NIS Taint Doing So Well

[Aeolus]

Their caboose is getting whipped badly if this is their fall back position.

I figured if anybody gave a shit about this, it'd be this site.

[FlamingR1ft]

I've had mixed feeling about NIS recently. I can't say I'd be crying if they went under. They've released a number of sub-standard games and then decided to just fall back and rehash Disgaea.... again. I like Disgaea and all, but they barely change anything between each one. Something that has particularly bothered me about Disgaea 3 is graphical quality. I have no issue with them using 2D sprites, but they just reused the same ones from PS2. They look appalling nowadays. You think they could have at least made them look a little sharper. I mean, I have 2D DS games that look better than Disgaea 3.

[Cyril]

I'm sad about NIS simply because I really appreciate what NISA does.  Recently they've been really improving and they are also probably the only way we'd get Atelier titles over here in the west.  Though, I really do love the Prinny: Can I really be the Hero? series.

[Eusis]

I've had mixed feeling about NIS recently. I can't say I'd be crying if they went under. They've released a number of sub-standard games and then decided to just fall back and rehash Disgaea.... again. I like Disgaea and all, but they barely change anything between each one. Something that has particularly bothered me about Disgaea 3 is graphical quality. I have no issue with them using 2D sprites, but they just reused the same ones from PS2. They look appalling nowadays. You think they could have at least made them look a little sharper. I mean, I have 2D DS games that look better than Disgaea 3.

And then you click on the link.

All I can say about that story is sigh.

[Dincrest]

They've really lost their marbles now.  Criminal Girls?  Seriously?  Hoo boy...  And watch this, if this actually comes to US shores and it comes time to decide amongst the staff the lucky reviewer who gets this gem, everyone's going to say "NOT IT!" and I'll end up having to take this one for the team.  And to think, not too long ago they apologized for Last Rebellion and some of the subpar games they published.  Oh well...

[Tooker]

I've had mixed feeling about NIS recently. I can't say I'd be crying if they went under. They've released a number of sub-standard games and then decided to just fall back and rehash Disgaea.... again. I like Disgaea and all, but they barely change anything between each one. Something that has particularly bothered me about Disgaea 3 is graphical quality. I have no issue with them using 2D sprites, but they just reused the same ones from PS2. They look appalling nowadays. You think they could have at least made them look a little sharper. I mean, I have 2D DS games that look better than Disgaea 3.

I love that series too, but I agree.  The formula in each game has been "add more stuff."  I've played the first several times, and the second at least once, but I never made it very far in Disgaea 3.  And I was equally disappointed in the graphics, for exactly the reasons you give.

Now, if you want something Disgaea that's completely different from the rest of the series, check out Disgaea Infinite.  It's not very long, but it's definitely different, and I enjoyed it.

[Dincrest]

Yeah, Infinite and Can I Really be the Hero? are both darn good.  Those are the types of spinoff games you wouldn't expect to be good, but are.

[Cyril]

It's funny.  At this point I'd say the Disgaea spinoffs are better than the Disgaea games themselves. I, too, really liked Disgaea Infinite, it added just enough change to the "traditional" Visual Novel to make it stand out.

[Kevadu]

They've really lost their marbles now.  Criminal Girls?  Seriously?  Hoo boy...  And watch this, if this actually comes to US shores and it comes time to decide amongst the staff the lucky reviewer who gets this gem, everyone's going to say "NOT IT!" and I'll end up having to take this one for the team.  And to think, not too long ago they apologized for Last Rebellion and some of the subpar games they published.  Oh well...

Well, to be fair they're publishing Criminal Girls, not developing it (unlike Last Rebellion, which they actually were involved in developing).  Honestly, that article is kind of trash journalism.  We don't even know what the canceled projects were or how far they were in development.  Then they go on to conclude, "With Criminal Girls, Nippon Ichi is putting its eggs all in one basket."  That's complete BS.  At the very least we know there's a new Disgaea coming (which has always been their most successful franchise so it makes sense).

[Dincrest]

Still, even with something like Criminal Girls, it just screams of the kind of pandering and gimmick-gaming that we've all gotten tired of lately.  It would be nice if we're proven completely wrong and Criminal Girls is deep solid game that doesn't use its spanking gimmick as a crutch, but my "jaded-meter" doubts that. 

[Eusis]

Honestly, that article is kind of trash journalism.  We don't even know what the canceled projects were or how far they were in development.  Then they go on to conclude, "With Criminal Girls, Nippon Ichi is putting its eggs all in one basket."

Huh, I just remembered the game so I didn't read the article. Yeah, this is why I hate Kotaku sometimes, it's jumping to conclusions rather than realizing there might've bee a few games in very early development that wouldn't have been seen for quite awhile anyway.

[Bill]

They've really lost their marbles now

They're really aiming at the hardcore otaku market these days (and with little sense of quality control). Most likely, it has something to do with the relative success of games like The World Ends With You, Persona 3/4, and Ar Tonelico.

In fact, the niche JRPG scene seems to be moving in that direction (some developers are even using ero artists from the doujin scene now), which isn't something I'm comfortable with. While I'm a fan of that stuff myself, it's obviously going to alienate the majority of consumers, making a niche genre even more niche. In the long run, these companies are going to destroy themselves.

[insertnamehere]

this company needs to stop doing crossovers immediately

[Cyril]

this company needs to stop doing crossovers immediately

It's not NIS that does crossovers, it's Idea Factory.  They just let Idea Factory use their character and sometimes have "creative input."  For example, they wrote the Kanata story in Trinity Universe.

[DPB]

Yeah, this is why I hate Kotaku sometimes, it's jumping to conclusions rather than realizing there might've bee a few games in very early development that wouldn't have been seen for quite awhile anyway.

They're the gaming journalism equivalent of a tabloid newspaper.