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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SolidSnake86 said:
It's posted on the CAG homepage, but figured I'd post it here just in case some people miss it. Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni (Vita) is $29.95 on Amazon.

Not sure if it's been lower? This one doesn't seem to drop in price too often, but I could be wrong.

https://www.amazon.com/Valkyrie-Drive-Bhikkhuni-PlayStation-Vita/dp/B01JHQURLY?SubscriptionId=AKIAJZR56RZFSQN6RIBA&tag=cheapassgam08-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B01JHQURLY
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I think the lowest it was, was $28.88 a while back. It was one of those monthly Amazon deals like they have for Steins;Gate 0 right now. I picked it up after it became backordered.

Tried playing it but it is really bland and boring. The story has no flavor to it, the combat seems cool but really basic and rigid. Dialogue just goes on and on about pointless stuff, and then you get thrown into a generic dungeon and just mash square at enemies. And like typical Senran Kagura fashion, the boss fights are tedious, with the bosses just running and dashing away and then going for invincible ground pounces. The best part about this game is the cover art. Honestly, Senran Kagura is a much better game, at least there are more characters to experiment with and the enemies are more frequent. These games suffer from a terribly dull combat system at it's base, and there is little to no gameplay enhancements as you progress. Contrast to something like Devil May Cry 3 or even Killer is Dead, where you unlock entire new movesets/abilites as you level up.

Sorry for the wall of text, here is another game I noticed that got a similar price drop:

:vita: Gal Gun Double Penetration Peace: $29.99/$26.99 (Also played/beat this one earlier the week, the localization efforts are absolute garbagio, not all the dialogue is translated, and punctuation mistakes everywhere. Google Translate can do a better job.)

:3ds: Yo Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits AMZ lighting deal at 8:21 EST. So "watch" out for that one "yo" ...

 
BlackRockWaifu said:
Tried playing it but it is really bland and boring. The story has no flavor to it, the combat seems cool but really basic and rigid.

:vita: Gal Gun Double Penetration Peace: $29.99/$26.99 (Also played/beat this one earlier the week, the localization efforts are absolute garbagio, not all the dialogue is translated, and punctuation mistakes everywhere. Google Translate can do a better job.)
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That's a shame about Valkyrie Drive. Maybe I'll just pass on it or wait until (or if) it drops even lower. I've been playing Senran Kagura Estival Versus and feel it's the most refined version of the SK games with the tightest controls...it might be difficult now to go back to playing a more basic clone.

Gal Gun was one I really wanted for the PS4, but with localization efforts that bad, might be one to skip too. From what I seen/heard, it doesn't seem like Gal Gun has tons of replay value either.

 
Not sure if it was mentioned, but GameStop has "new" copies of Tales of Hearts R (Vita - PS TV compatible) for $21.97 -- if you can find one. I grabbed the last copy within 30 miles.

The physical copy was a GS exclusive.
 
SolidSnake86 said:
Gal Gun was one I really wanted for the PS4, but with localization efforts that bad, might be one to skip too. From what I seen/heard, it doesn't seem like Gal Gun has tons of replay value either.
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I didn't notice too many localization errors, but it definitely has a good amount of replay value with 5 different routes and endings.

 
Forgot to mention that I spotted the European version of Senran Kagura Estival Versus on Amazon for $19.99. Doesn't come with the artbook, soundtrack, cards, etc, but it's a pretty good price (also claims to be playable in English despite French text on box). Personally, I'm happy I bought the US version with all the goodies inside, but for someone who wants just the game...this might be the way to go. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BO7GA92?psc=1

 
nitrosmob said:
It was kind of a joke because the game has a bunch of random girls madly in love with you for some reason (haven't played it). I was wondering if the protag ever found his one true love in the game.
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Actually, the story of the first game is summed up in the beginning of the sequel, and yes, he does find true love. The premise is pretty cute too, and they aren't shy about using double entendres. There is a buncha different happy endings *wink wink* in this one, I think like 7 or so, so there is replayability, it just gets tiring doing the same stages again and again.

I shouldn't have said they did a terrible job, more like a really lazy job. None of the Doki Doki mode or boss fights have the dialogue translated. The Kanji that is thrown around, and what the girls say before throwing their love at you don't get subtitles either. If you look at the tutorial sections, the Punctuation is All over. the-place! It sucks because I played the Japanese version which already had all the menus in English, they didn't really have to do much...
 
