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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Xenogears said:
I didn’t think 5 was that bad. I’ve heard 3-5 all called the low point, never played 4, but 3 is the low for me. It was a step back from SO2, and I did not like the plot twist trivializing all previous and subsequent games stories in one go.
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Cool. Yeah I went ahead and started SO5. My buddy told me it wasn't very long (around the same length of SO1 by his recollection). It has a indie game feel to it. Like there was no budget for cutscenes. The battle system is solid. Like a tightened up version of SO3's. 18 hours in and apparently I'm towards the end of the game. Not a bad game by any means. It's fun, but very middle of the road. Star Ocean 3 was the one people kept hyping up as the best in the series & it was the one I least liked. Solid game & decent plot twist, but not the crown jewel of the series imo.
 
I think it's safe to say now that Sega/Atlus games will just get quick drops now. Probably only worth buying immediately if you'll play then. Still haven't started Unicorn Overlord, but I would have loved $20 off haha.
 
nitrosmob said:
I think it's safe to say now that Sega/Atlus games will just get quick drops now. Probably only worth buying immediately if you'll play then. Still haven't started Unicorn Overlord, but I would have loved $20 off haha.
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The possibility of UO dropping another $10-$20 is what's tempting me to hold off even at $40 (and I'm definitely waiting for LaD: Infinite Wealth to drop closer to $20 because of the 8 other Yakuzas in my backlog), but I might get it anyway from Gamestop to use up my monthly coupon and support its release.
 
I wonder if UO is popular enough that it'll get enough print runs to drop any further? Persona, sure, lots of copies. New IP that leans towards the strategy side... I would think this is more likely to disappear like other Sega published strategy games.
 
My guess is that UO will follow the trajectory we saw with 13 Sentinels. Looking forward to paying it but will still hold off for sub $20, even if that means a platform other than nsw.
 
nitrosmob said:
I think it's safe to say now that Sega/Atlus games will just get quick drops now. Probably only worth buying immediately if you'll play then. Still haven't started Unicorn Overlord, but I would have loved $20 off haha.
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I haven't either but I did get the Switch version B2G1 off on the preorder. Though I'm undecided if it'd be better on PS5 since it's a nice looking game.
 
I ended up grabbing a copy of Unicorn Overlord for switch from Bestbuy. Free shipping and no worries about open copies (GS) or other region copies possibly getting mixed in (Amazon). If it gets cheaper, that's life. If it doesn't then I won't laugh too hard because I know most of the time it's a losing game trying to predict when something will go cheaper. Side note, the Gamefly copies of Super Mario RPG and Mario Vs Donkey Kong for $35 each (used) sold out. I feel like $35 + tax + shipping wasn't too bad on either of them even though each will probably be $40 on black friday.
 
nightc1 said:
I ended up grabbing a copy of Unicorn Overlord for switch from Bestbuy. Free shipping and no worries about open copies (GS) or other region copies possibly getting mixed in (Amazon). If it gets cheaper, that's life. If it doesn't then I won't laugh too hard because I know most of the time it's a losing game trying to predict when something will go cheaper. Side note, the Gamefly copies of Super Mario RPG and Mario Vs Donkey Kong for $35 each (used) sold out. I feel like $35 + tax + shipping wasn't too bad on either of them even though each will probably be $40 on black friday.
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Super Mario RPG and Mario vs Donkey Kong should be easy enough to get cheaper during QVC's promo codes for new accounts. Even if you've made orders through QVC before, you can just make a new account and delete your card from the old account.
 
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nightc1 said:
I ended up grabbing a copy of Unicorn Overlord for switch from Bestbuy. Free shipping and no worries about open copies (GS) or other region copies possibly getting mixed in (Amazon). If it gets cheaper, that's life. If it doesn't then I won't laugh too hard because I know most of the time it's a losing game trying to predict when something will go cheaper. Side note, the Gamefly copies of Super Mario RPG and Mario Vs Donkey Kong for $35 each (used) sold out. I feel like $35 + tax + shipping wasn't too bad on either of them even though each will probably be $40 on black friday.
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Given Nintendo doesn't have a new Switch this holiday, pretty safe to expect bigger sales on the software to make up for console sales.
 
