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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The Dead Texan said:
999 and VLR are two of my all-time favorite gaming experiences, but ZTD was a gross embarrassment of a finale. It's gonna be hard for me to give him another shot.
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Yeah I know the ZTD audience was pretty mixed with how it wrapped up. I personally didn’t have an issue with it, but I’m super easy to please. I was also happy that I got three free ZTD watches with that preorder “credit” that wasn’t supposed to work on multiple watch orders.
 
Woo-hoo, this is what I've been waiting for!  So now that there is a BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle [Special Edition] (Multi-Language) coming out on Nov 21, that means we'll probably have another NA version get announced too, ya?  I've been waiting for an all-inclusive version with all of the character DLCs and this version seems to include additional character packs vol.1-vol.7. 

EDIT: (bah, it does look like it will be a dlc code though.  which would make the add. characters 1-time use and non-transferrable.  When are fighting game companies going to get this stuff right!?)

 
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Also I just want to say that it's amazing that no one has come up with a solid Fate fighting game yet.   There is so much untapped potential there.  Can you imagine how popular a solid fighting game, or a really good jrpg, in the Fate universe would be? 

 
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If you want Atelier Ryza on Steam super cheap, go with the Greenmangaming deal. The Digital Deluxe version is the same price as the standard edition on other stores if you have VIP status.

 
Nothing- said:
Also I just want to say that it's amazing that no one has come up with a solid Fate fighting game yet. There is so much untapped potential there. Can you imagine how popular a solid fighting game, or a really good jrpg, in the Fate universe would be?
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There is, just not on modern consoles. And then there is Melty Blood as well

 
ok, but I meant something modern, and domestic. =P

I'm thinking of how perfectly someone could develop an amazing non-canon Fate universe JRPG. This kind of stuff always becomes relegated to low-effort Bamco releases.  But the entire blueprint is right there.  A top notch rpg developer could run with it and make something amazing. Fate fandom is huge now. 

 
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Nothing- said:
ok, but I meant something modern, and domestic. =P

I'm thinking of how perfectly someone could develop an amazing non-canon Fate universe JRPG. This kind of stuff always becomes relegated to low-effort Bamco releases. But the entire blueprint is right there. A top notch rpg developer could run with it and make something amazing. Fate fandom is huge now.
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Fate + Arc System Works would be visually stunning.

 
I bought it. I'm a huge series fan, but honestly... I just beat trails in the sky fc AND sc straight back to back, so I am good on JRPGs for a while. Prob come back to it after Christmas.
 
DarthPwner said:
I bought it. I'm a huge series fan, but honestly... I just beat trails in the sky fc AND sc straight back to back, so I am good on JRPGs for a while. Prob come back to it after Christmas.
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I am done with JRPGs for a bit as well unless I decide to do Parasite Eve or Sweet Home for Spooptober but they aren't the standard fare.

Just played DQ11 enough to check out the 2D mode and put it aside.

 
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nagpo said:
Anybody else get Dragon quest 11 s today?
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I ordered it at BB and will pick it up tomorrow, but I don't think I'll have any time to play it for a while. Honestly I'm really looking forward trying it in 16 bit mode, perhaps for the whole game.

 
nagpo said:
Anybody else get Dragon quest 11 s today?
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I preordered it from Amazon when I noticed the listing go live. It’s out for delivery now so I should have it in an hour or two. I haven’t been playing games much lately but plan to start the game this weekend. DQ is one of my favorite series of all time.
 
nagpo said:
Anybody else get Dragon quest 11 s today?
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I'm going to grab it for the 16 bit mode, and because I'm a collector (read as idiot). But 4k 60fps is how I want to play the long awaited next console DQ game. So I'm waiting for a while and hoping that the new content comes to the PC version. There's already a mod to replace the soundtrack with the orchestral version--just need that new content!

Sent from my Razer Phone 2 using Tapatalk
 
Zaku77 said:
So I'm waiting for a while and hoping that the new content comes to the PC version.
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Same. While I really enjoyed my time with the game a year ago, I'm a bit annoyed at this "definitive" release. I'll feel the same way about P5 Royal if they don't offer a dlc option to existing owners.

