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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A sneak peek of the upcoming Closed Game Collectors Edition (link NSFW):

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Currently P5R Deluxe is $19.59 on psn, which is cheaper than the sale price of the base game.  Either nonsensical pricing or a slight error.  How are the kasumi* constumes included in Deluxe?

 
 
 
 
Yeah packaging will vary unpredictably if it ships out from a store.  The warehouse is pretty good about using boxes for LE's and such, but also uses the worst method I've seen for standard edition games (recycled paper & glue).  I found a void terrarium for pickup so I just used points/certificates to buy it and not worry about shipping.  

 
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Lots of eroge/VNs released recently. I'll mention and link them as many have launch discounts right now.

First an all ages one (why!) Kurokami-sama's Feast released by JAST USA from Minato Carnival Road. This one has a struggling manga artist who is trying to survive after his manga becomes discontinued. He learns about an occult group and the tale of Kurokami-sama in particular. This interests him and he invokes her or something and must do her bidding. It simultaneously released in multiple regions. Looks OK. Launch discount of 10% until the 28th. I believe this has simulation elements too.

Steam

VNDB (NSFW)

Next Hello Lady Complete by Akatsuki Works released from NekoNyan. This includes Hello Lady! and the fan disc Hello Lady! New Division. I've been waiting a while for this one. This one deals with super elites and our mc ends up saving one of them and he becomes one of them as well attending the same school. There is an 18+ patch for the Steam version. It has a 10% discount as well. This is also on many storefronts such as JAST USA and Mangagamer. 

Steam

18+ Patch (NSFW)

VNDB main game (NSFW)

VNDB fan disk (NSFW)

Trinoline Genesis by Minori was released from Mangagamer. It is a fan disc for Trinoline and includes extra stories for the first games girls and two more. Not the most popular original game, although I only finished one route and don't remember much from it. There is an 18+ Steam Patch available as well. It has a 15% off discount until January 27th.

Steam

18+ Patch (NSFW)

Mangagamer (NSFW)

VNDB (NSFW)

The Seventh Sign Mr. Sister by Sweet & Tea was released from Sekai Project/Denpasoft. This one is only available on their web stores as well as GOG, which is cool. Reiji and his sister are out for a walk and he gets injured and is saved by a goddess. She put three of the seven divine fragments of her power to save him. Now she must get them back and a lot of slice and life and comedy ensues. This has a 10% launch discount. This one was delayed before and just released. I may have to wait and get it later on a heavier sale with how many came out this week.

Denpasoft (NSFW)

GOG

GOG 18+ Patch (NSFW)

VNDB (NSFW)

KamiYaba: Destiny on a Dicey Deadline from Hulotte was released on Johren only by Shiravune. The mc collects a lot of charms and it somehow pisses off a deity who comes and tells him if he doesn't find love in a limited time he will never find love in his life. He sets his eyes on some ladies and the goddess poses as his sister. Pretty sure hilarity ensues. 10% discount that ends in about 10 days. Sorry that store front kind of stinks.

Johren (NSFW)

VNDB (NSFW)

Also going to point out one unique kind of simulation/VN game that came out on Steam called Needy Streamer Overload. This supposedly is becoming popular in Japan and they have received over 300 fan arts for the game. It looks very interesting but trigger warnings are needed for this. It supposedly is a good depiction of becoming popular over likely all other things leading to many likely very bad paths. Lots of endings and a short play time. I may wait for a bigger discount, but I love the art style.

Steam

VNDB (NSFW)

 
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I happened to notice on the front page there's a mini-steelbook for Monster Hunter World Iceborne at Best Buy. I was curious what a mini-steelbook was, so I clicked the link to see.

It's designed to hold the card with the download code on it. I don't know if it's because it's 6 in the morning or what, but I'll freely admit to being flummoxed here.

 
Kurokami-sama's Feast looks neat, thanks as always for such detailed news posts. None of the sites I follow in my reader usually mention any of these.

 
No idea.  I'd wager part of it is them being former atlus staff that is giving people hope that the not persona monark will be a great new series. 

 
I would bet it may be like Blue Reflection or Caligula Effect; an okay~ish first entry and a much better, refined second one. 

That's just my armchair speculation, but it seems like these series need a second try to get their feet.  I am looking forward to it, though.

 
Words on social media is that Playasia nuking coupon code, 1 per customer now. No idea if you been using it means you're complete out of coupon for good

Edit: just tried, I previously used Switchmania and it is now invalid. Ndeal still good. So I guess 1 code, 1 use per account.

Sent from my SM-N970U1 using Tapatalk
 
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gospelman said:
Yeah packaging will vary unpredictably if it ships out from a store. The warehouse is pretty good about using boxes for LE's and such, but also uses the worst method I've seen for standard edition games (recycled paper & glue). I found a void terrarium for pickup so I just used points/certificates to buy it and not worry about shipping.
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The trick is to order two, get free shipping and then to return the worse of the two back to the B&M store for a refund.

