Some more Disgaea 3 downloadable content has been announced by NIS in Japan. The newest series has two pretty cool additions. First off, players in Japan were treated with a free download of a scenario featuring Sony’s duo of bipedal cartoon cat mascots: Toro and Kuro.  Under this scenario, the pair join the group, can be assigned as teachers and even become respective weapons (but NOT fight along side the player):

These weapons do look quite deadly.  I would hate to get slapped around by an enormous golden cat statue.

In addition to Sony’s feline friends, 4 new chapters will be available on January 30th. The new chapters focuses on Rasberyl, and her quest to reform the Netherworld Academy by becoming a teacher. Rasberyl will now assume the role as the game’s main character and don a new outfit:

I love the new outfit!  It’s so mature looking…

Each chapter will cost 550 yen, a pretty high price in contrast to most of the Disgaea 3 DLC.  I am not sure how long each chapter runs, but guessing by the price I would say it’s a substantial amount of time.

As much as I love Disgaea 3, I am not a big fan of Mao.  Mostly because he is kind of an asshole.   In fact I think I like every support character more than him

Anyway, I am excited at the prospect of playing as Rasberyl and am really looking forward to this DLC.  If my calculations are correct, we can expect this patch sometime in April or May.

Related Entries:
Makai Senki Disgaea 3: New DLC Announced
Makai Senki Disgaea 3: Even More DLC
Disgaea 3: Soul Nomad DLC
More Disgaea 3 DLC: Usa Rush!

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I received this card in the mail a few days ago from NIS America. Can you believe NIS is kinder than some of my lousy relatives?  The card made me feel pretty good, especially because I wasn’t able to attend a recent event NIS held in California to celebrate the announcement of Prinny.  I live about 3,000 miles and several hundred dollars away from California.  That’s OK, it’s not like there was an enormous Prinny there who dispensed booze from his fanny-pack-thing:

Oh, that’s right, THERE WAS.

Maybe the sound of my blubbering and crying reached NIS, who decided they will be sending me an advanced copy of Prinny: Can I Really Be the Main Character? I am already planning out how I will use my 1,000 lives…  Expect an in-depth review sometime early next year!

If that wasn’t enough, NIS America has begun launching downloadable content for Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice with Adell, Rozalin, and Nekomata currently available.  More is scheduled to be released next month.  NG5 already downloaded the patch, but I have been a bit busy with Persona 4, shoveling, shopping, etc.  Once things settle down, I am all over that.

NIS, you have made my fucking Christmas – keep up the good work!

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This Friday in Japan, NIS is releasing another slew of downloadable content for Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice.  Among the content is a new mode for players to test their meddle called Survival Attack mode, which costs 500 yen.  A player will descend into a world not unlike the item world and must last as long as possible.  Depending on how long the player lasts, they may receive 1 of a new series of weaponry designed specifically as a reward for survival mode:

Click image to view more weapons

The ultimate reward for traversing all 150 floors is having Pleinair, Takehito Harada’s mascot, join the team.  Here are some screens of Pleinair in action:

From what I have seen I can not confirm if Pleinair is a human or monster class character.  I haven’t seen any Magichange images which leads me to believe she may be a human type, which makes me happy.

If this isn’t enough to get you excited about the new DLC, there are also 3 more characters which can be purchased as well for 200 yen each:

Prinny Kurtis	Kurtis	Mid-Boss

Will having both Kurtis forms rip a hole in the netherworld fabric of space/time?  Possibly, but I would be glad to get Prinny-style Kurtis as he would be a wecome addition to my team.

I am glad that I can finally get Pleinair in a NIS game!  I purchased Disgaea for DS, but never got far enough to recruit her and don’t plan on doing so any time soon.  Hopefully NIS America will be bringing us this precious DLC soon.

Related Entries:
All other Kotowari posts relating to Makai Senki Disgaea 3 can be found here.

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In a recent interview between RPGamer and some of the staff at NIS America, several exciting bits of gaming news were revealed.  The most exciting news is that NIS America is planning on bringing X-edge (Cross Edge) to the states come March 2009:

RPGamer: X-Edge just seems to have NIS America all over it. It features characters from Disgaea, Mana Khemia, Ar tonelico, Spectral Souls, and the Atelier series. I mean, come on, there are even Prinnies. When should we expect to see it in North America?

NISA: X-Edge is an interesting project since it’s a collaboration between 3 different companies. It’s pretty funny to see a little Prinny fight characters from Darkstalkers like Morrigan and Demitri.

