Odd and/or Obscure: Title Withheld

Hi everyone! I hope you've been well. I know I have.

There is a certain game I've been playing quite a lot lately, and finally finished a couple of days ago. I thought I'd talk a bit about it here. I do think this game deserves any attention it can get, as I doubt many people have heard of it. (Outside Japan, at least. More on that later.)

The game in question is Gachitora! Abarenbou Kyoushi: In High School, and by just seeing this borderline obscenely long title you've probably already guessed it: It's a Japanese exclusive game, available for the PSP. The game plays quite similarly to the Yakuza game series. You even play as an ex-yakuza member so there you go. You fight bad guys, level up your physical and mental skills, you do mini-games such as fishing, boxing, card games, pop quizzes, side-scrolling shooting, photography and... bomb defusing? Sure, why not!?

Perhaps I should let the game speak for itself first. Check out this trailer.

Okay, if you don't know Japanese, you're probably wondering what in the world you just watched. If you know Japanese, you also probably wonder what in the world you just watched. That's what I did, anyway.

So, the story goes like this: Yakuza member Kaji Torao gets involved with a high school student's suicide attempt, saves her life, and is then asked to become a substitute teacher at the school by the principal, who sees Kaji's potential when it comes to giving advice. Kaji grudgingly accepts the offer, since it means that he can get the principal's help to fly in a doctor from Germany to perform a complicated operation on Kaji's sickly Godfather. At first, Kaji's rough exterior and rude personality makes it hard for the students and teachers at the school to accept him. But, as he starts solving problems that the school has been struggling with for a long time, he is gradually accepted by everyone, and soon starts to become a real teacher. It's basically Kindergarten Cop, but in Japan. And in high school. And with a gangster instead of a cop. And he has arguments that manifest themselves as mental fist fights with the students. And these fights for some reason tend to end with the student's clothes disappearing as they finally give in and tell the truth about their problems.

So... not much like Kindergarten Cop at all, in other words. Whatever.

This is one of those games that has to be played to be believed. Unfortunately, given how extremely Japanese it is (To paraphrase a certain meme image, it's so Japanese it shits the Emperor), it's most likely never going to be released outside Japan. It's a shame, too, because this game really shows just how much the PSP is capable of. There's a lot of voice-acted cutscenes (Which are some of the most hilarious scenes I've ever seen in a video game, by the way), plenty of side-missions and mini-games, and the graphics are top of the line for the hardware. It also has the best New Game+ feature I have ever seen.

Well, the language barrier, along with the relative obscurity of this particular title makes it pretty inaccessible to many people. But if you have a PSP, and would like to try something unlike almost anything else on the market, give Gachitora a try!

Until next time, have a good day!