Was this year's TGS the most disappointing ever?

[stroopwafel]

This year's TGS was really the final proof for me that the Japanese games industry has lost all of its relevance. I mean, it's known that console sales are at an all time low in Japan but now they don't even bother anymore to develop games that would cater to western audiences. It's all just animoe inspired garbage for phones and ps vita that Sony themselves already declared dead.

As someone who grew up on Japanese games and played them all through the 80's and 90's and early 00's(and from my top 10 favorite games probably 9 of them being Japanese) it's hard to accept that their moment of glory has come and gone even if the writing has been on the wall for like the last 8 years. Also I know E3 press conferences are lame and awkward but my god seeing some Japanese coporate drone in his senior years and completely out of touch with his audience mumble the script of his marketing department and losing track of his own words adds a whole new level of embarrassing.

But it's probably also exemplary of the Japanese games industry as a whole. All of the passion and creativity is gone in favor of a cheap money scheme on smartphones that get produced with the enthusiasm of a bowel movement. Konami in a way can be seen as representative of the Japanese games industry as a whole. An industry run by douchebag CEO's that shit on creativity, talent and passion.

I know there is some light at the end of the tunnel. From Software seems to be the last truly great Japanese developer and with Miyazaki as president that seems unlikely to change(though it still remains to be seen how much Kadokawa might infringe on them in the future). And there are ofcourse some titles on the 'horizon' like FF7 Remake and RE2 Remake, but if you consider FF15 has been in development for like 10 years and is only 60% finished or games like Last Guardian going in and out of coma then..yeah.

Japan in general seems to have gone in full retreat as an increasingly insular culture. And my god does it show in their 'games'.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Heck, I didn't even realize it had happened this year until it was over already. But then I also wasn't anticipating it much either.

I don't even know what, if any, big news came out of TGS this year. I mean, was there even any?

 

[DefunctTheory]

I know there is some light at the end of the tunnel. From Software seems to be the last truly great Japanese developer and with Miyazaki as president that seems unlikely to change(though it still remains to be seen how much Kadokawa might infringe on them in the future). And there are ofcourse some titles on the 'horizon' like FF7 Remake and RE2 Remake, but if you consider FF15 has been in development for like 10 years and is only 60% finished or games like Last Guardian going in and out of coma then..yeah.

Wouldn't remakes and re-releases be part of the problem, not a good thing? Since, by there definition, they're stale and old? Game like FF15, regardless how long they take to make, should be the desired game I would think - Something new, something that obviously got a lot of time, and something that, from all accounts, seems to have gotten a lot of loved from those who are making it.

And are you sure the entire Japanese gaming market is collapsing into national stereotypes, or are you just looking at the Japanese version of the uninspired chaffe that the US produces on a near constant basis?

As for TGS... its been rendered a regional convention. These things happen, much like how E3 used to be the one and all show in the US, but now has to compete with several PAXs, which are to some people vastly more important and whos influence in the industry continues to grow. Its just the cycle of things.

I don't even know what, if any, big news came out of TGS this year. I mean, was there even any?

I don't know about 'big news,' but it seems there was some good stuff us poor Westerners might like that was showed. The only thing I saw that really interested me was the new Phoenix Wright though.

 

[stroopwafel]

And are you sure the entire Japanese gaming market is collapsing into national stereotypes, or are you just looking at the Japanese version of the uninspired chaffe that the US produces on a near constant basis?

TGS used to be the Japanese equivalent to E3, and while you might argue E3 has gone down in years there is always some news or some game to get excited about. Heck even Final Fantasy 7 Remake was announced there. TGS had absolutely nothing. And for the record I find no enjoyment in that whatsoever as I'd rather be looking forward to some awesome Japanese games. Sad truth is that TGS has become a low-budget tradeshow for smartphone garbage for the Asian market. And that is where the current Japanese games industry resides at.

 

[seventy two]

Sad truth is that TGS has become a low-budget tradeshow for smartphone garbage for the Asian market. And that is where the current Japanese games industry resides at.

