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Quality Japan-only PSP games?

D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
I'm gonna be going to Otakon tomorrow, and of course there are a lot of game sellers in the dealer's room... naturally they have a lot of import games there. I'm pretty well stocked in imports for various platforms, but the PSP boom a few years ago has made my head spin a bit! Now I have some $$ burning a hole in my pocket and looking to buy some good stuff. (perhaps they will also have Muchi Muchi Pork/Pink Sweets for 360 around!)

Any recommendations for JP-only PSP games? I can read basic Japanese, and have struggled through Japanese-only RPGs before so that's no problem. Favorite genres are RPG, shmup, 2D platformer/run-n-gun, fighting, and random/quirky stuff.

Type 0 is the obvious game I'm gonna look out for.
 
Dariusburst is awesome, if a bit pricey. Also if you like old shmups, the Salamander Collection and the Twinbee Collection are Japan only releases.
 
I started playing 7th Dragon 2020 over the weekend. It's run-of-the-mill but decent enough.

You're running the Dragon Quest panel at Otakon right? I'll try to be there and bring it along. Not sure if Otakon is the best place to buy these though, they'll be super expensive. Not like they're cheap online though or anything...

Last year I also bought Last Ranker and Coded Soul cheap because the soundtracks, but I haven't actually played either of them, so someone else will need to pop in on those.
 
Super Robot Wars Z2-1 and 2-2
Growlanser
Tales of the World Radiant Mythology 2-3 (Much better than 1)
Tales of Rebirth
Tales of Destiny 2
 
antiphona-no-seika-hime-playstation-portable-psp-054.jpg


Antiphona no Seikahime: Tenshi no Score Op.A.

A very nice RPG, too bad we didn't get Op.B.
 
Last Ranker, Valkyria Chronicles 3, and Super Robot Wars Z2-1 and Z2-2 are the games to go for. And Falcom PSP releases. Will probably need a guide for the SRWs and VC3 though.

StayDead said:
Steins;Gate
Steins;Gate Hiyoku Renri no Darlin
PhotoKano
Amagami SS
Project Diva Series
Click to expand...
Basic Japanese, he said.
 
There are a ton, just depends on what kind of games you like


akiba's trip plus
Kenka bancho games
final fantasy type 0
ys games
legend of heroes games
digimon world redigitize
musou orichi 2 (has more chars than ps3 version)
dangan ronpa 1 and 2
generation of chaos games *
kingdom hearts birth by sleep final mix
kurohyou 1 and 2
tsugino giseisha wo shiraseshimasu (VN series)
Gachitora
super robot series
suikoden
(if you get valkyria 3, make sure it's the extra edition)
danball senki
ore no shikabane wo koeteyuke
senritsu no stratus
grand knight history (was cancelled for English release)
nobunaga no yabou (nobunaga's ambition)
tales of the world games
chaos; head
venus and braves
zettai zetsume toshi 3 (was pulled from PSN by IREM when they went psycho after the earthquake, only umd copies floating around now)
tokyo mono hara shi
daisenryaku series
boku no natsuyasumi
.hack//link (repetitive but great language practice since its fully voiced with text)
Shining blade (many people say it's too easy though)


there are others but this along with previous suggestions should cover the non niche I think.
 
Bleach: Soul Carnival
Brandish: Dark Revenant
Criminal Girls
Heroes Phantasia
Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga
Darius Burst
 
robotnik said:
Brandish: Dark Revenant
Click to expand...

This too, definitely. It's much easier to play than the other Brandish games due to the smooth rotation.

robotnik said:
Criminal Girls
Click to expand...

Casting a negative vote for this one though, it is both embarassing and terrible.

I appreciate the Falcom fan service of Ys vs Sora no Kiseki, but I can't say I really like the game all that much. It's a multiplayer arena fighting game using the Ys Seven engine/controls (plus jumping). Only ever played it single player but it didn't do anything for me.

There seem to be numerous Yggdra Union spinoffs/Sting games too, no idea if any of those are any good though.
 
Depression: The Thread.

... but also throwing in votes for MHP3rd, Valkyria Chronicles 3 and adding Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity.
 
Loopop Cube is one of the best imports for the system and has given me hours of entertainment. It's kinda like Sokoban, except with a side scrolling perspective rather than overhead. Although the levels don't have time limits or any way to die, some of the solutions are downright devious. Which makes the rewind a move feature very useful.

