Japan Import: Stores cutting Vita 3G’s price

We already know that the Vita isn’t doing as well in Japan as Sony would have liked. Not to mention hackers have already found exploits in the device that allow emulation. Not to mention the 3G Vita has a 20mb download cap and rather disappointing download and upload speeds. So the sight of some stores discounting the 3G Vita model by about 20% isn’t surprising.

A Wi-Fi model Vita goes for ￥24,980, or around $326. A 3G and Wi-Fi model, which requires people to get a data plan contract, is supposed to be ￥29,980, or about $390. As you can probably guess, the 3G/Wi-Fi model isn’t selling as well. Which is leading some stores to reduce it in an attempt to get shoppers to buy it. The ad from the store taken above, which appeared originally at , says the 3G/Wi-Fi model is only ￥24,999 (~$326). You know things can’t be good when a store is willing to take a loss and make a model with more features almost the exact same price as the base model.

The Vita hasn’t even been out a month yet, which makes all this panicking a bit premature. You’d think stores would at least want to give the handheld a few weeks before chopping almost ￥5,000 (~$65) off a device’s price. Perhaps this will benefit Sony. Right now, the company is learning what people think about the Wi-Fi and 3G/Wi-Fi Vita models, and perhaps there’s enough time to make adjustments to the North American and European launches to give both models a better chance of survival overseas. Perhaps the 3G/Wi-Fi model will receive a bit of a price cut or Sony will work with AT&T, the company providing data plans for the Vita in the United States, to create some kind of incentive to buy the more expensive model.

Personally, if I bought a Vita I’d go with the cheaper Wi-Fi model. There are so many free, Wi-Fi hotspots available now that it seems silly to pay for a data plan. Plus, I’ve had unpleasant experiences with AT&T’s service in the past. Most importantly, I found I usually only played my PSP at home due to the system’s battery life, size and the fact that it always seemed more delicate than my DS. I’d imagine the same thing would happen with a Vita.

Read [PlayFront.de (German)] Via [GamesRadar]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Shenmue is gone again

Another blow has been struck against the Sega series Shenmue. Back in 2010, Ysnet created an online, social networking adventure game inspired by the series for Mobage. People rejoiced even though Shenmue World, also known as Shenmue City, wasn’t exactly the game they wanted. They took to their cell phones to play it through Mobage. Now, Shenmue World has gone dark.

On December 26, 2011, Ysnet said Shenmue World was over. There was no explanation for why it was ending, just that it was over. The developer also thanked everyone who did participate for their support and time. Of course, people could have inferred something was awry since the planned Windows and Mac port for Yahoo! Mobage never surfaced.

In Shenmue World, players chose one of six male or female characters as an avatar and then pretty much lived an ordinary life in the Shenmue world. You could take missions from people, which mainly consisted of pressing a button to complete. There were also quests to take, part-time jobs, gachas to play, fights against enemies alone or with friends, events to participate in and an overall storyline.

This is yet another blow to the small, yet devoted, group of Shenmue fans. Since Mobage is just starting to be introduced in North America, many speculated that Shenmue World could eventually be released in English and cause a resurgence in popularity for the series. Alas, it seems that is not to be. Plus, I’m sure seeing the SNS game die within a year isn’t going to convince Sega the series is ready for a revival.

Read [Andriasang] Site [Shenmue World]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Hot Japanese Imports: Classic Phantasy Star

The Phantasy Star series weren’t always MMO games, or even action RPGs with lite MMO elements. There was a time when it was akin to the Final Fantasy series and the name was brought up when referring to challenging and intriguing turn-based RPGs about heroes facing off against evil and insurmountable odds.

So before we head into a whole new year, Hot Japanese Imports is going to salute the past, and one of the best early RPG experiences people could get.

So what’s this Phantasy Star series all about?

Despite the similar names, Phantasy Star actually existed before the Final Fantasy series, with Phantasy Star appearing on the Sega Master System in 1988, two years before Final Fantasy showed up on the NES. The first four games managed to help set the pace for turn-based RPGs and was a pioneer, and showed people how a challenging, story-driven adventure could work.

Actually, the early Phantasy Star games had more in common with the Star Ocean series in terms of plot, despite being grounded in turn-based RPG roots like the Final Fantasy series. Each entry has a group of heroes facing off against a common enemy, on either a foreign planet in space or, in one case, a space ship. Each entry also blends some futuristic elements with more traditional fantasy ones. So you’ll see characters wielding swords, using magic and fighting monsters, while also having access to guns, space ships and androids/cyborgs/robots. This blend is both most and least evident in the third entry, which is typically considered the black sheep of the original Phantasy Star quartet. These ties between all four games is enforced by the main villain, the Dark Force. It is a sort of ephemural being that has the power to influence those around it and seeks only to cause pain and misery.