I would argue that this is just the result of companies realizing the value of the global market and that it it likely to announce things to as large an audience as possible. The result is that games presented at Japan-centric trade-shows, are those games that do primarily target the Japanese market tend to appeal to that market, which has a more mobile focus. That does not mean that there are few good Japanese developed games, many games just have reached a point where their international recognition merits presentation to a larger audience.

Was this years' TGS disappointing? Not really sure I rarely followed it in previous years, but have found a few things I am exited about so I wouldn't say it is terrible.

 

[Saltyk]

I kinda always forget about it while it's happening. It never seems to be as big as E3 or even PAX.

Anyway, did Nintendo not even announce anything about the NX? I haven't looked up any coverage, yet, but I was half expecting to hear something on the NX based on rumors that suggest it could be out next Summer or next Winter. I was also expecting Square to have something worth mentioning. They even had a "secret" event planned for today.

 

[Kalikin]

Really? I thought it was a fantastic showing, much less proof that the Japanese industry has lost its relevance. I'll grant that console sales aren't nearly as strong as they once were, but in terms of TGS I've seen a grand total of two articles about mobile games across the entire show period. I'm also confused about your comment on the Vita - is the Vita dead, or are "all" the games for it?

I also couldn't disagree more about the attitudes of Japanese developers. Personally, I buy my games based on how the devs talk about their games. When I watch a lot of Western devs, all I see is businessmen trying to tell you why the game they're making is the single greatest thing ever. Japanese presentations are usually very down-to-earth, heavy on mechanics, and very open about the concepts that have gone into their game's creation - people like Yoko Tarō (Drag-on-Dragoon / Nier director,) who are very open about how their feelings about how something about the world has directly contributed to making a core concept to build their game around.

I think your reference to a "corporate drone" is a shot at Square-Enix's E3 presentation? In which case, yes, that was done very poorly, and while I was watching it I was questioning why Square-Enix stands out among Japanese publishers as being creepily corporate. That said, are we watching these presentations for the marketing, or for the games? In that presentation they announced Nier 2, and showed off the first major trailer for Start Ocean 5 and Kingdom Hearts 3 (I'm not a KH fan myself, but you can't deny it's a very popular franchise internationally.) This was also the show at which they revealed the FFVII remake.

In-keeping with the theme of games, I should probably quantify what games got me so excited if I'm going to say it was a good presentation. I am personally excited for all of these:

Gravity Daze 2 (PS4): I "liked" but didn't love Gravity Daze 1, but the trailer for GD2 looked just beautiful.
Niō (PS4): A warring states period (1600, to be exact) third-person action game from Team Ninja, which incorporates Japanese folklore like Tecmo's Tōkiden did. When I saw the first teaser I immediately thought it looked very Souls, although the gameplay that was later streamed made the differences quite clear. A lot of people have been saying it looks like a spiritual successor to the Onimusha series, though I can't comment since I haven't played them. At the very least it's taken SOME influence from Souls, with sword mounds representing players who have died online, and I thought the general pacing of its combat was a lot like Bloodborne.
Here's the initial teaser:
And here's the NicoNico stream (don't know if there's higher quality floating around):
Tōkiden 2 (PS3/4/Vita): Speaking of Tōkiden, this got a teaser as well. Claims to be an "open world." Given the low-mid budget nature of these games I'm not sure how/how well that's going to work, but I was interested in the first game (but never got to play it.) Interesting that it seems to have the grapple mechanic from Freedom Wars:
Ryū ga Gotoku Kiwami / "Yakuza: Extreme" (PS4): A remake of Ryū ga Gotoku 1, but looking more like 4. Greatly updated visuals, additional scenes and activities. Can't wait. For everyone who won't be able to play it without translation, I think it would make a lot of sense for this game in particular to be released internationally. Not only does Sega have Atlus' expertise in that area, they won't have to worry about the diminishing returns of releasing the nth game in a niche series, since this is the "ultimate" version of the original game, according to the trailer.
Ryū ga Gotoku 6 (PS4): This was announced, but no trailer as far as I know.