Skipping it for now. Decided I'd rather replay Trials of Mana (SD3). Also have AI: Somnium Files to keep me busy until ToCSIII release. That'll last me until BF sales.

 
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gospelman said:
Same. While I really enjoyed my time with the game a year ago, I'm a bit annoyed at this "definitive" release. I'll feel the same way about P5 Royal if they don't offer a dlc option to existing owners.

Skipping it for now. Decided I'd rather replay Trials of Mana (SD3). Also have AI: Somnium Files to keep me busy until ToCSIII release. That'll last me until BF sales.
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Since this version is published by Nintendo it probably won't get any significant BF deals.

 
Dragon Quest 11 was my favorite game of 2018.  It was a blast.  I put like 130 hours into it, got the full experience, and don't feel like I missed out on anything.   It's nice that they added more stuff for new players.  I have a buddy who has been excited about playing it on his Switch for many months.  So it's cool to have some reinvigorated  hype for one of last year's best games.  The only thing that's weird to me is how many people in here skipped over DQ11 or didn't play it.  I thought the series was way more popular and that more people would be dying to play it on day1.  All of the posts in here since it released (and lack there of) have been very revealing. 

I sincerely hope we get more games almost identical to the DQ11 formula in the future.  For me, it was a perfect classic JRPG.  I can only hope that it was viewed as a large commercial success. 

 
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Nothing- said:
Dragon Quest 11 was my favorite game of 2018. It was a blast. I put like 130 hours into it, got the full experience, and don't feel like I missed out on anything. It's nice that they added more stuff for new players. I have a buddy who has been excited about playing it on his Switch for many months. So it's cool to have some reinvigorated hype for one of last year's best games. The only thing that's weird to me is how many people in here skipped over DQ11 or didn't play it. I though the series was way more popular and that more people would be dying to play it on day1. All of the posts in here since it released (and lack there of) have been very revealing.

I sincerely hope we get more games almost identical to the DQ11 formula in the future. For me, it was a perfect classic JRPG. I can only hope that it was viewed as a large commercial success.
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It's more the timing of the release for me. I'm a Halloween fanatic so I plan to play spoopy games in October. I played about 30 hours of DQ11 on PS4 and liked it alot, but since I was less than half way through the game I decided to stop and wait for the Switch version when it got announced. The 2D mode especially had me thinking I'd rather be patient and play that version.

 
Nothing- said:
Dragon Quest 11 was my favorite game of 2018. It was a blast. I put like 130 hours into it, got the full experience, and don't feel like I missed out on anything. It's nice that they added more stuff for new players. I have a buddy who has been excited about playing it on his Switch for many months. So it's cool to have some reinvigorated hype for one of last year's best games. The only thing that's weird to me is how many people in here skipped over DQ11 or didn't play it. I though the series was way more popular and that more people would be dying to play it on day1. All of the posts in here since it released (and lack there of) have been very revealing.

I sincerely hope we get more games almost identical to the DQ11 formula in the future. For me, it was a perfect classic JRPG. I can only hope that it was viewed as a large commercial success.
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I actually have DQ 4-9 and 11. I bought 11 originally for the ps4 when it came out but never played it. And then the switch version was shown to have more content and so I sold my ps4 version for the switch version, which I'm playing right now and it's fantastic. I'm getting that comfy DQ feeling again.

I think you perhaps overestimated the popularity of the series, it's never been a hit in the west. I think it just has a small but very vocal online fanbase. I also think that most DQ fans in the west are probably prone to having nintendo systems, so that may have been the reason why the ps4 version of 11 didn't sell that well (as well as the issue with the music).

This switch version really fixes and addresses every issue with the original version and on top of that, it adds content as well as portability and a 2d mode. I think this one might actually crack a million in the west, but we'll see how that trajectory is in a few days.

