Best Japanese game for newcomer?

[Ercy-P]

Hey, long time reader but first time poster. I hope this goes right.

 

This monday I picked up a Playstation vita and when I saw that this weeks sale in my playstation store had a Japanese theme I felt that I wanted to try a japanese game (doesn't necessarily have to be a JRPG) as a difference to the usual stuff I play. I know of Persona 4 but what are the other high quality titles? A good platinum list is a plus to me.

[killivincent]

I would recommend Trails of Gold Steel & Trails of Gold Steel 2. They have interesting story, combat is fairly easy (combat is turn-based) and they are on sale now. If you prefer active try Ys Memories of Celceta or Ys Lacrimosa of Dana. Also Tales of Hearts and Tokyo Xanadu are great Vita titles. I think most of these games are on sale, so check them out! Hope I helped!

 

Oh, and all these games have pretty easy platinums.

Edited April 26, 2018 by killivincent

[Feiryn-]

To be quite honest, I essentially bought a PS Vita to play otome games and Uncharted Golden Abyss. I wouldn't recommand otome games for men because well, it's a kind of games that targets mostly women but it's the best way to get easy platinums in a few hours. If you'd like to give it a try, I suggest you play Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~, even though I know most players just played the game for its trophies (which it  very disappointing considering the potential of the storyline) and not for the story itself, for an otome game it wasn't cliché nor cringey at all. And if you like history or books, you should like it a bit, there's famous names in it like Sherlock Holmes or Arsène Lupin.

However, you should must play Steins;Gate. It's one of the best games I ever played, the story and the characters are incredible. (and you have to watch the anime too !)

Also, technically Uncharted is an American licence but Golden Abyss is a japanese game since it's been developped by Sony (i think ?) and it's one of the best games on PS Vita. So you should play it.

I didn't like the game (nor finished it), but most PS Vita players enjoyed it so maybe you should try Gravity Rush also ? (if you haven't played it on PS4 already that is)

I hope I helped a bit !

[Eyjabria]

I recommend Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. Not very action packed game but the story is one of the best I've experienced.

[Undead Wolf]

Here are some Japanese games that either I know are good/great or I've heard that they are:

• Tales of Hearts R
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
• Tokyo Xanadu
• Muramasa Rebirth
• Demon Gaze
• Demon Gaze II
• Mary Skelter: Nightmares
• Ys: Memories of Celceta
• Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars
• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
• Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
• Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony 
• Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
• Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
• Zero Time Dilemma
• Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy
• Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy 
• God Wars: Future Past 
• Steins;Gate
• Steins;Gate 0
• Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth 
• Collar×Malice 
• Period Cube: Shackles of Amadeus 
• Bad Apple Wars 
• Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds 
• √Letter 

26 minutes ago, Aya said:

I wouldn't recommand otome games for men because well, it's a kind of games that targets mostly women but it's the best way to get easy platinums in a few hours

 

I'm a hetero male but I love otome games. Explain that one.  Just because it targets a specific audience doesn't mean others can't enjoy it too. Skipping through them does the game and yourself a disservice.

[Lava_Yuki]

My Vita is full of otome gamesas I'm quite addicted to them, but other than those here are my Vita recommendations regarding Japanese titles. I used to live in Japan and my PSN account is also Japanese, so all my I have a lot of Japanese titles. Ive also stuck my personal rating, opinion and platinum duration it took me beside them  

 

RPG

Tales of Hearts R: 7/10- very good battle system, characters are ok but I personally found Shing annoying (50 hours)

Tales of Innocence R: 6/10- Great story and characters, but the battle system and gameplay feel dated. Easy plat (60 hours to plat, but there is a 100 hours trophy)

Disgaea 4 A promise revisited: 9/10 - very difficult plat but great game with hours to pour into (don't have the plat, but estimated 150+ hours)

FFX/X-2 HD Remaster (10/10)- My first and favourite FF, so a biased rating again. FFX is a long and tough plat, X-2 is easier. (100-150 hours each. X-2 took me 80 hours)

World of Final Fantasy: 4/10- childish and cringy in terms of story/ characters but overall a cute game

Atelier Sophie and Atelier Faris: 6/10- good story and fun gameplay, easy platinum (30 hours)

Odin Sphere

Ys XIII

Digimon

 

Visual Novel

Psycho Pass: 7/10 (a bit tedious in terms of the plat, takes 30 hours reading everything)

Danganronpa 1.2 Reload 

Steins Gate (1/10) I hated SG, but some people love it so my rating is biased. I just don't like otaku culture, and this game is very much Akihabara Otaku central. Also moe, so awkward for a female gamer like me. 

