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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Weird how BG3 is so cheap when it is $70 on PSN lol

It does still need a download which is a bit of a bummer but I still prefer having a physical copy. Their publishing director seemed to hint at something coming later but who knows. 

 
Pikagreg said:
Weird how BG3 is so cheap when it is $70 on PSN lol

It does still need a download which is a bit of a bummer but I still prefer having a physical copy. Their publishing director seemed to hint at something coming later but who knows.
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It’s not weird that it’s cheap, the yen is still weak. It retails for 7800 (8580 with taxes) yen. So comparable to $70. The exchange rate just makes it cheaper for the rest of us.

 
Demon Gaze II is currently on its final sale ($3.99) since it will be delisted on 11/13:

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1063-CUSA09276_00-DEMONGAZEPS42017

PS4 version only. Vita version will also be delisted, but is still full price because of course it is. I got the first game on Vita for like $6 during one of those mindblowing Golden Week sales they used to do, but haven't gotten to it. Still, used copies of this game go for around $60, so it might be good to grab this if you have even the slightest interest.

I read somewhere the free DLC corrupts your save file and I have no idea if that was ever fixed, so I'd advise against getting the DLC. It looks like it's just some support items you don't need.

 
super1upqueen said:
Vita version will also be delisted, but is still full price because of course it is.
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Sony in its infinite wisdom has disallowed sales on PS3 and Vita games since 2021 or so. The only games on "sale" on the platforms since have been a biproduct of how cross-buy works within the ecosystem (i.e. if the PS4 version is on sale and cross-buy you can get the Vita version at a discount that way).

 
Tothoro said:
Sony in its infinite wisdom has disallowed sales on PS3 and Vita games since 2021 or so. The only games on "sale" on the platforms since have been a biproduct of how cross-buy works within the ecosystem (i.e. if the PS4 version is on sale and cross-buy you can get the Vita version at a discount that way).
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Which they got me, as I've slowly bought up things I wanted at the store price.

Really frustrating, but when it's the last way to get some of that stuff (I don't feel like seeking aftermarket solutions), it's definitely gross feeling.
 
TheKbob said:
Which they got me, as I've slowly bought up things I wanted at the store price.

Really frustrating, but when it's the last way to get some of that stuff (I don't feel like seeking aftermarket solutions), it's definitely gross feeling.
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I'm this close to buying TitS SC on PSP for man, $30 for a game I don't actually own is a hard pill to swallow. I normally don't do this but I might just get it via... other means.

 
Vinny said:
I'm this close to buying TitS SC on PSP for man, $30 for a game I don't actually own is a hard pill to swallow. I normally don't do this but I might just get it via... other means.
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giphy.gif


This is why they need to release the trilogy on modern platforms already. I'd kill for it on Switch!

 
I finally (hehe) beat Final Fantasy XVI... man, what an adventure but I cannot help but think this game would have been better with a few changes. 

Wanted to start Crisis Core next but would like a shorter game. I might pick up Spider-Man 2 or Mario Wonder instead... 

 
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Vinny said:
I finally (hehe) beat Final Fantasy XVI... man, what an adventure but I cannot help but think this game would have been better with a few changes.

Wanted to start Crisis Core next but would like a shorter game. I might pick up Spider-Man 2 or Mario Wonder instead...
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I assume you mean by the
last Odin fight.
It jumped the shark a bit like FF8 did after disc 1.

 
elessar123 said:
I assume you mean by the
last Odin fight.
It jumped the shark a bit like FF8 did after disc 1.
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That and also in terms of story
I can't help feel Jill/Sheva's toughness got shafted... powerful enough to slow down Odin for them to take Clive away but we rarely see her fight outside of the intro; her other major points were blocking lava during a boss fight and then also ends up getting caught a lot (starts out as a prisoner, then gets caught by Hugo, and again by Barnabas). Also, Mid was so meh vs Cid.
.

A few other things:

-world map is insanely detailed but insanely empty; would have been better if they took an approach to the classic FFs, making for a less detailed world map but give us stuff to explore

-why not just have Clive auto-attack when near enemies vs having to press square constantly?

