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 lot of games are on sale at playasia.  I don't think there is a list.  You just have to look around.

Dragon Quest Treasures (English) Switch Japanese version $17.99

River City: Rival Showdown (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $19.99

Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $49.99

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai (English) Asia PS5 $39.99

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water (English) Asia PS4 $29.99

Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Scarlet (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $39.99

Grandia HD Collection (English) Asia Switch $39.99

I just noticed playasia is celebrating 21 years of service.  I have been buying games from them when they were only 2 years old.  Time flies. 

 
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Aww dang, I bought FFX X-2 and Fatal Frame 4 just yesterday. Anyone have any luck with getting a price adjustment from playasia?

I found some games on sale for the Switch:

Final Fantasy X / X-2 HD Remaster (Multi-Language) [English Cover]  $39.99

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Multi-Language)                    $39.99

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection                                                           $29.99

Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story (Multi-Language) JPN         $19.99

Not part of the sale but cheap regardless

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Multi-Language) JPN                  $35.99

WarioWare: MOVE IT! (Multi-Language) JPN                                        $35.99

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics US                                    $31.99

Also the Asian version of Sol Cresta isn't blocked in the US and can be purchased for $38.99

 
scorponok said:
Xseed sale at amazon
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I gotta stop getting Xseed limited editions day one, thinking they'll be rare. Silent Hope wasn't very good and I haven't even gotten to Trinity Trigger. I was smart and passed on Rune Factory 3 at launch, and even though its limited edition is only $10 off, it'll get cheaper, I'm sure.

Now excuse me while I wait for my Granblue Fantasy Relink Xseed deluxe edition to release in February... :bouncy:

 
Yeah I need to do the same for Aksys Otome games. I play through them slowly and they end up on Amazon usually getting to a few months about $25-$30. I love supporting visual novels, but my backlog for them is a bit much.

For XSeed I'll likely just get the normal RF3. It's not much of a discount, but it's my favorite in the series (haven't tried 5 though). Loop 8 or whatever fell down in price so quickly and likely sucks. I'm kind of disappointed I bought it full price. I will put Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life on my wish list, although that was not my favorite in the series kind of getting bored of the PS2 version.

Also what was bad about Silent Hope?

 
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nitrosmob said:
Also what was bad about Silent Hope?
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I wrote up my impressions of it on here a few weeks back, but to sum up, it's just a very average action RPG/dungeon crawler. The crafting system is extremely bare bones, the loot is unsatisfying, the pseudo-targeting system is unhelpful, and the combat and controls can be imprecise. It's not a bad game and there's fun to be had if you focus on only one or two characters (trying to raise and equip all seven is tedious and very grindy), but it's not really a good game, either. I had actually dropped it on the fourth dungeon, but I soon picked it back up to finish it. However, when I found there was no fast travel point in front of the final boss and the game was going to make me go through 10 floors to try and beat him again, I noped right on out of there. In other words, nowhere near the $50 price tag (though I really liked the artbook the limited edition came with).

Once this game does finally go out of stock and become rare, I may just sell it. I don't see myself ever picking it back up. It's such a shame, too, since dungeon crawlers with lots of loot are right up my alley.

 
Got the Persona 5 Tactica iron-on patch in the mail today. Love how instead of my name on the envelope, it just said P5T Iron-on Patch. That is how I'll insist on being referred to from now on.

S3Zc9NV.jpg


 
I’m guessing anyone that participated in this promo is having their name changed as part of the bargain.  Dibs on P5T I guess, since patch is taken and iron-on sounds dirty.  Going to get confusing after that is taken.

 
super1upqueen said:
Got the Persona 5 Tactica iron-on patch in the mail today. Love how instead of my name on the envelope, it just said P5T Iron-on Patch. That is how I'll insist on being referred to from now on.
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How was it shipped? I'm heading out of town for 2 weeks and our USPS hold mail is basically useless. They'll hold the mail and then never be able to find things or they'll just deliver it (often to the wrong address).

