As the 3DS moves into its retirement years, it’s an intriguing time to jump into the world of its imports, as it’s clearer than ever to see which games will never see Western release. Sadly, it’s not region-free, but if you take the plunge on the hardware (or explore other options), there are a lot of compelling Japan-only experiences to try, even if you don’t know the language!
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The games importing hobby can be a difficult one to get into, purely due to logistics. As always, we want to help! So here’s the rundown on systems’ barriers and specialties, to help you know where to start.
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There are many great reasons to get into retro imports: the games are generally less text-intensive, the tech’s usually easy to overcome and there’s little risk that you’ll be burned by importing something that gets localized later. So what are your best bets on the SNES? Read on!
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The Puzzle & Dragons franchise has been a great example of how to adapt a mobile hit into something that makes more sense on traditional gaming platforms. Puzzle & Dragons Z built a compelling progression scheme without relying upon gacha mechanics or pure psychological trickery, and Import Game of the Year 2016 Puzzle & Dragons X stepped up its depth and presentation to rival some of the best RPGs on the platform.
Which makes it that much more inexplicable how wildly Puzzle & Dragons Gold misses the mark.
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The Nintendo 64 is a beloved platform for players who grew up with it, serving as a pure nostalgia piece for many while perhaps being overtaken in lasting appeal by both its predecessors and successors. Still, it was a quirky era for games, and the platform’s import-only library certainly shows that with some fun, weird releases!
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If you want to import Japanese games, the WonderSwan is exactly the sort of thing that may interest you the most. It’s a regional exclusive, but it’s not a huge old computer that you can’t afford. It has franchises you may know, and many games that simply were never ported anywhere else. Oh, and it’s weird and you can carry it around with you to show people that they should talk to you about weird stuff. Read on for our recommendations!
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There’s a good reason that we here at Michibiku are fans of the Gotta Protectors series enough to keep up with its often-hard-to-follow information flow. It’s not that the games are ever particularly impressive in size or mechanical depth. It’s not that they tell interesting stories, or that they’re just so polished that they can’t be ignored.
It’s this: they’re always a heck of a lot of fun to play with friends in a way few games can match.
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By this point in a franchise like Boxboy!, fatigue starts to set in. No matter how charming the premise or engaging the puzzles, anything so simple and straightforward is bound to wear out its welcome at least a bit and deliver diminishing returns to the player.
Boxboy! + Boxgirl! doesn’t have that problem.
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In life, it’s often hard to accomplish things. Progress is hard to see. Failure is constant. Plans don’t always work out as intended. There are factors beyond your control.
In Dragon Quest Builders 2, none of these are much of a problem.
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