nis-america
Latest
Big monsters, tiny humans, great hair in Natural Doctrine trailer
The first Western trailer for PS4, PS3 and Vita tactics-RPG Natural Doctrine doesn't tell us a huge amount about the game. It does, however feature a lot of huge, gruesome monsters at war with a band of humans with some really beautiful hair. It just looks so silky-smooth! The game itself stars a group of explorers who head into caves to mine a precious resource called Pluton. Things go a little awry when they discover an underground teeming with beasties, but luckily they've got all the shampoo and conditioner that adventurers need. Kadokawa Game Studio's RPG features cross-play and cross-save functionality, and a 100 percent natural shine. Look out for it when it hits North America and Europe this autumn. [Image: NIS America]
West welcomes Disgaea 4 Vita in August, dood
Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is coming to North American Vitas on August 12, before waddling its way to Europe two weeks later on August 29. The news comes via NIS America, who've just opened up pre-orders on the goodies-stuffed limited edition box set. As per tradition, the Vita conversion of the 2011 tactics-RPG features a number of extras, including a brand new "scenario" adventure and more than 50 of the DLC add-ons for the original game. No matter the extras, our review of the original PS3 incarnation suggests fans of the series who've not yet played Disgaea 4 are in for a treat: "As another worthwhile and entertaining entry in the franchise, Disgaea 4 is still just another Disgaea game. Fans will love it for everything it is, while detractors will ignore it for all that it isn't. This is a game, and series, that isn't out to win over gamers by changing its stripes -- though its fans probably wouldn't have it any other way." [Image: NIS America]
Natural Doctrine coming to PS3, PS4, Vita in US and Europe this fall
NIS America has cleared the way for an upcoming North American and European release of Kadokawa Games' strategy role-playing game, Natural Doctrine, for the PlayStation 3, PS4, and PS Vita. Launching in Japan this week, Natural Doctrine features an in-depth battle system, offering players a number of strategic options across multiple characters in combat. The game will feature Cross-Play and Cross-Save functionality, allowing players to resume their progress across PlayStation console versions and the PS Vita. Natural Doctrine will launch at retail and digitally via the PlayStation Network this autumn. [Image: NIS America]
Mugen Souls Z launching May 20; limited edition detailed
Mugen Souls Z, the Compile Heart-developed Japanese RPG for PlayStation 3, will arrive in North America on May 20 and in Europe on May 23, publisher NIS America confirmed to Gematsu. A limited edition of the game is currently available for pre-order on the NIS America online store. The $70 bundle includes the PS3 game in a special edition collector's box, along with a hardcover art book, large 16"x26" poster, and Zodiac keychain. Much like the release of the original Mugen Souls, publisher NIS America opted to remove a select amount of content for the Western release of Mugen Souls Z. At the time the cut material was confirmed, NIS America noted it was due to "the sensitive nature of some content." According to a forum post regarding the Western release's edits, the snipped stuff includes a bathing mini-game. Whether or not you can battle evil as Omega Tom Hanks in this version is still unclear, but ... actually, we're thinking of a different game. [Image: NIS America]
The Guided Fate Paradox is getting a sequel in Japan
Nippon Ichi Software is releasing a sequel to The Guided Fate Paradox, and it's coming to the PlayStation 3 in Japan on July 24. Famitsu (via Gematsu) revealed some scant details today on The Guided Fate Cross Thesis: The plot apparently centers around two heroines, and if the player saves one of the ladies, the other one dies. Yikes. Given The Guided Fate Paradox starred a hero who became a god by winning a mall lottery, the game's probably not as dark as that synopsis makes it sound. The first game combined isometric dungeon-crawling with the turn-based RPG strategy of Disgaea, and featured, among other things, a group of companion angels clad in maid outfits who help players do their godly duty. You know, like in most religions. There'll be more details on The Guided Fate Cross Thesis in Famitsu's print magazine this month, but we'll have to wait and see if NISAmerica has any plans to bring it to the West like it did the prior game. [Image: Famitsu]
Disgaea characters assemble in fiend-finder Demon Gaze
NIS America has announced some cross-game synergy is coming to PS Vita dungeon crawl Demon Gaze. After Kadokawa Games' quirky RPG launches for PS Vita on April 22, early adopters will be able to download some popular characters from NIS America's Disgaea series: Etna, Fionne, Sicily, Asagi and Prinny. All five will be free for the first month of Demon Gaze's availability. Demon Gaze stars Oz, a vagabond with the ultimate fashion accessory: a magical eye that can be used to capture demons. When Oz isn't exploring dungeons and sealing away these dark entities, he's hanging at the local inn, befriending NPC characters and probably putting in a bunch of eye drops. [Image: NIS America]
Europe will plumb the depths of Etrian Odyssey Untold on May 2
