Releases for the week of 23-29:

Xbox 360:

Love Tore Sweet Version
Boost On
Online Price: 6,710 Yen ($84.90)

After three weeks of no Go West!, you'd think I'd be able to kick off number 30 with something big and exciting. Instead, I'm here to talk to you about a Kinect game for the Xbox 360. Even better, said Kinect game is about dancing with some cute Japanese high school girls while trying to win their hearts with your kick ass dance moves.

Yup. It's good to be back folks.

Visually, the game doesn't look to be all that impressive despite the rather colorful artwork adorning all the promotional materials. While I'm sure the idea of interacting with 2D high school girls via Kinect is a compelling idea for some, I'd recommend picking up Gal*Gun if you wanna scratch that motion control itch. As creepy as theat game can be, it's at least over the top, visually appealing and apparently quite fun. 

Moving on! 

Playstation Vita:

Ys: Foliage Ocean in Celceta
Falcom
Online Price: 6,550 Yen ($82.90)

This game is the reason I purchased my Vita over half a year ago. At this point, you all know of my unwavering love for Falcom and the games they make. Discovering Ys two years ago opened me up to a long history of classic games I'd never heard of. 

Some of you may not know this, but Falcom never directly developed a Ys IV. Instead, they handed out the rights to two companies, Hudson Soft and Tonkin House. This resulted in two very different games, Ys IV: Dawn of Ys and Ys IV: Mask of the Sun.

It's great to finally see Falcom tackle IV on their own this time, and if my six hours with the game are any indication, they've done a helluva job. Celceta is lightning fast and looks positively splendid on the OLED. As I had figured, screenshots really don't do it much justice. Perhaps the biggest surprise is how great the lighting effects are; beams of sunlight break through the trees, shadows created by the clouds overhead move across the open fields. There have been more than a few moments when I stopped playing just to enjoy the scenery. 

Falcom's sound team once again delivers, with a great combination of original tracks and Ys IV arranged tunes. UnlikeYs Seven, Celceta features voice acting in certain parts of the story, though it's nowhere close to being fully voiced. More surprising is how often you're given the chance to select what Adol says in any given conversation. After four hours of playing, I've encountered no less than 10 chances (likely much more) to make Adol sound like an asshole. This doesn't appear to have any real impact on progression, but it's a fun addition that helps to make our red haired badass seem like a more complete person.

While Celceta takes the basic skeleton of Ys Seven's gameplay (a party system), there are a lot of subtle alterations and improvements that completely change the feel of the game. Flash block and flash dodge make a return from the previous title, but are much more difficult to execute. The window of time you have to perform either move is very brief, making boss battles a lot more intense and fun. 

There's no word yet on whether XSEED or somebody else'll be bringing Foliage Ocean in Celceta over, but I have a hard time believing that this one won't get snatched up.

Earth Defense Force 3 Portable 
D3 Publisher 
Online Price: 5,760 Yen ($72.90)

EDF! EDF! EDF!

Earth Defense Force is one of those franchises you either get, or you don't. Basically you run around as a soldier, grabbing guns and power ups while killing giant bugs/space ships/monsters over the span of dozens of missions. There isn't much of a story to speak of, the graphics are kind of weak and the framerate explodes when there's tons of monsters onscreen.

But goddamn if it isn't a whole lot of fun. 

EDF3 Portable introduces online multiplayer for up to four players, so you can go on bug hunts with your pals across the country. I actually got a chance to play a little bit at Tokyo Game Show last week and while the controls could be a little awkward, the game was as fun as ever. Finally being able to play online pretty much seals the deal as far as I'm concerned.

I couldn't be more glad to hear that this'll be making its way west.

DJMAX Technika Tune
Cyber Front 
Online Price: 5,760 Yen ($72.90)

I enjoy a good rhythm game, but I have absolutely no experience with the DJMAX series. I do know, however, that they have a dedicated following even if they don't ever sell many copies. I don't expect Technika Tune to be much different in that regard; it likely won't even sell enough to make the top 20 in the Media Create chart.

Nonetheless, I've heard from quite a few people that Technika Tune is a blast to play and the new touch mechanics are significantly more accurate than was initially expected. I'm still busy with Project Diva f, so I'm going to pass on this one for the time being.

Nobunaga no Yabou: Tendou with Power Up Kit
Koei Tecmo Games
Online Price: 6,320 Yen ($79.90)

Man, how many times are we going to play through Nobunaga's ambitions? Just how much did he have in the first place? Do these games just repeat the same campaign over and over again?

I honestly know nothing about this series and I have no clue what a power up kit is. 

I need a hug.

Nintendo 3DS:

Kokuga
G.Rev
Online Price: 4,810 Yen ($60.90)

While Kokuga looks like a fairly standard top down shooter, it comes from an extraordinarily high pedigree; it was designed by the creator of Ikaruga, Hiroshi Iuchi. If that's not a reason to pay attention, I don't know what is.

Visually the game isn't doing anything to push the 3DS, but the action looks frantic and fun. One of the cooler features of the game is that it has download play support for up to four other players. That means if you have the game, you can share the fun with three of your friends. It's not online, but it works.

I'd love to see this one show up on the eShop out west. I can't imagine G.Rev or any publisher would be crazy enough to ask the full retail price for a game like this. 

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate Portable
Kadokawa Shoten
Online Price: 5,920 Yen ($74.90)

And thus we reach our first visual novel of week 30, this one a port of an Adult Only PC title. Many of you are probably familiar with Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate from the recent 12 episode anime adaptation. 

The story follows Yuki Ojima, a second year attending Takafuji Academy. He joins the Food Research Club and generally just chills with the attractive girls there. With the student council elections closing in, the frontrunner for president declares that useless clubs will be eliminated from the school. Pressured by his friends, Yuki decides to run for student council president and wacky romantic hijinks ensue.

Huh. As far as synopsis' go, this is probably the least offensive one I've read in a while. Can't say I'm particularly interested, but if you dug the anime you'll probably like this.

Import only if you have a solid command of Japanese.

Confidential Money: 300-Hi de 3000-Man Dol Kasegu Houhou
Idea Factory 
Online Price: 5,530 Yen ($69.90)

Welcome back Idea Factory, I missed you so much.

Our main character, Natalie, comes from a fatherless family and spends her days working at her part time job trying to save up money. One day, a man named John appears before her and tells her that she "Has the right to earn huge sums of cash." He delivers to her a written invitation and vanishes. Despite how ridiculously suspicious the whole thing seems, Natalie heads to the designated location and meets five men with the same invite. John reappears and explains that they will participate in a game to steal $30,000,000 from the Donald Company. 

Yet another surprisingly restrained Idea Factory narrative, all things considered. I'm reminded a little bit of Liar Game, which definitely isn't a bad thing. If otome-ge are up your alley, you could probably do a lot worse.

Import only if you can read Japanese at an advanced level.

[And that's all for this time folks! Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoyed my Tokyo Game Show coverage over the past week. If you have any questions about TGS, feel free to ask below. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. In the meantime, check out the Red Sun Gamer Podcast, in which me, Eric and a few other gentlemen in Japan talk about Japanese games for 3-4 hours every week. See you at 31 folks!]