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Old 11-05-19, 20:37   #1
ryan91
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Default Classic TRs - Why are the Japanese versions dumbed down?

I was watching Makael's new Chronicles speedrun in which he explained he's using the Japanese version because if you press some key it will give you all the items in the level. It was always the case with the Japanese versions (especially in TR2 where most of the traps are completely missing and enemies die with like 3 bullets LOL). What's the reason behind this? And if the developers really wanted to change the game for them they should've done it the other way around actually, one thing I know Asian is the next difficulty level after easy, normal, hard, and very hard. Just sayin

Last edited by ryan91; 11-05-19 at 20:38.
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Old 11-05-19, 21:20   #2
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TR5 JP on PC is the only one that has this "magic items" key. Others don't.

There are multiple pages online talking about why old Japanese games were made easier. I remember googling it a while ago.
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Old 11-05-19, 21:49   #3
Melonie Tomb Raider
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I'm not sure. The Devil May Cry 3 Japanese version was easier than the US version too for some reason.
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Old 11-05-19, 21:54   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Melonie Tomb Raider View Post
I'm not sure. The Devil May Cry 3 Japanese version was easier than the US version too for some reason.
Apparently they accidentally ported the US version as hard mode. Then decided just to leave it.
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Old 11-05-19, 22:00   #5
LaraCablara
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What they did to Tomb Raider is nothing compared to Spyro. They were afraid Japanese people would get motion sickness so they gave the games an awful top down camera and subsequently Spyro never took off in Japan like Crash.
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Old 11-05-19, 22:13   #6
laracroftswest
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Do you have clips of the watered down TR2?
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Old 11-05-19, 22:58   #7
SrDanielPonces
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LaraCablara View Post
What they did to Tomb Raider is nothing compared to Spyro. They were afraid Japanese people would get motion sickness so they gave the games an awful top down camera and subsequently Spyro never took off in Japan like Crash.
oh wow i just saw a comparison video of spyro and i'm shook
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Old 11-05-19, 23:33   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reggie View Post
Apparently they accidentally ported the US version as hard mode. Then decided just to leave it.
Oh I wish it was.

That was actually deliberate since people complained about how DMC2 was too easy.

They even made the new hardest difficulty its own thing in the Special Edition.

I've only played Normal on DMC3 SE so far and I can't imagine trying to play it on a harder difficulty.
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Old 12-05-19, 00:43   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by laracroftswest View Post
Do you have clips of the watered down TR2?


At about 2:20
- This was done on the Japanese PSX version. The Japanese PC version of TR2 is *NOT* dumbed down.

Last edited by Woops; 12-05-19 at 00:44.
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Old 12-05-19, 05:33   #10
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Generally, at least in the 90s, Japanese games were often made easier for the Western market, and indeed vice versa.

I think it was just pandering to focus group testing, at the time...
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