 
Vinny said:
How was it shipped? I'm heading out of town for 2 weeks and our USPS hold mail is basically useless. They'll hold the mail and then never be able to find things or they'll just deliver it (often to the wrong address).
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It was placed in that plain white envelope I'm holding with no protection. Kind of surprised it didn't jam the sorting machine and get to me torn up.

 
scorponok said:
A lot of games are on sale at playasia. I don't think there is a list. You just have to look around.
Dragon Quest Treasures (English) Switch Japanese version $17.99
River City: Rival Showdown (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $19.99
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $49.99
Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai (English) Asia PS5 $39.99
Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water (English) Asia PS4 $29.99
Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Scarlet (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $39.99
Grandia HD Collection (English) Asia Switch $39.99

I just noticed playasia is celebrating 21 years of service. I have been buying games from them when they were only 2 years old. Time flies.
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Romancing SaGa 2 is $19.99 on PS4. Atelier Marie $39.99 (Switch too). Asia version of Batsugun $19.99.
 
Disgaea 7 is $44.99 for switch and ps5 on amazon.

It's also the same price for all platforms on gamestop, but that's if you want to gamble for a sealed copy.

 
Best Buy also has Tales of Symphonia Remastered for $19.99 on both Switch and PS4.

Switch: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tales-of-symphonia-remastered-nintendo-switch/6521853.p?skuId=6521853

PS4: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tales-of-symphonia-remastered-playstation-4/6521860.p?skuId=6521860

Is the Switch version still awful? Was thinking of picking it up since I no longer have my Gamecube and PS3 copies and while I'd prefer Switch over PS4, I heard the performance and loading times were quite bad.

 
super1upqueen said:
Best Buy also has Tales of Symphonia Remastered for $19.99 on both Switch and PS4.

Switch: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tales-of-symphonia-remastered-nintendo-switch/6521853.p?skuId=6521853

PS4: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tales-of-symphonia-remastered-playstation-4/6521860.p?skuId=6521860

Is the Switch version still awful? Was thinking of picking it up since I no longer have my Gamecube and PS3 copies and while I'd prefer Switch over PS4, I heard the performance and loading times were quite bad.
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i saw a video. they released a few updates. I saw on youtube and thought it was good enough so i bought it a few months ago.

 
super1upqueen said:
Best Buy also has Tales of Symphonia Remastered for $19.99 on both Switch and PS4.

Switch: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tales-of-symphonia-remastered-nintendo-switch/6521853.p?skuId=6521853

PS4: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tales-of-symphonia-remastered-playstation-4/6521860.p?skuId=6521860

Is the Switch version still awful? Was thinking of picking it up since I no longer have my Gamecube and PS3 copies and while I'd prefer Switch over PS4, I heard the performance and loading times were quite bad.
Click to expand...

nagpo said:
i saw a video. they released a few updates. I saw on youtube and thought it was good enough so i bought it a few months ago.
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Honestly don't give Namco your money. Symphonia is my fave Tales game and it's a travesty that fucked up modernizing it three times! They did to it with the lazy ass PS3 remaster (which should have easily been able to handle 60 fps, 1080p) , then the lazy ass PC port (which required fans to fix a lot of things), and now the lazy ass NS/PS4 releases...

 
Vinny said:
Honestly don't give Namco your money. Symphonia is my fave Tales game and it's a travesty that fucked up modernizing it three times! They did to it with the lazy ass PS3 remaster (which should have easily been able to handle 60 fps, 1080p) , then the lazy ass PC port (which required fans to fix a lot of things), and now the lazy ass NS/PS4 releases...
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Not to mention that the PS3 version included both Symphonia games, but the new "remaster" only includes one.

 
scorponok said:
A lot of games are on sale at playasia. I don't think there is a list. You just have to look around.

Dragon Quest Treasures (English) Switch Japanese version $17.99

River City: Rival Showdown (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $19.99

Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $49.99

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai (English) Asia PS5 $39.99

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water (English) Asia PS4 $29.99

Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Scarlet (Multi-Language) Asia Switch $39.99

Grandia HD Collection (English) Asia Switch $39.99

I just noticed playasia is celebrating 21 years of service. I have been buying games from them when they were only 2 years old. Time flies.
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Sale looks more official now. DQ Treasures is up to $61.99 but Grandia HD is now $29.99. Atelier Marie $34.99 PS4/Switch. Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch $279.99. Ninja Gaiden Master Collection was $19.99 on Switch but I refreshed and its back to $29.99 now.