In each game, players had access to a fairly large party of characters. They would be tasked with some seemingly small quest in the beginning, as is common with RPGs, and would then somehow get involved in saving the entire world. In the process, they would have to travel not only around their planet, but also to a neighboring planet. While the difficulty could get quite challenging at times, especially in Phantasy Star 2 and 3, there were plenty of towns to stop at and lots of equipment to collect. All battles are turn-based, with a first person view as in the Dragon Quest series.

As for finding these first few entries, you’ll have the best luck if you look to the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. In 2002, Digital Eclipse and THQ released the Phantasy Star Collection for the GBA and it includes the first three games. The Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection (PS3, Xbox 360) includes all four games.

Let’s look at the first four games

Now, let’s get into specifics. While each game did share the commonalities mentioned above, they were individual adventures and you sometimes couldn’t even see the connections among them unless you really searched for them. Of course, the exception to that is Phantasy Star 4, which was filled with all kinds of easter eggs and references that anyone who played a previous game could pick out. This does main that players can jump in without any background information, even though the games all take place in the Algo Star System.

Phantasy Star is the first game in the series and chronologically. It begins on the planet Palma, where Alis is living with her brother Nero. Nero is part of an underground rebel force that is standing against king Lassic, who used to be a good ruler but turned into a tyrant overnight after converting to a new religion. Lassic’s robotic police force ends up finding and killing Nero, and he passes his cause on to Alice. Her quest means she has to travel around Palma, Motavia and Dezolis, recruiting the human Odin, the Musk Cat Myau and the Esper Noah to her party.

Phantasy Star 2 is the second game and the second chronologically, occuring about 1,000 years after the original game. Shortly before the game begins, the planet Palma was destroyed after the Gaila satellite crashed. So Rolf, our hero, is living on the planet Motavia, which has been made hospitable due to a climate control system installed by Mother Brain. He’s an agent working for the Commander of Motavia, and as the game begins he’s tasked with investigating why Mother Brain is allowing Motavian systems to fail and letting loose biomonsters. He heads out with Nei, a Numan girl he rescued, and eventually other companions.

Phantasy Star 3: Generations of Doom is the third game and even now people aren’t exactly sure where it fits in. The Japanese translation says that it happened 1,000 years after Phantasy Star 4, while the English translation means it happens at the same time as Phantasy Star 4. I’d go with the Japanese timeline, since translation errors in RPGs were common in the Genesis and SNES years. It’s actually considered the strangest entry in the series as well, since it initially seems to have no ties to the previous games, almost all futuristic elements are absent for most of the first generation and it covers three generations of heroes.

Phantasy Star 3 begins with a young man named Rhys, who is an Orakian prince from Landen. He found a mysterious woman named Maia washed up on the shores of his land, fell in love with her and is gong to marry her when the game begins. However, she’s abducted by a dragon on their wedding day. Rhys sets out to save her, but along the way starts to find out more about the Layan people the Orakians have been at war with for years. As time goes by, his descendents find out more about their world, the war between Orakio and Laya and their peoples’ true enemy. Now, in case you’re wondering how all this ties in without having to play the game, Phantasy Star 3 takes place entirely on one of the Alisa III evacuation worldships that set out after Palma was destroyed prior to Phantasy Star 2.

Phantasy Star 4 is the fourth game in the series and takes place after another 1,000 year time jump. That’s 1,000 years after Phantasy Star 2, by the way. It is also set on Motavia, except this is a Motavia after Mother Brain was shut down. So no more climate control – people are living in a desert. Alys and Chaz are two Hunters, mercenaries who take missions to help people in the game. As the adventure begins, Alys and Chaz are sent to the Piata Academy to investigate a biomonster outbreak. There, they are joined by a researcher named Hahn and learn that this isn’t an isolated incident. Strange things are happening all around Motavia, and a priest named Zio and his followers seem to be connected to all of them.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports looks at the Doctor Who video games.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports reviewed Bleach: Heat the Soul 7.

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Japan Import: Metal Gear Solid 3DS bundle confirmed for 2012

Well here’s a surprise, there’s going to be a Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D bundle. Not in North America, of course. No, third party games never get special bundles here. This bundle is going to be a Japan exclusive, released on March 8, 2012.

As for details, who knows. All that has been revealed is that the Metal Gear Solid 3DS will be a thing. Kojima Productions, the developer, has been saying on its twitter account that the bundle will be available alongside the standard game release, in case someone still hasn’t jumped onboard the 3DS bandwagon, but hopes to soon. However, Kojima Productions only said that it is coming, and didn’t have any images of the bundle itself or a price point.

The Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D bundle will be the third Japan-exclusive 3DS. Previously, Monster Hunter 3G and SD Gundam G Generation 3D bundles with custom 3DS units were released. While nothing has been said yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kingdom Hearts 3D ended up being the fourth custom bundle. There are almost always special hardware bundles when it comes to Japanese Kingdom Hearts releases!

