Anyone Know of Any Japanese Review Sites?

I'm looking for Japanese review sites to find reviews on games that have already released in Japan to see whether or not I should pre order them or not. Right now specifically The Witch and the Hundred Knight. It came out in Japan last year and is releasing in March in North America. There hasn't been much western coverage of this game and would like to see a bit more before I commit.

Also is anyone else panning on getting this game or watching it at least?

http://www.famitsu.com

Amazon Japan's usually your best bet (or at least it's the only one I've heard of).

In trying to find other sites, I found the word 評価. It seems to mean "review" (or something close), so that could be useful: [JAPANESE NAME]+評価.

These are really helpful tips thank you. Still no luck on finding anything on The Witch and the Hundred Knight though. Oh well I might just get it at a later date considering how packed March already is.

Still though anyone else looking forward to this game?

Actually it seems Famitsu gave it a 31/40.

@somberowl: I'm not sure if I'm gonna play it, but it's on my radar at least for when it's released near me. And I've never understood Famisu's 40 point review scale.

This is correct. DO NOT go to famitsu or any "official" game site. You think you have problem in the gaming press? We have no gaming press.

@shinjin977: Any stories about Famitsu? I've heard that they're shady as fuck, but not many examples.

Does that mean "the Japanese gaming press is shit", or quite literally "there is no gaming press other than this one magazine"?

The only sites I know that do anything regarding reviews are those that reference and translate portions of English reviews (including Giant Bomb's). None of the sites I know do scored reviews, it's not really a thing.

@video_game_king: @amyggen: Famitsu and the general gaming press are in gaming companies's pocket. It is actually a pretty well known fact. A lot of Japanese youtubers are ok tho but you know, here I am on Giantbomb. Tells you a lot, not in a GB is the best I can get.......but in a GB is the BEST you can get! Even though none of them play JRPG or most rpgs anymore but I still trust GB above pretty much any gaming site in the world. Anyways, yea japanese gaming press are shit.

Like others have said, don't rely on Famitsu for review scores, they've given plenty of bad games a high score. For instance, they gave Time and Eternity a 32/40, and Time and Eternity is arguably the worst JRPG I have ever played in my life. I'm not being hyperbolic at all when I say that. I'd give the game MAYBE a 3/10 at the highest, but an 8/10 for such a terrible game is absurd.

I love a lot of niche JRPGs as well, so it would actually be great if I could find a reliable site that shows Japanese review scores.

@shinjin977: That's what I figured. Always seen Japanese users on sites like NeoGAF shitting on Famitsu reviews, especially when they got an early exclusive and gave a 39/40 or some shit.

Also, early exclusive reviews is one of the most shady concepts in this industry. Almost per definition there has to be an agreement in place that says a publication will only be able to review the game if they give it a 8/10 or more. So that in and of itself is fucking shady.

But I digress.

siliconera.com usually get import reviews up early

http://www.siliconera.com/tag/the-witch-and-the-hundred-knights/

That's usually their beat. Unless you already preordered The Witch and the Hundred Knights I would wait. Amazon had it up for $20 at one point and if you preordered then that's what it would be locked at. Right now the price is back up to $50.

Reading famitsu with google translate makes hard read because translate poor.

siliconera is pretty good at covering Japanese games.

And there's my motivation to learn to write in Japanese: to fill the niche that must be filled.

And I just remembered an obscure Japanese review site for this thread. You know, in case you ever need a detailed opinion on Rent a Hero.