My only issue with this switch version is the presentation hit; it's quite significant. The extremely low resolution and poor frame rate take a bit of getting used too. But I've pretty much gotten over it. It looks like a ps3 game, graphically.

I hope we get more games like this as well, so I'm hoping if this game sells well enough they'll finally bring over the Switch version of DQ10 they keep teasing us with. That's the only game that would actually get me to buy nintendo's crappy online service.

BTW, the physical version of the switch 1,2,3 DQ games is coming out soon in asia. I want to own all the games in english. Does anybody have those playasia 5% off discount codes anymore? Or did they stop doing that?

 
nagpo said:
I think you perhaps overestimated the popularity of the series, it's never been a hit in the west. I think it just has a small but very vocal online fanbase. I also think that most DQ fans in the west are probably prone to having nintendo systems, so that may have been the reason why the ps4 version of 11 didn't sell that well (as well as the issue with the music).
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No, what I overestimated was fandom in the JP niche thread. I thought DQ11 would be a landmark, seminal game release that defined the PS4 generation for people in here. It was not.

nagpo said:
BTW, the physical version of the switch 1,2,3 DQ games is coming out soon in asia. I want to own all the games in english. Does anybody have those playasia 5% off discount codes anymore? Or did they stop doing that?
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Yeah, I saw that! I'm greatly excited for that as well. Just want to get the info on what all is actually on the cart, and whether or not we're getting a NA version. Bc if we aren't, gotta hop on that release pronto.

DQ2 was the last thing that I played on my NES mini. But I quit right when it was about time to head to the final area of the game (Rhone) because it just becomes a long level grind there at the end.

DQ1 is the same way. Playing it on fast forward I don't even know how people made it through the end of the game legitimately with all the sustained damage you take while trudging through the endless random encounters in the Dark Lord's palace.

 
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Nothing- said:
No, what I overestimated was fandom in the JP niche thread. I thought DQ11 would be a landmark, seminal game release that defined the PS4 generation for people in here. It was not.
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I'm guessing there are more collectors than people who play every game they buy in here.
I unfortunately missed out on the best buy sale for it & am still waiting on the next big sale to buy & play. I've become a hug fan of DQ since they started porting them over on ps4.
 
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Eh I'm not much of a dragon quest fan.  I had considered 11 when it was announced and even thought about buying both but then when they didn't localize the 3ds version and that cost them my purchase.  It's for the best though as I have too many rpgs in my backlog anyway.

 
As someone who's been playing DQ games since the first one, 11 was a little boring to me. I still love traditional, old school rpgs, but it's just that DQ as a whole doesn't really have anything new to offer. This is a series that peaked 25-30 years ago after all.

 
Nothing- said:
Yeah, I saw that! I'm greatly excited for that as well. Just want to get the info on what all is actually on the cart, and whether or not we're getting a NA version. Bc if we aren't, gotta hop on that release pronto.
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I don't think we'll get a NA release. Considering the digital releases are already out. This collection is not like the Mana collection, it's just a ios/mobile port for a quick cash in. I don't think they put as much effort into this one so a physical probably didn't cross their mind. I mean, it's possible, but it's also possible that they never do it and while we wait the asia version goes OOS and we miss it all together. And regarding what's actually on the cart for the collection, I don't see why all three games wouldn't be on it. The games probably don't take too much memory so I don't see why they would need to split up the games. Does anybody know the download files of the three games on the switch? If that can fit on the lowest memory of a switch cartridge then I see no reason to not expect them on all on one cart

scaryice said:
As someone who's been playing DQ games since the first one, 11 was a little boring to me. I still love traditional, old school rpgs, but it's just that DQ as a whole doesn't really have anything new to offer. This is a series that peaked 25-30 years ago after all.
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That's kind of the point of DQ, to be honest. It's pretty much the same game each time with just a few alterations.