 
Shadowmoses12 said:
So does anyone know why playasia got rid of their affiliated discount coupon?
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Their official statement on Discord:

"The intention wasn't a permanent discount so partner coupons have been changed to once per customer to reflect the intent of being a discount for new customers. We will monitor how it affects customers."

At least there are a few codes, so you'll have some more chances to use them. Does anyone have a list of all their affiliate codes?

 
ecwfan said:
Their official statement on Discord:
"The intention wasn't a permanent discount so partner coupons have been changed to once per customer to reflect the intent of being a discount for new customers. We will monitor how it affects customers."

At least there are a few codes, so you'll have some more chances to use them. Does anyone have a list of all their affiliate codes?
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Switchmania
Ndeal
Censored
Gematsu
Lgn
Ninwire
Vitafr
Andrew
Switchwatchtv

Chime in if you knows more affiliated discount codes


Enjoy it while you can, worst case scenario is they would nuke their affiliate program altogether

Sent from my SM-N970U1 using Tapatalk
 
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Glad I went hog wild last free shipping period!  Not much I want coming up besides maybe Pocky & Rocky Reshrined.  Going to suck more for the the channels who used their services, I would think. 

Customers just move elsewhere or purchase less, but those needing affiliate clicks may suffer in aggregate more so, I would think?  Hope it doesn't hurt those channels, because I enjoy the content. 

 
FlawlesslyFatal said:
Switchmania
Ndeal
Censored
Gematsu
Lgn
Ninwire
Vitafr
Andrew
Switchwatchtv

Chime in if you knows more affiliated discount codes


Enjoy it while you can, worst case scenario is they would nuke their affiliate program altogether

Sent from my SM-N970U1 using Tapatalk
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https://twitter.com/JPSWITCHMANIA/status/1486166818066735106?cxt=HHwWhIC5vZq29p8pAAAA

JP believes his new code at Play-Asia may be multi-use. Its JPSWITCH

 
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I hope we see another free shipping promo at PlayAsia soon. Fine if it has a higher minimum - there are several games there I plan to pick up.
 
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The only thing left physical I would even buy from them is an English Atelier Arland DX collection on Switch and that's never happening.

 
I played and completed the Monark Demo on PS5, so here are my impressions. It took a bit less than 3 hours to complete.

The demo goes fully through chapter 1 of the game and allows you to use that save in the full version. You play as an silent-ish MC who gets thrown to some monsters but is able to embrace their ego according to a psychology test and transforms. You are able to take on these skeleton like creatures now. After getting through that you learn the high school is full of haze and things are going on to cause students and others exposed to the haze to go crazy. It's your job now after being found and having amnesia to help out and maybe get your memory back. It's fairly simple and has some interesting thoughts, but I found it fairly typical. It reminded me a little of The Caligula Effect with being trapped somewhere, and also Tokyo Xanadu a bit as well. Nothing crazy or amazing so about a 6.5/10 so far.

The battles are where the bulk of the game comes from. You only seem to get in non random battles from the fog. You can repeat battles to grind if needed. The players take turns moving around a circle formation and getting in place to do moves. Moves generally take some HP/Madness to cast for more powerful ones. If a character is in place before said attack they can do follow up basic attacks, which are generally needed to really get constant damage. After all your character moves, and the enemies can counterattack, they get to move and attack and such. It has more strategy than some other turn based RPGs. I liked how moves hampered yourself to get more powerful effects so spamming wasn't always the option. Overall it's pretty good and I like this way more than The Caligula Effect's battles. Probably a 7.5/10.

In between battles you go around interacting with people a bit and mainly exploring the foggy regions. These are a bit creepy, but nothing crazy scary. You do go gain madness the more you stay in these places, but that's easily fixed by items and going to the doctor. You also have a level up system using souls which upgrade everyone. If you learn a higher level of a skill or a new skill, you gain levels too. This is only way I believe to level up. The graphics look pretty low quality. Sometimes the animations are stilted at places and generally the game looks like an earlier PS4 title. It's nothing terrible though and the simpler graphics work alright for the foggy areas to give it a little more of a lo fi approach. I thought the character models looked somewhat Tokyo Xanadu-ish, so solid enough though not spectacular. It's a lower budget Furyu game and it shows. 6.5/10

The sound was overall pretty good. The music again reminded me of The Caligula Effect. The pop song came on during the boss battle. The other music wasn't bad although a little forgettable. I just used English voices for this and they were pretty decent. Reminded me of a lower budget Persona game. Nothing memorable. 6/10

Overall it seems like a game that's going to be forgotten and sell poorly especially coming out near Elden Ring. I feel bad for the timing of the release, but it will be a decent game. I don't think this will be a 8/10 or better game, but it seems good enough to pass the better than the original The Caligula Effect pretty bad game. I like to support these games, but I'm likely waiting for at least a drop to around $30 likely. I liked it, but I can already tell I can play some better RPGs elsewhere. The battles are neat though. 6/10 and waiting for a price drop very likely.

 
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I played it too. Overall I like it, it feels like a PS2 JRPG in a way and I get a sort of Persona 3 story/theme vibe from it

I'm not sure how I feel about the death call mechanic. Just having to zone out and back in of an area I'm searching to clear it wasn't really desirable, however you can also call other numbers to clear it- which can just give you appropriate battles to the area you're in. So I guess in way it's like their equivalent of a random battle?