 
Vinny said:
Honestly don't give Namco your money. Symphonia is my fave Tales game and it's a travesty that fucked up modernizing it three times! They did to it with the lazy ass PS3 remaster (which should have easily been able to handle 60 fps, 1080p) , then the lazy ass PC port (which required fans to fix a lot of things), and now the lazy ass NS/PS4 releases...
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i'll do what i want with my money.

 
Vinny said:
Honestly don't give Namco your money. Symphonia is my fave Tales game and it's a travesty that fucked up modernizing it three times! They did to it with the lazy ass PS3 remaster (which should have easily been able to handle 60 fps, 1080p) , then the lazy ass PC port (which required fans to fix a lot of things), and now the lazy ass NS/PS4 releases...
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the last 3 ports are all ports of the ps2 version which was lower than the original better gamecube versions framerate because it was also a crappy port. Supposedly its impossible to increase the fps or the game freaks out. They also rumor has it lost the og source code for the gc version idiotically.

I definitely agree to not giving them any money for such poor ports. At least with the pc version it was free for those who bought zesteria.

 
A lot of these are meh. IMHO, there are a lot of better/great games that are more deserving of folks' patronage.
 
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Tales is my all-time favorite franchise and it pains me to see Bamco treat it like a red-headed step-child:

  • They've made at least four different gacha games, none of which are still running in the West. Some were good (Crestoria), some were bad (Luminaria), none really got a fair shake.
  • Innocence R never got localized and the third part of the Triverse Remake (Temptest) was scrapped altogether.
  • Phantasia, Destiny, Destiny II, Eternia, Rebirth, and Tempest (essentially the first decade of the series sans Symphonia) are stranded on decrepit hardware without even digital storefront ports.
  • In the last decade, we've gotten Zestiria (one of the most panned games in the series), Berseria (which was pretty well received), and Arise (which wasn't originally a Tales game and it shows). Plus some DLC that took weirdly long (Arise's DLC came out two years after the game and is a direct sequel to the story - what? Why?)
  • We also got a decent port of Vesperia, with JP-exclusive content (that Bamco originally joked about never coming over) and the "phone it in" port version of Symphonia (one of the more available games in the series, which isn't a high bar mind you).
I could go on, but it's salt in the wound. Tales fans expect nothing from Bamco and yet they still find ways to disappoint us.

 
Don't forget that engrish Google translate port of hearts R that they left stranded on the vita.

It would do a hell of a lot better if they bothered to port that. Dubbing it would also help. Though I get it since they had no intention of localizing that until the Sony poll.
 
I platted Hearts R and know a little Japanese. I didn't think it was that bad, personally. The biggest issue they had was inconsistency. Arte names that are series staples were randomly changed, they changed the MC's name from "Shingu" to "Kor" which is extremely noticeable with the JP dub being the only audio option, and the accents they attempted to implement didn't come across well. Maybe if I was more fluent I would've noticed more but the script in general is just kinda whacky (like the infamous "nipple" line).

 
Yeah multiple characters have name changes which is dumb and nonsensical for censorship reasons if they still say them out fricken loud in game. The even more inconsistent part is that hisui and kohaku and shing were already localized names back in Graces. where hisui was jadeite kohaku was amber and shing was kept unchanged. The flip happened where those 2 had their names reversed to their original but shing was changed to kor meteor because it rhymes and was supposed offensive in some language iirc.

Gallando was shortened to Gal because supposedly it's tiny dick in greek language. And 2 voiced npcs at least had their gem names changed for no apparent reason. The one being pretty dumb as they changed it to the same name another npc already had. I definitely remember the one specifically being a maid.

It definitely wasn't as bad as the other engrish Asian releases bamco did at the time. But there were a number of typos, text errors, some text ran outside of the box, a few lines were gibberish, some of beryl lines were hard to tell between her verbal tick thing and being errors. The innuendo was also a bit too much. There may have even been some jpn only text I feel like at one point for something similar to abyss. The most typos were definitely isolated to the town with the observatory. I think i was at 34 or so. Way back I took a number of shots to catalog em because people didn't believe me. Though I think they did fix a number of it via update. As when I watched up to the same point they were mostly fixed.