Danganronpa V3 (PS4 & Vita): Announced as a new visual novel in line with the first two games. Had this teaser:
Love the humour, with Monokuma chastising Monomi for complaining about not owning a PS4 or Vita despite watching the Sony presentation.
Shingeki no Kyojin (PS3/4/Vita): Can't say I was thrilled about this one being on the Vita, because you'd think that it would hold back the other versions of the game. That said, Tecmo-Kōei has stated that the Vita in a down-port, rather than the lead platform. Given that this is a licensed game, and the developer isn't know for the highest quality games anyway, this is looking better than it really should, if a bit on the slow side.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4 & Vita): Vanillaware's new game. No gameplay yet, but I have yet to categorically dislike one of their games yet. Should also note that TGS had some trailers for the Odin Sphere remake.
Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna (PS4 & Vita): The game that was previously going under the code "Project Setsuna." The name(could, because of ambiguous grammar) means "The Sacrifice, and Setsuna in the Snow," and is a project billed to capture the feeling of old JRPGs. There's only a teaser for it, but I really like the art and the glimpse shown of the battle system. Given S-E's success with Bravely Default, I have little doubt that they're able to succeed with such a project as long as it's given a smaller scope and budget, which this clearly is:
Star Ocean 5 (PS3 & 4): Didn't like Star Ocean 4, personally, and I haven't played any of the others yet, but this has caught my eye because of its very slick presentation. Love the washed out colour pallet, and think they've really nailed the character models, where 4's were lifeless and creepy. This isn't the first we've heard about this, obviously, but it's the first substantive gameplay we've received, and I'm liking it expect for the Skyrim-esque talking sequences. Would much prefer a cutscene if things are going to be that awkward:
In addition to SO5, Tri-Ace also announced they're remastering Star Ocean: Second Evolution for PS4 and Vita, which I'm very happy about, given that none of the SO games are on any of the PSNs.

Exist Archive: (PS4 & Vita): This is looking like a spiritual successor to Valkyrie Profile 1, one of my favourite games, as a collaboration between Spike Chunsoft and Tri-Ace. Not such a fan of the 3D models, but still very excited for this one:
Dragon Quest Builders (PS3/4/Vita): Not much of a Minecraft fan, myself, but that's mostly due to preferring games with obvious goals. Builders looks like it might be able to help with that, and while I'm not sold on it, I'm keeping on eye on it:
Phantasy Star Online 2 (PS4): This has been getting some good write-ups, and like with Yakuza: Extreme, I wouldn't be surprised to see this iteration of the game released outside of Japan, unlike the Vita/PC PSO game.

So, this has turned into a massive post when it really wasn't meant to, so I think I'll leave it here, as I think I've made my point - if you don't like any of these games, fine, but I think it's just false to say the entire Japanese industry is irrelevant now. Especially as I've not listed a lot of games, including some big ones. Dark Souls 3 date and gameplay, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD, Persona 5 gameplay trailer, etc.

 

[NiPah]

Japan in general seems to have gone in full retreat as an increasingly insular culture. And my god does it show in their 'games'.

This kindof strikes me as ironic, calling another culture insular for not making games that are acceptable to the western culture, That's like being so insular that you expect other game makers to ignore their own culture and make only games aimed at your own culture, that's like the next level of insular.

As for TGS several things looked interesting, wasn't the best year but certainly some games showed promise.

 

[Aesir23]

Honestly, some of what you said could also apply to the west as well. How many western developers make games that cater to eastern audiences?

Plus TGS seems to primarily get attention from the Japanese public and so I'm not surprised that they're showing games that are primarily aimed at the Japanese people. While E3 does enjoy a bit more of an international flair you're still going to see mostly games that are geared towards a western audience.

While I didn't realize TGS had happened until it was over, I'm not disappointed at all. Then again, I'm happy for any news regarding FFXV since I've been waiting for that particular entry since 2006 although Star Ocean 5 has piqued my interest as well.

