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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Got my P3R CE from Gamestop today and even though I knew the figure wasn't amazing, I was still surprised by how small and light it is. For reference, I have a very small hand. I still like it a lot, plus the artbook is really nice and a 2-disc OST is awesome, though they got real cheap with the sleeve for it. It's so thin and the discs are CRAMMED in there. Gotta be real careful removing them. This CE shouldn't have been more than $120 for what you got (not even a steelbook). For the $60 I paid ($50 for the CE, $7 for shipping, and tax), I'm pretty satisfied.

Curiously, the copy of the game inside doesn't have "not for resale" written on it, so I'll probably just sell that one instead of my opened copy. I like to make sure if I buy CEs after getting the standard, I keep the CE's copy of the game, since they often say "not for resale" on them. Just anal like that lol

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Yeah that "statue" is worthless. But getting the full 2-CD soundtrack with the tracklist is really really cool.

I'm butthurt from when the item sold out on Gamestop.com at 1am the other night. I was there, had it in my cart, it was ready and available, but I was having trouble matching it with something for free shipping and then it suddenly sold out. My ass is chapped. really wanted that soundtrack and DLC.
 
Lots of attention to feet going on in here. Anyway I was wondering if anyone noticed the CE on the GS site come back in stock at any point briefly during the week. It was something I planned on monitoring since I sadly was 45 min late to seeing the initial posts and missed it. However I've been without elec for the past six days thanks to the following character:
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Unicorn Overlord CE went down $10, right? Between that and another 10% off, I had to bite.

So you’re all welcome when it goes down to $60 in a month.
 
gospelman said:
Woot deals are back. Slight drops on the two ce's I'm interested in. Also today only there is another 10% off at checkout in the woot app.
electronics.woot.com

Fall In Love With Video Games

Pumpkin spice and video games are nice.
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I really wish there was a way to sort stuff on Woot... I really don't wanna scroll through accessories, specially these headphones that are everywhere.
 
gospelman said:
Lots of attention to feet going on in here. Anyway I was wondering if anyone noticed the CE on the GS site come back in stock at any point briefly during the week. It was something I planned on monitoring since I sadly was 45 min late to seeing the initial posts and missed it. However I've been without elec for the past six days thanks to the following character:
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gospelman said:
Yes it just went from 90 to effectively 72. I'm still holding out for $50ish for both P3R and UO (which might not happen).
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I'll probably bite if they hit close to that as well. Especially if they have a coupon going.


Edit* Also the 10% off is only for prime members just a heads up.


I grabbed samurai remnant eternights and persona 5 tactica ps4 from the sale. So you're all welcome if they drop in price further.
 
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Guess I need to get the woot app. I don't know why Caligula Effect 2 is stuck at $34.99 (should be like $20 haha), but with a 10% off I'll likely bite on Legend of Legacy HD and Air Twister. Crymachina went down....but it likely needs to be $20 or less for me to get it. Also I will post a big post soon of recently announced visual novels from recent expos including a bunch of otome and the usual suspects like JAST USA.
 
Bunch of recent visual novel announcements:

Mangagamer announced 07th Expansion's Rose Gun Days which is an alternate history VN about the days after World War 2, where during reconstruction the USA and China split Japan into two parts. This in turns makes Japanese the minority which doesn't sit well with everyone. This is an HD upscale to be released in four parts. I haven't read the fan translation, so I'll wait for this.

VNDB (NSFW)

They also announced Waffle's The Alchemist & His Battle-Scarred Homunculus about someone who creates homunculi, but they're used as weapons for war instead of helping mankind. The main character fights for them and eventually finds one of his creations battered after being discarded by slave traders. I enjoy Waffle games, so this is an interesting one.

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They will also be localizing Steam Prison – Beyond the Steam a fan disk for Steam Prison releasing for Steam and Switch. I've heard good things about the original, so I should get it next time it's on sale.

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Sekai Project have announced a bullet heaven game named Seed of Heroes. This one seems to be coming out September 2024, and will have a demo up sometime which I may try and give some impressions, even though I'm not as good at these bullet games.

