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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I keep hearing great things about these, so I'll buy up an Asian-English, or Japanese  release with English subs or whatever for it.

Also in upcoming releases Shiravune are releasing Dōkyūsei: Bangin' Summer  a remake of a pretty old dating sim on 03/10/2022. There is an all ages Steam release and the 18+ version is a Johren exclusive. That sucks so badly, but you know I wont be playing the Steam one.

Steam

VNDB (NSFW)

Evenicle 2 also released on just about everywhere other than Steam (Mangamer, JAST USA, Johren), and JAST USA should be releasing Overly Qualified Ms. Mary as well.

NEKO-MIMI SWEET HOUSEMATES Vol. 1 is releasing sometime this year it looks like. A demo was released and seems to be all ages.

Denpasoft Demo (NSFW)

VNDB (NSFW)

 
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Welp, I really wanted to try Liar Princess at a sale price before Cruel King came out so I could determine if I wanted to sink $60 into the storybook edition of the latter, but I accidentally slept on the last digital sale back in October and it hasn’t been in any of the holiday sales or the Big in Japan sale, so I guess I’m keeping my money.

Damn it, NISA, this is the longest time it’s ever gone without being on sale. It didn’t take nearly this long after its release for you to put it on sale!
 
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gospelman said:
Some decent prices in today's psn sale stack with an extra ps+ discount. Demon Gaze II is $5.99. VIIR is $7.49. My ps+ isn't active and I have both physical discs, but these might be good pickups for someone.
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Thanks for sharing. I snagged Demon gaze 2

Ys 8 lacrimosa of dana is 19.79 on psn https://www.dekudeals.com/items/ys-viii-lacrimosa-of-dana

Fairy Fencer F Advent Dark Force is 5.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/fairy-fencer-f-advent-dark-force

ff crystal chronicles remastered is 11.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-remastered-edition

I am Setsuna 19.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/i-am-setsuna

Lost Sphear 19.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/lost-sphear

Nexomon 6.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/nexomon

.hack g.u. 7.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/hackgu-last-recode

8.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/tales-of-zestiria

8.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/god-eater-2-rage-burst

9.99 https://www.dekudeals.com/items/tales-of-berseria



Demon gaze 2 5.99 https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1063-CUSA09276_00-DEMONGAZEPS42017
 
Not to my knowledge^  Same for me.  It's the reason why I haven't picked it up or okinaki and the other one. Sphere something. 

 
$15.99 is the lowest it's been. None of the games ever go that cheap (Oninaki and Lost Sphear as well). 

In other news some VNs have release dates and some announcements as well.

First of all Loopers is launching on June 2nd in Japan for the Switch and includes English subtitles. It's available on Play-Asia.

VNDB (NSFW)

Play-Asia

JAST USA released Tokyo Onmyoji. In it magic beings are causing harm to people and the only one to stop them is onmyoji. It's a BL game.

VNDB (NSFW)

JAST USA (NSFW)

Mangagamer is releasing UuultraC from ALDETA on March 24th. It's a BL game. There is a 10% discount for pre-ordering.

Mangagamer (NSFW)

NekoNyan is releasing Café Stella and the Reaper's Butterflies from Yuzusoft on March 25th. I'm sure there will be an 18+ patch and other places selling it other than Steam.

Steam

Sekai Project/Denpasoft are releasing A Clockwork Ley-Line: Daybreak of Remnants Shadow on March 18th. I'm sure there will be an 18+ patch and a Denpasoft version on release.

Steam

Sekai Project also announced Uso Kara Hajimaru Koi no Natsu from LYCORIS. It is about summer and love blooming and is Yuri and all ages.

VNDB (NSFW)

Shiravune is releasing Doukyuusei: Bangin' Summer on March 11th. Johren is the only place with the 18+ version right now and has it at a 30% off rate.

Johren (NSFW)

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai - Perfect Edition received a translation patch using Tsurezure Scans old translation, and new content translated by PyroCyan. This contains stuff from the console version as well as HD images. There is a forum explaining how to get voice work referring to the default character as well.

