Japanese Games Early 2024
Image: Push Square

We think 2024 is already shaping up to be another ridiculous year for gaming, but more specifically, early 2024 now looks utterly insane if you happen to enjoy Japanese games in particular. Now obviously, 'Japanese games' is an incredibly broad term, but Japanese publishers really do seem hellbent on releasing all of their projects before the end of this fiscal year.

From January through to the end of March, there are currently ten fairly high profile Japanese titles locked in — and another one (Dragon's Dogma 2) heavily rumoured to release within that window.

Here's what the current release schedule looks like (and again, this is only Japanese games on PlayStation platforms):

That initial eight-day period, running from the 25th January to the 2nd February, is crazy. That's seven games launching just days apart from one another, and it's not like they're all 'smaller' titles. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, Tekken 8, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and Persona 3 Reload will all be vying for high review scores and a fair amount of time in the spotlight — but the competition is truly fierce. (And on that note, isn't it mad that SEGA's pushing two huge RPGs less than a week apart?)

Thankfully, the schedule is a little more broken up as we head towards Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth at the end of February — probably the heaviest hitter of this whole list. But even then, you've got Vanillaware's fantastic looking Unicorn Overlord just over a week later, followed closely by the potentially incredible Dragon's Dogma 2 (supposedly).

Is it just an amazing time to be a fan of Japanese games, or should these release dates really be a lot more spread out? Which titles are you looking forward to, and which will you be forced to prioritise? Vote in our poll, and then apologise to your wallet in advance in the comments section below.

Which Japanese games are you looking forward to in early 2024? (Select all that apply) (2,572 votes)

  1. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy4%
  2. Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes]  0.7%
  3. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth16%
  4. Tekken 89%
  5. Granblue Fantasy: Relink8%
  6. Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash  0.9%
  7. Persona 3 Reload14%
  8. Trails of Cold Steel III / Trails of Cold Steel IV3%
  9. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth24%
  10. Unicorn Overlord7%
  11. Dragon's Dogma 214%