Steam

Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka is officially translated and edited and is being programmed and will be in QA soon. Sekai Project are slow these days, so I'm hoping it comes out sometime before the year ends.

NEKOPARA After – La Vraie Familie is officially becoming Nekopara 4 and will be released in 2025.

Amairo Chocolata 3 has been announced as well mainly focusing on two new heroines. These games are one of my soft spots and I like the art and the cute writing in them. It is set to release sometime in 2024.

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Neko-nin exHeart SPIN! comes out tomorrow July 15th, 2024. This is about ninjas.

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JAST USA had a few announcements as well starting with the Rinkaiten ~Critical Point~ Remaster.

They announced doujin Rubi-sama's Goshujin-sama, Seira ni Yume Mitai na Icha Love Gohoushi Sasete Itadakemasu ka. This one is about dreams and in a dream the main character lives in a mansion with a beautiful maid. Of course he tests her loyalty and I'm sure nonsense happens from there.

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They also announced Mahou Shoujo Shoumou Sensen another record, which is a Dead End Aegis fan disk.

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Lastly they announced Daiteikoku a turn-based strategy game from Alicesoft. It is about a time in a space age where people dotted around the universe and established independent nations. It looks nice and has cool art.

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AKSYS Games announced a few games as well starting with Mistonia no Kibou. This one is about a girl named Applause who was suddenly deprived of her family, loved ones, and her village one day. 8 years later she works as a maid and vows to get revenge. I like otome that have interesting stories, so this will likely be a buy for me.

VNDB (NSFW)

They also announced Utakata no Uchronia. This one is about a flying city and a girl who longs for the world below, as she finds out the secrets of this utopia. Who knows on this one, but the art looks nice.

VNDB (NSFW)

Shuuen no Virche -EpiC:lycoris- a fan disk for Shuuen no Virche -ErroR:salvation- is coming out Novembers 7th, 2024 showcasing five new tales. I need to play the original as I heard it's dark and pretty good.

VNDB (NSFW)

Last but not least Idea Factory had some announcements as well starting with Temirana Koku no Tsuiteru Hime to Tsuitenai Kishi Dan. In this otome your status and occupation are determined by the month your were born (sounds moronic). One girl is determined to be princess but is bruised or something and is determined to be cursed. She has a special power where when danger comes things shine which are places she should avoid. Five shining princes arrive after her sixteenth birthday, which shine different than the danger. This doesn't sound like my type of story, but who knows.

VNDB (NSFW)

Next is Senjou no Waltz, an otome game about a girl who loses everything (again with this haha) and ends up taking up a cursed sword. Because of the immense power of the sword she enrolls in a military academy in order to find a place to belong. Another who knows, but sounds kind of interesting.

VNDB (NSFW)

Lastly Death end re;Quest: Code Z, a new rogue lite in that universe will be coming out with an 18+ rating as it is supposedly violent. Honestly I play any rogue lites, so this will be a buy on release.
 
Grabbed the PS5 version of Trails of Cold Steel 3/4 on Woot for $40.49 after discounts, since I sold my Switch limited editions a while back. Still haven't played beyond the Sky trilogy and it's been so long since I played those that I think I'll need to read/watch a summary before getting to Zero. I'm sure it'll all come back to me as I do (I hope lol). I missed Persona 5 Royal One More at $45, but I'm not too torn up about it. That special edition is pretty bad, especially since the art cards don't even include Yusuke and Mona. How do you miss two characters? I am a little upset I missed Disgaea 7 at $25, though. But, I'm holding out for a complete edition of that game that I'm sure is coming soon.

Speaking of Trails, anyone know where to find a PS5 copy of Reverie? I also had that one on Switch but sold it (was downsizing my collection a while back) and I kept telling myself I'd grab the standard PS5 version to replace it, but it seems to have disappeared. Waited too long, I guess.
 
