After spending much of this decade catching up with the rest of the world, the Japanese games industry is truly back, and PC gamers have been reaping the rewards of this renaissance. It s taken time for Japanese developers and publishers to get on board, especially with consoles and smartphones remaining the dominant gaming platforms in their native country. But as classic console franchises finally make their Steam debuts, with better-late-than-never ports coming with full-fat optimisation options to give you the definitive experience, there really has been never a better time to be a Japanese-loving PC player.

As the Tokyo Game Show takes place this week, here s 10 of the best and most significant Japanese games you need installed, whether it s to immerse yourself in world-class game design, get a taste of classic console gaming history or Japanese culture, or, yes, if you just like the look of anime. (more…)

It took six blooming years for Valkyria Chronicles to appear on PC – it was worth the wait – so we should be expecting Valkyria Chronicles 4 to arrive in 2024. But no! It s launching on PC a lot sooner than that, on September 25, the same day it releases on consoles. Well, that s a relief. The world probably won t be here in 2024.

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Sega have confirmed that Valkyria Chronicles 4, the next game in their squad-based tactical RPG series set in a fantasy-tinged alternate world’s kinda-sorta-WW2, is indeed coming to PC too. Once again we’ll form a squad of BFFs, rumble along with our tank, get into all sorts of drama, and fight battles in a system that combines turn-based and real-time action. Previously Sega had only announced VC4 for console but I had expected this news, considering the original Valkyria Chronicles proved so popular when it finally got a PC release in 2014. Good, good. (more…)