Let's Go! Japanese Game Play With Pikate AA X: Xbox 360 Stage

[Pikate]

Basically as part of my odyssey into gaming I'm looking to try some Japanese-style games for Xbox 360/XBLA. Only condition is they have to have a PAL edition. Wartech: Senko no Ronde is what I'm thinking of next although it doesn't look to be all that great so anything better that comes to mind I'll play. There's some Capcom RPGs I thought looked pretty (Tales of... I think?) are they any good?

So far (outside of Sega's HD Remasters) I've only really tried Bayonetta and Catherine. Bayonetta didn't impress me in the slightest but Catherine was excellent as a visual novel, I just didn't really enjoy the puzzle game element and the main character started to annoy me (might be a gender thing) so I didn't see that through to the end but I liked the art of that so will probably pick up Persona 4 Arena on launch.

In the meantime, you guys tell me what to play. Whatever get's the most recommendations I will 100% play. Educate me!

[Family Fry]

Deadly Premonition, that is all.


Actually there are some more I would consider.

Strania on XBLA is worth a look from G.Rev same people who did Senko no Ronde


Omega Five, always overlooked but good side scrolling shooter from Hudson Soft.


Coming out soon-ish for XBLA and looking cool Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds.
Check out these bit tunes.

[Soundwave]

Shooters surely??

You can get PAL versions of Dodonpachi / Death Smiles / Under Defeat

They are must buys.

Think there's a few on XBLA including Ikaruga but the rest escape me (Did Gunwage get a release on the UK marketplace??)

Neil

[chopemon]

I've recently been buying and playing loads of Japanese games on my 360. My favourite recently discovered gem is Majin and the Foresaken Kingdom. A wonderful Ico-esque fairytale where you play a thief that commands a hulking lovable ogre to help you complete puzzles and fight enemies. Highly recommended.

If you like Senko but want something a bit more bullet hell, try Dodonpachi. That got a PAL release in 2011 and should be really cheap now.

I really loved Blue Dragon. I'm not a big JRPG person (at the moment) and everyone said it was mediocre but I looooved the art and found the combat to be satisfying enough.

Dark Souls is probably the greatest game ever made but isn't for everyone. My advice is to persevere and soon the game opens up and now I can't stop thinking about it.

I love Anarchy Reigns as it is big and loud and crazy. Not got an in-depth campaign but good fun.

Way of the Samurai 3 is an interesting one. Not an amazing game but really interesting concept. The game is full of choices and after completing it you start again to see all the different choices.

Dragon's Dogma is a great RPG that gives you open world exploration and much better combat than Skyrim.

My last recommendation (for now) is Nier. It is an action RPG that does amazing things with new game plus. The game is wonderfully charming with some fantastic characters and music and the game changes dramatically in the next playthrough. You need to complete it four times to see how good/crazy it gets. Each playthrough is much shorter than the original though.

There are loads of cool, obscure, amazing Japanese games on the 360. I'm having some of the best time in my gaming life discovering them at the moment.

EDIT: You need to try Deadly Premonition. Make that your first stop if you're after a big adventure.

[fuse]

There's just the one Tales game on the 360 - Vesperia - and it is an absolute wonder. Thankfully it's been re-released so you can buy a disc for ?20 now instead of having to either go down the 'Games on Demand' or 'life savings on eBay' routes.

The usual suspects above have covered off most of the other highlights, but I don't think I've seen Akai Katana (IMO the best Cave release on the 360) or Binary Domain mentioned. The latter is a very fun take on the 3rd person cover-based shooter.

[Asura]

Some that have been missed are the fighters - so Arcana Heart 3, the BlazBlue games and of course the various Street Fighters and spinoffs.

Also, Armored Core 4, For Answer and V. 4 and For Answer are quite similar for a non-hardcore player, but if you like one you ought to like the other (5 on the other hand was a totally different game from the ground up). All good games for different reasons, and all can be picked up cheap now.

[Soundwave]

There's just the one Tales game on the 360 - Vesperia - and it is an absolute wonder. Thankfully it's been re-released so you can buy a disc for ?20 now instead of having to either go down the 'Games on Demand' or 'life savings on eBay' routes.

The usual suspects above have covered off most of the other highlights, but I don't think I've seen Akai Katana (IMO the best Cave release on the 360) or Binary Domain mentioned. The latter is a very fun take on the 3rd person cover-based shooter.

Bums I forgot about Akai Katana
Easily one of the best shooters on the 360 or otherwise.
Sublime & sexy as hell.

I have never played Binary Domain & I gather I'm missing out big time.

I should rectify that ASAP

Neil

[nem]

I really loved Blue Dragon. I'm not a big JRPG person (at the moment) and everyone said it was mediocre but I looooved the art and found the combat to be satisfying enough.

Agreed on this. The only JRPG I've cared for in this gen. It is very by the numbers, but I enjoyed the world immensely, and there's a few good twists nearer the end.

[mekanor]

Asura's Wrath. If you've even a passing interest in anime and/or over the top action games you must give it a try.

[MisterBubbles]

Eternal Sonata and Lost Odyssey, two of the best 360 JRPG's.

[EvilBoris]

Some of my faves

Asuras Wrath
Dead Rising
Lollipop Chainsaw
Eternal Sonata
Blue Dragon
Ninja Blade

[Mayhem]

Deadly Premonition, all the freaking way. Anarchy Reigns too, if you liked Mad World type gameplay.

[Pikate]

Ohh, thanks for all the recommendations guys.

That Deadly Premonition cutscene is... Well words fail me haha. I'll add that to my list though since so many of you mentioned it.

Looking at Wikipedia, Eternal Sonata seems an interesting concept, is it accessible for someone who's never played a modern RPG? (Well unless you count Zelda and I got a few hours into both Earthbound and Chrono Trigger.)

Shooters are something I want to try, but not sure which. "Bullet hell" doesn't sound like a good introduction? Senko no Ronde I thought of because it breaks shooting up with fighting but no-one seems to rate it and reviews weren't great so I've gone for Sine Mora which is surprisingly good so far...

[Soundwave]

Shooters are the way forward.

They take a while to gel with but once you get into them there is nothing quite like the rush of avoiding a bllet pattern & wondering how the hell you managed it.

I would say from personal experience that the easiest one to start with would be Death Smiles.
It has a nice learning curve, looks pretty & gives you a chunk of fun loli-goths to choose from.

If you fancy giving some of the tougher stuff a go then Cave did go on a bit or a region free fest & gave us...

Mushihimesama Futari
Espgaluda 2 (Standard Edition only, LE was region locked...don't ask)
Muchi Muchi Pork / Pink Sweets

But then jumped back on the region locking bandwagon.

Still doesn't really matter as 3 of the best are available in the UK now for much cheaper than the Jpn price.

Neil

[acidbearboy]

El Shaddai is one of my favourites from this generation. Catherine was also enjoyable, though the puzzles were frustrating towards the end.