Ten Games Japanese Gamers Reccomend

Following up on that article from Kotaku I mentioned in my Dungeon Travelers 2 post, I can agree on most of their recommendations.  Aside from Dungeon Travelers 2 I've also played Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus and DmC.  Those are really fun games and they play really well (ignoring Senran Kagura's excessive fanservice).  I'm surprised as with most people that the Japanese loved Far Cry 3, which I haven't gotten my hands on yet but am looking for it to be on sale during the Steam Summer Sale.

Demon Gaze and 7th Dragon 2020 II are some RPG's I haven't really heard much of, but they do like like excellent games.  The 7th Dragon series has never and localization and probably never will, but as Demon Gaze is a new IP, I'm hoping one of the niche developers here in the US like Atlus, Aksys, NIS America, or Xseed will pick it up.

NIS's The Guided Fate Paradox is coming over sometime in the Fall and I am looking forward to the spirtual sequel to Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman.  That was a fun spin on the roguelike RPG genre and had quite a few cameos from Disgaea and various manga/anime.  Hoping Guided Fate Paradox will do the same.

Soul Sacrifice is out right now but I haven't the opportunity try it out/ buy it, but the reviews have been positive.  Macross 30 is something the states will never see but as new Macross fan I'll believe the Japanese to its quality.

NIS America's TGS 2012 Announcements

NIS America's recent Prinny Bomb Newsletter has revealed that NIS America will be releasing Hyperdimenion Neptunia Victory in spring of 2013.  They've also got an iPhone Neptunia app in the works. Wonder what that will be? 

Next, they got Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection for the PSP via the PSN.  I'm not all that familiar with the series but I'll check it out as it looks interesting.  They expect it to be released sometime 2013 as well.

Lastly, they will be publishing Atlus' Persona 4 Golden in Europe for release in spring 2013.

Persona 4 Golden's release date confirmed

Atlus has officially confirmed Persona 4 The Golden's release date for November 20th.  A little farther than I hope as I initially though it was going to be released in October. Can't wait to play through it again with all these new features.

[Review] Hatsune Miku Project Diva f

The newest game from Japan's popular virtual idol has arrived at last bringing a whole new set of songs and features to the series on the PS Vita.  There's a good lot of content in the game this time around so lets get moving through the review.

The game has a great selection of popular Vocaloid songs, a total of 32 in this game.  Gameplay basically involves you pressing the corresponding face button as a icon flies across the screen to a target. Hitting notes at the right time will raise your "song energy" or health but missing them or hitting them with bad timing will deplete it as shown at the bottom left of the game screen.  At the bottom is a progress meter than shows your Completion.  A song is considered complete if you score a ranking of Standard or higher.  Higher ranks are earned through hitting more notes perfectly.

There are several new features added to the game with this latest version as well, such as scratch targets where you swipe your finger on the touchscreen as the note hits the target, and a "Technical Zone" where you need to hit all the targets to earn a large amount of bonus points and progress towards clearing the song.  Missing any notes during this will fail the Technical Zone and you will lose the bonus.

Each song also has another bonus section called a Chance Time where all notes will fill a special star meter that takes the place of the health gauge temporarily.  When it is filled and you near the end of Chance Time a large star target will appear and if you hit it while the star gauge is filled you earn a handful of bonus points and completion progress as well as an alternate song ending.  As you complete a song you earn diva points which is the game's currency used to unlock new costumes and items.

Outside of the main rhythm game mode, there is a shop where you can buy many costumes and accessories, or modules as the game calls them, room items and decorations for the Diva Rooms, and presents to give to your virtual idols.  The Diva Room is a mode where you can interact with Miku or any of the other Vocaloids, and also acts as a menu for a bunch of bonus features such as the gallery for all the art seen during the load screens and a playlist with all the songs.  It also includes an alarm clock and kitchen timer feature.  Giving presents to a Vocaloid and using the Touch Communication feature will increase their friendship with the player and as it raised it unlocks new items in the store.

 

There is also an edit mode where you can add music from your Vita's playlist to create your own songs to play.  Lastly there's an Augmented Reality mode where you can display a "life-size" Miku or any other Vocaloid in the real world and take pictures with them.  You can also enable a AR-live concert where they will perform a song and dance while in AR mode.  If only the Vita's built-in camera quality was better, this would make for really fun pictures.

As you select a song, you are given some options before starting play.  One of the options is with each song, you can select which modules you want to use.  Each song will usually default with the original Hatsune Miku, save for songs that are sung by other Vocaloids such as Megurine Luka in which case it uses their default module. Once you select or change the appearance for that song's character, it will be saved for the next time you play that song.  If you select another song, it will have a different set up so each one has a independent module.  You can also save and load modules you create so you can easily load up a unique appearance you made for one song to use in any other one.

 

Another option you are given is to view the current song as a PV or a music video without the in-game display. 

And lastly, before you begin a playing a song, you can choose to buy a help item to assist you with clearing a difficult song, or purchasing a challenge item which makes it a little bit more difficult but with more benefits in the end.  Clearing a song with a help item will usually award you the lowest rank upon clearing, but it helps you not fail it.  Challenge items include having the targets appear much later to the point where you almost miss them, to having only half your health and you must clear the song before it depletes.  By clearing with a challenge item, you can earn 2x to 4x the amount of diva points.

Overall I'm really enjoying this game compared to previous entries in the Project Diva series.  The graphics are just so sharp, bright, and detailed; and the costumes are all just wonderful.  Menu navigation as a whole has improved in my opinion, as you can select a different module for each song independently of each other.  I also really like the songs they put in the game.  Some of my favorites include Himitsu Keisatsu (Secret Police), World's End Dancehall, and Black Rock Shooter, which finally makes its Project Diva debut.

So if you're a big Vocaloid fan, this game is a must have.

Persona 4 Golden just got more Golden with an Extremely Limited Edition

From the Atlus Faithful newsletter sent out just last night, Atlus has announced the extremely limited Solid Gold Premium Edition for Persona 4 Golden with only 10,000 copies.  Alongside the announced pre-order bonus of the skin, this premium set includes, a Hori Hard pouch and face cover, and a set of stickers all for $30 more than just the game by itself.

Persona 4 Golden is scheduled to come out some time this Fall.

Atlus offers Persona 4 Golden PSVita cover with pre-order

Seems like a pretty awesome bonus considering the only way to ever get a skin like this for your PSVita would be to import it from Japan.  Persona 4 Golden is due out this October

Source: From the Atlus Faithful Newsletter.