It was interesting that you could avoid the enemy counterattacks either by being just out of range (with a projectile/thrown move) or by doing a back attack (which also increases hit %). This plus obstacles/evironmental hazards that they started to introduce could be neat together.

 
There's a targeted discover+amazon promo going. Either you get 10$ off a $50 purchase or 30% off  a $50 (15$ off of a new game) or 40% off 50$ after using your rewards points on your discover card. 

 
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It's not bad for sure but it's not $60 good. It's FuRyu too so it feels unpolished, but not horrible. I just don't buy their games on non discount. Never bad games usually, but I just can't bite on them. I'm already taking a chance on Maglam Lord, which looks a bit janky too, but is supposedly a successor to those Summon Night games I played on the GBA. 

 
shadowysea07 said:
There's a targeted discover+amazon promo going. Either you get 10$ off a $50 purchase or 30% off a $50 (15$ off of a new game) after using your rewards points on your discover card.
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I did one of these in earlier January, though the terms were a little different (I forget the percentage, but it capped at $50 max discount)

I'm usually the type of person to take my rewards as a statement credit immediately, but for Discover card it's worth keeping a few pennies on it in case these pop up, you can use just 1 cent of reward points to get the promo (assuming you were eligible)

 
Chinese New Year is just around the corner and Playasia hasn't announce promo/sale. I did however, caught a New Year banner with digital game codes, maybe they won't do anything big this year


Edit: nvm found the whole list, no free shipping, just a handful items being discounted minimally

Edit 2: more stuffs being added

https://www.play-asia.com/info/LNY22

Sent from my SM-N970U1 using Tapatalk
 
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Anyone getting any coupon codes to work? Got a couple things in my cart, however the code that was working yesterday no longer seems to be applying.
 
DesertLeo said:
Anyone getting any coupon codes to work? Got a couple things in my cart, however the code that was working yesterday no longer seems to be applying.
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None of the ones I've seen are working. Not ordering anything from them if they don't reopen one of these as shipping cost increases are now pretty steep.

 
nitrosmob said:
Really need a Play-Asia free shipping to get me to buy from them. Waiting for one to pre-order Pirate whatever dungeon crawler game.
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Agreed. I was hoping we'd see one right about now. I'd even be okay with a high minimum spend. PlayAsia had one last year that required $100 spend to receive free shipping.

May be one will appear for February.
 
Mattiful-Joe said:
Agreed. I was hoping we'd see one right about now. I'd even be okay with a high minimum spend. PlayAsia had one last year that required $100 spend to receive free shipping.

May be one will appear for February.
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Tomorrow is February. I'm not expect another opportunity for free shipping until Black Friday/Christmas...maybe if they gonna do something in between as milestone for their social media account

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Best Buy also has Ryza 2 for $29.99 now, which was the same price as GameStop but without the crappy condition risk:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/atelier-ryza-2-lost-legends-the-secret-fairy-playstation-4-playstation-5/6425288.p?skuId=6425288

They're offering a $10 gift card for Atelier Sophie 2 pre-orders as well. I added the pre-order to get free shipping but not sure I'll keep it.

If you'd prefer to go with Gamestop the $5 PUR Monthly certificates can be used online now.

In my cart it works on a $10 Nintendo Switch eShop card (but I didn't try checkout). I heard rumors they were discontinuing the option to do that - typically my go-to was to get a custom size $5 eShop card whenever I was near one in-store. Free $5 is free $5, but 50% off a $10 card isn't bad either.

I'm still eyeing Caligula Effect 2 from GameStop as a possibility, though I haven't played the first one yet:

Most of these are just repeats from what Squarehard posted before, just reiterating with the $5 credit available as I was browsing myself:

Ryza 2 (PS4) ('new') is still $29.99:

https://www.gamestop.com/video-games/playstation-4/products/atelier-ryza-2-lost-legends-and-the-secret-fairy---playstation-4/220990.html

Caligula Effect 2 (PS4) ('new') $29.99:

https://www.gamestop.com/video-games/playstation-4/products/the-caligula-effect-2---playstation-4/252153.html

World of Final Fantasy Maxima (Xbox One) $9.99 pre-owned, $7.88 digital

https://www.gamestop.com/video-games/xbox-one/products/world-of-final-fantasy-maxima---xbox-one/184338.html

Walmart has World of Final Fantasy Maxima Xbox One new, physical for $7.88:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/World-of-Final-Fantasy-Maxima-Square-Enix-Xbox-One-662248921952/458700461

 
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toska said:
def price match caligula

mine came with the nasty circle sticker but i have funny money to spend
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May have better luck calling them, but Best Buy wouldn't price match via chat for me.

They said it needed to be available for store pickup and it being available for shipping wasn't enough. That doesn't make sense to me, so I wonder if I'd get a different answer if I tried again/called, but I may just take my chances. I can just return the game and get it cheap digitally one day if I don't like the condition.

 
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