This year had a distinctly retro gaming vibe when it came to Japanese game releases, and here are some of my favorites.
This marks the ninth year I have done this top ten for Japanese games. Starting back in 2016, through to 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Naturally, these lists are just based on my personal preferences of the games I’ve played over the year and are nothing more than that.
10. Assault Suits Leynos 2 Saturn Tribute
This was a fantastic Saturn mecha game back in the day and one that was only available in Japan. Thankfully, this is now available again, and the remaining English versions will be out sometime next year. As someone who worked on the release of Assault Suits Valken Declassified, I’m glad the Assault Suits games are finally getting more love.
9. The Legend of Steel Empire
I really enjoyed this shmup back on the Mega Drive, and this remaster was gloriously done. While I am a sucker for all things steampunk and alternate-timeline technology, this is still a solid console shmup and one that is worth a look if you haven’t done so already.
8. Front Mission 2: Remake
Following the first Front Mission remake, the sequel was another game originally released only in Japan. It’s amazing that it’s now widely available, and it’s been updated brilliantly, too.
7. Tekken 8
This turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting and I am glad that following Street Fighter’s resurgence, more of these fighting game series are coming back. The transition to Unreal Engine 5 has also worked out well for the game, as it both looks and runs very fluidly.
6. Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Done in the same style as the Link’s Awakening remake, this time, you finally play as Zelda but with a few catches. The first is that the sword and shield setup available to Link are time-limited, but to counter that restriction, you can copy/paste objects found around Hyrule. It was a fun game, but I would still like to see Zelda get a chance to wield her own sword and shield in a future installment.
5. Dragon Quest Builders
The long-awaited PC port of this now classic game was very good indeed. While it had some interesting quality-of-life improvements, I still prefer the PlayStation 4 and Switch versions. With the Switch iteration probably still being my favorite. That said, the fact this game is now on PC is definitely welcomed and comes recommended.
4. Unicorn Overlord
Despite all the controversy surrounding the game’s English localization, the game itself was still great. Vanillaware did not disappoint from a visual standpoint, but it also played brilliantly and had a great story. As someone that enjoys the tactical side of the role-playing game genre, it always nice to play a new functional take and this was a lot of fun.
3. Ace Combat 7: Deluxe Edition
I never thought a game like Ace Combat 7 would be able to run on the Switch, but this new Deluxe Edition delightfully proved me wrong. Having really enjoyed the game on the PlayStation 4 back in 2019, I am amazed and very grateful that I can now play it on the go with my Switch. Admittedly, the same could be said for the PC version on the Steam Deck, but the battery life on that isn’t very friendly for when you are out and about.
2. Shadow of the Ninja Reborn
This had no place being this good and it was a flawless remake of an NES classic that was somehow even more technical than the original. It also looked gorgeous and is one of the best pixel art games I’ve played in years.
1. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
This was the return of the king in terms of role-playing games. Done in the tilt-shift HD-2D art style, with 3D backgrounds against 2D pixellated characters, this has brought one of the best games ever made out into the sunshine again on a global scale. It not only plays brilliantly, with all sorts of functional updates and changes over the original game, but it looks adorable too. I really cannot recommend this game enough.
You may wonder why Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is not included in this list. The answer is that it is a DLC release. Also, the likes of Metaphor: ReFantazio also gets an honorable mention here, but didn’t quite make it for me.
In any case, 2024 saw a fair few ports of recent games and remakes of older ones. Here’s hoping next year will have a few more new releases to contend with.
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