-QTEs for opening doors and during battles are super dumb

-Side quests sucked, should have done fewer quests that are more well thought out

-This game could have easily been made as a turn-based game and would likely have been much better; I loved the combat of Remake but this just didn't seem anywhere near as good

Ultimately I think a lot of this game's issues are likely due to them needing to feel like it had to be a 40 hour, like it was the norm in the PS1 days. I know some people LOVE super long games but a solid 20 hours is plenty for me, regardless of genre.

 
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62t said:
I am about to start Crisis Core since it is a 20 hours game, also a nice warm up to FFVII Part 2.
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I actually did pop in Crisis Core and even though I've seen tons of footage, I'm blown away by the graphical improvements... but then I remember how much I hated the slots system and stopped playing after the very first boss fight. I think I might fire up Intergrade... feel like that's prob important to play before Rebirth.

 
well i think the biggest issue with Trails in the sky is xseed. look at how often all other falcom games are rereleased on newer platforms under NIS. Heck there is a ys psp game that saw a switch upgrade but it stayed in Japan. i blame xseed for that.

super1upqueen said:
giphy.gif


This is why they need to release the trilogy on modern platforms already. I'd kill for it on Switch!
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Vinny said:
That and also in terms of story
I can't help feel Jill/Sheva's toughness got shafted... powerful enough to slow down Odin for them to take Clive away but we rarely see her fight outside of the intro; her other major points were blocking lava during a boss fight and then also ends up getting caught a lot (starts out as a prisoner, then gets caught by Hugo, and again by Barnabas). Also, Mid was so meh vs Cid.
.

A few other things:
-world map is insanely detailed but insanely empty; would have been better if they took an approach to the classic FFs, making for a less detailed world map but give us stuff to explore
-why not just have Clive auto-attack when near enemies vs having to press square constantly?
-QTEs for opening doors and during battles are super dumb
-Side quests sucked, should have done fewer quests that are more well thought out
-This game could have easily been made as a turn-based game and would likely have been much better; I loved the combat of Remake but this just didn't seem anywhere near as good

Ultimately I think a lot of this game's issues are likely due to them needing to feel like it had to be a 40 hour, like it was the norm in the PS1 days. I know some people LOVE super long games but a solid 20 hours is plenty for me, regardless of genre.
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Completely agree, I just finished it myself. Game is good, but a couple of changes would've made it great. Side quests should've had more depth than just talk to people then fight a monster after. Visuals were nice, but world design was bland. Combat is nice and fluid, but gets tiresome after a while, could've had more combos and abilities.
 
I've been watching the Virtua Fighter anime this week... overall, really enjoying it.  It's making me want to go back and play some of the games.  Might hook the saturn up this weekend or play one of the other games.

 
Couple pieces of possible news I'm very excited for. First up, one of the character designers for SaGa Frontier may have confirmed SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered:

https://www.gematsu.com/2023/10/saga-frontier-character-designer-mentions-saga-frontier-2-re-release-in-2024

I just recently finished SaGa Frontier Remastered on my Switch and loved every minute of it. Such a weird game. I didn't think I was going to do every character story, but NG+ encouraged me to do so and I'm so glad I did. I felt bad about saving Riki for last, thinking I wouldn't like his story, because I laughed so many times during it. Anyway, as a kid, I liked SaGa Frontier 2 even more than 1 (but never finished either, since they were a bit too obtuse for me and the internet was still pretty rudimentary), so I'm seriously looking forward to a remaster.

Also, according to the Gematsu Twitter account, there's a possibility Dragon Quest X Offline could be FINALLY coming to the west:

https://twitter.com/gematsu/status/1717018840800940282

I'm hopeful this means we'll at least get an Asian English version, since that'll be good enough for me, but Nintendo loves publishing Dragon Quest games in the west (VII and VIII on 3DS and Builders 1 and 2 and the definitive version of XI on Switch), so Switch's exclusion here could actually mean a real western version may happen. That'd be a day one purchase for me, for sure. Yes, I know it's the chibi-fied version that a lot of people don't like, but I just want to play the game in any shape or form lol

 
Vinny said:
I actually did pop in Crisis Core and even though I've seen tons of footage, I'm blown away by the graphical improvements... but then I remember how much I hated the slots system and stopped playing after the very first boss fight. I think I might fire up Intergrade... feel like that's prob important to play before Rebirth.
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LOL fuck me... I'm buried deep in Crisis Core after thinking I'm gonna pass on it. It was still in my PS5 after firing it up week ago and I turned on my PS5 Friday night for some gaming... and now I'm at Chapter 3/doing the trophy run. Not gonna lie, I forgot how much of this game carried over into FF13, 15, Remake and 16.