Trails games are strange for sure. They usually get some sales usually bottoming out around $25-$30 or so and then disappear from physical media. Happens often enough now. I mean look at Cold Steel 3/4 for PS4 and how they're just not there anymore and may come up as reprints now and then. Physical copies just don't remain around anymore for them.

Compare this easily to the countless Sega copies of stuff such as P4 Royal and such haha.
 
super1upqueen said:
Speaking of Trails, anyone know where to find a PS5 copy of Reverie? I also had that one on Switch but sold it (was downsizing my collection a while back) and I kept telling myself I'd grab the standard PS5 version to replace it, but it seems to have disappeared. Waited too long, I guess.
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Don't feel too bad about unloading the inferior versions. The compromises in graphical fidelity are huge on nsw. I still see a couple "last one" gutted copies of PS4/5 Reverie on nearby GS shelves. But with the way vgp is reprinting nisa titles these days, I wouldn't worry too much about CSIII, IV, or Reverie being gone for good.

Regarding Sky, I think at this point it's reasonable to hold off revisiting those games until the remastered rerelase happens. It's actually an amazing place to be in to play Zero and (especially) Azure for the first time with the existing releases - I had to do so with very rough fan translations. I think that as along as you have recall of the character development behind Estelle, Joshua, and Renne from FC to 3rd, you'll be fine starting with Zero and the rest will fill in for you. There's also one other Sky character that's important background for the CS games, namely Olivier.

I've spent the last couple evenings since Beryl recovery finally starting Daybreak. I'm having a difficult time. So far it feels like another Xenoblade 2 situation where the devs wanted to "modernize" the UI and menus but ultimately produced a clunky and vastly inferior user experience. Also, the guy behind the bad music that started being mixed in from CSIII onward is now the main guy - so I'm not enjoying that as much either. But I'll probably appreciate the game more once the larger plot movements hit.
 
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gospelman said:
Don't feel too bad about unloading the inferior versions. The compromises in graphical fidelity are huge on nsw. I still see a couple "last one" gutted copies of PS4/5 Reverie on nearby GS shelves. But with the way vgp is reprinting nisa titles these days, I wouldn't worry too much about CSIII, IV, or Reverie being gone for good.

Regarding Sky, I think at this point it's reasonable to hold off revisiting those games until the remastered rerelase happens. It's actually an amazing place to be in to play Zero and (especially) Azure for the first time with the existing releases - I had to do so with very rough fan translations. I think that as along as you have recall of the character development behind Estelle, Joshua, and Renne from FC to 3rd, you'll be fine starting with Zero and the rest will fill in for you. There's also one other Sky character that's important background for the CS games, namely Olivier.

I've spent the last couple evenings since Beryl recovery finally starting Daybreak. I'm having a difficult time. So far it feels like another Xenoblade 2 situation where the devs wanted to "modernize" the UI and menus but ultimately produced a clunky and vastly inferior user experience. Also, the guy behind the bad music that started being mixed in from CSIII onward is now the main guy - so I'm not enjoying that as much either. But I'll probably appreciate the game more once the larger plot movements hit.
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I knew you'd be the one to respond to me lol yeah, I was even thinking by the time I get remotely close to Reverie, VGP will have a reprint. I saw Gamestop has it listed for $40 new online, but no copies in my area, so I was considering calling or visiting a few locations to ask about it. I was just there yesterday lol

Thankfully, I remember plenty of details about the characters you mentioned, three of them being some of my favorites from the trilogy (Renne has yet to grow on me since I'm not a huge fan of that character type and her backstory in 3rd didn't move me the way it moved a lot of other people, but I'm holding out hope I'll like her more as the series progresses since I've seen she pops up a lot). If god forbid I'm still feeling a little lost on the trilogy's details, I can always fire up some NG+ runs on my Steam versions. But I really hope it's only a matter of time the remastered versions come to the west. It's about time they get on modern consoles because they're such amazing games. I'd love them on Switch.