Yesterday CAG crashed right after I noticed that the previously sold out NEW copies of Tales of Symphonia Remasterd on switch that dropped to $16.85 actually popped back in stock at GF for a short window. Even though that version isn't highly recommended, it has been patched (I looked for feedback) and is considered pretty playable in the current state if you can weather the load times. For $21.52 shipped, I grabbed a copy. If anyone was interested in getting this on the cheap, here's the link. Maybe you'll luck out and it'll pop back in stock.

Also in Astral Chain news, at some point yesterday the game showed up in the price drop page for switch games on gamefly but was sold out when I noticed it so no telling how cheap it got. It wasn't there that morning and the previous price was $39.99 for a used copy. Now all that's left are New copies at MSRP $59.99. Ebay prices aren't too crazy, you can still get a complete ESRB copy for around $40 shipped and sometimes a little less if you can wait for the right deal and there isn't much competition for it.

Another Code Recollection is the game I'm keeping an eye on now at GF. They aren't selling used copies directly right now but the keep it price is $34.99, so that should be what it is when it shows up for direct sales. I would love to get it cheaper, but would be ok getting it for $35 and not having to track it down later.


spoderman said:
Super Mario RPG and Mario vs Donkey Kong should be easy enough to get cheaper during QVC's promo codes for new accounts. Even if you've made orders through QVC before, you can just make a new account and delete your card from the old account.
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Some folks doing that have ended up with EU copies. Not every game, but enough people have reported that happen that I don't think it's worth the gamble for myself and my low tolerance for hassle. I prefer ESRB. But for everyone else, yeah, that's a good way to go.

Mattiful-Joe said:
Given Nintendo doesn't have a new Switch this holiday, pretty safe to expect bigger sales on the software to make up for console sales.
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Definitely. But the last good Nintendo Switch holiday game sale was at Walmart 2020 online when they had games like Zelda Link's Awakening & Luigi's Mansion 3 for $30/ea. Seems like most sales are $40 (including I think all the current deals on first party switch games) or $35 and rarely $30. Mario Golf Super Rush has only as gone down to $39.99.
 
Just beat Star Ocean 5. It was a breezy 25 hour rpg. Happy to finally be caught up with the series. Started in October with the intention of knocking the whole series out of the backlog. Installed Star Ocean: The Divine Force and will start it in the next couple of days. Good times.
 
My GF order with Mario Vs Donkey Kong and Astral Chain showed up yesterday. Mint as expected. They also put Mario Vs DK back in stock for $35... and Another Code: Recollection now shows Used as an option, though out of stock. So maybe they are getting close to putting some of them up for sale since they didn't even show used as an option before. My copy of Unicorn Overlord from BB is scheduled to show up today. Which will just leave Tales of Symphonia Remastered (new from GF) for probably this weekend or early next week. I need to check my Mario Vs DK, but every game I've ever ordered used from GF has had the gold coins still available if it's within that first year release like any new game. I need to go ahead and add them to my account.


Side note, a lot of switch gamers are noticing Amazon preorders are being dropped for some games like Paper Mario TYD and Luigi's Mansion 2. I'm not sure how wide spread this is, and it probably doesn't affect that many here since most of us are looking for deals. But just check your preorders if you haven't in a while. Some have said they didn't get any notice, the preorders were just gone.
 
Finished P3R the other night and got embarrassingly emotional at the end. I somehow nailed my Max Social Links plan with a few days to spare (only used a guide to select all the right dialogue options), and since the rest of the trophies were relatively trivial, I got the platinum. I maintain my 9/10 review and recommend it to Persona fans, JRPG fans, dungeon crawling fans, visual novel fans, monster collecting fans, and just video game fans in general. It was a wonderful experience.

