NIS America Premere Event 2008

by Pedro Rodriguez

After a two year absence, I was fortunate enough to be go with a friend to the NIS America Premiere event, an annual event held in Downtown San Francisco. Like before, we spent the first part of the night mingling with other members of the press. About forty minutes after they opened the door, NIS America began their presentation on upcoming releases. Although the main topic would be Disgaea 3 for the Play Station 3, much of the presentation focused on their move towards the Nintendo DS. After the last speech was made, we were invited to go around the area in order to test drive Disgaea DS and Disgaea 3. And now for your reading pleasure, here are a few quick previews of NIS America's upcoming games.

A Witch's Tale

A thousand years ago, a tribe of powerful witches who used potent, dangerous magic lived beneath the world. One day the witches invaded the surface world. When all seemed lost, the mystical Alice appeared. She used the witches' own magic against them and sealed them away. They say the Witch Queen still lurks beneath the land waiting for her chance to return to power.

Known for it's dark yet cute sense of humor, Nippon Ichi Software has joined forces with HitMaker to create a fairy tales game with a gothic twist. The game is expected to make the most out of the DS main features by adding game play like Drawing magic runes and casting powerful spells, combat techniques using the DS stylus, and a dual screen map to easy navigation.

The show really takes its time in getting to the main plot, and what you have for the first two episodes is a handful of subplots where we see how some of the characters are unexpectedly connected to each other. Not to say that it's a bad thing. Despite the fact that it doesn't get on track for a while, there is an abundance of humor and character development. The relationship between the two main characters is rather strange, as straight Han Kyul begins to find himself strangely attracted to a presumably male Eun Chan. Aside from your own level of comfort with the subject, it's a pretty entertaining series that doesn't take itself too seriously.

There wasn't much else revealed about the game that night only that it's expected to released this October. Overall it looks like an interesting twist, and while they have a good idea going for them, it now depends on how well they can deliver in the gameplay department. Will they make it before Halloween? We'll find out in about four months.

Disgaea DS

Another game bound for the DS is the original Disgaea. Just like before, Laharl is woken up Etna, one of the castle's vassals, only to discover that his father has died, and its up to him to kick ass and chew bubble gum. Much, if not all of the old features that made the game a hit are back, and NIS America will be adding a few more things to the plate. Aside from the overview map on the second screen, overworked and disgruntled Prinnies will also pop up from time to time to give you (less than) positive feedback. NIS America is also going to make use of the portable console's Wi-Fi ability for some head to head action.

Along with the new hardware, NIS America has planned other ways of improving game play and replay value. This includes new features such as Demon Gadgets that you use to power-up your units (sometimes up to 30 levels at once), and Transmigration, another form of reincarnation that starts you over from level 1 (but your unit will grow stronger than before). Finally, it was announced that fan favorite Pleinair is also going to be a playable character. Disgaea DS is set to hit the shelves this September.

Rhapsody - A Musical Adventure

Another classic game bound for the DS, this title was actually the first to be released here (published back then by Atlus). As the story goes, Cornet is a girl who can talk to puppets. As such her constant companion is Kururu, a puppet who has both the heart and soul of a person. She meets up and ends up with a crush on a prince named Ferdinand Marl E.. Shortly there after, the self-proclaimed "most beautiful witch in the world" Queen Majority turns him into stone (a small accident while trying to transport him to her castle). In the grand tradition of "saving the prince", Coronet must travel with her puppet friends in order to free Ferdinand from the spell.

Set on improving the game from last time, they have added a few more features fpr easier navigation. They also plan to have more playable characters, and extra levels after completion to improve replay value. Does it have what it takes to once again become a sleeper hit? We'll find out this September.

Disgaea 3

Last but far from least, the presentation was wrapped up with a preview to their first game for the Play Station 3. Disgaea 3 - Absence of Justice features a new cast and a new story line, and a whole lot of new surprises. The story begins with Mao, a student at the Maritsu Evil Academy. In a school where you are rewarded for delinquency, he has "worked" his way to becoming an honor student. One day while reading his manga, he becomes obsessed with becoming a hero and killing the Overlord (who also happens to be his father). As the story continues, he eventually challenged by a hero named Almaz, and manages to defeat him, thus stealing his title from him. Almaz, as a result of losing the title, slowly becomes a demon himself, and must now convince Mao to return his old title to him.

Building from the already insane foundation of features, the new game will also include new features such as new methods of throwing, combination attacks, powerful moves, and special levels such as "Item world", an ever evolving level where the object of the game is pillaging.

Although I am familiar with the title, I had never played the game before. The tutorial threw a lot of things at me, but I started to get into the swing of things pretty quickly, and eventually got hooked. The graphics look about average for a Play Station 3, and even though it wasn't the sharpest thing ever, at least the quality was consistent.

If there was one thing that stuck out in my mind aside from the unique gameplay, it was the dubbing job. I was very impressed by pitch and speaking habits of the Prinnies. And then there were the "bosses" I met during the tutorials. Apparently in the Japanese version, the characters speak with a Yakuza accent, so the head of localization team decided that the idea would best be interpreted using the Barrio accent. As a laid back Mexican-American I have to say, it was hilarious. A few spelling errors here and there but hilarious nonetheless.

At this point Disgaea 3 has a lot to offer fans of the series; it's really just a matter of how well they can get it polished before their due date. Disgaea 3 is scheduled to hit the shelves this August!