If you want a second 3DS from Japan so you can play all those Japanese games that region-locking has denied you, this may be a 3DS bundle to keep in mind. It will probably be something unique, and odds are we’d never see it released in North America. Just remember that you’ll have to pay more than usual because it is an imported product – probably around or over $229, which is what Play-Asia is charging for an ordinary Japanese 3DS.

Read [Kojima Productions on Twitter (Japanese)] Via [Andriasang]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Nintendo and Tecmo Koei team up for Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition

Gotta catch ‘em all! And in Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition, that means using the pokemon and warlord teams to conquer every region in the game. Did that confuse you? I thought it might.

The mystery Pokémon game that Nintendo was rumored to be working on is actually a collaboration with Tecmo Koei. So Pokémon is going to be mashed up with the Nobunaga’s Ambition strategic simulation. It sounds crazy, I know, but here’s how it will work. It will be a strategic simulation, just like the other Nobunaga’s Ambition games and be loosely based on Nobunaga’s goal of unifying Japan. As a twist, each warrior in the game will be bonded with a pokémon, and it seems like pokémon will be crucial in the fights to reclaim areas and unify the country. If you’ve played a Samurai Warriors game, then you’ll likely recognize some of the characters.

An initial trailer was also released, so you can see these daimyo and samurai frolicking with various pokémon.

Now for the weirdest part, as if this whole post doesn’t seem like some strange trolling attempt by Nintendo. Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition is going to be a DS game. Not a 3DS game, which would have made a lot more sense. It will be released in 2012. No word yet if there’ll be a North American release, but since it is a pokemon game, that seems likely.

Such a combination isn’t too unbelievable. I mean, Tecmo Koei and Nintendo are working together to make that Fatal Frame 2 Wii remake a reality. I guess we just couldn’t comprehend a combination like Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition.

Image Source: 4Gamer

Read [4Gamer (Japanese)] Also Read [Famitsu (Japanese)]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hot Japanese Imports Review: Bleach Heat the Soul 7

Title: Bleach: Heat the Soul 7
Price: ~$60
System(s): PSP
Release Date: September 2, 2010
Publisher (Developer): Sony Computer Entertainment (8ing)
ESRB Rating: N/A, Cero A for All Ages
Pros: 84 different characters in the game and many are new to the Heat the Soul series, you can now fight giant characters, you can now take part in versus battles with four characters, you can trigger Tag Special attacks, can have single or tag team battles, there are multiple difficulty options and Soul Codes can improve characters/ Can unlock characters, Soul Codes, character art and voices. There are Story Mode, Hueco Mundo Conquest, Arcade Style, VS CPU, Soul VS and Training game modes. You can upload your Arcade Mode ranking to the website. Covers the Hueco Mundo, Zanpakuto and Karakura Town rescue storylines.
Cons: Not very many updates or improvements compared to Heat the Soul 6, only local multiplayer. You have to get certain rankings on certain chapters to unlock extra Story Mode levels.
Overall Score: 7/10

We see Namco Bandai bringing us new Naruto PSP games all the time, but have yet to see a Bleach: Heat the Soul game appear overseas. Somehow, it doesn’t seem fair. Thankfully, the PSP is region-free and fighting games transcend language, which means its fairly easy for people to import and enjoy a game like Bleach: Heat the Soul 7. However, while it is a good fighting game that is visually impressive, represents the Bleach series well and is fun to play, it doesn’t make the same strides forward as previous Heat the Soul entries. The result is a game that, while good, is okay to pass over if you’ve already purchased or played Heat the Soul 5 or 6.

Finishing up business in Hueco Mundo, then heading off to save Karakura Town

Unlike some prior Bleach: Heat the Soul games, Heat the Soul 7 doesn’t attempt to cover the entire Bleach saga. In fact, it has one of the shortest story modes in the Heat the Soul series. It starts by covering the very end of Arrancar vs. Shinigama arc, where the fighting in Hueco Mundo ends. It then covers the entire Arrancar: Decisive Battle of Karakura Town arc and has one brief segment that covers the anime-only Zanpakutou Rebellion arc.

So in short, here’s what happens. Ichigo, his friends and a number of high ranking Soul Reapers went into Hueco Mundo, both to face Aizen and his Arrancar and Espada minions and rescue Orihime, who was taken hostage by Aizen. While the Soul Reaper Captains and Ichigo did manage to deal with some of the Espada, Aizen and some of his top ranking Espada followers took the fight to Karakura Town to destroy it. Everyone follows and, once Ichigo and his cohorts reach Karakura Town, they’re joined by the Vizards, Soul Reapers who went through the hollowfication process, who also want to help save the town. There is also a complementary story mode called Hueco Mundo Conquest which goes through pretty much the same story, only with a different viewpoint.

Bleach: Heat the Soul 7 enjoyment levels rise and fall depending on how familiar you are with the series.