 

[jhoroz]

Really? I thought it was a fantastic showing, much less proof that the Japanese industry has lost its relevance. I'll grant that console sales aren't nearly as strong as they once were, but in terms of TGS I've seen a grand total of two articles about mobile games across the entire show period. I'm also confused about your comment on the Vita - is the Vita dead, or are "all" the games for it?

I also couldn't disagree more about the attitudes of Japanese developers. Personally, I buy my games based on how the devs talk about their games. When I watch a lot of Western devs, all I see is businessmen trying to tell you why the game they're making is the single greatest thing ever. Japanese presentations are usually very down-to-earth, heavy on mechanics, and very open about the concepts that have gone into their game's creation - people like Yoko Tarō (Drag-on-Dragoon / Nier director,) who are very open about how their feelings about how something about the world has directly contributed to making a core concept to build their game around.

I think your reference to a "corporate drone" is a shot at Square-Enix's E3 presentation? In which case, yes, that was done very poorly, and while I was watching it I was questioning why Square-Enix stands out among Japanese publishers as being creepily corporate. That said, are we watching these presentations for the marketing, or for the games? In that presentation they announced Nier 2, and showed off the first major trailer for Start Ocean 5 and Kingdom Hearts 3 (I'm not a KH fan myself, but you can't deny it's a very popular franchise internationally.) This was also the show at which they revealed the FFVII remake.

In-keeping with the theme of games, I should probably quantify what games got me so excited if I'm going to say it was a good presentation. I am personally excited for all of these:

Gravity Daze 2 (PS4): I "liked" but didn't love Gravity Daze 1, but the trailer for GD2 looked just beautiful.
Niō (PS4): A warring states period (1600, to be exact) third-person action game from Team Ninja, which incorporates Japanese folklore like Tecmo's Tōkiden did. When I saw the first teaser I immediately thought it looked very Souls, although the gameplay that was later streamed made the differences quite clear. A lot of people have been saying it looks like a spiritual successor to the Onimusha series, though I can't comment since I haven't played them. At the very least it's taken SOME influence from Souls, with sword mounds representing players who have died online, and I thought the general pacing of its combat was a lot like Bloodborne.
Here's the initial teaser:
And here's the NicoNico stream (don't know if there's higher quality floating around):
Tōkiden 2 (PS3/4/Vita): Speaking of Tōkiden, this got a teaser as well. Claims to be an "open world." Given the low-mid budget nature of these games I'm not sure how/how well that's going to work, but I was interested in the first game (but never got to play it.) Interesting that it seems to have the grapple mechanic from Freedom Wars:
Ryū ga Gotoku Kiwami / "Yakuza: Extreme" (PS4): A remake of Ryū ga Gotoku 1, but looking more like 4. Greatly updated visuals, additional scenes and activities. Can't wait. For everyone who won't be able to play it without translation, I think it would make a lot of sense for this game in particular to be released internationally. Not only does Sega have Atlus' expertise in that area, they won't have to worry about the diminishing returns of releasing the nth game in a niche series, since this is the "ultimate" version of the original game, according to the trailer.
Ryū ga Gotoku 6 (PS4): This was announced, but no trailer as far as I know.

