PC-FX Games

[Retronick]

I just got a PC-FX for Christmas this year and was wondering if anyone here could recommend some games for it.

I know the console is EXTREMELY Japanese and has an impressive library of JRPGs, adventure games, and loads of hentai-themed adventures. I'm just trying to find something I can grasp as a native English speaker, or at least something that's engaging with an English translation available online.

Any help is appreciated.

[Kiddo]

If you need any help learning how to play Battle Heat or Tengai Makyo Karakuri Kakutoden, you can ask me. Most of the other games that require no Japanese knowledge whatsoever have become highly collectible, such as Chip Chan Kick, Zenki FX, and Zeroigar.

In terms of eroge content; the PC-FX version of Pia Carrot has a fan translation and I recommend seeking it out as currently it's the only complete fan translation on the PC-FX (although the group's working on Ah! Megami-Sama and Team Innocent, so it seems, so it may not be for long.). I actually originally got my PC-FX specifically to play this fan translation and ended up learning how to play Battle Heat while I struggled to get it to work.

You could probably also play Der Langrisser FX to some extent using the SFC Version's fan translation as a basis for guidance.

[Aussie2B]

If you're looking for games with almost no Japanese text, you're not going to find many. There's basically:

Battle Heat, Tengai Makyo, and Queen of Queens (FMV fighting games and kind of tricky to figure out)
Chip-chan Kick (Bubble Bobble-style game; its lolicon angle is kind of creepy, but it's not actually pornographic in any way)
Zeroigar (vertical shmup)
Zenki (beat 'em up)

There's also a baseball game (but I don't know how much text you have to wade through), and some various mahjong, card, pachinko, etc. type games that you may be able to play.

But, honestly, many of the games are playable if have a little patience for some trial and error. If you're already a player of strategy RPGs, you should know their conventions and that they tend to be pretty straightforward. You could play through Farland Story, Der Langrisser, Power Dolls, etc. Same goes for many of the traditional RPGs (although some of them are kind of obtuse, like Blue Breaker). If you like side-scrolling adventure games, you should check out Last Imperial Prince and Ruruli Ra Rura.

Check GameFAQs for FAQs. There are some games that have.

Oh, and the whole "loads of hentai games" thing is just a stereotype that the system has. It's actually not true. The PC-FX has a library of about 60 games, and only about 10 are hentai. Not that those aren't worth playing. Pia Carrot is a very good dating sim/visual novel. Check out the fan translation. You can burn a disc with the translation and play it right on your PC-FX.

[Retronick]

If you need any help learning how to play Battle Heat or Tengai Makyo Karakuri Kakutoden, you can ask me. Most of the other games that require no Japanese knowledge whatsoever have become highly collectible, such as Chip Chan Kick, Zenki FX, and Zeroigar.

In terms of eroge content; the PC-FX version of Pia Carrot has a fan translation and I recommend seeking it out as currently it's the only complete fan translation on the PC-FX (although the group's working on Ah! Megami-Sama and Team Innocent, so it seems, so it may not be for long.). I actually originally got my PC-FX specifically to play this fan translation and ended up learning how to play Battle Heat while I struggled to get it to work.

You could probably also play Der Langrisser FX to some extent using the SFC Version's fan translation as a basis for guidance.

Excellent! Thanks for the recommendations. The Gay Gamer was also recommended Chip Chan Kick. I'm going to try and seek out that fan translation of Pia Carrot as well.

[Retronick]

If you're looking for games with almost no Japanese text, you're not going to find many. There's basically:

Battle Heat, Tengai Makyo, and Queen of Queens (FMV fighting games and kind of tricky to figure out)
Chip-chan Kick (Bubble Bobble-style game; its lolicon angle is kind of creepy, but it's not actually pornographic in any way)
Zeroigar (vertical shmup)
Zenki (beat 'em up)

There's also a baseball game (but I don't know how much text you have to wade through), and some various mahjong, card, pachinko, etc. type games that you may be able to play.

But, honestly, many of the games are playable if have a little patience for some trial and error. If you're already a player of strategy RPGs, you should know their conventions and that they tend to be pretty straightforward. You could play through Farland Story, Der Langrisser, Power Dolls, etc. Same goes for many of the traditional RPGs (although some of them are kind of obtuse, like Blue Breaker). If you like side-scrolling adventure games, you should check out Last Imperial Prince and Ruruli Ra Rura.