How did you make out in Beryl? I can't believe it slammed Texas as hard as it did. Also, I noticed the music in Ys IX wasn't nearly as catchy or memorable as in previous Ys games. Is this composer you're referring to responsible for the recent Ys music too or is he only doing Trails stuff? Oh, and I agree that the Xenoblade 2 UI could be a confusing mess. It took me two playthroughs to finally figure out how to do the combat (though when it clicked, it majorly clicked) and there were way too many menus to go through just to check a skill tree or equip an item. Still an incredible game.
 
nitrosmob said:
Trails games are strange for sure. They usually get some sales usually bottoming out around $25-$30 or so and then disappear from physical media. Happens often enough now. I mean look at Cold Steel 3/4 for PS4 and how they're just not there anymore and may come up as reprints now and then. Physical copies just don't remain around anymore for them.

Compare this easily to the countless Sega copies of stuff such as P4 Royal and such haha.
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I was about to say something similar... NISA games seem like they randomly disappear a lot now. I waiting for Ys 9 PS5 but guessing Nordics caused that to sell out.

But seems like most things get a reprint, especially via VGP.
 
super1upqueen said:
How did you make out in Beryl? I can't believe it slammed Texas as hard as it did. Also, I noticed the music in Ys IX wasn't nearly as catchy or memorable as in previous Ys games. Is this composer you're referring to responsible for the recent Ys music too or is he only doing Trails stuff?
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Relatively fine, thanks. Counting blessings as some nearby houses have been split in half by trees and such.

The fact that you remember her backstory in 3rd tells me you're completely fine to start zero without refreshing. And yeah, without wanting to drag specific names in any mud.. you probably know how the falcom sound team is a conglomerate of several different composers. They work on both trails and Ys. Well, my favorite guy (e.g. Ys VIII's Sunshine Coastline, 3rd's The Final Choice, CSII's Blue Destination, this TX gem - among many more) is now in a reduced role and the guy I don't care for is the most prolific composer. His tracks still hit from time to time - I actually think his work suits Ys better (fast, aggressive) and drags the hardest in Trails.
 
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Shiren is down to $40!

Do I hear $30 ?!?

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I do think it will bottom out at $30 and go OOP. It is tough to be a cheap niche gamer for physical copies these days with most not even dropping to the $25 mark nowadays unless it's atlus and/or massively overproduced and/or sold poorly.
 
Waiting for a reprint just mean you are paying full price. Some games just didn't get a reprint like some of the Cold Steel games on PS4. Sometime I think it is better to over pay $5-10 instead of paying more later.
 
62t said:
Waiting for a reprint just mean you are paying full price. Some games just didn't get a reprint like some of the Cold Steel games on PS4. Sometime I think it is better to over pay $5-10 instead of paying more later.
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The NA Cold Steel games that are scarce were published by xseed. That's the distinction.
 
Made some calls and a Gamestop about 25 minutes away from me has one (gutted, I believe) copy of Reverie on PS5. I told the guy I couldn't make it until Wednesday and he said he'd hold it for me. It's still on sale for $40 online, so as long as it's in good shape, I think that's fair for gutted. Oh, and Woot already shipped my Cold Steel 3/4 PS5 double pack. So, I'll be right back to having all the Trails games (minus Daybreak), meaning it's probably time to for real get back to them lol and I just restarted Animal Crossing New Horizons, like some damn fool. God, that game is life-consuming.
 
gospelman said:
The NA Cold Steel games that are scarce were published by xseed. That's the distinction.
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It also only applies to 1 &2 to be specific. As 3 and 4 were Nisa published

3 and 4 got numerous reprints and 3 bottomed out at like sub 10$ at one point because no one was buying the surplus copies Gs had.
 
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Placed an order for DQ Monsters The Dark Prince for $35 at Amazon Prime Days.... yay or nay?

Debating on canceling my order but not sure it'll drop anymore.
 
I still haven't played mine which I got on the first drop (wasn't a lot like $10 or $15). I didn't really like DQ Treasures at least, but people say it's fun and just doesn't run that well.
 
