NIS has released a second, epic trailer for their upcoming PSP title: Absolute Hero Remodeling Plan. The video comically touches on every aspect of the game that we know about thus far, as well as a few new topics.

It looks like the game’s BGM will change based on the accessories your main character is wearing.  I am not sure how many different songs there are, but I have  seen an insane number of accessories suggesting an equally insane number of possible songs.  If you want to hear a few tracks you can check out the main website for the game and listen to 10 different songs.  They all tend to be a play on any tokusatsu theme you’ve ever heard.

At around the seven minute mark the trailer mentions that you can don accessories to assume the appearance of some popular characters from ASCII Media Works fame.  The characters are as follows:

• Dokuro-Chan from Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan (Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan)
  
• Shana from Shakugan no Shana
  
• Aisaka Taiga from Toradora (one of the anime that NIS America has licensed)
• Holo from Okami to Kyoshinryo (Spice and Wolf)

Dokuro-Chan wielding her trademark kanabo

Since this system requires certain parts to take on the appearance of a character, unique abilities will also be unlocked which relate to each character’s specific manga/anime.  Fans of the aforementioned series’ should definitely be excited!  Considering that Toradora is being brought over by NIS America I would say the chances are good that the West will still be getting this content despite some rather niche titles.

Absolute Hero Remodeling Plan definitely proves that in the face of some financial hardships, NIS has not lost their creative edge.  The game will be released in Japan next week, let’s hope we hear something concerning a Western release soon!

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NIS Reveals Absolute Hero Remodeling Plan for PSP
Absolute Hero Remodeling Plan Promotional Movie

Roy nis, psp, videos 1 comment

The official Nippon Ichi company site posted the above image today to show its fans that they’re planning a new Disgaea title for the PS3.  It’s part of their new strategy to help make up for some serious company losses that were shown by NIS a little while ago.

For those not in the know, Nippon Ichi posted a 97.5% profit drop in the first 9 months of this financial year. The total loss is estimated at nearly 300 million yen (about 3,450,000 USD). If things don’t shape up soon for the fledgling game developer, we could see one of the most cherished groups in the niche gaming community close its doors.

Nippon Ichi is blaming externally developed titles for their losses, so they’re going to focus on a high quality line-up, with a lot of attention being poured into PS3 development. In total, they’ve announced 87 new games for the year, with 6 of them being completely original titles. They are also very much aware of their huge fanbase outside of Japan, so they send an assuring note that they are increasing their efforts for the overseas market.

Part of me can’t help but be worried about Nippon Ichi. They are one of my favorite developers after all, but I feel that they should be treading ground more carefully. Disgaea certainly is their most popular title by far, but will it be enough to help pull them out of this financial slump? Not to mention it’s being developed alongside 7 other titles — seems a bit like overkill for a developer in such dire straits. I think they should spend as much time on their next Disgaea title as possible. Many people complained about the sprite graphics for the third entry in the series, especially since it was a PS3 title. NIS could maybe bring Disgaea into the next generation with new, updated 3D graphics to help bring in more gamers. Although in doing this, they may lose many of their loyal fans who would see the change as a disservice to the people who bought their games in the first place.

Either way, they have a lot more to think about if they don’t want to be shut down. I wish them all the best in their future endeavors and eagerly await news on those other 7 titles that they have up their sleeves.

Julius disgaea, nis, ps3 4 comments

At this point it’s common knowledge that when NIS makes a PSP game, there will be a alternate scenario which somehow exceeds the main story in hilarity.  It looks like the upcoming sequel to Prinny: Can I Really Be the Main Character? is no exception to this formula.

The name of the secret scenario is “Asagi Wars”, and as the name would suggest, the story largely revolves around Asagi.  You could say she is the main character… but there is one tiny difference: due to a certain accident, Asagi finds herself transmigrated as a Prinny living and toiling in the overlord’s castle.  She bravely goes about her many choirs as any Prinny should, until one fateful day.

While watching MHK (a parody of NHK) Prinny-Asagi learns that there are a number of impostors calling themselves Asagi, presumably in the wake of the true Asagi’s demise.  Asagi Wars is being held, and televised, to determine who the true Asagi is via a last-man-standing  (AKA ultimo hombre) all out war.  Naturally it’s up to Asagi-Prinny to clobber the truth out of each impostor.

Prinny-Asagi learning the news

Some of the impostors include a zombie Asagi, a Macho-male Asagi, and a mech-pilot Asagi, an Enka singer Asagi, and an 8-bit Asagi:

One major difference between the standard game and Asagi Wars is the implantation of a rating system. Note the bar in the middle of the screen displaying a percentage, that is the rating gauge.  Basically the better the player does the higher the ratings, after all your exploits are televised. When your ratings reach zero, Asagi is literally bombed by the network (I am sure Coco could relate to such abuse).  When the rating gauge is full, more powerful, flashy techniques become available.

