Nippon Ichi (Disgaea, Makai Kingdom, etc.)

Evidently that's not helping.

As for CG, it is still "loli BDSM" etc etc. Only now they're removing parts of the game to arguably make it even creepier.

edited 10th Dec '14 10:38:50 AM by Demonfly

Have they fixed up the postgame yet to require less hours of pointless grinding? I've heard they at least balanced out the gameplay to be less absolutely focused on offense.

edited 10th Dec '14 10:40:48 AM by Arha

In Disgaea D2 and the Disgaea 4 remake, there's a "cheat shop" where you can lower rewards you don't care about to increase the ones you want. It's a simple matter to start getting ten times the experience for every kill, which makes the grind... well, for me, it made it so that the post game actually existed. I still stopped without getting all the way to Baal.

Also, speaking as someone who just recently beat DD2's first Pringer X fight (assuming you're referring to that game specifically), the usual tactic of "Sweep with some OP unit(s) until you get sweeped by a much more OP unit" can still be fairly relevant throughout the rest of the game (at least up until Baal, which is just a super-buffed variant of a guy that was already super-buffed in D4). That said, it's not like the game - or any of the recent ones, really - never forces you to think.

edited 10th Dec '14 11:11:14 AM by Demonfly

So someone on the official forums is adamant about self-insert main characters, amongst other things.

Does anyone here think the idea here are good?

...I can't help but notice that the entirety of the custom MC suggestion is entirely based off of "but FE:A did it!" Current parallels aside.

Everything else is mostly just empty spit-balling (especially the co-op. Complaining about stereotypical gaming fallacies while bringing this up?), though I do agree about the writing quality for what that's worth.

I disagree with the idea that the battles need to be less puzzle-like. I would even accept a game that pushed Disgaea combat even further towards having to figure out what to do and who to do it to.

Also, the point about "censorship" is just weird.

One of the later posts suggests that Disgaea should do away with the 2D sprites, which... no? The high resolution sprites are very nice, and I don't see the need to move past them, really.

A customizable MC would be great, but I don't think they should pick from the same range of classes that the generics have.

Personally, I'm conflicted about sprites.

On the one hand, they look good to me, and I wouldn't want them to go to chibi 3D models.

On the other, the stigma around sprite-work probably makes it less marketable...

edited 10th Dec '14 12:01:36 PM by Grounder

Do Japanese people have the same idiotic stigma against sprites?

I should note that both of NIS' attempts at 3D didn't exactly turn out great.

No, I've seen no evidence of that.

edited 10th Dec '14 11:59:55 AM by burnpsy

It's interesting to think about how most of NIS's budget very likely went into them trying to make their own 3D engine from scratch.

Only to be met with hordes of "I'm not buying this game until this inexplicable random-crashing bug is removed" as soon as it's localized.

@Demonfly: From what I have played (yes, I imported it for $60 and got a cool origami with it), there are only three lolis, which are Alice (Black Mage), Yuko (White Mage) and Sako (hits hard). The only thing they are removing is the sound when you punish them, while adding more pink censor steam (probably to keep it from going AO, it's CERO D in Japan). I'll add more about it when I get back from college.

@Grounder: The reason why NISA is publishing Criminal Girls: INVITE ONLY (Criminal Girls: INVITATION in Japan) is because NIS published the game in Japan.

All the girls have five columns of skills along with a column for two chain attacks. Each skill is obtained after gaining enough EXP after punishing them. The highest score you can get is 200 EXP (Very Good is 20, Good is 10, Miss is 0 and there are 10 places). Each column has a specific punishment. The first column punishment is using a whip on each girl. Levels 1 & 2 have you use the front screen. Once you get to level 3, you will have to start using both screens. After maxing out each column, you get a fanservice picture, nothing too explicit though. The second column has you sliding a switch of some sort by using an electrified metal rod with a sphere on the top (weird, I know). The third column has you pouring water on what looks like a puddle of pink or purple goo with a smiley face. The fourth column has you using a feather duster on a balloon wearing wings. Pink represents the front screen while blue represents the back screen.

edited 10th Dec '14 5:05:29 PM by EDFHemlock

Thankfully a false alarm.

I just read that. Thank god. I'm a huge fan of NIS and Atlus. Also, when I get farther in Criminal Girls: INVITATION, I'll dump some more info.

Ah, NeoGAF.

I was wondering, though, considering all of the new non-Disgaea stuff they've been eagerly pushing out up until now.

edited 10th Dec '14 8:11:09 PM by Demonfly

In less surprisingly irrelevant news, Killia's apparently a "Dragonewt".

...A fist-fighting, ice-themed "Dragonewt".

A newt? I got better.

New Disgaea 5 update from Dengeki Playstation Magazine.

Antagonists Void Dark, Marjorita and Bloodies are revealed. The Pirate class and Kitsune class are also introduced.

Only person we're missing now is that Flonne expy character.

edited 14th Dec '14 6:16:25 AM by followerofcake

Void Dark looks too much like a mad scientist for me to take him seriously right now.

For some reason, I am totally getting "not actually the main villain" vibes from Void Dark. It's Hugo all over again.

Disgaea 5 is slated for Fall in the West with the subtitle "Alliance of Vengeance".

Hm...

Subtitle feels kind of weak for this one.

I guess it could mean the heroes either end up as We Help the Helpless (which would be new for a Disgaea game) or Terrorists Without a Cause.

Or pretending to be the latter while actually grudgingly being the former. That would be pretty true to form.

Well, it's not like they can get any worse than "Absence of Detention".

I see it's continuing the tradition of having pretentious sounding subtitles which will get a goofier sounding variant with the inevitable portable rerelease. (Hour of Darkness to Afternoon of Darkness, Absence of Justice to Absence of Detention...)

edited 16th Dec '14 4:57:52 PM by Otherarrow