 
Since I don't have a switch I'll be waiting for them to eventually sell PS4 copies of 11 S and wait till they're around $30 which is the lowest I've seen the PS4 copies go for.

 
nagpo said:
I don't think we'll get a NA release. Considering the digital releases are already out. This collection is not like the Mana collection, it's just a ios/mobile port for a quick cash in. I don't think they put as much effort into this one so a physical probably didn't cross their mind. I mean, it's possible, but it's also possible that they never do it and while we wait the asia version goes OOS and we miss it all together. And regarding what's actually on the cart for the collection, I don't see why all three games wouldn't be on it. The games probably don't take too much memory so I don't see why they would need to split up the games. Does anybody know the download files of the three games on the switch? If that can fit on the lowest memory of a switch cartridge then I see no reason to not expect them on all on one cart

That's kind of the point of DQ, to be honest. It's pretty much the same game each time with just a few alterations.
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They are all something 300-something MB so the whole collection wouldn't be much more than 1GB.

 
Soma_Cruz said:
They are all something 300-something MB so the whole collection wouldn't be much more than 1GB.
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Good, thanks for the info. So there really shouldn't be any legitimate reason to not put them all on the cartridge. I think the smallest one is 4GB? If they're already fitting the bill for it, might as well stick them all on it. So i'm not really worried. Gonna pre-order.

 
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I wouldn’t worry about DQ 1/2/3 Asia physical because there isn’t an Asia eshop (right?) so they kind of have to put content on the cart. They can still do redemption codes, but that’s not normal except in games with dlc like Smash Bros.
 
Those seem like good numbers but I don't follow the series sale history so I wouldn't know whether they are better or worse than past games.

For those of you that don't follow the target clearance thread Yakuza kiwami is 5$ and ni no kuni 2 is 10$.  A number of other thread related games are on sale there as well.  It's ymmv though so you will want to check brickseek to see if the stores have them in stock.  Unless you need to head there anyway like I did.

 
shadowysea07 said:
Those seem like good numbers but I don't follow the series sale history so I wouldn't know whether they are better or worse than past games.


For those of you that don't follow the target clearance thread Yakuza kiwami is 5$ and ni no kuni 2 is 10$. A number of other thread related games are on sale there as well. It's ymmv though so you will want to check brickseek to see if the stores have them in stock. Unless you need to head there anyway like I did.
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None of the B&M stores near me ever have clearance on video games, it’s disgusting.
 
I'm finding AI: Somnium Files pretty hilarious.  Quirky game that doesn't take itself too seriously (so far at least).  A lot of sharply written/translated dialogue hidden behind obscure interactions with background objects.  Flying under the censorship radar perhaps.  Top notch VA'ing as well so far.  Wasn't expecting this much polish from the title.

Edit: On the downside, I'm getting a feeling that this is a pretty short game.  Also the game just locked me off from progressing the plot on my first playthrough until I played through an alternate story branch that I didn't take.  Huh?

 
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Been busy but in the past week and a bit many high profile VNs have been released in English. I'll go over early impressions of the one's I've played.

Aokana Steam

Aokana 18+ patch (NSFW)

Nanairo Reincarnation. This one I've gotten 1 ending and almost another. The Steam page is extremely misleading. There is comedy in this one like the page shows, but it's also very mature and graphic at times with its cases. This one I'm going to slightly recommend, but I think almost every ending goes through the same sequences with a different beginning and end, so it might just be worth playing the main girl's route. Just a warning by me, it surprised me a lot. Also without the adult content I'm not sure what the game would be like. There is a decent amount of scenes so I can imagine it would be weird.

Nanairo Reincarnation Steam

Nanairo Reincarnation 18+ DLC (NSFW)

Onii Kiss: Onii-chan, Where’s My Kiss? I'm not going to lie. I honestly dislike this game. The main character is annoying as all heck and the situations are dumb. I like the Imouto Paradise games, but this was a challenge for me to play. The kissing aspect is just overblown and frankly just felt like a relatively bad story with one dimensional characters with a creepy 100% doting onii-chan. Not recommended at all and not playing again after 1 route completed.
 