I am not into puzzle games, but this is one of the best PSP games I have ever played regardless of genre. I actually gave this game to my non-gamer mom recently with my old 2000 and she absolutely loves it.

One of the best for PSP imo. And you don't need to know much japanese to play or understand the game.

Here's a mangled old neogaf thread for the game...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385371

And here's a commercial for the DS version, which is just about the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0nmk5w1tig
 
Thanks for the recommendations, guys! Definitely gonna attempt to track down 7th Dragon 2020, Suikoden and Last Ranker. There's just so much out there that it's easy to forget all the neglected games :(

discoalucard: That's awesome you are gonna be going to the presentation. HG101 was a huuuuuge help with a lot of information (the character art might look familiar :P ) and I will definitely be posting links to the site.
 
I'll post more when I'm home and have my spreadsheet, but it'll probably look much like DeliciousDoc's list.

THAT SAID:

Hero 30 Second/Half-Minute Hero 2, my favorite PSP game
definitive edition/Japan-exclulsive Nippon Ichi developed/published games
Konami/S.N.K./Capcom/et cetera collections, especially those that didn't get Playstation 2 releases; I'm thinking PSP-exclusive stuff like the Twinbee, Parodius, and Gradius/spinoff collections
 
I don't know if you're interested in rhythm games at all, but if so I'd recommend:

DJ Max Portable Black Square (The Japanese release removes auto-correct, so it's the one to get over the original Korean.)
Hatsune Miku Project Diva 2nd
Pop'n Music Portable 1/2
Taiko no Tatsujin DX
 
Darius Burst is mad underrated. It's basically a much, much faster Darius game, with like... the BEST soundtrack. Pretty sure you'd love it.
 
FF Type - 0
SRW Z 2.1
SRW Z 2.2
SRW A Portable
SRW MX Portable
G Generation World
G Generation Overworld (not out yet but looks fucking amazing.)
Ikki Tousen - Not the greatest but a fun beat-em up
Gundam Vs Gundam Next Portable (Ex Versus on PS3 is even better but Next Plus is a great game for on the go.)
 
Hey I'm interested in this too. I'd like to try out some Japan only Psp games. Can someone more versed than I list some by genre like shmup or fighting that don't require really much language knowledge or some other genres and games that language isn't too important?

Thanks!
 
MBison said:
Hey I'm interested in this too. I'd like to try out some Japan only Psp games. Can someone more versed than I list some by genre like shmup or fighting that don't require really much language knowledge or some other genres and games that language isn't too important?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

But this thread is from a year ago :(


In any case, get the DJ Max Portable games.

And Darius Burst.
 
GrumpyAlien said:
Loopop Cube is one of the best imports for the system and has given me hours of entertainment. It's kinda like Sokoban, except with a side scrolling perspective rather than overhead. Although the levels don't have time limits or any way to die, some of the solutions are downright devious. Which makes the rewind a move feature very useful.

I am not into puzzle games, but this is one of the best PSP games I have ever played regardless of genre. I actually gave this game to my non-gamer mom recently with my old 2000 and she absolutely loves it.



And here's a commercial for the DS version, which is just about the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0nmk5w1tig
Click to expand...

Whoa, this game looks like fun.
 
I'm no japanese expert, so i don't know if these are difficult, the games i would kill for are:
ff type 0
valkyrie chronicle 3
black panther yakuza 1&2
daganronpa1&2
queen's blade spiral chaos
grand knight history
bleach games
super robot war games
and many more i don't remember at the moment :(
 
Tengai Makyou IV: The Apocalypse is the best JRPG on the system. I was saddened to see no one had yet mentioned it in this thread.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, but what about non RPG games that are easily accessible without any language issues.

Darius Blast is a good example.

thanks!
 
I thought I'd better reply to this rather than make a whole new thread.

So I've been filling in some of the gaps in the PSP's library given the number of games that didn't make it to the west and I was wondering:

What are the best arcade-y, pick-up-and-play PSP games that never made it to the west?

I've been playing Ridge Racers 2 recently which I bought off the JP PS Store, and I'm tempted by Pop'n Music 2. But there has to be more outside of the more well known games like Project Diva/2nd/Extend, right?
 
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