Though I do love the wanted poster idea for the one character innes is just a picture of her rack supposedly. That and the confession booth dialogue were hilarious. The ferris wheel ones with 2 male characters were good. Awkward and realistic reactions. Especially chals. It would have been neat if you could pair all the characters for it instead of only shing and 1 other character.


The fact that ot was a budget outsource title and has so much content in it from the main games including in game costumes instead of dlc only was great. It really reminded me of vesperia and symphonia that way. Wonderchef and cameo battles in the arena among other series staples are all present and accounted for.
 
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$20 for the Chaos Code Limited Edition is tempting, but it's also $5 for a digital copy right now: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/chaos-code-new-sign-of-catastrophe-switch/

The box and prints are nice, but I don't need more paper and cardboard.

I unfortunately feel the same way about the Akiba's Trip Director's Cut Day 1 Edition ($29.99 at Best Buy and Target).

https://www.target.com/p/akiba-39-s-trip-undead-38-undressed-director-39-s-cut-day-1-edition-nintendo-switch/-/A-88811532#lnk=sametab

If you get the DLC for the PS4 version you have the same game, just on a different platform.

Switch box art is nice though.

I swear I'm just going to get a digital picture frame one day and sit that on a shelf that rotates photos of games' box art instead of buying/storing/displaying whatever looks interesting lol

 
Well, I thought I could be strong and resist all the sales... but failed, bestbuy.com got me.  Persona 5 Royal on switch for $24.99 was super tempting and though I wasn't going to buy more games past 4G on Vita looking deeper into 5 Royal, it does really seem like something I'd love.   Also grabbed P5 Strikers since it was $19.99 and I do love the Warriors Zelda games so might as well have it on the shelf.  My oldest son has played both and enjoyed both on pc.

Beyond that, grabbed $14.99 Mario & Rabbits Sparks of Hope, $14.99 Assassin's Creed The Ezio Collection (I have the games on PS3, but $15 was a solid enough deal to double dip), Atari 50 The Anniversary Celebration $19.99, and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker $36.99.   I don't really "need" captain toad as I have the wii-u version still sealed and waiting for my time... but I did play the whole demo on Switch and enjoyed it as long as I ignored the target times.  Kind of tired of waiting on a clearance copy from Walmart or for Gamefly to liquidate some stock.

Total: 145.14 after tax.

Which brings me to $446.11 for the year so far.  I might grab that $15 Lego Star Wars Skywalker Saga at Walmart if I see it in person... and I haven't even considered any imports... plus there's DQ Monsters 12/1.   Not that I'm worried at all about the expense of any of this.  I haven't even hit 1/6th of my bonus check from selling off excess sick leave.

 
scorponok said:
M2 announced DoDonPachi Blissful Death Re:Incarnation will include DoDonPachi III. Can never go wrong with more DoDonPachi! I guess I will have to order it from amiami since playasia stopped taking preorders over a month ago for some reason.
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I noticed Amazon.co.jp was no longer taking preorders for Blissful Death too. Might be one that's essentially sold out at release. YesAsia was still taking preorders at $54.99 with free shipping too, but I'd rather support AmiAmi.

 
nightc1 said:
Well, I thought I could be strong and resist all the sales... but failed, bestbuy.com got me. Persona 5 Royal on switch for $24.99 was super tempting and though I wasn't going to buy more games past 4G on Vita looking deeper into 5 Royal, it does really seem like something I'd love. Also grabbed P5 Strikers since it was $19.99 and I do love the Warriors Zelda games so might as well have it on the shelf. My oldest son has played both and enjoyed both on pc.
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Yesssssssss P5 is such an amazing game and Strikers is an incredible sequel. Both games start pretty slow (par for the course with Persona), but they are easily worth your time. If you liked P4 even a little bit, you'll like P5. The social links in P5 are a major highlight, so many interesting characters. Oh, and if you dig the OST for P5, wait until you play Strikers. Seriously two of the best soundtracks in all of gaming.

 
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