As with all Bleach: Heat the Soul games, Heat the Soul 7 is a 3D, cel-shaded fighter. You control one or two of the 84 characters in either a single, team or tag team battle. Of course, saying 84 is actually a bit generous, since a few of the characters are actually different versions of the same character. But still, it sounds impressive and it’d be a pain to go through that many characters, so let’s leave it as is. You can use various characters’ spirit pressure to unleash special moves. It isn’t terribly difficult to play or use combos, and anyone familiar with Street Fighter, Tekken and Naruto style fighting games should have no trouble jumping in and easily adapting to Heat the Soul 7.

Bleach: Heat the Soul 7 also offers a number of different battle options. As I mentioned, there is the standard one on one battle. You can also take part in tag team battles, where you pick two characters and either face off against one enemy or two enemies, switching between the two when necessary. Heat the Soul 7 also introduces battle royales to the series. In these, four characters fight at once, and are either divided into teams or take part in a free-for-all battle. It works really well, however the battles can tend to drag on a bit as the AI characters seem to be stronger than usual.

Another bonus is that there are a number of different game modes to choose from. Story and Hueco Mundo Conquest are both rather basic story modes. You go through scripted fights from the Bleach manga and anime series. Both are rather short, which is a bit of a letdown. What helps with that are the Arcade Style and VS CPU modes, which allow players to just take part in standard one on one, two on two or four character battles. If you can manage to find a friend nearby who also owns Heat the Soul 7, there is also ad-hoc multiplayer. A training mode is available to test out characters and perfect moves. However, most of these modes aren’t very substantial. You can easily clear both the story modes within a few hours and, while unlocking does provide some motivation to return to Heat the Soul 7, it doesn’t seem to provide the same incentive as earlier entries.

The biggest downside to Heat the Soul 7 is its remarkable similarity to Heat the Soul 6. While I didn’t purchase that particular entry, a friend did and so I had the opportunity to play both games. Aside from a few cosmetic changes and additional features, Heat the Soul 7 is essentially Heat the Soul 6. Even the menus and layout look practically identical. Yes, there were a few additions mentioned above, but for the most part all the returning characters look and play the same and the various gameplay modes are similar as well. Which means that Heat the Soul 7 is rather underwhelming if you’ve kept up with the series. If you haven’t, you’ll probably be fine. Before I borrowed my friend’s copy of Heat the Soul 6, I was enamored with Heat the Soul 7 because the only other entry in the series I had owned prior to that was the first.

If character selection, minor adjustments and gameplay modes matter to you, this is your game.

As anyone who’s played more than one Bleach: Heat the Soul game has gathered, each entry is typically only slightly different than the one before. Bleach: Heat the Soul 7 is no exception. It’s a great game, but it makes only minimal improvements and upgrades over its previous entries. Granted, if you compare it to Heat the Soul 5 or one of the other earlier games, it’s great. But compared to Heat the Soul 6 not much has really changed. The character roster is slightly larger, you can encounter giant enemies, there are more tag team options and the four player battles are nice, but that’s pretty much it. Still, if you are looking for a Bleach PSP fighting game and have never purchased one before, Bleach: Heat the Soul 7 is the one you want to get. If you have Bleach: Heat the Soul 6 already, then you don’t need to upgrade.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports talks about the Phantasy Star series.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports was all about the Fate/ series.

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Hot Japanese Imports: Fate/stay night and its offshoots

With visual novels suddenly starting to appear more often outside of Japan and Aksys’ latest risk undertaking the translation and localization of Fate/Extra, it seems like a good time to look at one of the best known and most popular visual novels out there, Type-Moon’s Fate/stay night. This first commercial already famous doujin creators of Tsukihime managed to be such a success, despite its original release as an adult bishojo game, that it ended up crossing over and becoming an all-ages hit, as well as inspiring a manga, anime, light novels and additional games.

The original Fate/stay night

Fate/stay night (Windows) and its all-ages counterpart Fate/stay night [Realta Nua] (PS2) both center around a futuristic quest for the Holy Grail. Every sixty years, seven Magi Masters fight with summoned Servants against one another, with the winner getting the Holy Grail and the opportunity to have a wish come true. Oddly enough, the fifth Holy Grail War has begun only ten years after the fourth one.

Not only that, but it features an unlikely participant. A young man named Shiro Emiya wanted to become a Hero of Justice and a Magus, but has no talent for magic. Despite that, he ends up stumbling upon two Servants, Archer and Lancer, and is nearly killed by Lancer. A classmate and associate named Rin Tosaka heals Shiro. Somehow, this seems to have an additional effect on him as later when Lancer comes to kill him again, Shiro is able to use magic to defend himself and ends up somehow summoning the Servant Saber to his side to assist him.

