No matter what era one dives into, they are always going to find games exclusive to certain regions. Japan is the most notorious of which and many decisions make sense. Why release a tie-in to a property, like an anime, outside of Japan when that thing is also not in the West and or just not popular?
There are cases like that that gamers can get behind, but then there are games held behind the Japanese curtain that don’t make sense. Square Enix, as one example, had some awesome-looking games on the PS2 that still remain exclusive. So, let’s take a deep dive and see what the West has been missing all these years.
10 Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special
This is a very strange crossover that started on the PS2 and went on to spawn a PSP and PS4 sequel. When Square and Enix merged, fans drooled at the idea of their flagship franchises, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, merging together for a Kingdom Hearts style crossover RPG. This still hasn’t happened and fans were instead treated to this Monopoly like RPG. It is a weird combo, but actually fun.
9 Dragon Quest: Shonen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon
Another Dragon Quest title missing on the PS2 is this Mystery Dungeon spinoff starring Yangus from Dragon Quest VIII. It’s actually a prequel to that game starring a younger version of the character. It, and the other Mystery Dungeon games, are roguelike dungeon crawlers. The West did receive an earlier edition of this franchise which starred Toriko from Dragon Quest IV.
8 Front Mission 5: Scars of the War
Front Mission has had a weird history in the West. Front Mission 3, Front Mission 4, and the DS remake of the first game were all localized. That made it seem like this series was finally all going to come to the West, but this game did not. It sort of broke the trend for awhile. For those unaware, the core titles in this franchise are grid based, tactical RPGs. They are like Final Fantasy Tactics but with mechs.
7 Fullmetal Alchemist 3: Kami o Tsugu Shojo
Funnily enough, the other two Fullmetal Alchemist action RPGs on PS2 from Square Enix did release in the West.
It might actually be surprising to find out there was a third game that never crossed over. This is more shocking considering that those two games, while not the highest reviewed titles, were still pretty fun for licensed based anime tie-ins. This game probably didn’t get localized because it was a late release on PS2.
6 Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero
Hanjuku Hero is an RPG series that started on the NES, or in this case, the Famicom in Japan. None of these titles ever made it to the West including this and another PS2 entry, Hanjuku Hero Tai 3D. They are kind of like parodies in a similar vein to EarthBound with a dash of Paper Mario’s stage presence. Why none of these games were even tested outside of Japan is beyond anyone’s guess.
5 World Fantasista
Another sports title developed and publishing by Square Enix was World Fantasista. It is a soccer game, another sport that was definitely more niche during the PS2 era for the West. Soccer is still not that popular in the West, but it is getting bigger. Western trends aside, more companies used to make Soccer games in Japan because of how popular it was, and still is, as a global sport.
4 Gekikuukan Pro Yakyuu: At the End of the Century 1999
Baseball was, and again still is, another common genre a lot of Japanese companies dip their toes into. And yes, this game was both developed and published by Square Enix. The only difference is that this sport is indeed popular in the West. More so than soccer at least, but not many baseball games do ever cross over seas for whatever reason. It’s hard to beat the dedication of official MLB games over here apparently.
3 All Star Pro-Wrestling
Square Enix has dabbled with not one wrestling game, but three in this exact series. All Star Pro-Wrestling was actually developed and published by them.
In terms of the genre, most games that Western fans were treated to were more official entries from WWE. Japan’s pro scene was a bit more niche during this era.
2 Front Mission: Online
As the game might suggest, this was an online-centered Front Mission game. It was an MMO shooter. This was not the first action title in the series and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Even though Final Fantasy XI was doing well on the PS2’s online infrastructure, Square Enix never brought this over for unknown reasons. It was probably the same reason why they didn’t bring over Front Mission 5 too.
1 Heavy Metal Thunder
Heavy Metal Thunder is like a visual novel crossed with a fighting game that is also turn-based. That’s a lot of genres in one. The oddity of the story and gameplay, not to mention the less than stellar sales and average reviews, were no doubt the reason this never made it out of Japan. It’s a weird treat to stumble upon, but not necessarily one of the most prized treasures Square Enix ever published.