VNDB (NSFW)

Translation page

Name Fix Reddit forum

 
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With Crystar coming on on Switch this month, do you guys think I should sell my sealed PS4 copy? Not sure if demand will go down or there will be a reprint on PS4.
 
I'm not usually someone that gets too excited over Kickstarters but this one deserves a look if you're into ninjas and samurai:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwByLjH230c

 
1280x720.jpg


Mary Skelter Finale is $19.99 @ Target

Switch

PS4

 
Yeah I don't do Kickstarter games after my disappointments (2 never came out, 1 the company went bankrupt/tax evasioned, 1 was in EA forever and eventually was bundled before it was out of it, and another looks disappointing but still is being worked on now 7 years or so later). On one note though I'm playing Triangle Strategy. I likely will leave it to a battle or 2 a day. Kind of boring so far, but I'm sure it will get better. One thing I have to say and I'm curious of others opinions in is I actually think the battle graphics for characters kind of suck. They're totted as HD awesomeness, but to me they lack some details, seem fuzzy and blurry, and just look kind of generic sometimes. This is portably too, where they should look nicer. The animations for spells looks cool, as well as the backdrops, but the characters seem to like meh to me. The character portraits outside of battle look pretty good though. I'm not as excited for this game though, and went in with no expectations.

 
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nitrosmob said:
One thing I have to say and I'm curious of others opinions in is I actually think the battle graphics for characters kind of suck. They're totted as HD awesomeness, but to me they lack some details, seem fuzzy and blurry, and just look kind of generic sometimes.
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Agreed. When people rave about the art design I think it's mainly from getting their nostalgia buttons mashed. I wanted to love the game, but after the demo it's now a 'wait for gamepass' title.

Thanks squarehard for the heads up on MS:F. I was able to grab a ps4 copy.

 
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Mattiful-Joe said:
Meh. Totaly not a game I would play. Sounds incredibly niche and tedious.
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I happen to love dungeon crawlers, and while I haven't played the third I did play the 1st two, although the 2nd isn't completed yet. They're a bit grindy, and sometimes the story goes to the side, but I love these type of games when they're done right. They are extremely niche though.

 
Apparently it's in stock on amazon and there's 4 copies left as of this post. I snagged one along with mario 3d bowsers fury since that was on sale too.

 
Did you guys get the Wonder Boy anniversary collection from strictly limited? It has every single game on cartridge.

 
Just a heads up, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is available to preorder at eStarland (I had some funny money there, plus they also don't charge me tax)
 
Yeah, they specify and price differently depending on what is included. They also don't accept garbage condition. Unless they've changed their policy in the past year or two they wouldn't even accept cases covered in sticker residue/with stickers to be considered 'complete', for example.

Their trade in values are decent, but they're picky (about condition, and not having box/manual/other extras will take chunks off your trade-in credit) so as a buyer you usually get good quality used stuff.

They give free shipping on any used games, systems, accessories over $10 too.

 
Vigilante said:
This is probably my one complaint about eStarland--there really should be a free-shipping threshold for New-condition games/systems/accessories, like $30-$50 or something.
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I agree, however they're usually pretty good about reducing the new game's price to accommodate their (usual) $2 shipping. For example they'll list new games that are usually $59.99 for, like, $57.99.
 
I've done quite a few trade ins with estarland over the past year. They're not perfect but I like them overall. If you look at the right items to trade in/buy, you can end up getting a good value. Some used games are 40% overpriced and their offers are 40% too low. But if you take time and look around the site you can find good trade in values and prices.

Pros:
- Free shipping on trade in items and used games
- Very wide range of games you can trade in from many older consoles and even different regions.
- Some decent trade in values, especially on items with a "Bonus"
- Clearly states if the game is complete or not
- I've never received unacceptable condition used games (although some have been poorer than I would like)

Cons:
- In general, pre-owned games are usually higher than eBay prices. I usually check a few times a week to see if there is new product with old prices so I feel like I can get a deal.
- Picky on condition. Someone else mentioned, yes, they will ding you on condition for trade ins, and often it seems debatable. It's even dumber that the cost deductions don't go the next buyer (it's not like they can buy a poor condition complete game for cheaper, there is just one price for all conditioned games)
- Customer service sucks. They often never send me a shipping label, and even after emailing them I sometimes never receive. You are at their will with returns, as they only accept non-working games. If something is on worse condition than you expected, they may or may not let you or charge a restocking fee.
- Never ever ever ever any promos. Only "boosts" on certain games to trade in, but never a coupon, sale, B2G1, or extra 10% on trades or anything like that.
 