From there, players make choices to determine what happens to Shiro. Depending on choices made, Shiro may or may not survive the war and may end up even finding love with one of the female characters. In addition, information about the war and Holy Grail could be discovered and players see a storyline that looks at how people see and deal with oneself. There are actually three plots that can be followed, which means people will need to play at least three times to understand the whole story.

No official translation of Fate/stay night has ever been released. However, the fan translation group Mirror Mirror has completely translated the Windows PC version of the game. Keep in mind that this translation does require you to purchase a copy of the full version of Fate/stay night. An all-ages, PC version of the game was never released, so keep in mind that if you do set everything up to play it in English, you will be playing a game with adult content.

In addition to the main game, multiple aforementioned spinoffs have appeared. A Fate/stay night manga was released both in Japan and North America, as well as an anime of the same name that appeared in Japan, North America and Europe. A Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works animated movie was also released in Japan, as was a Fate/Zero series of novels. So people had plenty of opportunity to hear and see the story, even if they don’t enjoy visual novels.

Fate/ Offshoots

Additional entries in the Fate/ series tend to fall into one of two categories. They’re either visual novel style games, like the original Fate/stay night, or they’re fighting games. The one thing they have in common, oddly enough, is that they have a better chance of being localized and released outside of Japan than the original Fate/stay Night. Yes, while there still isn’t an official Fate/stay night release, there are actually two entries released in English for people to buy.

I’m talking, of course, about two of the PSP games. One is Fate/Unlimited Codes, which was also released on the PS2. It’s a standard, 3D fighting game featuring some of the Servants and Masters from the original game. Capcom created it and released it as a PlayStation Store exclusive in North America. It’s nothing astonishing, but it is pretty good fighter. The other is Fate/extra from Aksys, an original visual novel and RPG inspired by Fate/stay Night that features a few familiar Masters and Servants, but a all new storyline that makes it easy for newcomers to get into the series. I prefer Fate/extra myself, but both are pretty good games.

Then, there are the games that didn’t make it outside of Japan. Here’s what you can look for, if you’re a huge Type-Moon fan.

• Fate/extra CCC (PSP): This is an updated version of Fate/Extra due out in Japan next year with new storylines and extra content.
• Fate/hollow ataraxia (Windows): A direct sequel to Fate/stay night. It’s only available in an adults-only version for Windows PCs and is a visual novel just like the previous game.
• Fate/tiger colosseum (PSP): A 3D fighting game with chibi-fied versions of the main characters. It’s region-free and very import-friendly.
• Fate/tiger colosseum upper (PSP): Again, a direct sequel to the previous game with more characters and environments.
• Nendoroid Generation (PSP): No, this isn’t a Fate/ game, but this RPG and mini-game collection will have Saber, Rider and Rin Tosaka Nendoroids appearing in it.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports reviews Bleach: Heat the Soul 7.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports played Hatoful Boyfriend.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Japan Import: One Piece PS3 is an anime fan’s dream

It’s a known fact that Japan always gets the coolest PS3s. North America gets the plain and bland ones, while Japan gets different colors and designs. The latest system is something that will particularly interest anime fans. See, One Piece: Pirate Musou is coming out in Japan on March 1, 2011 and it’s the first time a game based on that particular anime/manga is coming to the system. To honor that fact, Namco Bandai and Sony are releasing the PS3 One Piece: Pirate Musou Gold Edition.

The Gold part comes from the fact that it includes a gorgeous, 320gb, gold PS3 and Dualshock 3 controller. It includes a copy of One Piece: Pirate Musou as well. As you can see from the image, the PS3 is entirely gold, with a map etching, One Piece logo and picture of Luffy on the top. The luffy etching also has a red highlight of his X scar across his chest. It’s a gorgeous bundle and region-free, meaning you could play any PS3 game on it from any region. However, it would only be able to play Japanese Blu-rays, DVDs and PS1 games.

It’s appropriate that it’s gold, because it’s also ridiculously expensive. It’s ¥38,170, which means it’d be around $490 if you decided to import it. Blame the conversion rates for the price. Even a standard edition of One Piece: Pirate Musou is ridiculously priced now, as it would cost ¥8,190 (~$105).

As for the game itself, One Piece: Pirate Musou is essentially Dynasty Warriors: One Piece. While some stages are similar to platformers, for the most part people will pick One Piece pirates and help them battle through hoards of enemies while completing objectives in certain areas.

Read [Andriasang]

Popularity: 9% [?]

