Four Japanese 3DS games I'd like to play in 2014

Let's be real here: it's likely I'm going to buy a lot of 3DS games in 2014. And when I say a lot, I mean it. A few of the North American titles that are likely to be picked up in the next 12 months, for instance: Yoshi's New Island, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Bravely Default.

And then there are Japanese 3DS games like Zoo Keeper 3D, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call and Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2 and the following quartet:

Fantasy Life--I truly wish I could say I'm looking forward to playing an officially localized (into English) version of this Level-5 game in 2014, but at this point that seems about as likely as Square Enix bringing Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 3 to our shores. So, I'm thinking I'll finally cave and buy the Japanese version, even though that may not be the best idea given my current inability to understand the language. (Don't worry, I'm planning to get back to learning it after the start of the year.)

Labyrinth no Kanata--Another questionable choice considering I barely know a lick of the Japanese language at the moment, but how could I pass up a portable dungeon-crawler as nice-looking as this one? Plus, its box art (below) is the definition of gorgeous, and you know how I am when it comes to gorgeous box art. I'm not so sure the gameplay will prove to be as appealing as the graphics and cover imagery, but I'm willing to take one for the team and find out.

Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb--The Taiko no Tatsujin series has intrigued me for years now, yet I still haven't played a single one. This entry seems to be fairly well received, so why not start with it? The only issue that could keep me from buying it is my fear of scratching the lower screen of my gold Pokémon Center 3DS LL.

Touch Detective Rising 3: Does Funghi Dream Of Bananas?--You'd think someone who owns but has yet to play the first Touch Detective game and hasn't even bought the second one wouldn't pine for this soon-to-be-released 3DS entry. Well, you'd be wrong in my case. It helps, of course, that this sequel has a great subtitle. Also, it's being made for the 3DS, which means it's going to be awesome.

See also: 'Four DS games I'd like to buy and play in 2014,' 'Four PSP games I'd like to buy and play in 2014' and 'Four Japanese retro games I'd like to buy (and play, of course) in 2014'

In which I blather on about a trio of Japanese 3DS game demos ...

Although I've owned a Japanese 3DS (read about it here) for about two months now, I've yet to buy a game for it. (Not even a digital one.) I have, however, downloaded a healthy number of demos from that region's eShop. As such, I thought it might be nice to write up a few mini-reviews of three of the demos I've played so far.



1. Neratte! Tobashite! Rilakkuma Guragura Sweets Tower--You didn't expect me to pass up this demo, did you--especially after I slobbered over its cover art in this previous blog post? Anyway, this one's a pretty straightforward demo: it can be played just three times and it offers up three levels of varying complexity. As I believe I shared in the aforementioned blog post, Neratte! Tobashite! Rilakkuma Guragura Sweets Tower is little more than an Angry Birds clone--which isn't a bad thing, in my opinion. It helps, of course, that it attempts to bring a few new things to the Angry Birds table, such as awarding bonus points for hitting characters from the Rilakkuma universe that are strewn about some of the levels. It also helps that the graphics (and the soundtrack, too, I guess) in this one are the gaming equivalent of a sugary waffle covered with ice cream, caramel and a cherry on top. Given all of the above, I'd actually pick up a copy of this disgustingly adorable game--if doing so wouldn't set me back as much as it currently would.



2. Shippuu no Usagi-Maru: Megumi no Tama to Fuuma no Shirushi--I've been trying to come up with an existing game that is most like this eShop-only puzzler-platformer since I first played this demo, but I can't quite do it. The closest one I can think of is Konami's Moai-kun for the Famicom, although even that isn't the best point of comparison. Regardless, both games task players with doing a bit of platforming while avoiding traps, pushing and pulling blocks, saving kidnapped maidens--that sort of thing. Anyway, Shippuu no Usagi-Maru's demo is pretty beefy as far as demos go, what with its seven included stages. Granted, five of them are little more than tutorials, but believe me when I say such introductions are needed if the second of the "real" levels is representative of the level of challenge that awaits folks who buy the full game. (It took me five tries to get through said stage.) That's a big plus in my book, as are the pixel-based graphics and Asian-influenced soundtrack found in this Arc System Works-published title. 



3. Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigina Orb--I've had my eye on this latest entry in Namco-Bandai's Taiko no Tatsujin series ever since I bought my "misty pink" Japanese 3DS, so it should come as little surprise to hear that it was one of the first Japanese eShop demos that I downloaded and tried. Unfortunately, Chibi Dragon to Fushigina Orb's demo is pretty thin in terms of content, featuring just two battles. Still, that was enough to convince me to add this title to my so-far-non-existant Japanese 3DS game collection sooner rather than later--thanks in large part to the gloriously over-the-top version of "O Sole Mio" that serves as the backdrop to the first battle. Here's hoping that by the time I finally do that (buy a copy of the game) I'll have a better understanding of what I'm supposed to do while playing it. (I don't know what I'm supposed to do with the bombs that appear every so often, for instance.)

The trio of demos discussed above are just a small sample of the ones I've nabbed from the Japanese eShop, so expect a similar post (or two) to this one to be published soon.

Five Japanese 3DS games I'm hoping to pick up (and play, too, of course) in 2013

Would you believe it if I told you I recently bought a Japanese 3DS system? I hope you replied in the positive, because that's just what I did shortly after my recent birthday.

I'll share the curious story behind its purchase and also share a few photos of it in all its gloriousness shortly, but today I'm going to focus on something else entirely--with that something being the following five Japan-only (for now, he says with fingers crossed) 3DS games that I'm both keeping an eye on and hoping to buy sometime in 2013.

1. Daigasso! Band Brothers 3DS--How can I say it's likely I'll buy this game when it hasn't yet been given an official name or release date? Because I completely loved playing both of its DS-based predecessors, that's why. Unless the folks who are busily piecing together this iteration muck up the formula that worked so well for past Daigasso! Band Brothers titles, you can count on the 3DS version being added to my collection shortly after it's released in its country of origin.

2. Dragon Quest VII--To be honest, I only plan to pick up this much-anticipated remake if it fails to come to North America like Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D and Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest 3 did. Considering there's about an 80 percent chance of that happening, though, I probably shouldn't be too cavalier. Anyone know a quick and easy way to learn the Japanese language?

3. Labyrinth no Kanata--This is another import-only game, known to most westerners as Beyond the Labyrinth, that I desperately want to play, but I'm just not sure it would be a good idea to buy considering I don't know a lick of Japanese. Should I ever come across a reasonably priced copy of it, though, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to resist its beautiful cover art (or its dungeon-exploring gameplay).

4. Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb--Despite the fact that I love rhythm games and that I find this series' mascot to be one of the cutest I've ever seen, I've yet to experience a single Taiko no Tatsujin title. Granted, only one has been released in my neck of the woods. Anyway, this one looks pretty darn good to my eyes--thanks in no small part to the "chibi dragon" mentioned in its subtitle--so why not start with it?

5. Zoo Keeper 3D--Go ahead. Look down your nose at me for including this game. I'm not ashamed of the way I feel about Zoo Keeper, no sir. That said, I'll admit to straddling the fence when it comes to this particular version of Success' animal-themed puzzler, as I haven't seen enough of it to know whether it would be a good or bad title to buy. For now, though, I'll just pretend that it would be worth every precious penny I'd spend on it.

Should you realistically expect me to pick up all five of these games? Probably not. I think there's a better-than-good chance, though, that the first and fourth ones will be purchased at some point in 2013.