Danganronpa V3 (PS4 & Vita): Announced as a new visual novel in line with the first two games. Had this teaser:
Love the humour, with Monokuma chastising Monomi for complaining about not owning a PS4 or Vita despite watching the Sony presentation.
Shingeki no Kyojin (PS3/4/Vita): Can't say I was thrilled about this one being on the Vita, because you'd think that it would hold back the other versions of the game. That said, Tecmo-Kōei has stated that the Vita in a down-port, rather than the lead platform. Given that this is a licensed game, and the developer isn't know for the highest quality games anyway, this is looking better than it really should, if a bit on the slow side.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4 & Vita): Vanillaware's new game. No gameplay yet, but I have yet to categorically dislike one of their games yet. Should also note that TGS had some trailers for the Odin Sphere remake.
Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna (PS4 & Vita): The game that was previously going under the code "Project Setsuna." The name(could, because of ambiguous grammar) means "The Sacrifice, and Setsuna in the Snow," and is a project billed to capture the feeling of old JRPGs. There's only a teaser for it, but I really like the art and the glimpse shown of the battle system. Given S-E's success with Bravely Default, I have little doubt that they're able to succeed with such a project as long as it's given a smaller scope and budget, which this clearly is:
Star Ocean 5 (PS3 & 4): Didn't like Star Ocean 4, personally, and I haven't played any of the others yet, but this has caught my eye because of its very slick presentation. Love the washed out colour pallet, and think they've really nailed the character models, where 4's were lifeless and creepy. This isn't the first we've heard about this, obviously, but it's the first substantive gameplay we've received, and I'm liking it expect for the Skyrim-esque talking sequences. Would much prefer a cutscene if things are going to be that awkward:
In addition to SO5, Tri-Ace also announced they're remastering Star Ocean: Second Evolution for PS4 and Vita, which I'm very happy about, given that none of the SO games are on any of the PSNs.

Exist Archive: (PS4 & Vita): This is looking like a spiritual successor to Valkyrie Profile 1, one of my favourite games, as a collaboration between Spike Chunsoft and Tri-Ace. Not such a fan of the 3D models, but still very excited for this one:
Dragon Quest Builders (PS3/4/Vita): Not much of a Minecraft fan, myself, but that's mostly due to preferring games with obvious goals. Builders looks like it might be able to help with that, and while I'm not sold on it, I'm keeping on eye on it:
Phantasy Star Online 2 (PS4): This has been getting some good write-ups, and like with Yakuza: Extreme, I wouldn't be surprised to see this iteration of the game released outside of Japan, unlike the Vita/PC PSO game.

So, this has turned into a massive post when it really wasn't meant to, so I think I'll leave it here, as I think I've made my point - if you don't like any of these games, fine, but I think it's just false to say the entire Japanese industry is irrelevant now. Especially as I've not listed a lot of games, including some big ones. Dark Souls 3 date and gameplay, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD, Persona 5 gameplay trailer, etc.

Came into this thread to reply whether or not the OP and I saw the same press conference but your post nailed it out of the park. TGS wasn't mindblowing but there were plenty of interesting games shown (most of which you covered). I haven't really watched TGS before, but if a majority of it is trying to cater to Western audiences, I have E3 for that. I also find it hilarious how he's bashing the show for focusing on new Vita titles considering how many fans of the Vita have complained about a lack luster Vita library. Seems more like a conflict of interests than a lack of interesting things. And I'm a fan of From Software, but can people loosen their mouths around their balls? There are plenty of other interesting Japanese game developers besides them. And their immediate jump into a new Souls game instead of developing a new IP is slightly dissapointing, I'm not gonna lie.

 

[VanQ]

I sat through the entire Bandai Namco iDOLM@STER segment hoping for an iM@S3 announcement and didn't get it. So yes, it was a very disappointing TGS for me.

 

[Kalikin]

Came into this thread to reply whether or not the OP and I saw the same press conference but your post nailed it out of the park. TGS wasn't mindblowing but there were plenty of interesting games shown (most of which you covered). I haven't really watched TGS before, but if a majority of it is trying to cater to Western audiences, I have E3 for that. I also find it hilarious how he's bashing the show for focusing on new Vita titles considering how many fans of the Vita have complained about a lack luster Vita library. Seems more like a conflict of interests than a lack of interesting things. And I'm a fan of From Software, but can people loosen their mouths around their balls? There are plenty of other interesting Japanese game developers besides them. And their immediate jump into a new Souls game instead of developing a new IP is slightly dissapointing, I'm not gonna lie.

I was wondering whether I should even bother to post, just because there's a clue about the OP's attitude right up front in their post: "animoe inspired garbage." Not that I want to claim that people HAVE to like the look that a lot of Japanese pop media has, but I think it's unfortunate that a lot of people can't seem to "see past" the art, as though they have an unshakable opinion about some kind of necessary relationship between the art and the content, which is clearly buying into the narrative of Japan as a nation of incurable perverts.