 
TLDR: I played some ps3 this weekend and dug through my 1100+ download list on PS Store and also noticed games still for sale.


The Wall: Ended up booting up my PS3 and played some Virtua Fighter 5 this weekend. Damn I suck at this game. I ended up having to drop to easy and then flip the health to favor myself to make it through Arcade mode as Pai. The Quest mode is actually pretty decent fun.

That lead me to see about getting back into my PS Store account and dig through my purchase history. Which once I got through agreeing to all the new stuff as it has been a couple years... ended up needing a system update. Eventually got into the store and looking at my 1100+ download list... I almost opted out. Keep in mind this doesn't include any PS+ stuff as I haven't been in that for years now. But it is all the PSP, PSP Minis, Vita, PS1 Classic, PS2 Classic, and of course PS3 games and then whatever dlc they had and whatever themes and icons I picked up.

My gosh I was a monster about the PS3 & Vita. I bought so damned much. Even rebought games I had physical because of the whole 2 system deal with PS3 and multi system (3 or was it 4) deal with PSP/PSTV/Vita. So a digital purchase could be played on multiple systems with no hassle and I had bought my kids their own PS3 and myself I had the PSTV before I got my Vita and also still played my PSP Go.

Thankfully at some point they fixed the download list. It used to be you cue something up to download, opt to put it in the background, and then suffer as the store would move you back to item 1 in the download list. Now it just keeps you where you were. So I spent a couple hours digging through stuff. I had, I think, most of the regular persona games... pretty much everything final fantasy up through 10-2. Nearly every PS1 rpg and strategy game. The PS2 classic Psychonauts (which is great as there's an issue with the disc my bro gave me though I was able to play it a while and found it pretty cool). Oh and surprisingly Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown and all the dlc for it. Which is crazy that each character dlc thing was around 100MB per character. What a pain to download, but I was curious about it. This is where I first hit the max number of background downloads thing and had to let some things finish.

So I spent much of Saturday evening managing a maxed out download list and freeing things up enough until I got to the bottom of the list and went back for a few things I missed downloading (like grabbing Suikoden II but not the first one) and then removing downloads for stuff I didn't realize I already had downloaded like Alundra.

Sunday morning, the install process was eating enough time as it's a one by one thing installing everything so I setup a secondary tv so I could watch something on my main tv while installing games. I still need to finish sorting them to folders but most of the PS1 stuff is at least in a PS1 folder. I threw Persona 4 and Xenogears into my PLAYING folder. It seems like sorting is a bit easier since the first letter will bring up a list of current folders to pick from.

Digging through all of that, made me realize even more how little I really need from current systems. Just sticking with my main developers/publishers and then specific series and rarely stuff outside of that because I have so much retro digital and physical stuff.

Side note, I was kind of surprised PS3 on the PS Store can still purchase games in 2023. The list isn't massive but there were a few things of interest like Grandia 3 which I didn't grab for some reason back in the day.

Shadowmoses12 said:
I hope this gets released in English
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It's been ages since I gave serious time to Retro Game Challenge and the fan translation of the sequel. Those were some fun games. I don't think I'd buy this myself but these were well worth playing.

 
Yeah I played the original DS Retro Game Challenge ages ago, and while I had fun with it and it had a cute story, it was extremely short if I remember correctly, and maybe not as challenging to me haha. I played the second untranslated at the time, but it was more of the same. These are both decent games, but not something I'd play again unless it was very cheap digitally. 