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, the latest entry in Nippon Ichi Software's cult-favorite dungeon crawling series, will finally reach European shores on May 2. Like all Etrian Odyssey games, Untold sees players navigating a series of labyrinthine structures from a first-person perspective while battling fiends in turn-based fashion. Mechanically it's a very classic, arguably dated take on the roleplaying genre, but these archaic elements are countered by modern aesthetics, sound and the convenience of being able to map your surroundings directly on the 3DS touchscreen. Danny's review of the North American release awarded the game 4 of 5 stars, alternately describing Etrian Odyssey Untold as "an enjoyable nostalgia trip for Etrian Odyssey veterans" and "the best entry point in the series." Publisher NIS America Europe has yet to reveal a price point for the European release of Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl. [Image: NIS America]
Dead teens and a fiendish bear highlight Danganronpa launch trailer
Like the unholy offspring of Capcom's Ace Attorney series and Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale, newly-released Vita murder mystery Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc pits teens against one another in a supernatural trial that is legitimately of life and death importance. [Image: NIS America]
North American Vitas getting Murasaki Baby, No Heroes Allowed this year
Sony recently confirmed the appearance of two Vita games this year in Murasaki Baby and No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either. The latter will launch this spring while the former will arrive in North America "later this year." Murasaki Baby, a twisted touch-based adventure from Italian indie developer Ovosonico, has players protecting a little girl from nightmarish threats. We spent a little time with the game in October and determined that it's "about as bizarre as could be." No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either is the fifth game in the series, one of the previous being No Heroes Allowed for PSP. No Puzzles Either draws a few comparisons to mobile puzzler 10000000, as it challenges players with 64 levels of match-three-style puzzles to defeat over 200 enemies. [Image: Ovosonico]
The Witch and the Hundred Knight swamps us with a new trailer
In The Witch and the Hundred Knight, you play a warrior devoted to the witch Metallia, a vindictive mistress hellbent on expanding her swampy dominion until she's taken oven the world. In case you hadn't guessed by the description or by looking at it, the PS3 action-RPG comes from the minds of Disgaea studio Nippon Ichi Software. In addition to laying out the story, a new trailer shows how the Knight does Metallia's bidding across the various lands. Highlights include customizing combos by assigning different weapons to each of the hits, and how the Hundred Knight needs a depleting resource called "gigacalories" to seemingly do anything in the world, including stay alive. The Witch and the Hundred Knight is set to take over Europe when it arrives on March 21, before spreading its rule to North America on March 25.
Vita dungeon crawl Demon Gaze heads West on April 22
NIS America continues its plucky support of Sony's Vita handheld with Demon Gaze, a Japanese roleplaying game that will bring its diabolical creatures and moon-eyed heroines to the West on April 22. In Demon Gaze, players assume the role of Oz, an amnesiac in a mysterious realm full of dungeons and monsters. Helpfully, Oz is a "demon gazer," which allows him to capture defeated demons and later use their powers. Described as a "dungeon crawl," Demon Gaze is played from a classic, first-person perspective. Players move forward one square at a time and each step has a chance to prompt an enemy attack or other event. As you can see from the collection of screenshots below, these old-school game design concepts are mated with modern 2D, anime-styled graphics. If you're interested in pre-ordering Demon Gaze you should pay a to visit NIS America's online store. There you'll find the game in its Limited Edition form, which includes Demon Gaze, an art book, a soundtrack CD and a fancy box to store all of this swag. All of that can be yours for $50.
Witch and the Hundred Knight screens show brawls, fine dining
The Witch and the Hundred Knight won't reach US PS3s until March 25, but some new screens can help give you an idea of what you'll be getting into. More specifically, it appears players can eat literal garbage between bouts of chopping up enemies and raiding houses.
PS3 action-RPG The Witch and the Hundred Knight arrives stateside March 25
NIS America announced that its PlayStation 3 action-RPG The Witch and the Hundred Knight will ship to retail in North America and Europe next March, packaged with a CD soundtrack in both regions. The Witch and the Hundred Knight tells a dark fantasy tale starring Metallia, an exiled witch confined to a noxious swamp by a rival coven. Players control the Hundred Knight, a legendary warrior who must expand Metallia's swampland and wreak havoc on the world that imprisoned her. Gameplay focuses on melee combat, and players can switch between multiple weapons and magical facets to take down their foes and devour them for energy. The Witch and the Hundred Knight will premiere at retail and digitally via the PlayStation Network on March 25 in North America and March 21 in Europe.