Hot Japanese Imports Review: Hatoful Boyfriend for Windows, Mac

Title: Hatoful Boyfriend
Price: Free, a paid version is available in Japan for ¥500 and is twice as long with an extra character and lots of extra content
System(s): Windows XP or better and Mac 10.1-10.6
Release Date: August 6, 2011
Publisher (Developer): PigioNation Inc. (PigioNation Inc.)
ESRB Rating: N/A. I’d say at least 16 and up, because of Shu Iwamine’s route.
Pros: An English patch is available here, you can have human portraits for bird characters show up on the intro screen (But why would you want that?), you have to manage stats to earn the affection of certain guys, the story and dialogue is absolutely ridiculous and hilarious and there are ginormous pictures of birds used as character portraits! Also, there are 8 endings and a skip function. You can unlock an additional route after playing through once.
Cons: YOUR CHARACTER IS A HUMAN GIRL WHO’S DATING BIRDS. (BIRDS!) Oh, and the skip function is too fast making it easy to skip over both seen and unseen text at the speed of sound. Music is generic. It’s rather short. Nageki’s route is a bit slow and boring, compared to the others.
Overall Score: 9/10.

So, Hatoful Boyfriend. Yeah. Way to go proving those Japanese gaming stereotypes right Japan!

Here, I’ll translate the title. That should be enough to give you an idea of the crack-tacular adventure you’re going to embark upon if you play this free, recently translated into English, dating sim. Hato means pigeon. Hatoful is a combination of “Hato” and “Beautiful”. So basically it’s Pigeon-Beautiful Boyfriend.

Did I just blow your mind? I knew I would.

Don’t get me wrong though. If you go into Hatoful Boyfriend with the right mindset – preferably suffering from some kind of cold-flu and doped up on Nyquil and Robotussin – you can enjoy a gaming experience of epic proportions. It’s an absolutely ridiculous and outrageous adventure, made even better by a English translation that isn’t afraid to proudly flaunt how messed up this game is.

It’s so ridiculous, you will have to play it at least eight times so you can acquire every ending. Maybe even more, since your brain will go numb in some endings due to the inexplicable twists and turns, requiring a second run-through to appreciate the hilarity of the situation.

Welcome to St. Pigeonation’s Institute, every girl’s dream school!

So here’s the deal. For some unknown reason, Hatoful Boyfriend‘s heroine decided to attend a school for birds called St. Pigeonation’s Institute. Yes, she’s a human being. A somewhat ordinary girl named Hiyoko Tousaka. (You can change the name to whatever you’d like, as usual.) She’s a sophmore who’s starting her second year at this most unusual school.

Of course, Hiyoko probably wasn’t too ordinary in the first place. Because, you know, she lives in a cave on a cliff.

Back to the story! This year, school’s going to be more special for Hiyoko. Because this year, she may just find a birdie-boyfriend! Huzzah! There are seven to choose from: Ryouta Kawari the rock dove, Kazuaki Nanaki the quail, Sakuya Le Bel Shirogane the fantail, Nageki Fujishiro the mourning dove, Yuuya Sakazaki the fantail pigeon, Shu Iwamine the partridge and San Oko the fantail pigeon. Yes, there are seven elligible bachelors.

As far as gameplay, it’s a standard otome visual novel with some mild life-sim elements. You do have to take certain classes and participate in select activities to boost Tousaka’s stats so she can end up getting a good ending with one of the seven dateable birds. There will also be instances where Tousaka will have to respond to questions from certain birds or decide on what she wants to do for the day, which could bring her closer to a happy ending. Of course, how happy can said ending be when you’re trapped with a talking bird for the rest of your life? Nevermind. Let’s not dwell on that.

Oh yes. There are also optional human portraits for each character. I have no idea why. Maybe the human portrait on the splash image is supposed to show what the bird’s soul would look like? It’s confusing. As I mentioned earlier though, who in their right mind would want to enable those pictures? I mean, with a game like Hatoful Boyfriend, you’re coming for the pigeons!

Critiquing? We don’t need no stinking critiquing!

In a typical review, this is the part where I’d say what was incredibly awesome or unbelievably horrible about the game. However, this is Hatoful Boyfriend we’re talking about. I think you already have some idea of the good and bad from the outset. So instead, we’re going to go through the various topics that flew through my stuffed up and sniffling head as I played. I’m typing these up during my Shu and Yuuya playthroughs, so forgive me if they come across as disjointed.

