10 Japanese Video Games That Will Never Be Released In The West

Released in 2004, Before Crisis is a prequel to Final Fantasy VII, and was considered a critical and commercial success upon its release. It features real-time combat and side-scrolling, and takes place six prior to the events of Final Fantasy VII. In the game, players take on the role of Turks, covert operatives tasked with infiltrating and neutralising various threats to the Shinra Electric Power Company, which most includes rebel fighters.

Given the popularity of the franchise in Japan, Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII was unsurprisingly a success, attracting over 200,000 unique users. Since then, the game has gone on to cultivate a significant following, and was praised profusely for its visuals and design. It was one of the highest-selling games in the year of its release, and has continued to be one of the highest-selling mobile games of all time. As a result, the game has been generally accepted as part of the larger expanded universe of the series, and continues to garner a considerable degree of praise over in Japan.

So, why wasn’t it released anywhere else? Well, in comparison to America or Europe, Japan is relatively advanced, technologically speaking. In 2004, Western devices were incapable of running the game proficiently, and were therefore denied its release. Since then, the demand for the game has decreased significantly, and its audience has all but dried up. It would still achieve a degree of success, but perhaps not enough.