Unfortunately for the world of gaming, many of the headlines and debates in recent years have concerned the supposed death of single player games and the shortcomings of highly anticipated games such as Star Wars Battlefront II. Luckily, many of the big-name titles and gaming services coming out of Japan have been able to exceed expectations and restore the public’s faith in gaming – single player, multiplayer, and online forms.
Over the past 12 months, so many impressive games and gaming services have risen to the fore, with many of the headline titles coming from Japan. Japanese gaming has always garnered global appeal thanks to the innovative gameplay, interesting characters, and exciting stories. Whether it’s exploring a new world, paying as a much-loved character, or utilizing the powers of new technology, Japanese gaming has something for everyone.
So, to celebrate a stunning 12 months of gaming coming out of Japan, we’re breaking down some of the nation’s biggest titles that are still popular to this day. As a bonus, we’re throwing in a title which is all but guaranteed to be a massive hit in 2018 and continue this streak of gaming dominance for Japan. Without further ado, here are some the incredible gaming opportunities from Japan that you should be trying out if you haven’t already.
Catching and battling monsters remains popular
Source: My Nintendo News, via Twitter
After its first boom in the ’90s, Pokémon has forced its way back into the spotlight in recent years. Still dominating the mobile gaming scene, Pokémon Go continues to have people of all ages exploring the world in search of their favorite pocket monsters. The mobile game’s release may have even helped to boost the newest editions to the proper Pokémon gaming series.
Pokémon Sun and Moon, the seventh generation of Pokémon, have reignited people’s love of the games that started it all. Very cleverly, the games bring in some fantastic new Pokémon as well as new variations of some of the most loved in the franchise’s history. These Pokémon have adapted to the microclimates of the new region, Alola, and have evolved – in the scientific sense, not the Pokémon evolution sense – into variants of the species. The charm of the game and new gameplay elements resulted in the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games to also be very popular.
Featuring an alternate storyline, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon bring along many other new elements to the generation that make them fantastic standalone games separate from the original Sun and Moon. Both games get more exclusive regular and legendary Pokemon to find throughout the new region. This is a common theme with Pokemon games, which enables for different experiences between players and adds value to the trading and battling features. On top of this, there are still the innovative time differences in the games. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, your play mimics real times of the day on Sun, but does the opposite on Moon – so you have to wait for real-life night time to play in the daytime on Ultra Moon.
Despite it being in its seventh generation, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have kept the monster catching and battling exploration game fresh. This is why they come in among of the biggest games of the past year.
Console gamers treated to one of Japan’s finest
Source: Xbox Tavern, via Twitter
The Monster Hunter games have long been incredibly popular in Eastern markets. Still, Capcom wanted to make an impact on Western markets. One of the key findings for the Monster Hunter development team was that handheld gaming devices aren’t overly popular in Western markets. This is despite Monster Hunter 4 being their first game to break one million sales in that market. So, the Capcom team got to work at making an equally intricate Monster Hunter experience, but one that would appeal to the console-loving market in the West. With Monster Hunter World, they certainly outdid themselves.
Monster Hunter World is a vast, intricate, innovative, and exciting experience – the likes of which hasn’t been seen with such impetus on consoles before. It offers so many customization options along with real progression and genuinely different ways to play depending on the player’s preference. With incredible graphics and a huge roster of truly awesome monsters to interact with, Monster Hunter received stellar reviews coming out the gate which helped to propel it to record sales.
Capcom’s great creation exceeded seven million units sold, which makes Monster Hunter World their bestselling game of all time. It surpasses Street Fighter and Resident Evil. Open world games have been very popular with console gamers for a long time, especially opens worlds as huge as this with potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay, but few expected Monster Hunter World to be such a smash hit.
Monster Hunter World remains a very popular game to this day, which is to be expected given how much there is to do within the game. The incredible gameplay, stunning graphics, deep customization options, and thrilling storyline make it an early contender for game of the year.
Hundreds of games for crypto-lovers
Source: Pixabay
If there’s one thing that gamers love, it’s having many options. When it comes to online gaming, one genre has shot to the very peaks of popularity in Japan and, indeed, the rest of the world, and that’s online casino gaming.
Land-based casinos were always very popular venues for nights out. They offer the chance to experience the thrills of betting money on the outcomes of games. The suspense that games like roulette and slots provide is enough of a buzz alone for many players. Then there are the likes of blackjack and baccarat, where players use their skill to defeat the dealer and win. Now, all of those thrills have been moved to the open world of the internet, where they continue to innovate.
The internet is an ever-growing, all-powerful beast right now, and the advances in technology produced alongside the internet have allowed for opportunities that few could have even fathomed a couple of decades ago. One of the major revelations, which has been making headlines in the last couple of years, is that of cryptocurrency. Being such a competitive field, you can bet that an online casino was quick enough to move into the niche of offering a crypto-casino.
Right now, Bitcasino offers the full casino experience for cryptocurrency users, which has proven to be immensely popular with those who are in on the crypto-revolution. Because the online is filled with such a huge array of games for people to test their cryptocurrency against, it will continue to be one of the most popular gaming options.
A very special take on a classic game
Source: Mario watching the Stars, via Twitter
When you think of Mario, you picture the little plumber in his red hat, blue overalls, and hefty upturned mustache running along a 2D platform to get to the other side. While there have been many very popular renditions of this character’s adventures, none have been with such global appraisal as Super Mario Odyssey.
Super Mario Odyssey marks yet another stage in the evolution of the game series that continues to bend convention and provide a new and exciting experience to its fans. It’s is filled with originality and innovative gameplay that makes it one of the very best games in the franchise so far – which is an almighty feat.
Before playing the game, some Mario fans may have been put off by the fact that it looks nothing like the classic games more commonly associated with the character. However, Super Mario Odyssey seeks to deliver a new gaming experience while still appealing to its fan base. It achieves this by reducing the somewhat irrelevance developed over the years within various titles and introducing new game mechanics as it progresses.
Super Mario Odyssey received stellar reviews across the board, with some even calling it a masterpiece. It has remained a very popular game months after its release and will almost certainly spawn an equally popular sequel.
Ready to continue the Japanese hot streak
Japanese games have been dominating recently. The titles and services above are merely the blockbusters and most popular ones; there is still a mountain of recent Japanese releases which offer incredible gaming as well. But, if there’s one game which will almost certainly continue this reign for Japanese games, it’s everyone’s favorite little green dinosaur.
Since its announcement at E3 in 2017, this game has been one of the most hotly anticipated titles of 2018. Still without an official release date – apart from 2018 – the upcoming Yoshi (working title) game on Nintendo Switch is bound to take the world by storm.
The trailer alone shows the innovative new way to play as Yoshi that offers a unique experience set in an incredibly charming new world. It’s very difficult to see Yoshi being anything short of a smash hit game that could very contend for game of the years at multiple award ceremonies.
There you have it, incredibly popular gaming opportunities that have spawned in Japan. In a gaming world that seems to be rife with disappointment in recent times, Japanese games have shown that you can trust in their dynamic designs and immersive gaming experiences.