 
Vinny said:
LOL fuck me... I'm buried deep in Crisis Core after thinking I'm gonna pass on it. It was still in my PS5 after firing it up week ago and I turned on my PS5 Friday night for some gaming... and now I'm at Chapter 3/doing the trophy run. Not gonna lie, I forgot how much of this game carried over into FF13, 15, Remake and 16.
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Crisis Core is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. Is it an absolute mess? Damn straight. Is it repetitive as all hell? Oh god yes, especially if you're going for the platinum (which my deadass did). Does its story not make a lick of sense? In most parts, yes. But holy crap, the connections to the FFVII lore, the fanservice, the sympathy you have for Zack, the way it humanizes Sephiroth...like dude, I've been the biggest fangirl for this game since its PSP release and I just exploded when they finally re-released it. And the remaster is so good! It plays so much more fluidly, the graphics are great considering its handheld roots, the updated OST is pumping, and the VA...is fine, I guess lol. I agree the new Zack isn't the best, but he grew on me. I can't hate anything about Zack, he's Zack! He's the reason I'm bothering to get FFVII Rebirth at launch since I'm not as excited for it as I was for Remake. But, Zack! Love that doofus.

Hope you enjoy your playthrough! And we'll see how much knowledge of this game is essential for Rebirth. Oh, and I'd recommend getting to Intergrade before Rebirth, too. You're right that that's going to be important for Rebirth since a lot of interesting things happen in it (it's all absolute nonsense that is kind of stupid, but it will probably be referenced).

 
I just received the email asking for my address so they can ship the Persona 5 Tactica Iron-On Patch.  So, be on the lookout If you signed up for the P5T newsletter, you have 5 days to tell them your address when you receive the email.

 
VGP is reprinting Happy Birthdays & Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk for the Switch.  Preorders launch tomorrow, 1,000 of each.

 
scorponok said:
I just received the email asking for my address so they can ship the Persona 5 Tactica Iron-On Patch. So, be on the lookout If you signed up for the P5T newsletter, you have 5 days to tell them your address when you receive the email.
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I also received the email and filled out the form. I'm not even getting this game at launch but hey, free patch lol I may pick the game up down the line, but I'm just not a huge fan of XCOM style games (I know, I know, heresy). I'm like Elaine eating at that awful sandwich shop just because she wants to fill out the punch card for a free sub.

9683c88a-3cc9-4029-bbcc-3010435def80_text.gif


 
I just signed up for the patch because it was free.  I love Persona, been playing them since vanilla 3 came out.  I probably won't be buying Persona 5 Tactica because I'm just not interested in tactical games.

 
I'm the opposite - no particular fondness for Persona but I love Tactics games. Kind of bad release timing though, between other releases, a vacation, and Christmas gifts my money's got other places to be. I'm going to hold off and wait for a price drop.

 
Gamestop has some "New" games for $15, Mato Anomalies, Alice Gear Aegis, Wanted Dead, Gun Grave Gore and some other JRPGs for 50% off.

Amazon has Alice Gear Aegis for $15, if you prefer a sealed copy.

 
scorponok said:
I just received the email asking for my address so they can ship the Persona 5 Tactica Iron-On Patch. So, be on the lookout If you signed up for the P5T newsletter, you have 5 days to tell them your address when you receive the email.
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Thanks for the heads-up. I appreciate that they don't require anything but your email and your address.

Since there's no verification that the email used in the form is the same as the person filling it out, I hope there isn't an issue with people's badges getting redirected.

 
super1upqueen said:
Crisis Core is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. Is it an absolute mess? Damn straight. Is it repetitive as all hell? Oh god yes, especially if you're going for the platinum (which my deadass did). Does its story not make a lick of sense? In most parts, yes. But holy crap, the connections to the FFVII lore, the fanservice, the sympathy you have for Zack, the way it humanizes Sephiroth...like dude, I've been the biggest fangirl for this game since its PSP release and I just exploded when they finally re-released it. And the remaster is so good! It plays so much more fluidly, the graphics are great considering its handheld roots, the updated OST is pumping, and the VA...is fine, I guess lol. I agree the new Zack isn't the best, but he grew on me. I can't hate anything about Zack, he's Zack! He's the reason I'm bothering to get FFVII Rebirth at launch since I'm not as excited for it as I was for Remake. But, Zack! Love that doofus.