Contemplated starting FFVII Rebirth, but then I started my recently-acquired copy of Hey! Pikmin because I'm a psychopath. I honestly think it's super-cute so far, though I only managed to play just over an hour of it so far due to life stuff. Hopefully, I continue to like it. Accepting it's a spin-off is an important step toward enjoying it, I think.

Also, got this in the mail today from Amazon Japan:
20240411_154212.jpg
They shipped it loose in a thin, cardboard envelope so the top and spine of the book jacket got creased. I thought Amazon Japan was better than that. Anyway, having this is encouraging me to finally replay the game. There's a very nice surprise under the book jacket, though I won't show it in case anyone else is getting this and wants to see it themselves.
gmsick said:
Just beat Star Ocean 5. It was a breezy 25 hour rpg.
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I couldn't get further than like 5 hours in that game. I loved the character designs (done by the legendary Akiman, who also did the ones for Divine Force), but that was about it. It just bored me to tears.
 
I finished Deadlink myself recently, but am not sure what I want to go for. Probably a main game and some indie games as side games. I need to play some physical games so that main game will likely be an RPG. I also need to cancel my pre-order for Stellar Blade, as I doubt I'll play it on release, and it doesn't feel like a good enough game to pay full price unless I'll play it.
 
nitrosmob said:
I also need to cancel my pre-order for Stellar Blade, as I doubt I'll play it on release, and it doesn't feel like a good enough game to pay full price unless I'll play it.
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I got it for about $53 pre-ordered at Target (20% off a video game Circle coupon and an extra $3 off from a gift card I had) and wasn't going to bother with the demo since it looked right up my alley. But, when I heard it was more Sekiro and less Bayonetta, I played the demo and...I think I liked it? It was tough for me to adapt to a more methodical playstyle and it's definitely giving AA vibes (nothing wrong with that, of course, but $70 is a AAA price). But then, the combat kind of clicked with me right when the demo cut me off and I've been thinking about it ever since. The world seems interesting and I really like the music, too.

I think I'll keep my pre-order since I'm still pretty interested. I almost want to buy the game on principle since the social media wet blankets are all having conniptions about EVE's design. Like, relax, it's just a game. Real women aren't being killed by EVE's hotness. I'm a woman and I love me some sexy video game ladies (just look at my profile pic lol).
 
super1upqueen said:
They shipped it loose in a thin, cardboard envelope so the top and spine of the book jacket got creased. I thought Amazon Japan was better than that. Anyway, having this is encouraging me to finally replay the game. There's a very nice surprise under the book jacket, though I won't show it in case anyone else is getting this and wants to see it themselves.
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I ordered the same book from Amazon Japan and they shipped it in a box. Did you get the standard or priority shipping? I did priority, so it could be that or maybe it's just the luck of the draw for packer.
 
super1upqueen said:
They shipped it loose in a thin, cardboard envelope so the top and spine of the book jacket got creased. I thought Amazon Japan was better than that. Anyway, having this is encouraging me to finally replay the game. There's a very nice surprise under the book jacket, though I won't show it in case anyone else is getting this and wants to see it themselves.
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I'm still holding out hope (for now) that Xenoblade 3 has done well enough that we might see someone bring it over, so I haven't ordered it yet.
Would you mind sharing that in a spoiler post? I'm really curious now and couldn't find anything when I searched
 
super1upqueen said:
Cant Believe It Series 2 GIF by BBC Three
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I just finished my Rune Factory 3 Special playthrough. I have this thread to thank (?) for catching this reference.
rf3s1.jpg
 