Steins Gate 0 (1/10)

Root Letter

 

Other genres

Gravity Daze

Uncharted

 

Otome Games- all super easy platinums dependent on reading speed

Hyakka hyakurou: 8/10 (very short easy plat, 10 hours. Tragic and emotional)

Collar x Malice: 9/10- amazing story, interesting characters. If you like crime, it's good (40 hours as the story is long)

Kokuchou no Psychadelica (6/10, lovely but sad story, feels like a VN rather than an otome game due to lack of romance, 10 hours)

Haitaka no Psychadelica- same as the above

Code Realise (there's the main game and fan discs)- one of the best otome games

Amnesia V Edition- my favourite otome game, lots of romance but lots of bad endings, 30 hours

Amnesia Later X Crowd (fan disk), 7/10

Amnesia World (fan disk), 7/10

Ken ga Kimi for V- very very long, like 50-60 hours, sad and tragic, 8/10

Taisho Alice- if you like fantasy, it's fun. Fairly long about 45 hours, 7/10

Side kicks- crime, mystery based in California, 6/10 (i wasnt keen on the artwork)

7 Scarlet- Mystery, romance- 4/10, the characters were not my personal favourite

 

 

[eigen-space]

Regarding only games in the sale...

 

Atelier Sophie would be my pick for the Vita selection. Most people enjoy Sophie a lot, so that could be fun for you as well. In my opinion, it wasn't the best Atelier game, but I'm in the minority of people who liked the time restraints in the previous installments. Sophie is a little more relaxed so probably a good intro.

Danganronpa is an interesting game, but it depends on if you like battles and action. It's a borderline visual novel with some mystery/puzzle elements. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc is the first installment of the series.

Trails of Cold Steel was mentioned several times here. It is also an excellent series, though it's not actually in the sale this week.

 

I'd recommend not even touching Sorcery Saga or XBlaze Lost: Memories. 

 

------

Of all the games on sale this week, though, Tales of Berseria is my favorite. Great JRPG and, if you enjoy it, all the other titles in the Tales series are excellent. PS4 only, though.

Edited April 26, 2018 by eigen-space

[det_gittes]

15 minutes ago, eigen-space said:

Trails of Cold Steel was mentioned several times here. It is also an excellent series, though it's not actually in the sale this week.

The OP seems to be in the EU region and the Big in Japan sale has both parts at a reduced price.

[eigen-space]

24 minutes ago, det_gittes said:

The OP seems to be in the EU region and the Big in Japan sale has both parts at a reduced price.

Ohhhhhh. Gotcha! I didn't look at their profile to see the region

 

If that's the case....

Odin Sphere, Yomawari+HTOLNIQ, and the Zero Escape games are fantastic as well.

Zero Escape would be my #1 recommendation. The puzzles and stories are fantastic.... and Zero Time Dilemma (which you should play last) was the only game I've ever found so addicting that I called out of work to play.

Tales of Hearts was fun, but not nearly as fun as the other Tales games. Still worth it, but if you try it and don't like it, don't let it cloud your judgement about the others (highly recommend the Graces+Xillia pack if you have a PS3).

 

I wouldn't recommend World of Final Fantasy as most of the fun in that game comes from having played other FF games.

 

And I'll add Ray Gigant to the "don't do it" list

Edited April 26, 2018 by eigen-space

[NaRayquaza]

World of Final Fantasy, Disgaea, Digimon, Senran Kagura, Persona 4 (only if you can endure english voices tho), Final Fantasy X (same), Gravity Rush, and if you already like the series you can also try SAO Lost Song, it was the one I had more fun, but I don't know how it runs on PS Vita since I played it on PS4.

 

EDIT: Forgot to write about Platinums.

From the ones I listed, Lost Song and Senran Kagura are the easiest, Gravity Rush too, Persona 4 also isn't that difficult but a bit grindy and you may need guides. Idk about the others since I haven't got them/started working on them.

Edited April 26, 2018 by NaRayquaza

[Feiryn-]

4 hours ago, Undead Wolf said:

I'm a hetero male but I love otome games. Explain that one.  Just because it targets a specific audience doesn't mean others can't enjoy it too. Skipping through them does the game and yourself a disservice.