But, on inspection of the titles I linked, I think the only one that could possibly be classed as that would be Phantasy Star Online 2, just because of some of the outfits you can get, but then that's no different from most Western MMOs and MoBAs (and again, I don't want to say that because the West does it it's okay for Japan, but it would be hypocritical to say "sexy" versions of female armour is a racial or national problem specific to Japan, if you indeed think it's a problem.) And the selection isn't even all "anime" - the titles draw from a range of Japanese pop media. Niō is period drama, and Ryū ga Gotoku is Yakuza cinema.

I also find it really interesting how many people have latched onto From Software as the saviour of Japanese gaming. Not to sell the Souls series short, Dark Souls 1 is far and away my favourite game. But again it's like it's a matter of the art style - people say that Dark Souls is a very "Western" game, but in fact it's a very Japanese one. Many people just have it in their head that "animoe garbage" is the one essential Japan, and anything else is clearly taken from elsewhere.

But, going back to games - I've been really happy with what I've seen of Dark Souls 3. Ever since playing Bloodborne what I've wanted is a Dark Souls game that takes to heart some of the developments made in Bloodborne. I'm especially liking the new enemy animation system that doesn't just let players circle strafe enemies trying to reorient themselves (and unlike DS2, isn't just enemies rotating on spot.) I think that DS3 would be a good place to end that particular series, and the studio can move onto some other themes and genres. Would love a Tenchū game from Miyzaki. Maybe using something along the lines of the predatory stealth from Kojima's original, failed, Metal Gear Rising... At any rate, I know they've promised that DS3 is going to be a turning point for the studio in terms of genre, so we'll no doubt see what they're up to before long.

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

Came into this thread to reply whether or not the OP and I saw the same press conference but your post nailed it out of the park. TGS wasn't mindblowing but there were plenty of interesting games shown (most of which you covered). I haven't really watched TGS before, but if a majority of it is trying to cater to Western audiences, I have E3 for that. I also find it hilarious how he's bashing the show for focusing on new Vita titles considering how many fans of the Vita have complained about a lack luster Vita library. Seems more like a conflict of interests than a lack of interesting things. And I'm a fan of From Software, but can people loosen their mouths around their balls? There are plenty of other interesting Japanese game developers besides them. And their immediate jump into a new Souls game instead of developing a new IP is slightly dissapointing, I'm not gonna lie.

I was wondering whether I should even bother to post, just because there's a clue about the OP's attitude right up front in their post: "animoe inspired garbage." Not that I want to claim that people HAVE to like the look that a lot of Japanese pop media has, but I think it's unfortunate that a lot of people can't seem to "see past" the art, as though they have an unshakable opinion about some kind of necessary relationship between the art and the content, which is clearly buying into the narrative of Japan as a nation of incurable perverts.

But, on inspection of the titles I linked, I think the only one that could possibly be classed as that would be Phantasy Star Online 2, just because of some of the outfits you can get, but then that's no different from most Western MMOs and MoBAs (and again, I don't want to say that because the West does it it's okay for Japan, but it would be hypocritical to say "sexy" versions of female armour is a racial or national problem specific to Japan, if you indeed think it's a problem.) And the selection isn't even all "anime" - the titles draw from a range of Japanese pop media. Niō is period drama, and Ryū ga Gotoku is Yakuza cinema.

I also find it really interesting how many people have latched onto From Software as the saviour of Japanese gaming. Not to sell the Souls series short, Dark Souls 1 is far and away my favourite game. But again it's like it's a matter of the art style - people say that Dark Souls is a very "Western" game, but in fact it's a very Japanese one. Many people just have it in their head that "animoe garbage" is the one essential Japan, and anything else is clearly taken from elsewhere.

