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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TheKbob said:
Do I buy it now or wait for a likely deeper discount? Decisions... I like SRPGs and Persona, so this seems like a good fit for me.
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I'm thinking wait... Atlus/Persona games seem to be printed in high volumes these days. I bough Nocturne HD, Persona 5, 5R, and Strikers all at release and every single one has been like $20 or less I think at some point.
 
TheKbob said:
Do I buy it now or wait for a likely deeper discount? Decisions... I like SRPGs and Persona, so this seems like a good fit for me.
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Wait. As Vinny said, this will hit $20 before you know it.

I finally pulled the trigger and canceled my Persona 3 Reload pre-order for this very reason. Yeah, I got in on the $60 Gamestop price error, but it'll be half that before long. I just can't stand the new VA, the lack of FES/Portable content, the egregious $70 pricetag, and (as is the case with Tactica) the bullshit day one DLC, which isn't as big of an issue with P3R, but is a major Atlus problem. I'll get it when it's cheap, and/or when a complete version launches. As for Tactica, well, I'm not big on XCOM-style games anyway, so it can wait.

I actually just started playing Soul Hackers 2, coincidentally. One Atlus game at a time.
 
super1upqueen said:
Wait. As Vinny said, this will hit $20 before you know it.

I finally pulled the trigger and canceled my Persona 3 Reload pre-order for this very reason. Yeah, I got in on the $60 Gamestop price error, but it'll be half that before long. I just can't stand the new VA, the lack of FES/Portable content, the egregious $70 pricetag, and (as is the case with Tactica) the bullshit day one DLC, which isn't as big of an issue with P3R, but is a major Atlus problem. I'll get it when it's cheap, and/or when a complete version launches. As for Tactica, well, I'm not big on XCOM-style games anyway, so it can wait.

I actually just started playing Soul Hackers 2, coincidentally. One Atlus game at a time.
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Persona 3 reload also launches a week after Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. There’s only so much time for long JRPGs and I’d rather spend my time on a new story TBH.
 
Dungeon Travelers: To Heart 2 in Another World for PC launches February 14, 2024

Note that this is the first in the series. The other 2 Dungeon Travelers 2 and 2-2 were banned from Steam. Even this is classified as adult, but I think is just ecchi. This is coming to Steam at least.

2 nice looking visual novels got fan translations recently.

First of all Aiyoku no Eustia which has been in translation limbo for a while. This one was leaked and will get some edits later, but a member of the team says it's official, but not quality checked.

VNDB (NSFW)
Patch (NSFW)

The second game is Lupercalia of the Silent Accord (Meikei no Lupercalia). This one has something about a play and looks cute.

VNDB (NSFW)
Patch (NSFW)
 
Twilightsparkle said:
Persona 3 reload also launches a week after Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth. There’s only so much time for long JRPGs and I’d rather spend my time on a new story TBH.
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It's also launching a day after Granblue Fantasy Relink, which I'm very excited for. By the time I'm done with that, FFVII Rebirth will be out, so P3R just isn't in the schedule.
 
P5 is great, but they didn't do what you need to do which is let things marinate in OOP status for a few years before relaunching them again at full price. Instead they've adopted the Ubisoft / AB model of devaluing their own products.

Now no one wants to pay for Persona anymore. You've trained them that it should always be cheaper, plus people already own them.

I still can't believe I scored those redundant steelbooks of Royal on PS5 and Switch for only $19.99 apiece at Target a couple Christmases ago.
 
How Long to Beat has P5T at around 24 hours for main quest completion; it's only "short" when comparing it to Persona proper.

For most games, that's pretty long, IMO.
 
