Japanese Sci-Fi

[Regular Waterfall]

I've been looking for something to scratch that itch after watching Foundation and was curious if there were any truly great sci-fi games made in Japan? The only ones I've played are star ocean and phantasy star but those aren't really what I'm looking for. Does anyone know of any cool ones? Space Opera or otherwise

Happy with any era, but if you know of anything please post with some screenshots, I am very keen to see!

 

[Heretic]

y'all need Jesus

 

[Onicat]

Xeno*-series?

Xenogears, Xenosaga, Xenoblade

 

[Heretic]

Xeno*-series?

Xenogears, Xenosaga, Xenoblade

Xenosaga would especially kinda fit the "space opera" bit.

 

[Rocket2049]

sci-fi games i've played and enjoyed:
zone of the enders games (ZOE2 got remastered on PS4, otherwise both are on PS2)
nier automata
astral chain (switch only, emulation possible)
Pragmata, make sure you look up actual gameplay don't just look at diana dancing or whatever, the FPS AND HACKING AT ONCE mechanics are insanely fun. one of capcoms BEST games

other games i can think of and find online but have NOT played myself:
Rogue galaxy (ps2)
infinite space (DS)
13 sentinels aegis rim

 

[Ikagura]

Many Treasure games are sci-fi to some extent (with few exceptions).

I could add the tons of shoot'em ups we got in decades.

 

[Regular Waterfall]

Many Treasure games are sci-fi to some extent (with few exceptions).

I could add the tons of shoot'em ups we got in decades.

I think I can get behind this.

 

[Tsukishima]

If you love sci-fi, Planet Laika on the PS1's got you covered and then some but dabbles into extreme psychological horror.

Zone of the Enders, like a different user here suggested is also a hard recommend. the Idolo 2167 film is also an amazing watch to get you setup for what's to come of the series too.

 

[Regular Waterfall]

If you love sci-fi, Planet Laika on the PS1's got you covered and then some but dabbles into extreme psychological horror.

Zone of the Enders, like a different user here suggested is also a hard recommend. the Idolo 2167 film is also an amazing watch to get you setup for what's to come of the series too.

Looking at the screenshots, the PS1 lends itself really well to psychological horror, the graphics really add to the atmosphere. This has piqued my interest, I'll check it out!

 

[ConanTheDestroyer]

If you don't mind visual novels then I suppose both of Hideo Kojima's visual novels- Snatcher and Policenauts would fit the bill. If you like Blade Runner you might find Snatcher in particular to be interesting seeing how much it takes from that film. Neither is a space opera but lean heavily into detective and noir elements if that interests you.

 

[HydraSavior]

I understand it's not a Japanese game. But yet I will always preach its gospel, and recommend...well, the name is complicated, but the version you want is called The Ur-Quan Masters.

The Ur-Quan Masters - News

The less said about the plot, the better, because the plot is what is Best about this thing. It's a game that was kind of between eras, where it did a lot of stuff that games would eventually do, and Ur-Quan Masters does them better in some cases, but it also applied Nintendo Hard to concepts that would be a lot more forgiving in the games that would eventually copy its homework. Like voting: save early, save often.

I could talk for hours about this, but it would all be what I consider Spoilers, really. Just know you'll get a seat to the best sci-fi epic ever, but you'll only need the edge.

A note on versions: avoid the Steam version Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters. Due to rights issues, it is missing some of the soundtrack. Avoid the version called "Star Control 2" on Steam and GOG. You pay for those, when you can get the whole Ortogg for free, and those are the original DOS versions--the one I linked is a remix between the DOS and 3DO (yes, the 3DO!) versions, a Best of Both Worlds.

No one remembers Star Control 1 and everyone (but me) wants to forget Star Control 3.

 

[bombatomba77]

Hmm. So for the ones that didn't reach you (meaning Star Ocean and Phantasy Star) what part of it didn't appeal?

 

[Spyrone]

For those that haven't been mentioned that I can think of off the top of my head- Armored Core, Wild Arms, Chrono Cross, Metroid, the entire Metal Gear franchise, Binary Domain and Baroque.

 

[Noon]

A recent and really great written J-SciFi world is Crymachina, lots of heavy sci-fi themes

I know you said Star Ocean didn’t scratch the itch but I really love Divine Force, it’s medieval meets sci-fi but it’s so good and the story about the scorpium is really interesting. The only thing is that the story impersonal conclusion is in the post game dungeon, where the personal conclusion with boldhor is the regular end

I’d also mega recommend Planet Laika, it’s a surreal masterpiece in storytelling and presentation.

 

[Graw]

SaGa Frontier is an odd mix of Sci-Fi and fantasy but is probably the most Sci-Fi out of the whole series.

I'd also argue Final Fantasy VII and maybe VIII are more sci-fi than fantasy as well. Final fantasy VII is set in what is basically a dystopian cyperpunk world without the hacker stuff and I haven't really played a lot of VIII but it definitely has a sci-fi fantasy feeling to it.

Metroid

I know Metroid's technically Japanese but it feels like a weird choice i never would have thought of even though i love metroid because it's based on a western sci-fi movie and has always been more popular in the west.

 

[beefbowl]

Pragmata

I second Pragmata but it's not a grand space adventure, more of a personal story. Bosses are great and hacking adds a nice depth to combat.

Honestly I don't hear much about Japanese sci-fi in literature, mostly Americans and former Soviets carried that genre. If you need fast-paced scifi adventures, check out Alfred Bester's books.

If you're looking for a big space adventure, you should check out Star Wars games, especially KOTOR.

 

[HydraSavior]

I'm going to second Crymachina. It's not The Best character action game, but it holds its own.

More importantly to this thread, though, it changed my life.

A young blonde girl / a hyperintelligent pro-humanity AI consciousness sat my character down on a couch and explained the mathematics that essentially prove that we are all living in a simulation right now, in Real Life.

 

[Spyrone]

I know Metroid's technically Japanese but it feels like a weird choice i never would have thought of even though i love metroid because it's based on a western sci-fi movie and has always been more popular in the west.

That one certainly comes off a bit like Star Wars and Alien as made in Japan. But just because something doesn't fit into the stereotypical aesthetic of Japanese Sci-Fi which is often punk-tinged, rather colorful and be both clean and chrome like Astro Boy or dark and gritty like GiTS doesn't mean I won't mention it. Even Final Fantasy VII went for a vastly more technological and noir inspired setting compared to the fantasy settings of prior games. So regardless of what aesthetic it has, if it was a Scifi game from Japan that had yet to be mentioned I was gonna bring it up.

I actually kinda hesitated putting in Metal Gear, as while the chronologically later entries are cyberpunk aesthetically, the tech available in the games by the late 1970s far exceeds our own at the time and I thought I'd have to explain that pick instead. Weird.

 

[Regular Waterfall]

Hmm. So for the ones that didn't reach you (meaning Star Ocean and Phantasy Star) what part of it didn't appeal?

It’s a bit hard for me to pin down. I enjoyed both for what they were, but they don’t feel like space journeys. At least for Star Ocean, it felt more like a JRPG that happened to be set in space

 

[zombie100379]

"zero wing" for sega mega drive ( the famous meme "your base belong to us" is from it )

 

[iamthemilkman]

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

The God Eater series

It's kind of like Monster Hunter but set in a post apocalyptic Earth.

Gods Eater Burst is on PS4, PS5, and PC
God Eater 2 is on Ps4 and PC
Got Eater 3 is on PS4, Switch, and PC