What are the Best Online Games in Japan?
Japan is renowned for its strong gaming culture with the success of creations like Monster Hunter: World by Capcom and the Dark Souls series by FromSoftware. Games have increasingly become a part of Japanese culture, and its characters are even minor symbols of Japan.
Take the closing ceremony for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, where Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared dressed as the iconic Mario character from Nintendo’s Super Mario games. He did this to introduce Tokyo as the next host city of the games. In doing so, he also reminded the world that that Japanese gaming industry is alive and well.
There are so many Japanese games to choose from that it can be difficult to know where to start. Our guide is here to give you some suggestions on a few of the best.
Casitabi Casino
As you can see in this Casitabi Casino review, Japan has also introduced games that fuse conventional RPG with online casinos. Players can travel through 4 kingdoms playing different online games as they go to win rewards. It’s ideal for those who like to try something a little different.
Attack on Titan 2
Based on the anime ‘Shingeki no Kyojin’ or Attack on Titan, this action role-playing game was released early last year. It covers the first 50 chapters of the original manga or the first two series of the adapted anime series. The game gives players the chance to make friends with the anime’s characters, take down titans and defend your base against their attacks.
Luckily the game doesn’t just copy the anime, it also expands on the world and lets you attack and fight as well as explore.
Street Fighter V
The images that Street Fighter conjures up of character Ryu and his trademark energy ball might be some of the most famous in gaming history. Published by Capcom, the original game first appeared back in 1987. Since then, the series has featured five main games and multiple spin-offs and crossovers.
It is one of the highest grossing video game franchises of all-time, and Street Fighter V keeps the best of the original like the 2D fighting concept while adding new improvements. These include a tutorial mode to help refresh your memory and skills in the game and new techniques.
Layton’s Mystery Journey
This may be a mobile game instead of a PC, but it is here to show how booming the Japanese mobile games industry is. In 2016, a survey found that the top ten mobile games in Japan were responsible for about half of the market’s total revenue.
This is a 10th anniversary addition to the vast Professor Layton series which includes seven games, an animated film and an anime series. It has all the charm fans have come to expect from the franchise of puzzle adventure games and is the first official sequel to be released on mobile.
You play as Katrielle Layton as she solves puzzles, cracks clues and unravels mysteries to help find her father Professor Hershel Layton. The gameplay sends you across London to some of its most famous landmarks and has the largest collection of puzzles in any Layton game. You’ll see familiar faces from old games as well as new characters. If the puzzles aren’t enough, there are also additional minigames to play throughout.
Ready to explore more of Japan’s vast and varied games industry and find new favourites to play? Be sure to spread the word when you do.