There are also a number of unique weapons that Asagi-prinny can use that the Hero prinny cannot.  These include a gatling gun, drill, flamethrower, shotgun, etc.  Hey, it is a war after all!

Part of me is loving the uniqueness and creativity of this scenario and the attention that Asagi is getting.  The other part of me is hoping that Asagi is not gonna get stuck in Prinny form forever — that would actually make me madder than her not getting her own game!

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Prinny 2: The Battle for Panties at Dawn

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Today NIS released their first video concerning their upcoming tokusatsu-themed PSP title, Absolute Hero Remodeling Plan.  I have been waiting to get a better look at this game since it’s a bit… unique to say the least.

Anyway the video sums up some of what I have already translated but also reveals some cool new features.  The first that I found pretty exciting is a secret base creation system.  Basically you can add a number of facilities to your base.  These include some which are obvious such as a black smith which sells and repairs weaponry.  There are some that are a bit more unusual such as a cosmic police station, which allows the player to change accessories mid-battle — yeah, figure that one out.

A secret base complete with a number of facilities

When the player is in a dungeon, it’s possible that a defeated enemy monster will become a resident of one of the  various facilities.  The player is able to switch residents around between the different facilities as well.  I assume that some monsters are better suited to certain jobs but I am not sure.  I am glad that NIS is characteristically playing around with monster characters since I was a tad worried by the lack of character creation.

The main character also has a home within the secret base.  There he meets his wife who will badger him for living expenses such as rent, bring you obento in battle, and upgrade your home’s item storage capacity.  Should I even be surprised that such a hilarious quirky system exists in an NIS game?

Delivering a homemade bento mid-battle

Another extremely unique feature concerns the way the player will strengthen their main character.  It revolves around the bizarre panel-grid human figure in the trailer.  As you may have noticed the player is able to lay down panels which represent a certain attribute.  Laying down said panels increases the respective stat.  There are also a number of items which can be placed on certain types of panels but require a certain formation of those panels.  These items can grant abilities or further enhancements to the main character’s stats.

There isn’t much information out about this system but it does remind me a bit of the equally complex growth system used the NIS’s other upcoming PSP title, Classic Dungeon.  Perhaps both games have the same talent behind them?

The video announces that Hero-Plan will go on sale March 11th with both a standard and special edition in Japan.  Hopefully with the release so close more information will be available on the game soon.

Related Entries:
NIS Reveals Absolute Hero Remodeling Plan for PSP
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Roy nis, psp, videos 0 comments

Some details have finally coalesced concerning the sequel to Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero, thanks to the newly launched site.  We’ll start with the story, which promises to be amusing:

One day Etna discovers that something has been stolen from her.  Sound familiar?  In her classic fury she gathers her less-than-trusty underlings: her 1,000 Prinnies.  It would seem someone stole her… um… underwear (panties).

I anticipate a lot of hentai jokes in this game…

Apparently a notorious thief is going through the netherworld stealing various rare items.  As you can imagine, Etna wants this thief caught by the end of the day, but she doesn’t feel like doing it herself.  Who does that leave?  A magical red scarf and 1,000 Prinnies.

As you can see, the story allows for an essentially unchanged system.  The player will still challenge one stage per hour, in a certain order until dawn, or the 1,000 Prinnies go up in smoke.  There are three levels of difficulty: Hell Official Rule, Standard, and Baby-Easy:

Baby-Easy allows for an additional hit from Standard, meaning the 4th hit would kill the current Prinny.  I am guessing this was added since the last game was balls hard.  BALLS.

Another new addition to the battle system concerns the attack gauge at the bottom of the screen.  This gauge was in the previous game as well.  When it became full, the Prinny’s offensive abilities increased dramatically.  The same is true in this version, but with a few more bonuses.  First off, you get this sweet aura:

And these two new attacks:

For “Prinny cyclone”, the Prinny in question will spin rapidly transforming the end of his red scarf into a fist, clobbering any foes in its reach.  The “metabon hip-attack” simply dishes out more damage than the normal version.

In the first game I found that I was rarely able to max out my attack gauge.  It would seem I am not the only person who had that issue since an additional way to boost it has been added.

Throughout the game’s various levels you’ll occasionally come across these Etna doll/scarecrow things:

If you destory it, your Prinny will receive a large boost to their attack gauge.  I am guessing that the placement of these bonuses alter based on the level and the hour though, so don’t get too comfortable.

That’s about it for major system updates.  The second Prinny title will hit shelves in Japan on March 25th.

On an somewhat related note, the official NIS Prinny updated his blog to include some holiday festivities.  Like most of Japan, the Prinny indulged in some customary KFC Fried Chicken on Christmas.  I know it’s a terribly commercial tradition but hey, it’s also fucking delicious.  Don’t worry this doesn’t count as cannibalism… I think.

Roy nis, preview, psp 5 comments