But, going back to games - I've been really happy with what I've seen of Dark Souls 3. Ever since playing Bloodborne what I've wanted is a Dark Souls game that takes to heart some of the developments made in Bloodborne. I'm especially liking the new enemy animation system that doesn't just let players circle strafe enemies trying to reorient themselves (and unlike DS2, isn't just enemies rotating on spot.) I think that DS3 would be a good place to end that particular series, and the studio can move onto some other themes and genres. Would love a Tenchū game from Miyzaki. Maybe using something along the lines of the predatory stealth from Kojima's original, failed, Metal Gear Rising... At any rate, I know they've promised that DS3 is going to be a turning point for the studio in terms of genre, so we'll no doubt see what they're up to before long.

One problem is the only thing that have a chance of localization are anime inspired panty quests the press here loathes. I mean we arent gonna get the latest DQ beyond a musou spinoff. If this isnt a sign of Japan losing relevance then I need to keep digging.

 

[jhoroz]

One problem is the only thing that have a chance of localization are anime inspired panty quests the press here loathes.

Wow-this is the exact type of asinine pigenoholing that makes me doubt people actually watched TGS. Kalikin posted plenty of examples of games that are getting localized which ARE NOT "anime inspired panty quests"

 

[Kalikin]

One problem is the only thing that have a chance of localization are anime inspired panty quests the press here loathes. I mean we arent gonna get the latest DQ beyond a musou spinoff. If this isnt a sign of Japan losing relevance then I need to keep digging.

Most of the games I listed in my first post have either already been confirmed for an international English release, or are just highly likely to have such a release announced when a release date can be confirmed.

Gravity Daze 2 is a Sony Japan Studio game, so that's a given.
Tecmo-Kōei localises (albeit halfheartedly) pretty much all of their games, so that's a good bet for Niō, Tōkiden 2, and Shingeki no Kyojin. You could pretty much guarantee those games anyway, given that Tōkiden 1 got an international release, Shingeki no Kyojin was revealed at Gamescom, and the bulk of the Souls series' sales have been outside of Japan (It's still very popular in Japan, but consider the relative audience size of "Japan" versus "not Japan") and Niō is looking similar to that.
Ryū ga Gotoku Kiwami would make sense for an international release, like I mentioned in my big post. Even more so because, even if Sega doesn't want to take the risk, Sony's stepped in to localise 5 due to overwhelming fan demand - even if it's a niche series outside of Japan, it's a title that will sell consoles.
All three previous Danganronpa games have been released outside of Japan, and has a dedicated cult following pretty much everywhere.
Vanillaware relies on the international market for their games.
Star Ocean 5 has already been confirmed for PS4 outside Japan.
With the success of Bravely Default I'm sure S-E will have no issues releasing their new throw-back RPG outside Japan.
Exist Archive is a bit more dicey, but even Spike Chunsoft's super budget games like Conception have received English releases, so a new Tri-Ace game has to be a pretty good bet, right?
S-E has said fairly recently that they're using Dragon Quest Heroes as a gauge for whether the West wants more Dragon Quest (which seems like a bad idea to me given the dubious overlap in audience), so at least they're considering other Dragon Quest titles. Possibly not Builders, but certainly XI.
PSO2 again has a pretty good chance of localisation. Sega seemed committed to the title on Vita for a long time, but was possibly scared off by its low sales. Seems like the PS4 might be a better fit for them to release it on.

At the end of the day, though, I guess "relevance" is a term that only makes sense in relation to some other thing. If you define a game as relevant only if it gets translated into English and is similar to games made natively in English, you're bound to miss out on a lot (even if I still think Japan is distributing some great games internationally); any culture has a face that is readily available to anyone willing to look, but it will only be revealed as a space with depth if you're able to engage with it in its own language, on its own terms. When the country does in fact develop so many games, discounting their entire industry is like saying they don't have a literary tradition outside certain big canonical authors because you can't read Japanese.

