Go West! Week two: A tale of beasts and high school girls

3:00 PM on 02.02.2012   |   Elliot Gay

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to the one and only weekly column about import games and the fantastic gems hidden beneath all the crap.

This week sees a few huge world-wide releases, but as far as Japanese-only games go it's looking pretty slow. There are plenty of other places where you can read about Soul Calibur V or NeverDead. Instead of talking about those boring big budget games, I'd much rather take photos of my high school girlfriend or go hunting for monsters.

Preferably at the same time. But...I suppose that's a little too much to ask for eh? I guess if that doesn't work, I could always talk about what I believe to be the single most overlooked title of 2011. Some of you might actually be familiar with it! I believe it starts with a V and ends with a 3...

Follow me after the break as I take a look at the Japanese releases for the week of January 29-February 4!

Releases for the week of January 29-February 4:

Ragnarok Odyssey (Playstation Vita)
Publisher: GungHo
Online Price: 5,770 yen ($74.49)

This is the next big release for the Playstation Vita, after two weeks of high profile games. Of course, RO is a pretty big deal because at this stage in the system's life, it's essentially functioning as a Monster Hunter replacement. Of course, this isn't exactly a fair comparison considering RO is much faster pace and closer to God Eater or Phantasy Star Online in terms of gameplay. No online play at launch, but there will be a patch for it in the near future according to the developers. RO is also fun to look at, with its bright, colorful visuals and solid frame rate. I'm honestly not sure whether this will ever find its way west, but it's important to note that online play in a game like this isn't particularly necessary in Japan. Whether that's hinting at an English language release or not? Only the tootsie pop owl could possibly know that. Before importing, I'd wait a month before making a move. If there aren't any rumblings of a western release by then, make your move. Games like these lack real stories, making the language barrier much easier to overcome with the help of a strong community.

Photo Kano (Playstation Portable)
Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten
Online Price: 6,600 yen ($86.49)

Now this is the game you've all been waiting for. Am I right? In what seems like an obvious attempt to capitalize on the popularity of Konami's Love Plus franchise, Photo Kano sees you pursuing one of a bevy of high school girls in an attempt to win their love. You'll participate in their individual story lines, with the main focus being on taking photos of the girl of your choice. It's relatively different from most of the visual novels or dating sims on the system if only due to the fact it uses full 3D models to represent the girls. Magazines here have been putting a strong focus on taking pictures of your girl of choice in bathing suits, gym uniforms and school uniforms, of course. Famitsu's review also places each individual route at around 9-10 hours, meaning you'll probably be getting a pretty decent bang for your buck out of Photo Kano if this is your type of game. Of course, whether that's worth nearly $90.00 is a whole other discussion. Don't expect this to ever head out west. Ever. If it does? I'll buy all of you a copy of this game. I promise.

Gift: Prism (Playstation Portable)
Publisher: Cyber Front
Online Price: 4,950 yen ($63.99)

I'm posting this not for me, but for you. Seriously. This is a PSP re-release of a visual novel from quite a while back. As you can imagine, it's pretty typical stuff for the genre though it contains a bit of a fantasy twist. The Gift indicated in the title is actually a special power that everyone who lives in the city has, allowing them to grant a single miracle once in their life. That's pretty damn intense if you ask me. There's also apparently always a rainbow chilling up in the sky. How this all relates to your journey of hooking up with a girl, I haven't the slightest of clues. Don't count on this ever leaving Japan land. 

Overlooked gem of the week:

Valkyria Chronicles 3 (Playstation Portable)
Publisher: Sega
Online Price: 3,750 yen ($48.49)

At some point in this column's life, Valkyria Chronicles 3 was bound to come up. It was always just a matter of whether it'd be sooner or later. Looks like it's going to be sooner. As I'm sure many of you are aware, VC3 is the third game in Sega's real time strategy/action franchise. The first title debuted on the PS3 and was met with critical praise but underwhelming numbers. This wasn't something isolated to America; it wasn't exactly a blockbuster in Japan either. Looking at that way, it really shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the second game then found its way to the PSP. At the time, Sony's little handheld console was really hitting its stride here so Sega took a chance. It sold quite well, and it appears as though Sega is looking to keep the franchise on handhelds for the time being.