Check GameFAQs for FAQs. There are some games that have.

Oh, and the whole "loads of hentai games" thing is just a stereotype that the system has. It's actually not true. The PC-FX has a library of about 60 games, and only about 10 are hentai. Not that those aren't worth playing. Pia Carrot is a very good dating sim/visual novel. Check out the fan translation. You can burn a disc with the translation and play it right on your PC-FX.

Thanks! I managed to muddle my way through Dragon Force II on the Saturn, so the strategy RPGs might be worth seeking out. If for no other reason than to play a genre I love on a console I've never played on first-hand.

Though 10 games is still a whopping 1/6 of the entire library, you're right, there aren't that many, and there's no reason not to play them.

Thanks for the comprehensive list! This gives me a good idea of what games I'm going to put priority on getting ;D.

[Wraith Storm]

Man, that's an awesome Christmas gift!

I have to admit, i'm a bit jealous. The PC-FX is a system that I have always wanted to play, but shy of buying one I don't think its gonna happen anytime soon.

Some of the games already mentioned like Chip Chan Kick, Zenki and a few others I always thought looked awesome and as far as I know aren't available on other systems which just adds to the awesomeness of the PC-FX!

It's a unique system, that's for sure.

[Aussie2B]

There are a fair number of PC-FX games that appear on other platforms, but some of those are best on PC-FX. And a good percentage of the library is exclusive. Yeah, the "Big Three", Zenki, Zeroigar, and Chip-chan Kick, are all exclusive. The FMV fighting games are exclusive because, well, they probably couldn't even work on the competitor's systems. No system of the time was better with FMV. I mean, just look and listen to the Battle Heat intro (and YouTube doesn't even do it justice):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pq4TSNPuJw

There are plenty of other good exclusives, but I'll be here all day if I try to list and describe everything. :P

Man, this topic reminds me that I need to get off my butt and sell my spare PC-FX and dupe games.

[StealthLurker]

The Battle Heat intro was so bad ass for it's time... like the bastard child of Fist of Northstar and Dragon Ball.


.

[Kiddo]

There are a fair number of PC-FX games that appear on other platforms, but some of those are best on PC-FX. And a good percentage of the library is exclusive. Yeah, the "Big Three", Zenki, Zeroigar, and Chip-chan Kick, are all exclusive. The FMV fighting games are exclusive because, well, they probably couldn't even work on the competitor's systems. No system of the time was better with FMV. I mean, just look and listen to the Battle Heat intro (and YouTube doesn't even do it justice):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pq4TSNPuJw

There are plenty of other good exclusives, but I'll be here all day if I try to list and describe everything. :P

Man, this topic reminds me that I need to get off my butt and sell my spare PC-FX and dupe games.

What dupes do you have? My PC-FX collection is still fairly small.

[Aussie2B]

Battle Heat and Fire Woman Matoi-Gumi, but I'm planning on just selling it all together.

[Tupin]

I wish I could find a PC-FX, but the only ones I ever see are from Japanese eBayers that want $180 plus $100 shipping for one.

Even when they come up sometimes on the pcenginefx.com forums, they go pretty quickly...

[Kiddo]

I got my PC-FX off the late Rising-Stuff.com - if I recall right I didn't pay much more than $120 and I got a pretty decent bundle with a loose PC-FX with controller and hookups, Battle Heat and Little Cats - and I bless the lost site for making me a sort of fan of the console, in particular making me the closest thing anyone in America probably has to a "Master of Battle Heat". Unfortunately I may never be able to afford legit copies of Zenki FX and Zeroigar, or backpedal on my NEC Consoles and get a PC-Engine, but I've managed to get good mileage out of the console with Battle Heat and Pia Carrot.

An eBay auction appears to be here;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEC-PC-FX-Console-System-Boxed-Manual-Casing-yellowed-Japan-/280796338630?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4160c419c6

So far it looks like that's the lowest you'll see a PC-FX, but considering the bids that may not last.

I should probably pop in the pcenginefx forums sometime...