 

[stroopwafel]

Nioh looks pretty cool, and I wish Yakuza Remake and 'Setsuna in the snow' would make it over, but if this was the best of TGS then..really? Again, I wouldn't be so disappointed if Japanese developers weren't so legendary during the NES and the SNES and the PS1 and 2 eras. Japan was at the cutting-edge when it came to videogames for decades and the games in your list hardly prove to me they are still in that position.

At the end of the day, though, I guess "relevance" is a term that only makes sense in relation to some other thing. If you define a game as relevant only if it gets translated into English and is similar to games made natively in English, you're bound to miss out on a lot (even if I still think Japan is distributing some great games internationally); any culture has a face that is readily available to anyone willing to look, but it will only be revealed as a space with depth if you're able to engage with it in its own language, on its own terms. When the country does in fact develop so many games, discounting their entire industry is like saying they don't have a literary tradition outside certain big canonical authors because you can't read Japanese.

This has nothing to do with me not understanding Japanese, but everything with Japan having moved away from consoles. And the industry itself doing absolutely nothing(ok Team Ninja makes another game) to turn the tide. Infact they seem more than content moving to mobile games. But hey, if those games look exciting to you than great I guess.

 

[Kalikin]

Nioh looks pretty cool, and I wish Yakuza Remake and 'Setsuna in the snow' would make it over, but if this was the best of TGS then..really? Again, I wouldn't be so disappointed if Japanese developers weren't so legendary during the NES and the SNES and the PS1 and 2 eras. Japan was at the cutting-edge when it came to videogames for decades and the games in your list hardly prove to me they are still in that position.

Just to be clear, I'm not claiming that the Japanese games industry is "cutting-edge," most certainly not in terms of technology. It's become such a cliche to talk about the rising cost of game development that I roll my eyes every time someone brings it up as though it were new information, but I think it can bear to be repeated in the context of this discussion: undeniably, the Japanese console game market has been shrinking, due in part to encroaching mobile games (a trend I hate, because of the platform specs, the content of those games, and the monetisation strategies) and a major economic downturn which has turned into stagnation bad enough to get its own label (the "lost two decades.") Japan is also at a major disadvantage on the world stage when it comes to its media in any format - American pop culture is pretty much universal, and English is the world's lingua franca, so something made for "Westerners" barely needs alteration to be acceptable internationally, and you can expect Anglo norms and references to be acceptable pretty much anywhere, giving games made in English a much, much broader potential audience. Simple facts about the world prevent Japan from being at the cutting edge of game technology - it's not a matter of theoretical potential, or a sudden lack of talent.

But, what I did take issue with in your initial post were the claims that Japan doesn't put anything out that isn't "animoe inspired garbage," and that their industry isn't relevant.

For a long time I've thought that Japan's industry has been at its best with its mid-budget games, from companies like Atlus and nowadays Platinum and From Software (can't say I liked any of their pre-Souls games.) The mid-budget game has almost entirely disappeared from the Western market, I think because those games that were mid-budget in the PS2 era would try to ape the best of the best. They would eschew more interesting mechanics and interactions trying to live up to AAA expectations, but fail, leaving a game that did no one thing well. Japanese mid-budget games didn't often try to go that route, and would instead double down on a core concept and core interaction to do well. And I think with a few notable exceptions like MGSV, this is still where Japan exceeds, and where their industry is still relevant.

I know I'm not alone in preferring an experience that is narrow but deep like a Disgaea game over one that's broad and shallow like Skyrim (though those games clearly have their place, and I still enjoy them from time to time even though they aren't my main.) While I do buy the odd AAA Western game (This year I greatly enjoyed Witcher 3 and Alien: Isolation,) aside from Japanese games I mostly consume notable indie games, because these are made with the same ethos of doubling down on the core interaction, throwing away the extraneous parts.

But I definitely can't stand games with massively bloated budgets that try to please everyone. I remember watching my flatmate play Assassin's Creed: Revelations last year, and he was in combat with an enemy but literally could not die because his health would regenerate faster than that lone enemy would attack him. I will admit it's a bit extreme of an example, but that's exactly what AAA gaming means to me. I'd take Japan's games that are creative but not on the cutting edge any day.