Well, it's nice to know some men enjoy otome games. I recommended some otoges to a few men before, they all laughed at me for playing such games so I stopped trying to convince them to play it.

And I agree with you about the skipping part. I don't get why people buy games only to get a few more trophies when games have a lot to offer.

[eigen-space]

46 minutes ago, Aya said:

And I agree with you about the skipping part. I don't get why people buy games only to get a few more trophies when games have a lot to offer.

 

From my perspective when I skip... it's because I started the game with best intentions but the story ended up being dull or poorly-paced.

I've completed games like Amnesia Memories and Code Realize without skipping anything because the stories were awesome, but other games are much more tedious...

Norn9 started getting tedious by the 6th story... Steins Gate was poorly paced so about halfway through I skipped a lot... still read synopses and timelines of the games I skipped, but I just couldn't bear to sit through them any longer.

Edited April 27, 2018 by eigen-space

[Alternatewarning]

Honestly most of the games I would have suggested have already been mentioned.  It just depends what kind of game you want and what you're going for.  Japanese games tend to be short, some visual novels, or extremely long, such as Persona, to platinum.

 

5 hours ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

I'm a hetero male but I love otome games. Explain that one.  Just because it targets a specific audience doesn't mean others can't enjoy it too. Skipping through them does the game and yourself a disservice.

 

Woot, another one, it's not just me 

[SupaKuesuto]

There are a quite a few fighting games on it that are fun like BlazBlue and Marvel vs. Capcom. It takes awhile to Platinum those games though since they usually have you do all the game modes and stuff. Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus is another fun one, but can be pretty hard to Platinum depending of your skill of the game. The sequel is nearly impossible to Platinum though unless you have another person that owns the game locally to get the co-op trophies.

[JapanimeGamer]

6 hours ago, eigen-space said:

 

From my perspective when I skip... it's because I started the game with best intentions but the story ended up being dull or poorly-paced.

Steins Gate was poorly paced so about halfway through I skipped a lot... still read synopses and timelines of the games I skipped, but I just couldn't bear to sit through them any longer.

 

I agree.

 

Steins Gate did get boring for me in places and at times i skipped some of it near the end, they dragged it out far too long for me.

Edited April 27, 2018 by JapanimeGamer

[eigen-space]

Just now, JapanimeGamer said:

 

I agree.

 

Steins Gate did get boring for me in places and at times i skipped some of it near the end, they just dragged it out far too long for me.

 

There's actually a complete transcript of the game somewhere that I read through at my own (much faster) pace. It's actually a really good story... they just didn't pace it well...

[Satoshi Ookami]

11 hours ago, Lava_Yuki said:

I just don't like otaku culture

Which is why you didn't like it

 

11 hours ago, Undead Wolf said:

I'm a hetero male but I love otome games. Explain that one.  Just because it targets a specific audience doesn't mean others can't enjoy it too. Skipping through them does the game and yourself a disservice.

VNs are VNs no matter what they are  

The protagonists are cute so you obviously want to cheer for them, that's why we enjoy them  

[starcrunch061]

So, anyway, getting back to the OP:

 

Do you like RPGs? Do you like a little strangeness in your games? Vita is very good for this. As an example I really enjoyed Criminal Girls. Look past the fan service (assuming you don't like it), and you have a remarkably fun dungeon crawl with a great battle system.

 

Are you looking for a VN which requires more than reading? You might also look into Danganronpa. Both of the titles I played (admittedly on PS4, though they were originally available on Vita) were excellent. Playing without a guide, on hard mode, will have you thinking a lot more than you thought any game ever would. The story is silly fun, but the gameplay is rock solid. Another possibility is Zero Escape. While I didn't enjoy the story nearly as much as that of Danganronpa, the puzzles (particularly in Virtue's Last Reward) were awesome. 

 

8 hours ago, eigen-space said:

There's actually a complete transcript of the game somewhere that I read through at my own (much faster) pace. It's actually a really good story... they just didn't pace it well...

 

I felt the same way, except it was the beginning of the game that wasn't particularly well paced for me. It read remarkably well, however, on a second playthrough, when I knew where everything was leading. But that's not particularly good storytelling.