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SolidSnake86 said:
Forgot to mention that I spotted the European version of Senran Kagura Estival Versus on Amazon for $19.99. Doesn't come with the artbook, soundtrack, cards, etc, but it's a pretty good price (also claims to be playable in English despite French text on box). Personally, I'm happy I bought the US version with all the goodies inside, but for someone who wants just the game...this might be the way to go.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BO7GA92?psc=1
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That's a really good deal.... I kinda want it. But also if I'm spending that much money on a game I'd rather pay the $10 extra and get all the bonuses. Especially since I have the complete shinovi versus
 
Fire Emblem Heroes talk:

So that new Fire Emblem Heroes map for the hero is BS. All this mountain and only one choke point.  You send someone up and they're likely attacked by 2 enemies (an archer and a swordsman). You can reach the lone archer over the mountain with a mounted unit, though in the 3 star hero earning map they are extremely powerful (could only take him to half with my level 35 Camille). So you pretty much need a mounted unit that can take out said archer and then they will get counterattacked by 2 foes.  while if you send someone down the choke point, they will likely die from 2 sources of damage. Any deaths equal an auto fail. Bunch of BS that makes me want to almost drop the game immediately. We understand it's 3 star hero, but damn it's just hard to complete and maybe i can do it with an over leveled Camilla. Just garbage!

 
nitrosmob said:
Fire Emblem Heroes talk:

So that new Fire Emblem Heroes map for the hero is BS. All this mountain and only one choke point. You send someone up and they're likely attacked by 2 enemies (an archer and a swordsman). You can reach the lone archer over the mountain with a mounted unit, though in the 3 star hero earning map they are extremely powerful (could only take him to half with my level 35 Camille). So you pretty much need a mounted unit that can take out said archer and then they will get counterattacked by 2 foes. while if you send someone down the choke point, they will likely die from 2 sources of damage. Any deaths equal an auto fail. Bunch of BS that makes me want to almost drop the game immediately. We understand it's 3 star hero, but damn it's just hard to complete and maybe i can do it with an over leveled Camilla. Just garbage!
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just get the 2* hero. It takes like one allotment of stamina to get your guy from 1-18 and 200 feathers to upgrade to 3*.

 
Yeah, the map is super difficult, and takes quite a varied lineup to be successful.

I ran Marth, Takumi, Cordelia, and Maria.

I had to slowly grind them down as I couldn't really get far into the choke without taking a bunch of damage, and just have them teleport back to get healed, and then I send them back out again.

Luckily Takumi can basically just knock a person out at each go, and Cordelia could stall an attack away.

Certainly took a bit longer than I wanted to spend on one stage, but I also didn't want to waste the stamina, lol.

 
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Richard Kain said:
I'm right there with you. I've stopped biting on these daily deals unless they dip into the sub-$20 range. My cup runs over, and I don't need to lay down cash for titles unless the bargain is truly exceptional. (I am a CAG after all, stellar deals just aren't easy to pass up) But average deals I'll give a pass to. I'm trying to actually play some of my massive collection these days.

Speaking of which, a big thank-you to everyone who gave me Fire Emblem advice! I started Awakening over from the beginning, and took a lot of your tips into account. Benching Frederick was a good call. As soon as I could afford to I dropped him from the regular roster. I had Stahl and Sully pick up the slack, and now they are both well-leveled and extremely effective in battles. Without Frederick around to hog the glory and hoover up all the experience, my party has been growing and fleshing out much more quickly. Now I have a solid roster that can for the most part hold their own. For the random Risen battles I intentional try to work weaker characters into the mix to get them some kill-steals and boost their experience.
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just remember you can always use frederic as a wall/bait to lure in enemies and let your other units pick them off for the exp. weak units are like a lightbulb to bugs. especially if you don't have equipment on them.

JohnnySako said:
Not sure if it was mentioned, but GameStop has "new" copies of Tales of Hearts R (Vita - PS TV compatible) for $21.97 -- if you can find one. I grabbed the last copy within 30 miles.

The physical copy was a GS exclusive.
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it was never a gamestop exclusive. Really wish people would stop spreading false information.

 
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whoknows said:
It wasn't? I guess Namco may have sold it directly too, but otherwise yeah it was.
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Yeah I agree, when the creator of a game sales it, I don't consider that a break in something being exclusive.

GS was the only US retailer to offer it, so yeah, I consider it an exclusive with them(they even stated it was exclusive on their webpage). And I wouldn't count VGP, as they aren't US based.

 
I'm really struggling through Da Capo 3. This second to last route is kind of boring me. I think maybe the characters are a bit too vanilla. The main guy is too nice a guy and really boring to read about. I'm getting tired of the oh man she's so cute...even when people do non cute things. It's just not that interesting to read, and it keeps getting longer and longer. If I see them go to resort island again i'll freak. All I know is I don't think any big things are going to come out of it. Hopefully I can finish it soon as I'm ready for it to be done. I thought Dracu Riot kind of bored me a bit, but it's nothing compared to this. The graphics are nice, the music...a bit grating...but yeah this MC needs something a little more exciting. I will finish soon....but yeah i'm ready for it to end. Not one of my faves easily.

 
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chrislaustin said:
Yeah I agree, when the creator of a game sales it, I don't consider that a break in something being exclusive.

