#oneaday Day 364: Asia English

I find the growth of "Asia English" releases kind of fascinating, because it's gradually becoming a synonym for "niche interest, limited run".

I say this after Play-Asia announced earlier today that they had opened preorders for a physical release of the Atelier Dusk Trilogy for Switch — something that Koei Tecmo fans have been clamouring for for quite some time now.

One small snag for some people: it's $89.99, which seems like a lot of money for a relatively no-frills physical release. However, it's important to remember what this package is offering: three separate, distinct games that are all fairly substantial in terms of content and length, and which will almost certainly be at least $29.99 when they're released digitally in January. They might even be more than that; I believe the Arland Trilogy was about £34.99 per game when it released, so if Dusk is priced similarly, that $89.99 is actually a reasonable saving.

I've grabbed a copy because I'm one of the people who has been asking Koei Tecmo for a physical release of these games for some time now. I have all the original PS3 versions on my shelf, but knowing that the enhanced and expanded "Plus" versions are out there, I've been holding off playing them. And to date, only one of the "Plus" versions has had a packaged release: Atelier Shallie, which is the last of the trilogy.

I understand why some people might baulk at the idea of $89.99 for "one" packaged release, but do bear in mind what you're getting for that price in this case.

I feel like the price might also reflect the fact that this is always going to be a niche-interest limited run for people like me who try to avoid digital-only whenever possible, and that's why I say Asia English releases are kind of feeling like that pokey little shop down a dark alleyway that only a few people know about, but where you can find some of the coolest stuff imaginable.

Asia English has, to date, been a way to get around overzealous censorship of titles like Omega Labyrinth (and I imagine Bullet Girls Phantasia wouldn't have gone down well either) as well as a means of acquiring English language releases that, for one reason or another, Western arms of publishers don't feel will sell well over here.

And maybe they won't. Which is why I'm grateful that Asian publishers appear to have no qualms about releasing something that may only sell a few hundred or thousand copies. It means I can keep my shelves well-stocked with games that I like — and over time, that collection will become increasingly unusual and unique when compared to other people with more mainstream tastes in games!

So, well, it looks like I'll have a copy of the Atelier Dusk Trilogy on my shelf towards the end of January. Just in time to write about it!