Edited April 27, 2018 by starcrunch061

[AlchemistWer]

Hard question, without a doubt if you bought a vita you must play and plat Persona 4 and if you love it you can go after for Persona 5 on PS4. Now games on vita means jrpg (: you can try with Neptunia games, Re;Birth 1, 2 and 3. couple of amazing visual novels how can be Steins;Gate, Steins;Gate 0 (play/read first Steins;Gate) Chaos;Child, Psych-pass, the nonary game... Also if you need more and want to play more japanese games you can count with Atelier plus games, you have couple of Sword art online games, Utawarerumono games, couple of Tale of etc,. Now you can buy a lot of games with the golden week so now is the right time to start with your journey (:

 

16 hours ago, eigen-space said:

Atelier Sophie would be my pick for the Vita selection. Most people enjoy Sophie a lot

Sophie-sama 

12 hours ago, eigen-space said:

Steins Gate was poorly paced so about halfway through I skipped a lot..

You are no longer my little green friend. ? Now with the anime I would like play again Steins;Gate ?

[HellcoreFire]

Freedom Wars was a pretty nice game and not really grindy for a JRPG in my opinion. Also, any game even I am able to plat has automatically a 1/10 platinum difficulty.

[Undead Wolf]

6 hours ago, Satoshi Ookami said:

VNs are VNs no matter what they are  

The protagonists are cute so you obviously want to cheer for them, that's why we enjoy them  

 

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Also, since bishoujo games are basically non-existent on PlayStation platforms, otome games are the next best thing. It still puzzles me why that's the case. 

[Remilia Scarlet]

I highly, highly recommend Muramasa Rebirth. It’s my favorite game on the PS Vita and one of the best JRPGs ever made. It’s a 2D side scrolling RPG set in medeival Japan, with two separate but intertwining storylines that are both playable concurrently. The game follows two protagonists, a princess named Momohime whose body was taken over by a vengeful spirit that seeks to gain control of a legendary cursed sword called Oboro Muramasa, and a ninja named Kisuke, who is trying to clear his name of a crime he did not commit.

 

It’s not particularly difficult but it provides a decent enough challenge that swapping weapons and utilizing your skills at your disposal are necessary to survive, though death does not have a harsh penalty; in the event that you die you just reset to your previous save location, of which there are many. Deaths against bosses have zero repercussions due to every boss gate having a save location next to it, and you are never locked into a zone, so you can freely grind levels to your heart’s content.

 

Every boss fight can be replayed as many times as you wish to grind that sweet, sweet XP and get money/items. In addition to that, there are event locations called Caves of Evil, special zones that pit you against increasingly difficult waves of enemies. Completing these caves nets you money and special items, and certain caves even give you new swords.

 

This game is all about the swords. There’s over 100 swords to collect and create, and creating them all gives you the ultimate blade - Oboro Muramasa. 

 

General combat is in real time, and it does have random encounters, but you can typically choose to avoid the enemies as the random encounters occur in the playing space and do not trigger a separate battle screen.

 

Seriously, get this game. It’s a wonderful experience and I’m positive you won’t regret it.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Daft Gamer

[Sora9427]

47 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

I think you hit the nail on the head there. Also, since bishoujo games are basically non-existent in the west on PlayStation platforms, otome games are the next best thing. It still puzzles me why that's the case. 

 

Fixed for you  

 

Seriously, i'll never understand why nobody even Try to take us a Galge when on Vita plenty came out and i'm sure even on Ps4 at this point, i Hope Muv Luv with PQube does well and it's the beginning ot it! :3 

[Undead Wolf]

2 minutes ago, Sora9427 said:

Fixed for you  

 

Seriously, i'll never understand why nobody even Try to take us a Galge when on Vita plenty came out and i'm sure even on Ps4 at this point, i Hope Muv Luv with PQube does well and it's the beginning ot it! :3 

 

You're right, thanks. 

 

Blame the SJW's. That's what I always do.  Oh yeah, I pre-ordered the Muv-Luv games a while back. I'm looking forward to those.  I hope it does well too.

[Sora9427]

2 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

You're right, thanks. 

 

Blame the SJW's. That's what I always do.  Oh yeah, I pre-ordered the Muv-Luv games a while back. I'm looking forward to those.  I hope it does well too.

 

Yey i'm right 

 

Ah, i think that would be an excuse escpecially in this case I'll get them as soon as they go on a good sale, i'm waiting for them a lot too :3 

 

I'm sad we get a lot of Otomes and even things like the pidgeons or whatever birds they were game and then nice Galges, Nope, only on steam