GS was the only US retailer to offer it, so yeah, I consider it an exclusive with them(they even stated it was exclusive on their webpage). And I wouldn't count VGP, as they aren't US based.
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the only way exclusive would apply is if you said physical brick and mortar exclusive. if something is sold in more than one way then its not exclusive.

 
Don't care whether it was exclusive or not, but just wanted to say thank you to JohnnySako for posting the deal. I think the most important thing is that he posted it, could've been sold on Mars for all I care.

DBZ XV 2 CE was actually a terrible deal , I think $105 or so, still available now if anyone is interested. The PS4 version was $77 around 3 weeks ago. Pokemon AS and DQ 8 are around 8pm tonight.

:ps4: Blazblue Central Fiction CE $50.02 I posted this earlier last week saying it was going up, then it dropped to sub $50 and now it's rising again.

 
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Kaiser499 said:
I want a spiritual successor to Zone of the Enders after Kojima makes Death Stranding.
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I'd love to see a Zone of the Enders successor, especially if effort is put into refining the controls and if it's given an intriguing story. As much as I loved ZoE, I hated the cringe-worthy word-for-word transliteration.

 
I need a Camilla to complete my flier team in feh...

In other news I started tales of berseria. It's off to a pretty good start.
 
Splatoon 2 BETA ANNOUNCED March 24-26
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QjK3uTO4mg[/media]

Splatoon 2 Spectator Mode:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS0RiyuzqQ0[/media]

 
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Not much going on this week in terms of releases. Only one Japanese game on the list and it's probably the one you'd expect the least based off of the titles alone. Next week will be a little better at the very lesat since Ys Origins is releasing on console. Regardless, I'm sure everybody here will spend the 14th in remembrance of the day that Persona 5 could have released.

Other stuff that released without warning last week that are all on PC/Steam:
- SoulSet (Visual Novel)
- Max's Big Bust - A Captain Nekorai Tale (Visual Novel)
- GIGA WRECKER (Metroidvania)

Weekly Releases (February 12th - February 18th)

EARTHLOCK: Festival of Magic
- Platform(s): PS4
- Genre: RPG
- Demo: N/A
- Online: N/A
- Comments: Not Japanese.

BOOR
- Platform(s): PC
- Genre: Puzzle Platformer
- Demo: N/A
- Online: N/A
- Comments: Not Japanese.

Elisa: the Innkeeper
- Platform(s): PC
- Genre: Visual Novel
- Demo: N/A
- Online: N/A
- Comments: Not Japanese.

Dungeon Manager ZV 2
- Platform(s): PC
- Genre: Dungeon Defense
- Demo: N/A
- Online: N/A
- Comments: Japanese indie.

Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force
- Platform(s): PC
- Genre: RPG
- Demo: N/A
- Online: N/A
- Comments: Supposedly coming out this week. Won't get listed again if not. Already released on the PS4.

Past Releases
February 5th - February 11th
January 29th - February 4th
January 22nd - January 28th
January 15th - January 21st
January 8th - January 14th

EDIT: Added Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force

 
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Of course it only puts the release date on the top-right and not in the big letters in the center that say "February 2017". Nowhere else says that the 14th is the release date though.

 
NeoMonk said:
Splatoon 2 BETA ANNOUNCED March 24-26

-SNIP-

Splatoon 2 Spectator Mode:
-SNIP-
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Cool Something else to play on the switch and at the perfect time.

Right after the inevitable Post-Zelda drought and the regret of buying the switch at launch begins to set in.

-EDIT-

Well i take that back, the "Beta" is only available for one hour on each of those days......

I guess its a quick test for the "new" servers they're gonna be making us pay for right?

Lol who am i kidding.... let the Nintendo online Lag-fest continue!

 
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I finally finished Da Capo 3....I still have 4 side stories...but how about not. This game dragged and dragged. Everything felt long and I recommend you don't get attached to your prologue stuff....that's about 10% of the game, and most of it has to do with nothing. Way too vanilla....annoying MC who loves everyone and everything even when they do the worst things, annoying background music after a while, aborted endings which have a story implication, and a very confusing and long winded story with very little scenery change since everything is confined in this story. It frankly is not needed at all for the Da Capo story...though it does connect to #1.....it takes too long to make any of that. I think it was a 50 hour long VN....maybe 40...but it felt so long. I hate to not recommend it, but the story telling was just poor. In a VN that's a cardinal sin so it gets a 6/10. High production values, but not needed at all. Play Da Capo 1 and 2 if you want more stuff.

I think I need a break from VNs for a while.....time to maybe platinum Criminal Girls 2 (only 7 more battles to go!). I have Yakuza 0 and that seems like a better choice overall.

Edit: The prologue characters actually have a real story in the fan disks....yeah. I wish that was what I was playing instead!

 
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