Judge or be judged in new Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc screens, trailer
Anime archetypes and evil remote-controlled bears engage in a murderous battle of wits in Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, a visual novel set for release next year on the PlayStation Vita. Publisher NIS America sets the stage this week with an array of new screenshots, along with the introductory trailer above. Danganronpa finds a group of high school students trapped in an academy headed up by Monokuma, a two-faced bear that sounds like an unhinged cross between Persona 4's Teddie and a Prinny from the Disgaea series. The only way to win Monokuma's deadly game is to kill a fellow student and not be identified as the murderer in a group-led courtroom trial afterward, under penalty of execution. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc will premiere at retail in North America and digitally via PSN on February 11, 2014.
Super-odd RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory hooks into PSN this month
PlayStation Network claims its Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory on November 26 in North America, and November 27 in Europe. NIS America released the farcical PS3 RPG earlier this year and is now making it available via downloadable means, although the publisher didn't note a price. Victory is the third entry in the series that follows the exploits of game consoles embodied as Hyper-curvaceous women. This time around it takes players to a 1980s version of its Gamesindustri world, and it also features Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune's face as a huge spaceship. No, really.
Etrian Odyssey Untold confirmed for Europe next year
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl is coming to Europe in 2014, thanks to another partnership between Atlus and NIS America. The latter will bring the game to Euro retail shelves and eShops, while a two-dungeon demo is also confirmed to be on its way. Atlus' 3DS RPG, which hit North America this year, is a re-imagination of the first Etrian Odyssey, balancing the series' defining penchant for cartography with a new auto-mapping feature. It features other major additions like a Story mode, with voice acting and animated cutscenes, and a new Grimoire Stone system to customize and modify characters' classes. While it was perhaps slightly overshadowed by the arrival of Etrian Odyssey 4, our four-star review deemed Untold the best entry point in the series, thanks to its variety of "tedium-reducing improvements."
Ys: Memories of Celceta launches for PS Vita in Europe next year
NIS America announced that it will publish Falcom's PlayStation Vita action-RPG Ys: Memories of Celceta in Europe early next year. Celceta marks the latest entry in the long-running Ys series, which spans multiple decades and several console generations. Memories of Celceta revisits characters and events introduced in the Japan-exclusive Ys 4, offering players an expansive overworld to explore alongside a party of AI-controlled partner characters. Xseed Games will publish the North American version of Ys: Memories of Celceta on November 26. A European release date has not been announced.
Become a J-pop idol master with 'Hyperdimension Neptunia PP,' due west next year
God Dimension Idol Neptune PP, the first Vita entry in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, is coming to the West courtesy of NIS America. Going under the working title of "Hyperdimension Neptunia PP" it'll come to North America and Europe some time in 2014. The portable game, released in Japan earlier this year, once more stars the console-like heroines but this time as J-pop idols in the making. So it's more idol sim than RPG, with players helping the ladies to sing, dance, and market themselves to victory against their rivals, MOB-48. That's an oh-so-subtle play on Japan's uber-successful AKB48 girl group, which incidentally features 88 different ladies now (shouldn't the name change?) and made a whopping $226 million in record sales last year. First Akiba, tomorrow the world!
PS3 JRPG Mugen Souls Z headed west next year, minus bathing minigame
NIS America announced that it will produce a localized version of the Japanese PlayStation 3 RPG Mugen Souls Z in North America and Europe next year. Developed by Hyperdimension Neptunia creator Compile Heart, Mugen Souls Z is a customization-focused role-playing game featuring unique dialogue-based battle mechanics. The series' previous entry, Mugen Souls, hit store shelves in North America and Europe last year. Mugen Souls Z will premiere at retail and as a PlayStation Network digital download in 2014. As was the case with the original Mugen Souls, NIS America revealed that it will cut a limited amount of material from Mugen Souls Z's western release, due to "the sensitive nature of some content." NIS explains the nature of these edits in this forum post, noting that a risque bathing minigame and its associated imagery will not be featured in the game's western release.
Dragon's Crown cross-play patch comes to Europe
The global tour of Dragon's Crown cross-play culminates in Europe, after NIS America announced the patch enabling play between PS3 and Vita adventurers is live across the region. The fear was the patch would take a while longer; NIS America originally said it was "due in the coming months." Thankfully, it's only taken weeks, so Euro-friends can hack-and-slash all manner of beautifully drawn monsters in cross-platform contentment. Vanillaware's gorgeous brawler was a critical hit with us, and perhaps slightly more importantly for publisher Atlus a commercial success in Japan, where it shipped 300,000 copies in its first week.