Yeah short for me is like 2-4 hours or so. Very short around the hour mark. Medium up to 15 hours. Long 20 hours and probably 40+ hours very long, but I find most RPGs hard to play nowadays. So many of them waste time to pad out adventures even if in the end they're worth taking. I'm slowly falling out of the RPG love fest I once had, and am more into more tuned or shorter run padded (rogue whatever games) games. P5T looks a bit generic to me and also is more likely a side story type game as well. I will wait for $20 or less like usual. Likely will do the same for the P3 remake when that comes out.
 
nitrosmob said:
Yeah short for me is like 2-4 hours or so. Very short around the hour mark. Medium up to 15 hours. Long 20 hours and probably 40+ hours very long, but I find most RPGs hard to play nowadays. So many of them waste time to pad out adventures even if in the end they're worth taking. I'm slowly falling out of the RPG love fest I once had, and am more into more tuned or shorter run padded (rogue whatever games) games. P5T looks a bit generic to me and also is more likely a side story type game as well. I will wait for $20 or less like usual. Likely will do the same for the P3 remake when that comes out.
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Holy fuck, this so damn much... I don't play RPGs as much as I used to but I swear, on the SNES and PS1, there were so many good RPGs and they all ranged from like 20-40 hours. But then around the PS2 it felt like 40 hours was some kind of unspoken minimum for RPGs. Honestly was happy that FFXVI was only 30 hours (and that's being generous since there was a lot of lazy filler in that game).

But at the same time, I'll often start and game and then just keep playing it when I could easily finish... just because I feel so mentally lazy/don't want to start a new game. Like Tears of the Kingdom, was a fan of BotW but did think Tears was better. And then after I finished it, I saw my play time was 150 hours. I think Fallout 4 is still the kind of that though, pretty sure I have like 220 hours in that game. And yet, I can't get myself to commit to any of the Personas because they're like 70 hours long..LOL
 
I guess, but 25 hours is still relatively short for a TRPG. Then again, the Tenchi TRPG on SNES was like an hour long or some insanely short amount.

Edit: I guess it was about 7 hours. I remember thinking it was too short at the time though.
 
I played that one as a kid in Japanese, just trial and erroring everything until eventually finding a fan translation years later. It's a fun game! I definitely didn't remember it being that short, though. I spent a ton of time grinding in the carrot fields I think haha

I can still hear the walking sound effect in my head
 
Persona 5 Tatcica going for $40 on Walmart, Gamestop, and Amazon. Amazon seems to be the best choice to get it shipped as the other two are only as cheap or even in stock as store pick-uo only.
 
mana-trailer-2.gif


 
Looks like an advancement to the previous Trails engine. That one chugged on Switch. I'm guessing it will come eventually to next Nintendo gaming system. Seems likely we should get one unveiled hopefully soon.
 
Vinny said:
A little surprised it's not coming to the NS... seems like a pretty large market to leave out.
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Agreed they might be planning on Switch 2. That's my immediate thought for anything 2024+ that doesn't mention Switch (P3 Reload included) Your point still stands, the install base on Switch 1 is huge but maybe it also has value as a partnership/launch title sort of thing.
 
Vinny said:
A little surprised it's not coming to the NS... seems like a pretty large market to leave out.
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The games looks too advanced and big for the switch imo. Will probably be on the Switch 2. It looks like such a pretty game i want it on the ps5 which i don't even have
 
Was there something embedded in Vinny's post? Because I can't see anything and I have no clue what game you guys are talking about.
 
Yea, I have no idea what they're talking about either. I thought it was a new Tales game, but I don't see anything about a new Tales game anywhere.
 
salty tbone said:
Was there something embedded in Vinny's post? Because I can't see anything and I have no clue what game you guys are talking about.
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elessar123 said:
Yea, I have no idea what they're talking about either. I thought it was a new Tales game, but I don't see anything about a new Tales game anywhere.
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blueweltall said:
Vinny was talking about Visions of Mana. There's a post from Nothing- showing the trailer of the game above Vinny's post.
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Yeah my bad, I was talking about the trailing Nothing- posted, the end shows all logos except for the NS.
 
Just a side note Persona 5 Tactica (switch) is $39.99 at BB/Walmart/Amazon/Target/GS . My oldest son is big into the series and this is one he hasn't played so figured I'd grab it. Also BB has DQ Monsters in stock (obviously not on sale)... and Super Bomberman R 2 is $19.99 at BB & Amazon. I ended up with a fairly big (for me anyway) order over at BB this morning.
 