Makes me glad I bought a complete copy of Kuon a few years ago from them for $250.00. Came as Mint as you could get without the shrinkwrap.

 
Definitely can find some gems on there. I got my fire emblem fates SE from there about a year ago for $210 and it was only missing the pouch. Got the pouch on eBay for $30 and considering that $210 in credit, and a complete SE was about $300 at the time, I was pretty happy (especially now that it’s $600).

This does remind me of something else i dislike about the site: Their order history is terrible. Online it only goes back about 3 months, and even in email order confirmation it never says what you paid. So I THINK I got some good deals on other games, but apparently this is impossible to prove.
 
detsportsfan3 said:
- Picky on condition. Someone else mentioned, yes, they will ding you on condition for trade ins, and often it seems debatable. It's even dumber that the cost deductions don't go the next buyer (it's not like they can buy a poor condition complete game for cheaper, there is just one price for all conditioned games)
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My assumption was always that they sell it as less 'complete'. IE, you trade it in as 'complete' but the box is dinged up, or covered in stickers etc. They accept the trade for reduced credit, but don't sell the part they debated the condition on (ie, don't sell it as 'complete'). Or maybe it requires some labor to tidy up (in the case of stickers.. I don't want to know how much of my life I've spent with packing tape trying to stick-press-repeat GameStop gunk off of cases ^^; )

I don't know how this theory holds up if the item they ding you for is the game disc itself though.

I had one item they wanted to take a few dollars off of (BlackStone: Magic and Steel for OG Xbox), they gave me the option to get the game back. I think it cost a couple bucks though, I'm not sure. But I at least was able to disagree and get the game back (this was years ago)

I've also contacted them with photos a few times asking if something would be acceptable and they told me in advance if it would be. But as someone else mentioned their CS can be a little slow. And yes the website is not the best. It's a rare mood and doesn't happen often, but I like digging through countless pages and filling up carts sometimes and comparing prices while listening to podcast/streams/music etc. Then usually just don't buy anything, or delay the decision to another time. Trying to get the fun of shopping and choosing something without spending money I guess :p I've had my cart 'time out' after a few hours, which means it just emptied itself. I don't keep my wish-shopping-but-maybe-not in the cart if I know I'm going to thoroughly browse now.

 
nitrosmob said:
Also Best Buy among others. It's a general release. I prefer to not support Amazon as best as I can.
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It's $59.99 on BB at the moment and $49.99 on Amazon. Not that it should be a huge hurdle getting them to price match... and BB should be dropping the price as...

Walmart.com has it for $49.99. Hopefully means it'll be carried in store as that'll drop it down to (I think) ~$43. I still need to play the fan translated version just to verify I do indeed want this.

I 'm with you though, I'd rather go BB any day before Amazon... though I'll 100% go walmart in store before either of them if it's an option unless BB is cheaper or the same price as walmart in the store.

 
nitrosmob said:
Also Best Buy among others. It's a general release. I prefer to not support Amazon as best as I can.
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Same here. I've been ordering more stuff and Target lately and it seems like they carry a better selection of games these days. Even with all their shipping delays and canceled orders, 5% off with RedCard always makes the decision easier and it seems like this'll get a much wider release than I thought it would.

Now SE, give us a physical release for CC Remastered. Please.

 
nitrosmob said:
$49.99 is the MSRP and BB needs to change that. They did post that very early though, which is why it's probably a bit screwed up.
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Yeah, they listed it the same day as the direct, before the MSRP came out. They sure are taking their sweet time changing it though =/

 
cloudmd23 said:
Curious if this will release on PS4 since Chaos;Head Noah isn't on the platform yet.
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I doubt it because in Japan it's not out on PS4. Also the pre-orders are not up yet, but The DioField Chronicle is releasing in Asian English territories so if NA doesn't get a physical, you can get one there.

 
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