Vinny said:
All Amazons are now ass for packaging... It used to be a US Amazon problem but now it's all of them.
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I think a lot depends on where you live and how your local deliveries are handled. Ever since Amazon switched to their own delivery service in my area a few years ago I haven't received any damaged items from them, whereas before that damage was a regular occurrence. Amazon is still baffling to me for what they ship in boxes and what they ship in envelopes, but as long as I receive my things damage-free, I don't really care.
 
gpn said:
I ordered the same book from Amazon Japan and they shipped it in a box. Did you get the standard or priority shipping? I did priority, so it could be that or maybe it's just the luck of the draw for packer.
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Standard, though in theory that's supposed to only dictate shipping speed, not package quality. I actually saw a few reviews on Amazon Japan of people stating they received it the same way as I did, so maybe you got lucky with that box.
Covnam said:
I'm still holding out hope (for now) that Xenoblade 3 has done well enough that we might see someone bring it over, so I haven't ordered it yet.
Would you mind sharing that in a spoiler post? I'm really curious now and couldn't find anything when I searched
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It's just what I think is a very sweet image:
20240411_112144.jpg

I've also imported the art books for 1, 2, and X, since those never came over, either. I know 3 is the most popular entry now, but I wasn't going to risk this selling out by waiting on an English translation that may never come. If we do get one, I'll just buy that too lol
gospelman said:
I just finished my Rune Factory 3 Special playthrough. I have this thread to thank (?) for catching this reference.
View attachment 586
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THERE'S A TAYCE REFERENCE IN RUNE FACTORY 3?!

Sorry, I'm a huge fan of RuPaul's Drag Race and Tayce was one of my favorite queens that season, so this makes me so happy. I may need to bump this game up the backlog just for that lol
 
Hah yeah I guess so. It definitely would have been a whoosh since I don't watch tv other than sports (all that time gets redirected to gaming). But that dialogue clicked as a "from that cag who didn't like ffx getting ragged on" memory.

Gamewise, RF3S was pretty solid, 7.5/10. I had already played RF4S so RF3S stood out as a smaller/shorter game. Not nearly as many explorable areas. Combat is pretty much the same. I liked the main character and he has some interesting thoughts he discloses to the player. I was less impressed with the overall plot - it's certainly not something I disagree with but it did feel a little simplistic and derivative. Basically making a sociological point rather than writing an interesting plot. The final boss / conflict resolution was just tacked on rather than an satisfying part of the story. Personally I had the same gameflow problems that I had playing RF4S. I think Persona has conditioned me to be such a minmaxer of in-game time/days that I completed everything at the end of 2nd season. I then spent 3 weeks with nothing to do except give a poor girl constant cucumbers until the game's ending finally unlocked. Flow wise, I'm guessing this wouldn't be a problem with most people who tackle their in-game schedule more casually.

The Golden Memories edition was a great pickup at $28 (woot). I was surprised to learn that it actually comes with a different cartridge that has swimsuit dlc. There is no dlc code like the RF4S release.
 
gospelman said:
Hah yeah I guess so. It definitely would have been a whoosh since I don't watch tv other than sports (all that time gets redirected to gaming). But that dialogue clicked as a "from that cag who didn't like ffx getting ragged on" memory.

Gamewise, RF3S was pretty solid, 7.5/10. I had already played RF4S so RF3S stood out as a smaller/shorter game. Not nearly as many explorable areas. Combat is pretty much the same. I liked the main character and he has some interesting thoughts he discloses to the player. I was less impressed with the overall plot - it's certainly not something I disagree with but it did feel a little simplistic and derivative. Basically making a sociological point rather than writing an interesting plot. The final boss / conflict resolution was just tacked on rather than an satisfying part of the story. Personally I had the same gameflow problems that I had playing RF4S. I think Persona has conditioned me to be such a minmaxer of in-game time/days that I completed everything at the end of 2nd season. I then spent 3 weeks with nothing to do except give a poor girl constant cucumbers until the game's ending finally unlocked. Flow wise, I'm guessing this wouldn't be a problem with most people who tackle their in-game schedule more casually.

