19 Best Game Series to Play as a Virtual Tour to Japan
Want to travel to Japan but are complicated by the pandemic and wallet issues? How about taking a virtual tour to Japan through these 19 video game series?
Games | 26 October
By DG Writer
Traveling to Japan is indeed a pleasant experience, whether it's alone, with family, or with friends. However, nowadays, money is not the only major problem, but also because of the threat of the pandemic. Well, instead of moping around at home, you can take a virtual tour of Japan through these 19 exciting game series. Don’t forget to save up money as well to prepare for actual sightseeing sometime in the future!
1. Persona
- Platform: PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Switch, PC
This RPG series made by Atlus is definitely the first game to come to your mind when we talk about modern Japanese-themed games. A spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series, in various Persona titles we play as high school students who have to deal with mysterious monsters.
2. Akiba’s Trip
- Platform: PS3, PS4, PSP, PS Vita, Switch, PC
A beat-em-up series that features an otaku theme. As you might expect from the title, here you go on an adventure in the mecca of Japanese anime and gaming world, Akihabara. Acquire has very carefully tried to replicate the streets, buildings, even the advertisements in the area into this game. So you could say that through playing Akiba's Trip, you can memorize Akihabara's layout.
3. Akiba’s Beat
- Platform: PS4, PS Vita
Akiba's Trip spin-off that now uses turn-based RPG gameplay. Like the previous title, this game depicts Akihabara very authentically.
4. Midnight Club
- Platform: PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PC
Rockstar Games is famous for its GTA series, but they also have a racing game that is no less fun than that: the Midnight Club series. Inspired by the Japanese racing club of the same name, you are invited to cruise through the streets of New York City, London, Los Angeles, Paris, San Diego, Atlanta, Detroit, and of course Tokyo.
5. The World Ends With You
- Platform: PS4, NDS, Switch, PC, Android, iOS
When it comes to Akihabara, another title that takes place in the otaku paradise is the adventure game The World Ends With You. Like Persona, here we have to deal with mysterious monsters named Noise complete with a Japanese city background.
6. Yakuza
- Platform: PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5, PSP, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Wii U, PC, Android, iOS
If we have seen the hustle and bustle of the city, through the Yakuza series we could peek at the seedy underbelly of the Japanese metropolis which is full of violence and crime. Most of these titles take place in the Kamurocho District, which is inspired by the red light and adult entertainment district of Kabukicho.
7. Judgement
- Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC
Yakuza series spin-off. No longer taking control of members of the yakuza gang, here we follow the adventures of Takayuki Yagami, a former lawyer who later chooses to become a private detective.
8. Wangan Midnight
- Platform: Arcade, PS2, PS3, PSP
Besides Midnight Club, a racing title that must be familiar to arcade lovers is Wangan Midnight or Maximum Tune, an adaptation of the manga and anime series of the same name.
9. Tokyo Mirage Session
- Platform: Wii U, Switch
Collaborative title between Atlus and Intelligent Systems, developer of the Fire Emblem and Advance Wars series. You could say this RPG game combines the modern Japanese aesthetics and location of Persona with characters inspired by the Fire Emblem series.
10. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
- Platform: PS4, PS Vita, Switch, PC
Not only a must-have title for Digimon fans, but also Japanese connoisseurs. In the world of Digimon Story, you investigate a mysterious case that happened to hackers who used Digimon to hack into the digital world of EDEN. For some reason, one by one they all fell into a coma in the real world. Apart from wandering around looking for clues in the digital world, you can also explore the authentically replicated Nakano Broadway otaku shopping area.
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11. Jet Set Radio
- Platform: Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, Gameboy Advance, Android, iOS
If you want to explore a Japanese-inspired metropolitan area with a different gameplay, you can try the Jet Set Radio series. Accompanied by catchy hip-hop tunes, you will be invited to grind railings with roller skates while spraying graffitis all over the city.
12. Shenmue
- Platform: Dreamcast, PS4, Xbox, Xbox One, PC
You could say this game is somewhat similar to Yakuza. Here you play as Ryo Hazuki who is looking for the whereabouts of the person who killed his father. Ryo's journey will take him to Yokosuka in Japan, Hong Kong and Guilin, China.
13. Attack of the Friday Monsters
- Platform: 3DS
In Attack of the Friday Monsters! you will follow the daily life of a boy named Sohta who lives in a small town in Japan. The funny thing is, every Friday, the townsfolk are always bothered by the arrival of kaiju and giant heroes who fight near their homes.
14. Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Platform: PC
Who said that only Japanese-made games can authentically depict the Land of the Rising Sun? Through the Japan World Update, the Flight Simulator game released by Microsoft is also able to provide an exciting experience of traveling around Japan’s scenic locations from the sky.
15. Densha de Go!
- Platform: Arcade, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Gameboy Color, NDS, Switch, PC, Android, iOS
Talking about simulation games, the following series by Taito is also a must if you want to experience sightseeing through Japanese train tracks. Unfortunately, so far Taito (and now its parent company Square Enix) has yet to release Densha de Go! globally.
16. Train Simulator / Railfan
- Platform: Arcade, PS2, PS3, PSP, PC
This is not a series of games with the same title that is on Steam and produced by Dovetail Games, but a Japanese train simulation game made by Ongakukan. Another excellent choice for train enthusiasts.
17. Boku no Natsuyasumi
- Platform: PS1, PS2, PSP
As the title implies, in “My Summer Vacation” as an elementary school student you go to the countryside to enjoy the summer vacation with family and friends. You can simply waste time just taking a walk in the village, catching insects, or playing in the river. Unfortunately so far there is no English translation of any of the games.
18. Crayon Shin-chan: Ora to Hakase no Natsuyasumi
- Platform: Switch
Developed by the developer of Boku no Natsuyasumi, Millennium Kitchen, we don't just follow Shin-chan and his family to enjoy their vacation in Kyushu. After Shin-chan got a strange camera from a professor, he saw the appearance of a giant monster, plus the people in Kyushu looked just like his friends from the city. What is the mystery behind his adventure this time?
19. Natsuiro High School: Seishun Hakusho
- Platform: PS3, PS4
Or also known as Natsuiro Haisukuruâ Seishun Hakusho ~Tenkou Shonichi no Ore ga Osananajimi to Saikai shitara Houdoubuin ni Sarete ite Gekisha Shounen no Hibi wa Sukuupu Dairenpatsu de Igai to Motemote nanoni Nazeka Mai Memori wa Pantsu Shashin Bakkari toiu Genjitsu to Mukiainagara Kangaeru Hitonatsu no Shima no Gakuen Seikatsu to Sekirarana Koi no Yukue (my God, that’s a mouthful), this is one of the few titles out there that features a “school-themed open-world” genre.
Here you take on the role of a high school student on the fictional island of Yumegashima in Japan who joins a press club. But you have a secret task: which is to take pictures (sorry) of the girls' panties. However be careful, if your actions are caught you can be taken to the counseling guidance room or arrested by the police!
If you want to know what the title means, it is pretty much this: Natsuiro Haisukuruâ Seishun Hakusho
(Summertime High School: A Young Man's Notes) - How a New Exchange Student Like Myself Ran Into His Childhood Friend on the School Tour, Then for Some Reason Became Super-Popular with the Girls for His Daily Scoops on the School Photography Club Even Though He Only Takes Panty Shots, and What He Thinks as He Goes on Dates During His Summer of Island School Life.
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Written by Sidharta F. Rasidi: Twitter @StoPlayinGame
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