blog Link (NSFW)

VNDB (NSFW)

Mangagamer released Beat Angel Escalayer R. Currently is 10% off on their website.

Mangagamer (NSFW)

Their next game releasing July 9th, 2020 is Nyan Café Macchiato ~Sexy Times at the Cat Café~. Currently is 10% off for pre-ordering. Who can resist some cute moe cafe ladies?

Mangagamer (NSFW)

Master Magistrate is out of EA on Steam. Has a 20% off price currently for a few more days and has an adult patch.

Steam

18+ Patch (NSFW)

Aniplex is releasing 2 games Adabana Odd Tales and Atri -My Dear Moments- next week June 19th, 2020. These both look to be all ages games. Atri is very much anticipated by me, so I'll likely pick that one up.

Abadana Steam

Atri Steam

 
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Looks like amz has added some additional coupon discounts on the item pages of some ps4 games I've been watching.  Trials of Mana and P5R have them, checking for others.  I guess it's a small attempt to compete with Target's running promo.

 
Did anyone have issues with a new copy of Sakura Wars from amazon?  The one I ordered came today and really strikes me as bizarre.  Purchased new directly from amazon but came resealed in one of those clear plastic pouches very much like those that gamestop uses to reseal "new" game purchases instore.  The cover art had minor wear and even the dlc code for the costume pack (which I think is in all first print editions) had already been used. 

I guess amz has recently sold out of copies (for now at least) so maybe it's just a random occurrence with the last available copy where someone returned a "gamestop new" copy to amazon.  Just wondering if anyone else had issues.   :whistle2:k

Also am I missing anything significant without that costume pack?

 
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gospelman said:
Did anyone have issues with a new copy of Sakura Wars from amazon? The one I ordered came today and really strikes me as bizarre. Purchased new directly from amazon but came resealed in one of those clear plastic pouches very much like those that gamestop uses to reseal "new" game purchases instore. The cover art had minor wear and even the dlc code for the costume pack (which I think is in all first print editions) had already been used.

I guess amz has recently sold out of copies (for now at least) so maybe it's just a random occurrence with the last available copy where someone returned a "gamestop new" copy to amazon. Just wondering if anyone else had issues. :whistle2:k

Also am I missing anything significant without that costume pack?
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Are you seriously considering taking that guff?
 
gospelman said:
Did anyone have issues with a new copy of Sakura Wars from amazon? The one I ordered came today and really strikes me as bizarre. Purchased new directly from amazon but came resealed in one of those clear plastic pouches very much like those that gamestop uses to reseal "new" game purchases instore. The cover art had minor wear and even the dlc code for the costume pack (which I think is in all first print editions) had already been used.

I guess amz has recently sold out of copies (for now at least) so maybe it's just a random occurrence with the last available copy where someone returned a "gamestop new" copy to amazon. Just wondering if anyone else had issues. :whistle2:k

Also am I missing anything significant without that costume pack?
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Just talk to an Amazon rep and return it.
 
Not really a deal deal, but PS4 Alliance Alive HD dropped $4 at Best Buy to $27.99. It's lower than the eBay prices now, and probably close to out of print. Amazon doesn't have any copies left.

This is probably close to the lowest we'll see it before it disappears.

 
elessar123 said:
Not really a deal deal, but PS4 Alliance Alive HD dropped $4 at Best Buy to $27.99. It's lower than the eBay prices now, and probably close to out of print. Amazon doesn't have any copies left.

This is probably close to the lowest we'll see it before it disappears.
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Thanks for the heads up. I can’t remember which I played on the 3ds though, it was either Alliance Alive or Stella Glow.
 
Starcrest said:
Thanks for the heads up. I can’t remember which I played on the 3ds though, it was either Alliance Alive or Stella Glow.
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Stella Glow is a turn based strategy game... more akin to Advance Wars and Fire Emblem... Alliance Alive is a turn based RPG more akin to classic Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

OF the two you mentioned... Stella Glow was exceptional for it's genre. Both have demos on the 3ds eshop if you need to refresh your memory. Or you could just google some pics/videos.

 
Purchased :switch: Mary Skelter 2 (15.99 on eshop).  Still comes with the first game as far as I can tell.  Slightly cheaper in MX as well.

Almost bought this when it had a launch discount at double the price.  Looking forward to them.

 
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