• The first thing that came to mind is, are we dealing with gigantic, mutant birds? Because everything in the school is human-sized and you’d think a school geared towards birds would be more accomodating towards them. Especially since the heroine is supposed to be the only human there. So could these be some kind of freakish birds that are the size of human beings and attending this school to prepare for world domination? Or are they normal-sized, super intelligent birds who have learned how to use the standardized equipment? I don’t know which idea is worse! I’m leaning towards human sized, simply because the character picture for each bird is freakishly huge. Plus, it’s more amusing that way. Plus, that way I can imagine the bird Hiyoko ends up with carrying her away in his talons as they fly off into the sunset.
• Then there’s the sports festival. Now, this is a school for birds. Birds, mind you. And yet, every single sporting event involves not flying. In fact, one of the most publicized events is the three-legged race. Now, I can understand bird cheerleading. That even made me chuckle at the thought. (Especially since it was the pretentious, stuck up fantail who chooses to be a cheerleader!). But seriously. Birds participating in a three-legged race? All I can conjure up is a mental picture of two birds tied together, floundering on the ground and spinning in circles because they can’t stand up. Okay, maybe the ¥500 paid version would be worth it if there was a CG image of that event. Yuuya also says they have an obstacle course event, which seems like it’d be cruel and unusual punishment.
• Kazuaki got me thinking what life would be like for a narcoleptic bird. You know, if there were such a thing. Which there probably is. Anyways, it’s got to be ridiculously dangerous. Especially if it happened while flying. Maybe that’s the secret reason why some birds get sucked into airplane engines. The more you know…
• Why does Hiyoko live on a cliff? I think she was secretly raised by birds, explaining why she’s so happy to attend a bird school and is okay with dating avian creatures. Because if you spend 14 to 15 years of your life living alone, outdoors, I’d imagine birds may start looking pretty good.
• Doctor Iwamine comes across as quite the bloodthirsty bird, which makes you wonder how he would actually manage it. You know, the cutting off of limbs, disposing of bodies and such. His beak doesn’t look all that sharp and I’d think it’d be quite difficult to manage a scalpel or saw with talons. Besides, he doesn’t look like an especially large partridge, which would cause some trouble as well. I suppose he could just have a twisted sense of humor. It’s hard to tell with birds though! They have the ultimate poker face.
• The school festival puts the birds in costumes. Maid costumes. And not photoshopped costumes either. The artist just drew maid outfits on top of the pigeon. That is just classy right there. What other game, do you know of, includes pigeon maids? And Animal Crossing doesn’t count, because Brewster is a barista! Of course, this event image is made even more special because the pigeon in question is actually a male, so it also involves cross-dressing. Headline! “Japan’s major contribution to gaming in 2011 was a pigeon in drag!”
• This chick considers herself ordinary, and yet she lives in a cave. A cliff-side cave. With a visible fire as the only furniture. Plus, she considers this kind of dwelling not only acceptable, but glorious. Even the birds think it’s weird! Oh, but it can’t be that bad because this cave apparently has a door.
• Oh yes, and the school’s cafeteria serves poultry. If we saw a hawk, eagle or vulture at any time, I’d consider this no big deal. But all we see are pigeons, a partridge and a quail. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen any of those birds snacking on their own kind.
• When it’s convenient and suits the story, the birds have hands. It’s magic!
• And then there’s the route that’s only unlocked after playing through the game once. This route is the craziest, most outrageous, ridiculous and weirdest thing. I couldn’t even imagine a visual novel or game ever including a route like this. Part of me wants to say that’s a bad thing, but another part is thinking back to how many I was laughing while playing through Hatoful Boyfriend and thinking that it can only be good. The worst thing about this additional, insane route is that it ends on a cliffhanger that can only be resolved in the full version of the game. (Which looks more and more attractive, each time you play.)

Time for famous bird quotes!

Hatoful Boyfriend is ridiculous and the script clearly reflects that. So to help drive the point home, here are some out of context, ridiculous quotes taken directly from the game. If these don’t make you curious enough to try playing, nothing will!

• Hiyoko: “But we can’t just let him break the rules like that, sir! The system will collapse and we’ll all turn into kulaks and dissenters!”
• San: “This is no pudding for a man! Okosan rejects it! It is a lie! A vicious falsification!”
• “Okosan used WING ATTACK! It’s super effective!”
• Hiyoko: “Nepotism, ho! Don’t we get a vote!?”
• Yuuya: “Mystery is the most powerful of aphrodisiacs.”
• Kazuaki: “Not too… mmm… nope, sorry. You did badly.”
• Hiyoko: “Doves smell kind of funny when it gets humid like this…”
• Shuu: “You’re even stranger than I had thought. I’m fascinated. How I’d love to expirement (sic) on you…”
• Ryouta: “Yeah. Well… there’s one that says that sometimes students will disappear in the infirmary only to show up again as food in the dining hall and quill pens in the school store.”
• Shuu: “Very well, I will accompany you. In exchange for your left arm, of course.”
• Hiyoko: “Yup, he’s a pervert. Yippee.”
• Hiyoko: “… forgive me, sir, but I need to go home. I must return to my people with the spoils of war, lay my bloodied sword at the feet of my great king, and celebrate my conquest of all the lands from here to distant Macedonia.”
• Sakuya: “What is this ‘fun’?”
• Hiyoko: “My heart’s racing, but I can’t tell if it’s love or fear for my life!”

As you can see, Hiyoko clearly gets some of the best lines in the game.

Come on everybirdie! Let’s play!