Unfortunately, this is probably the last thing anybody outside of Japan wanted to hear. VC2 was a flawed title that suffered from having an interesting story concept but poor execution. It didn't help that the gameplay was often times extremely grind-heavy, forcing players to replay battles to level or gain items. I enjoyed the game but I understand why many were put-off and consequently pointed the blame at the platform. When Valkyria Chronicles 3 was announced for the PSP, you could probably hear the digital groans of despair across the internet.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 is an amazing game and more than worthy of being a follow up to the original title.

I will freely admit that I actually prefer VC3 to its precursors. Those might sound like fighting words, but believe me when I say they aren't. Valkyria Chronicles 3 gets so much right with its story, gameplay and overall abundance of content that it's actually really difficult to point out where the game even goes wrong. 

VC3 follows the story of Kurt Irving, an officer in the Gallian military. Shortly after enlisting, he is framed for a crime he didn't commit and transfered to Squad 422, codename, Nameless. Stripped of his name and referred to only by number, he and the rest of the Nameless are sent out on hopeless suicide missions one after the other. Kurt vows to take his name back at all costs, and along the way gains the trust and love of his companions. The Nameless aren't the only black ops squad on the prowl however; Calamity Raven, a group of Darcsens serving the Empire, are out to make their own ideals come to fruition. 

The story is a return to the darker themes of war and segregation seen in the first game, even going one step further with a plot twist mid-way through the game that truly knocked me off my feet. Sporting a smaller overall cast of squad mates than the previous games allows for you to get know every side character on a much more personal level. VC2 attempted to do this through the random events that occurred throughout your school life, but VC3 improves on this by making it much more simpler to obtain each character's hidden chapter. You will shed tears by the end of the game. Trust me, I did. 

Gameplay is once again centered around Sega's BLiTZ system; a strange mix of real time strategy and 3rd person action. VC3 reuses many of VC2's maps for minor missions and sidequests, but contains a bevy of bigger new maps that will undoubtedly remind many of their experiences with the original game. Visually, VC3 is a marked improvement over its predecessor in that each character has his/her own character model, rather than just head swaps of the same few bodies. It might not seem like a big deal, but the variety really helps the characters' individual personalities shine. 

Series veteran Hitoshi Sakamoto handled music once again and doesn't disappoint with a series of beautiful new tracks. In particular, the main theme of the game is absolutely fantastic. Through a combination of acoustic guitar, horns and drums, the song reaches an amazing climax that perfectly encompasses the tone of the game and the characters within. I could honestly listen to it on repeat all day and probably never get tired of it. 

That sentiment extends to the game proper as well. Sega has released a ton of DLC for those of us who completed the main game. Each extra chapter adds to the story or expands on the mythos of the Valkyria Chronicles universe. One in particular finally shines light on the whereabouts of an important character from the first game who disappeared toward the end, never to be heard from again. I'd be ticked about the abundance of DLC content if it weren't for the fact that retail version of the game already has a ridiculous amount of stuff to do in it.

Look, I'll be straight with you guys. I don't think that Valkyria Chronicles 3 will ever be released in English. VC2 suffered from lackluster sales for a dying system and I doubt Sega wants to put the money into localizing this beast for a console that's already dead. There's always the possibility of updating it for the Vita, but I'd imagine they'd much rather just release a brand new game if that were the case. What this unfortunately means is that western Valkyria Chronicles fans will be missing out on an amazing title that deserved much more respect and love than it ended up getting.

However!

There are translation guides and tons of faqs out there that productive fans have put together. Even if you won't be able to appreciate 100% of what Valkyria Chronicles 3 has to offer, don't miss out on what I felt was one of the absolute best games of last year. 

Buy this game. Please. In the name of all that is good in the world!