Can I get a few volunteers to pick up the PS5 Unicorn Overlord Monarch CE that's on Woot so the price will drop more next week? 🤪

Seriously though, I'm so conflicted! I've had that and The Legend of Legacy Deluxe Edition in my cart for a few days now, and I haven't been able to pull the trigger yet. I really enjoyed the UO demo (even though I didn't quite finish), so I know for sure I'll pick it up at some point. The main grab for me is the physical card game that's included, and $80 + free Prime shipping is not bad for everything that's included. I'm not as concerned about The Legend of Legacy - I'm not even really interested in the Deluxe Edition extras, but I think I'm stuck in that more-for-less mindset since it's cheaper than getting [only] the game digitally. My collection is currently about 70% digital and 30% physical, but I don't really have a strong preference one way or the other. For me, it's more about getting the best deal and making my money go further. The current backlog across PS5/PS4/Switch is pretty ludicrous at the moment; I pick stuff up when there's a good sale, and I would be crazy surprised if Legend of Legacy bottoms out above $15-$20 at some point (similar to The Alliance Alive HD which is currently $15 on both PSN and Nintendo eShop).
 
I know what you mean. It's a struggle to consider the $80 LE when the game is only $30. I've decided to not buy it for now. A steelbook would have made me cave, but you're just kinda buying it for the card game.

The Legend of Legacy has received really poor review scores all around. I was a sucker for that listing too bc we think of it as more prestigious from the 3DS days. But there are SO many games that play similarly now, that we don't need to waste our time with that level of game.
 
A steelbook case would definitely have been a nice inclusion. I think I need to get my FOMO in check lol. Prime Day has been extremely lackluster (for me and the stuff I'm looking for anyway) the last couple years. I think part of the issue too is that I really want to be able to say I scored at least ONE good deal this year, but I guess that sounds like foolish pride really thinking about it. 🤷‍♂️
 
Yeah Prime day for me is getting some beauty products mainly, and it's just a few bucks off, but I only use one or two things specifically, so I'll take any discount. Legend of Legacy HD will bottom out on price digitally for sure guessing around $10 bucks. I think physically it will go down more maybe hitting $20, as it still fits the same reason the 3DS bottomed out in price as well, which is it's just not a popular game. I really have no idea who's boneheaded idea it was to rerelease this game, but I doubt the sales were good. I play and like many Saga likes and Legend of Legacy back in the day was the barest of the bones for story (story is rarely the strongest point in any of the Saga games except for Saga Frontier 2), as was the gameplay. It's pretty much grind and explore the game, which I like as I enjoy dungeon crawlers, but this one was boring. I still got it from Woot, and will likely play it again, but it's not a high priority.

One game series I'm always tempted by for physicals for PS5, but not as much are the Caligula Effect games. I remember playing and really disliking the original Vita version quite a lot, although I never completed it. Speaking of pretty much grind/explore that makes up so much of Caligula Effect as well. I eventually got the rerelease for PS4 and 2 when they bottomed out on price for the PS4. I really don't know whos boneheaded idea it was to rerelease these on PS5 either haha. Likely cost so little development time, but I have no idea, and also why they weren't free upgrades. I really don't want to pay $35 for Caligula Effect 2 for PS5.
 
Just a note for those who haven't checked their Best Buy accounts in a while or their email... BB is sending out random certificates for this black friday in july thing they have going. I got a $5 cert. Not sure if you have to click the link in the email like I did, others said it just shows in your account even without the email. I ended up just cancelling my Cat Quest III preorder and then put in a new order using the cert.
 
Prime day is a bust here too. Only thing I got was the discounted Best Buy GC which I turned around and used right away on a set of Sony XM4 headphones. BB had the same price as Amazon, but with the discounted GC they ended up less out of pocket at BB.
 
I thought Caligula Effect was a lot more enjoyable once I tone down the difficulty. Caligula Effect 2 is suppose to be better so I will give it a try.

As for Legend of Legacy you are better off moving to Alliance Alive HD, but that is now OOP and cost more than $60.
 
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