Big in Japan: Rise of Mana good, Million Onion Hotel great, and GungHo becomes national treasure

As well as being one of the largest mobile game markets by revenue, Japan is currently also one of the most dynamic.

It's a good opportunity, then, for PocketGamer.biz to hook up with Indie Navi, a site which is dedicated to the coverage of Japanese mobile and indie development.

Set up by two enthusiastic and experienced translators, you can find out more about the services they offer here or email info (at] indienavi.com.

Otherwise, let's get on with the show - the five most interesting stories from the Japanese mobile games industry.

Final Fantasy devs release new mobile RPG - Granblue Fantasy

After several delays, publisher Cygames has announced a 10 March Japan release for Granblue Fantasy.

What sets Granblue Fantasy apart from other smartphone RPGs is the painstaking detail in its art direction, setting, and story. JRPG fans will also feel right at home with a battle system that includes summoned beasts and job classes.

More generally, fans of RPGs will be interested to know that the title is being developed under the guidance of two key Square Enix alums: Hideo Minaba and Nobuo Uematsu.

Minaba worked on art design for several Final Fantasy titles (including the fan favorite Final Fantasy VI). Uematsu likely needs little introduction to having worked on the music for nearly every Final Fantasy released to date.

Dragon High & Low tests just how far down a smartphone title can be dumbed

A common criticism of smartphone titles is that they're dumbed down in comparison to their console cousins. This criticism isn't entirely fair; sure, many smartphone titles are simple, but they definitely aren't dumb. The simplicity belies depth, and that's what keeps players coming back (and spending).

Then there are titles like Dragon High & Low. We write about this title to use as an example of contrast. This is how a smartphone game shouldn't be done. If you know the card game High & Low (you know, the one you use to decide who gets the last slice of pizza), you know everything there is about this title's "battle system".

The next time someone tries to tell you there's nothing to Puzzle & Dragons, have them spend five minutes with Dragon High & Low. They'll see the light.

Yoshiro Kimura shows off Million Onion Hotel at BitSummit

Impressions are beginning to roll in from this year's BitSummit, and not the least of these are a look at the idiosyncratic game designer's "poem" to puzzle fans.

Much like the King of Puzzle Games (of which we speak of Tetris, of course), Million Onion Hotel requires gamers to balance just treading water with saving slots to set up a big combo.

Setting up combos is the only way to get to space, you see, where you can snap up high-score fruits amid a backdrop of space cows and asparagus men, all in the name of saving the restaurant patrons absconded to the heavens by their psychadelic soup.

For gamers who like their puzzling with a healthy dose of the crazy, Million Onion Hotel and its magical soup will likely hit the spot.

Rumors circulate GungHo maybe included in the Japanese Pension Fund

In light of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare's upcoming revisions of its public pension program (which is conducted once every five years), the Government Pension Investment Fund reported on 5 March that it was revising its operation policies.

Rumors began to circulate that GungHo was included among the companies which were under consideration for inclusion in the mega-fund.

The GPIF is the largest of its kind in the world, and inclusion in the fund is itself a form of prestige. On the rumors, GungHo's share price rose for the second day in a row, peaking near 660 yen per share before finishing the day up 2.9 percent at 645 yen.

Rise of Mana: the initial impressions are good

The latest title in Square Enix's venerable Mana series was released on 6 March in Japan, and we gave it a close look.

Moving a console series to smartphones isn't the no-brainer it might seem: console fans have entirely different expectations of their games, and smartphone players won't know or care about the series to begin with.

Rise of Mana's developers were attentive to this, creating a title with art design and dialogue that immediately place it as a Mana title, and with a deep and streamlined battle system that will appeal to all fans of smartphone RPGs.

The touch-based controls can be a little wonky at times, but overall Rise of Mana is a fun game worth a look from series fans and newcomers alike.