The release date isn’t finalized yet, but it’s going to be in March 09.

_source

For those who don’t know what  Cross Edge is, check out my preview post of the game, or others in the related entries section of this post.

I was also happy to see that NIS mentioned A Witch’s Tale, a title which appeared to vanish off the face of the earth around its supposed October release this year:

RPGamer: It was stated the game would be an action RPG developed specifically for western audiences, but not much else has been specified. Can you describe the gameplay for us?

NISA: It’s tough to say since it’s still under development, but one thing is for sure, the game has been changed to an RPG instead of an action RPG. The reason behind it is that the developer felt the world setting and story was better suited for an RPG that can be played for a long period of time, rather than a relatively short action game. We haven’t seen the latest game just yet, so as soon as we get more info regarding this title, we will inform everybody.

RPGamer: Is there any estimated release for this title, or is it on hold?

NISA: At the current moment the release is going to slip back to the fall of ‘09. In fact, we may just wait for a Halloween release, which goes along with the setting of the game.

_source

So far my calender of RPGs coming out in 2009 is pretty barren, so it’s nice to have something (semi) concrete to slap on it. I am really looking forward to both games and applaud NIS for their wise decision to localize Cross Edge. My only worry is that NIS won’t be following up with any of the DLC that the game has in Japan… I guess for now I am just happy with the good news.

Related Entries:
X-Edge (Crossedge) Announced for PS3
X-Edge (Crossedge) Video and Website Update
X-Edge (Crossedge) Battle-System and Merchandise
A Witch’s Tale Sneak Peak
NIS Spills Their Guts

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The Final Fantasy XIII trailers which Square-Enix showed at DKΣ3713 and this year’s Tokyo Game Show have finally been uploaded on the web.  This time it’s not a video of the trailer taken with a digital camera…  The videos are really nice quality and show some impressive graphics.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII - Trailer 5:02

This video lacks any voice acting by the game’s characters.  I am not sure if this is done because Square-Enix does not want to reveal who they have chosen to do the voice acting, or they don’t want to reveal anything about the story.  You can tell that in some scenes sound effects have been added, but still no voices.  Curious.

The game has a very Western look; many people including the main character Noctis wear black suits.  Also the surroundings are primarily urban, but much more spacious than urban areas in Japan.  The unknown figure at 3:27-3:32 looks a lot like a member of the Italian mafia, fully equipped with a pin-stripe suit.  Some people believe that he and Noctis are related due to similar eye features.

We still know nothing about the battle system of the game, which is both exciting and frustrating.  What we do know is that many team members from the Kingdom Hearts series are listed as working on Versus.  Also, there are many scenes of Noctis flying through the air smacking the crap out of some poor saps.  This sounds like evidence that we can expect a more action-oriented title.

I love the part where Noctis confronts Stella (3:55-4:11) and it seems like they are going to embrace each other or something, but they end up fighting instead.  I love misdirection.

Can anyone tell what the guys are looking at when they get out of the car?  It looks like the bridge is underwater or something.

Final Fantasy XIII - Trailer 3:11

This Final Fantasy XIII trailer starts with Pulse, the wilderness below the futuristic Cocoon.  Some large fauna wander the Pulse, which appear unthreatening since Sera/Sara/Sarah seems to live along side them peacefully enough.

A few summons, Siren, Ifrit, and Carbuncle are shown.  Carbuncle is summoned by Sera from a strange disc.  Summons appear to play a large part of the story in Final Fantasy XIII, having some connection with the mysterious fal’Cie.  This makes me wonder what part summons will play in Versus…

Soon after, Lightning’s raid on Cocoon begins.   Cocoon in contrast to Pulse seems dangerous, a parallel I find kind of cool and different from most RPGs.  Usually towns and cities are safe havens from the creatures that live in the wilderness.  This feeling may only be for the early stages of the game, it’s hard to say.

Final Fantasy Agito XIII - 1:29

This is the Final Fantasy XIII I admit I know the least about.  The title seems to be a strange fusion of MMO and Final Fantasy, providing both standard and online content.

The battle system reminds me of Crisis Core and even Final Fantasy X-2 to some degree.  It appears turn-based (ATB to be specific) and battles seem quick and smooth.

I am excited about the prospect of a partially online Final Fantasy.  I never got into FF11 out of fear of forfeiting my life.  Perhaps Agito is a good middle path between addictive and normal gaming.

Related Entries:
Exciting Square Enix News From DKΣ3713
Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII Update

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