As crazy as Hatoful Boyfriend is, and bear in mind that it is absolutely and completely ridiculous, it’s actually not a bad way to kill some time. Hell, I’m ready to go through an online shopping service to get a copy of Hatoful Boyfriend Hurtful Edition right now. It’s absolute rubbish and nonsense, but part of the fun is that everyone knows it. The developer knows, the translation team knew and of course we know. Sometimes, you just want a game that’s absolutely unexpected to play, and Hatoful Boyfriend is it. If you really want to think about it, it has everything! There’s high school drama, clandestine affairs, scandal, humor, love and a random serial killer.

Oddly enough, don’t go in expecting to easily earn the love of one of the birds. You’ll actually have to work and pay attention to Hiyoko’s stats for some birdies to make progress and end up with one of the seven good endings. Of course, it’s no big deal if you do screw up. Hatoful Boyfriend is usually hilarious either way and I suppose you could consider Hiyoko not ending up with a bird boyfriend to be a good thing!

In closing, here are two recommendations that I feel very confident in making. First! Don’t play Shu Iwamine’s route at night. It’s simultaneously creepy, disturbing and hilarious. Second, save before making the final choice in Yuuya Sakazaki because then you can get his good ending and the “bad” solo ending has the craziest twist ever and is actually better than his good ending.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Hot Japanese Imports talks about Fate/stay night and the whole Fate/ series.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports suggested some imported goodies you could give as gifts.

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Hot Japanese Imports: 2011 imported goodies gift guide

Sometimes, import games and consoles aren’t the right gift. I mean, the language barrier could be too much to overcome. Plus, they’re usually twice as expensive as a game from North America. That doesn’t mean you have to settle for easy to find items though. There are tons of fun little gadgets and goodies from Japan that don’t need any translation to love! And, so you don’t have to sift through all of them, I did!

So here we go, with a pretty brief look at six different items that would work as gifts for the picky people on your list who won’t be satisfied with a gift that’s easy to find and from their own country!

Final Fantasy XIV Kuplu Kopo
Price: $29.90 at Play-Asia, $29.99 at Japan Video Games
Description: It’s a 32cm tall stuffed moogle, from the Final Fantasy series. This one is specifically from FFXIV, but since all moogles look pretty much the same, it doesn’t matter.
Who’d Want It? Final Fantasy fanatics of any age.

Ningen Gakki
Price: $32.45 at AmiAmi, $36 at Japan Trend Shop, $43.60 at Strapya World
Description: This toys is both strange and awesome. It’s kind of a game for between two and four people, but it’s more of a fun timesink. Each person holds one of the arms/legs of the device, then the play button is pushed. As long as you hold the device in one hand, you can use the other to touch the other people also holding the Ningen Gakki to make noises. So, you play songs by tapping, touching and perhaps even smacking the other people.
Who’d Want It? Everybody. Primarily kids, but I could see adults wanting and having fun with it too. Hey, I want one!

Rilakkuma Nohohon Mascot
Price: $19.90 at Play-Asia, $34.99 at YesAsia
Description: Nohohons are little window-sitter mascots you set in the sunlight, and they’ll bob their heads back and forth. They’re quite relaxing. Now, there are currently two different style Rilakkuma solar-powered mascots available. The one at YesAsia is rather plain and a standard version of Rilakkuma. The Play-Asia isn’t an official Nohohon-zoku, but it is cheaper, does the same thing and puts headphones on the cute bear.
Who’d Want It? Someone who likes little novelty items that look cute and sit there, but don’t really do anything constructive.

Studio Ghibli Music Box
Price: $62.90 – $65.40 at Strapya World
Description: Now these are a whole new kind of awesome. There are three different music boxes, representing My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and Ponyo. Each one plays a song from the movie and, once wound, has moving parts and characters. They’re precious. For some reason though, the Totoro music box is about $3 cheaper than the other two.
Who’d Want It? Fans of anime, or just animated movies in general.

Super Mario Bros. Wii Turtle Air Hockey
Price: $14.20 at Strapya World
Description: This is a air hockey Koopa shell. You put it on a smooth surface, like a table, and voila! Instant air hockey!
Who’d Want It? I’d say this is a definite stocking stuffer for kids under the age of 13.

Tuttuki Bako
Price: $64.99 at YesAsia, $86 at Japan Trend Shop
Description: Tuttuki Bako is actually kind of neat. It’s a block with a whole in the side and five game modes. You stick your finger in the hole to interact with the character on the screen. So you can reach in and tap a face, a lman, a panda, sea creatures or a slime.
Who’d Want It? Children. It could be something fun to have on their desks to play with when they get bored. I guess it could also be a good gag gift for a coworker, though it seems to expensive for a casual acquaintance.

So there you go, seven interesting little novelties that could easily be given as gifts to pretty much everyone on your wishlist. I’m especially fond of the Ningen Gakki, what about you?

COMING THE WEEK AFTER NEXT: Hot Japanese Imports talks about the Fate/ series.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Hot Japanese Imports had a 2011 console game gift guide.

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