I'm only about halfway through watching The Game Awards show from the other night (very good presentation so far btw) and there was a cool looking announcement trailer (from some Persona guys apparently) called Metaphor ReFantazio. Game looks really good. It was hosted as part of the family of 'coming to Xbox' presentation tho. Which, as we all know, who knows what that means. probably nothing. "Day 1 on Gamepasss" whatever, right?. Fall 2024. (kinda weird how Atlus and Sega are only mentioned in the fine print at the bottom, barely visibile lol)


looks great; i'm excited for that one.

Metaphor: ReFantazio launches in fall 2024 ​

 
nightc1 said:
Just a side note Persona 5 Tactica (switch) is $39.99 at BB/Walmart/Amazon/Target/GS . My oldest son is big into the series and this is one he hasn't played so figured I'd grab it. Also BB has DQ Monsters in stock (obviously not on sale)... and Super Bomberman R 2 is $19.99 at BB & Amazon. I ended up with a fairly big (for me anyway) order over at BB this morning.
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Hmm, do I snag DQM now, before it goes out of stock again, thus securing a physical copy I can sell later on if I don't like it, or do I just wait for a digital sale like a cheapass but risk not liking it and being stuck with it? I usually try to stick with physical, but have been much more open to digital lately. It's very tempting, since I heard that, performance issues aside, it's a very fun game and I love me some DQM...
Nothing- said:
I'm only about halfway through watching The Game Awards show from the other night (very good presentation so far btw) and there was a cool looking announcement trailer (from some Persona guys apparently) called Metaphor ReFantazio. Game looks really good. It was hosted as part of the family of 'coming to Xbox' presentation tho. Which, as we all know, who knows what that means. probably nothing. "Day 1 on Gamepasss" whatever, right?. Fall 2024. (kinda weird how Atlus and Sega are only mentioned in the fine print at the bottom, barely visibile lol)
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That's what was originally known as Project Re Fantasy, a game that was announced all the way back in 2016 with this beautiful Soejima artwork:
ReFantasy2.jpg

I screamed like a madwoman when Metaphor was shown at Xbox's Not E3 showcase because I knew it was Project Re Fantasy. It's being made by serval Persona alumni (director Katsura Hashino, composer Shoji Meguro, artist Shigenori Soejima) and will also be on PS4, PS5, and PC. It is 100% a day one buy for me and I pray Atlus doesn't carve out half the game for DLC. Will be keeping an eye out for an overpriced collector's edition I can convince myself to buy and add to my dragon hoard.
 
Finished hyper devotion noire goddess black heart. Or at least I beat the final boss and got the trophy. The game errored after the trophy triggered.

Overall it was OK. The height terrain aside I enjoyed it well enough. I beat all the optional maps besides the lv70+ 4x dragon one. I defeated 2 of them but couldn't keep the remaining 2 separate and I set up so my party resistance was fire and water. But the one being lightning was se so on top of its op ex burst attack it had type advantage and one shot anything in range.
 
Just a reminder, Gamefly has NEW copies of Shin Megami Tensei V for $19.99.

Video Games: Rent/Buy PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, 4kUHD, Blu-ray & MORE! Plus Consoles, Collectibles & Arcades Games | GameFly

GameFly, the #1 video game rental service. Rent and buy PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, 4k UHD, Blu-ray and more. Plus Consoles, Controllers, Accessories, Collectibles and Arcades.
www.gamefly.com www.gamefly.com

super1upqueen said:
Hmm, do I snag DQM now, before it goes out of stock again, thus securing a physical copy I can sell later on if I don't like it, or do I just wait for a digital sale like a cheapass but risk not liking it and being stuck with it? I usually try to stick with physical, but have been much more open to digital lately. It's very tempting, since I heard that, performance issues aside, it's a very fun game and I love me some DQM...
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There is a demo for DQ:Monsters. I played enough of the demo to get a feel for it but didn't bother to finish it as DQ is a series I pretty much will buy anything they release domestically and will occasionally import the games that aren't. Like the imports for DQ 1/2/3 combo & DQ Heroes 1&2 for switch are in my DQ collection. DQ Monsters is the first of the DQ games that my local walmart stores haven't stocked and it sold out in Japan. I'd imagine it'll get reprints but I'd rather just have it in my collection and my oldest son said he'd play it the moment it came in as his college classes are done until next month and he played the older Monsters games within the last year during his big "play everything DQ" phase.