The Golden Memories edition was a great pickup at $28 (woot). I was surprised to learn that it actually comes with a different cartridge that has swimsuit dlc. There is no dlc code like the RF4S release.
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Yeah, the only TV I typically watch is old Star Trek reruns and the rest of my time is for Youtube and gaming. I got back into Drag Race recently after having fallen behind on the 1,065 seasons of it, but that's pretty much it lol thanks for the mini review, it sounds pretty good! I got the Golden Memories version for $35 on Amazon and thought that was an incredible deal lol I didn't expect it to go on such a fire sale all of a sudden.
Souffrir said:
View attachment 589
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Catch These Hands! Love that manga :ROFLMAO:
 
I just contacted Amazon Japan about the damage to my Xenoblade 3 book and explained what happened. I was hoping to get maybe a partial refund, but the chat rep gave me a full refund, no return required. So, I got the book I originally paid $48.22 for for free. Now that damage isn't looking so bad. :ROFLMAO:
 
super1upqueen said:
It's just what I think is a very sweet image:
View attachment 588

I've also imported the art books for 1, 2, and X, since those never came over, either. I know 3 is the most popular entry now, but I wasn't going to risk this selling out by waiting on an English translation that may never come. If we do get one, I'll just buy that too lol
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Thanks! That is a great image :)
I have 2 and X also waiting in my cart so if I do finally cave, I can get them all together :)
 
super1upqueen said:
I just contacted Amazon Japan about the damage to my Xenoblade 3 book and explained what happened. I was hoping to get maybe a partial refund, but the chat rep gave me a full refund, no return required. So, I got the book I originally paid $48.22 for for free. Now that damage isn't looking so bad. :ROFLMAO:
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As always take those refunds with caution as eventually they burn accounts and salt the earth :(.
 
shadowysea07 said:
As always take those refunds with caution as eventually they burn accounts and salt the earth :(.
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If you mean they'll ban me for it eventually, they can do whatever since I barely shop on Amazon Japan, especially considering they pack just as poorly as US Amazon. Putting a thick, heavy book in an oversized cardboard envelope it'll slide around in and sending it overseas is unacceptable.
 
On the subject of importing from Japan, has anyone used Buyee? It’s one of those services that acts as a middleman between buying stuff online in Japan that only has domestic shipping, and shipping out of country. I’ve been seeing some sponsorships for it on YouTube videos occasionally.
 
Souffrir said:
On the subject of importing from Japan, has anyone used Buyee? It’s one of those services that acts as a middleman between buying stuff online in Japan that only has domestic shipping, and shipping out of country. I’ve been seeing some sponsorships for it on YouTube videos occasionally.
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I've used them in the past, but it's been a while (the last time was pre-COVID so I'm not sure how much has changed since then). They are reliable but I would only use them to buy something you absolutely cannot get otherwise as they add on a ton of fees. They provide you with a Japanese address so you can buy from YAJ/Amazon JP marketplace and the items get shipped to their warehouse. You can have them forward the package from the warehouse to you sight unseen or they can open and inspect it (for an additional fee of course). If you plan to buy several things from different places you can have them hold your stuff and ship it all together in one package to save on shipping costs (but they offset that with a "consolidation fee"). So yes they are legit but there are caveats and I only use them for items that otherwise are not able to be purchased directly from the usual merchants because the fees quickly offset any potential savings.
 
Souffrir said:
On the subject of importing from Japan, has anyone used Buyee? It’s one of those services that acts as a middleman between buying stuff online in Japan that only has domestic shipping, and shipping out of country. I’ve been seeing some sponsorships for it on YouTube videos occasionally.
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I've been using Buyee for the last four years. I have no complaints about the service. They've actually lowered some of their fees, so they're more competitive. They've been offering a ton ef coupons lately. With these coupons and the devalued Yen I've been able to afford some games I've wanted for years.
 
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