Is there a legal way to obtain games not available in certain Steam regions?

I'm currently living in Japan. These are the games that I want to buy but for some reason (publisher's discretion?) is not available:

Valkyria Chronicles
Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series

Is there any legal way to obtain the games? I've read that using VPN may cause a ban since it's a way to bypass restrictions and possibly get the game cheaper, but I'm not in it for the cheaps, because they're completely not in the store. If say, I have a friend from a region where these games are available, can I let him buy the game as a gift and give it to me? Would I be able to download it?

Best Answer

Update additional to Puce's answer. After hours of research, here is 'theoretical way' to determine state of your target game.

TL;DR: Use steamdb.info to confirm package's information, if AllowCrossRegionTradingAndGifting not set to No, your friend might be able to gift that game for you. (Provided that app information does not restrict downloading or playing that game in your region)

Technical Introduction

Technically speaking, steam organizes its store that there are "APP" and "PACKAGE". APP is the game itself, PACKAGE is the way to obtain it. (Buying from webstore/CD-KEY etc) APP itself has no price property set, price properties are set in PACKAGEs.

There are several flags related to region locking:

APP's prohibitToRun: Totally cannot launch the game if you are in that region.
APP's ProhibitDownloadInCountries: Cannot download the game in that region. But 'might' be able to run it if first flag is not set.
PACKAGE's AllowPurchaseFromRestrictedCountries: Along with countries in PurchaseRestrictedCountries field. If AllowPurchaseFromRestrictedCountries=No, PurchaseRestrictedCountries is exclusion list. If AllowPurchaseFromRestrictedCountries=Yes, it is inverted, PurchaseRestrictedCountries is exclusive list. (Only purchasable in these countries)
PACKAGE's AllowCrossRegionTradingAndGifting: If=No, additionally does not allow gifting from friend from other region. (This is different from price tier restriction such as gift from RU and cannot play in other region with higher price)

Step to determine

Note: We are not taking VPN/Proxy or price tier restriction into consideration, that is another topic.

Find your game in https://steamdb.info/
Check APP's properties prohibitToRun first, if it is there then probably you cant play anyway.
Check if prohibitToDownload is set alone, then you might be able to run. But in this case we did not own the game yet so that would also block us. (Having the game installed in your laptop in first place is another story)
Browse in to game all PACKAGEs that is on sale (Billing type=Store, status=Available) and look for its 'information' tab.
If AllowPurchaseFromRestrictedCountries=No means you cannot buy or browse it from your region (and probably why ending up in this question anyway). But if AllowCrossRegionTradingAndGifting is not set to 'No'. You might have some luck telling friend to gift this PACKAGE from another region.!!

Case example

Take Evenicle as example: https://steamdb.info/app/955560/info/

Below is the screenshot to its PACKAGE info.

APP Info does not have any prohibit flag set.
PACKAGE is clearly restricted to Asian countries including Japan (Censoring law, publisher, etc). And on top of that it also prohibit cross region gift.

Result for this game:

If I live in Thailand, I cannot browse or purchase it. My friend elsewhere, even they can buy for himself, also wont be able to buy and gift it to me due to cross region gift blocked.
But the game does not have any prohibit flag set, so 'theoretically' person from US buy and own this game travelling to Japan may still be able to play it. Or me from Thailand travelling to US for vacation, buy and download the game there, fly back to Thailand, I might be able to play as well.

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How do I get Steam games not available in my region?

Use a VPN. Try using a VPN and check if you can launch the game. Ideally, make sure the VPN is making the connection to the country or region used when the game was bought.

How do I bypass country restrictions on Steam?

Show activity on this post.

Open Steam Client.

Press Steam Top Left.

Press Settings.

Change Your Region In Download Region You Can Bypass The Region Lock And Once You Installed It You Can Change The Region Again.

Is it illegal to buy Steam games from another country?

Can I buy Steam games from another country? Yes, but you'll need a local billing address and payment method.

Is it illegal to change region on Steam?

There is no need to change your Steam region if you travel a lot. Every Steam product is available worldwide, so you can enjoy Steam games regardless of where you're traveling. Is It Illegal to Change My Steam Region? No, changing regions on Steam isn't illegal.

How to change Steam region | Bulletproof way - in this video!

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Zeeshaan Shabbir, Lachlan Ross, Karolina Grabowska, Wendy Wei