Nicely, the 2 day shipping they promised @BB looks like it'll be next day (fedex) as everything I ordered is already out for delivery.
 
62t said:
I wan to play Shin Megami Tensei V, but keep hearing rumor of Xbox port.
Click to expand...

I read that Nintendo helped fund and market SMT:V so I would imagine that came with at least a decently long exclusivity agreeement. I know people digging through the code found references to PC and PS4, but nothing has happened over the past two years. I'm not really that invested in other platforms these days, so this made the most sense to throw $20+ at it and have it in my collection with the DS/3DS SMT games.
 
Yeah it seems like there's some sort of contract as smt has stuck to Nintendo platforms for the series while persona mostly stuck with ps platforms.
 
nightc1 said:
Just a reminder, Gamefly has NEW copies of Shin Megami Tensei V for $19.99.

Video Games: Rent/Buy PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, 4kUHD, Blu-ray & MORE! Plus Consoles, Collectibles & Arcades Games | GameFly

GameFly, the #1 video game rental service. Rent and buy PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, 4k UHD, Blu-ray and more. Plus Consoles, Controllers, Accessories, Collectibles and Arcades.
www.gamefly.com www.gamefly.com



There is a demo for DQ:Monsters. I played enough of the demo to get a feel for it but didn't bother to finish it as DQ is a series I pretty much will buy anything they release domestically and will occasionally import the games that aren't. Like the imports for DQ 1/2/3 combo & DQ Heroes 1&2 for switch are in my DQ collection. DQ Monsters is the first of the DQ games that my local walmart stores haven't stocked and it sold out in Japan. I'd imagine it'll get reprints but I'd rather just have it in my collection and my oldest son said he'd play it the moment it came in as his college classes are done until next month and he played the older Monsters games within the last year during his big "play everything DQ" phase.


Nicely, the 2 day shipping they promised @BB looks like it'll be next day (fedex) as everything I ordered is already out for delivery.
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I enjoyed the DQM games on the DS and figured I would get this new one when it goes on sale since its a Square Enix game and those always go on sale! But now that it seems to be a little hard to get (even Amazon has delivery after Christmas) I may just buy it at full price. I guess it all depends on how badly I want to play it soon (currently playing Super Mario RPG right now among other games).
 
Josef said:
I enjoyed the DQM games on the DS and figured I would get this new one when it goes on sale since its a Square Enix game and those always go on sale! But now that it seems to be a little hard to get (even Amazon has delivery after Christmas) I may just buy it at full price. I guess it all depends on how badly I want to play it soon (currently playing Super Mario RPG right now among other games).
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DQ Monsters Joker 1& 2 were amazing. It still bothers me we never got Joker 3.

If you have the time, download the demo. It is a bit basic at the start since they are trying to teach you stuff but it got me in the mood for playing the game. I'm fairly positive everything carries over to the main game.
 
nightc1 said:
DQ Monsters Joker 1& 2 were amazing. It still bothers me we never got Joker 3.

If you have the time, download the demo. It is a bit basic at the start since they are trying to teach you stuff but it got me in the mood for playing the game. I'm fairly positive everything carries over to the main game.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation! I did download the demo and will try to find time playing it by the end of the weekend (busy with work).
 
shadowysea07 said:
I didn't like dq monsters joker 2 or 1 so I already know that it isn't for me.
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Joker 1&2 were the evolution of the regular DQ Monsters games with the benefit (IMO) of seeing the monsters roaming the world. If you didn't like them, then you definitely shouldn't buy another Monsters game without at least digging deep into the demo. For myself, I loved the way you combined monsters and how all the monsters were visible so you didn't have random battles unless you later got the whistle ability to trigger random battles with area monsters.
 
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