Onii Kiss (NSFW) 
Onii Kiss 18+ DLC (NSFW)
 
Farther than the Blue Sky was released a bit ago and I have beat a few routes. I think the main issue with this is the somewhat dumb at times main character and the maybe too much explanation of rocket science. It's kind of interesting, but not the most exciting. I do like the competition and the drama and the characters are pretty interesting. It's a interesting VN for sure. Recommended though get ready for science and a not as smart main player!
 
Farther than the Blue Sky (18+ NSFW)
Sengoku Rance (18+ NSFW)
Hashime of the Old Book Town (18+ NSFW Yaoi Steam)
 
Managagamer releasing 3 October releases. 
 
Ciconia When They Cry - Phase 1: For You, the Replaceable Ones (18+ NSFW) 10/04

Amaratsu Riddle Star (18+ NSFW) 10/10
Maggot Baits (18+ NSFW) 10/22
 
Going to get Riddle Star and am curious about Maggot Baits since it has the same creators I believe as Euphoria, but likely not for the faint of heart.
 
Wow maggot baits is finally coming out? The announcement was like 3 years ago.

The Opening video is really cool. Some gore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7y6oatrstY

shadowysea07 said:
Those seem like good numbers but I don't follow the series sale history so I wouldn't know whether they are better or worse than past games.
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It's already much higher than their past titles.

gospelman said:
Also the game just locked me off from progressing the plot on my first playthrough until I played through an alternate story branch that I didn't take. Huh?
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Par for the course with these types of games.

 
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Is anyone else having trouble with NISA store right now? I can’t login or add anything to cart.

Edit: Ok, it seems to have cleared up and is working again.

 
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[media]https://twitter.com/IdeaFactoryIntl/status/1179098066290274310?s=20[/media]

[media]https://youtu.be/CnbnS3ELlrs[/media]

 
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Vigilante said:
They're matching Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/nelke-the-legendary-alchemists-ateliers-of-the-new-world-playstation-4/6317072.p?skuId=6317072

Better to get it from there if you still have GCU.
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How dare you like the comment.

Thanks to you, I just realized BB is cleareancing a bunch of other titles, and now i spent more money.

You monster!

giphy.gif


 
Squarehard said:
How dare you like the comment.

Thanks to you, I just realized BB is cleareancing a bunch of other titles, and now i spent more money.

You monster!
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But you won't share what titles you found. Who's the real monster here Square? HMMM?

Starcrest said:
Anyone have an opinion to offer on Valthrian Arc?
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Everything I found on this game is that it's very bland and blah. Not worth the time or money if you already have a backlog of anything else to play.

I saw Injustice Legendary Edition had a price drop to 20 and .Hack Recode was clearanced to 16 as well before GCU, picked up both. Thanks Square
 
itzd4n said:
But you won't share what titles you found. Who's the real monster here Square? HMMM?


Everything I found on this game is that it's very bland and blah. Not worth the time or money if you already have a backlog of anything else to play.

I saw Injustice Legendary Edition had a price drop to 20 and .Hack Recode was clearanced to 16 as well before GCU, picked up both. Thanks Square
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giphy.gif


 
Squarehard said:
Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of The New World PS4 $25.99

Dropped from $29.99 yesterday. Lowest it's been on Amazon directly.
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Is this a good game to jump in if I have not played since the PS3 versions I think Rorona or something.

I was waiting for a cheap price to pick up on of these on switch and $26 is a great price.

Does it have time limits like others?

Edit: I bought it since I had a $10 Rewards Cert.

So it was like $20. My GCU expired.

 
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umbry said:
Is this a good game to jump in if I have not played since the PS3 versions I think Rorona or something.

I was waiting for a cheap price to pick up on of these on switch and $26 is a great price.

Does it have time limits like others?

Edit: I bought it since I had a $10 Rewards Cert.

So it was like $20. My GCU expired.
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It's more of a town building game where all the alchemists from previous games at the time (No Lulua/Ryza) appear and run shops. Alchemists are industry that processes raw materials into goods for stores to sell.

 
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