I wasn't aware that Ys V was 12,800... No wonder why the game was so severely criticized back in the day. Was the Expert version as expensive as this?
I'm sure the Western games you mention got those prices for being movie-based. The Japanese publishers most likely had to pay for the licenses apart and put some extra work for the agreements. Not to mention that the games would sell no matter the price 'cause the advertisement campaign was almost done already.
I've always believed that Japanese PC games have been traditionally more expensive due to their comparatively lower print numbers. If you know you'll sell less but the developments costs are still the same, you need to compensate somehow. Anyway, this is, I'm sure, the key here:
"did the pricing for other companies just depend on perhaps the hype a game had or niche it was marketed to?"
Is it alright if I move this to the public forum?