Hope you enjoy your playthrough! And we'll see how much knowledge of this game is essential for Rebirth. Oh, and I'd recommend getting to Intergrade before Rebirth, too. You're right that that's going to be important for Rebirth since a lot of interesting things happen in it (it's all absolute nonsense that is kind of stupid, but it will probably be referenced).
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For a while, Crisis Core was my favorite game, so glad to hear the remaster is good! Granted, I haven't played it since it first came out on PSP but I had very fond memories, especially that last ending sequence. I played it before I ever touched FF7 so I was a Zack fan from day one, team Zack!
 
BlackRockWaifu said:
For a while, Crisis Core was my favorite game, so glad to hear the remaster is good! Granted, I haven't played it since it first came out on PSP but I had very fond memories, especially that last ending sequence. I played it before I ever touched FF7 so I was a Zack fan from day one, team Zack!
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"The price of freedom is steep..."

 
62t said:
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1720951308029767889

Donate $5 to charity for a DLC item.
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Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. This is like the candy promo they did and they gave everybody the dlc from the candy promotion for free. I feel like this would be free down the road.
 
Shadowmoses12 said:
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. This is like the candy promo they did and they gave everybody the dlc from the candy promotion for free. I feel like this would be free down the road.
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This. No way am I getting involved again when they will more than likely have to just release the dlc for free at some point. It would have been cooler if people got 2 copies of the dlc one for doing the promos and then the freebies later.
 
shadowysea07 said:
This. No way am I getting involved again when they will more than likely have to just release the dlc for free at some point. It would have been cooler if people got 2 copies of the dlc one for doing the promos and then the freebies later.
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FF and DLC that isn't story is a garbo combination IMHO. Heck I would argue even the story DLC can be garbo as well. I wont bother with this. These items likely are only good for a small part in game too. I'll just wait till it's free, or if I never get it I wont care as it looks unimportant.

 
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Shadowmoses12 said:
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. This is like the candy promo they did and they gave everybody the dlc from the candy promotion for free. I feel like this would be free down the road.
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More importantly, the game literally has an easy mode. Who is the target demographic for DLC like this? The people who are like "FF7 Easy mode is too difficult?"

Why does anyone ever want these shitty items that break early game balance (where usually the game is the most TIGHTLY tuned because devs aren't trying to balance can't balance around the BS later that happens the more stuff is introduced )

Game enhancing low level items are an absolute blight on the gaming industry and usually the biggest warning flag for me when included with a game.

I get it, if you want to donate for a good cause then do it, but don't incentivize the usually game breaking low level items to do it, FFS

 
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nitrosmob said:
FF and DLC that isn't story is a garbo combination IMHO. Heck I would argue even the story DLC can be garbo as well. I wont bother with this. These items likely are only good for a small part in game too. I'll just wait till it's free, or if I never get it I wont care as it looks unimportant.
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Remember when Squeenix locked the true ending of FFXIII-2 behind DLC? That was pretty garbo.

Oh, and the alternate ending to the Ignis DLC for FFXV that just completely undermines the characters and their sacrifices? That was very garbo. Thank god they canceled the Lunafreya and Noctis bullshit what-if story DLC. I wish they had made the Aranea one, though. Then they could have just stopped there.

 
Did they say what that item even does?

I remember trying to find the specific Butterfingers during COVID lockdowns to get some of that DLC... god I hated that, since Butterfingers sucks. 

 
I think it is just early access for a bangle with two materia slots. Helpful for maybe the first few hours of the game and then it becomes useless.
 
Vinny said:
Did they say what that item even does?

I remember trying to find the specific Butterfingers during COVID lockdowns to get some of that DLC... god I hated that, since Butterfingers sucks.
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It also worked on some other bar/s under their brand which is what I bought iirc. I want to say baberuth was one of them.
 
Is there a physical release with English subs for The Man Who Erased His Name? I can't keep track of all these Yakuza games anymore. 

 
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