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[Falk]

What with all the people insulting the work of the new character portrait artist though?

It's not bad per-se. I can appreciate anime artstyle in a vacuum, and I'm not really that big of a snob to outright say that shiny cleavage doesn't have a target market and doesn't move copies.

It's just jarring going from a relatively fresh (and cohesive) aesthetic to generic ahoge-toting moeblob.

Also imagine the anime portraits were the original art and the more "realistic" art was the one being added. Everyone would probably be shitting on the original art.

I guess people are hyprocites.

Don't disagree though.

 

[cj_iwakura]

It's not even just the artist's style, they don't even pay respect to the original design. They used to look solemn, now they look sugary sweet.

 

[Hubb]

It's not even just the artist's style, they don't even pay respect to the original design. They used to look solemn, now they look sugary sweet.

Well not all the character portraits are solemn, some are menacing, joyful, smirking, plain, ect. The only reason the new ones look sugary sweet to you is because of the art style and how bad it clashes with the original style. And for them "pushing" the anime style in the West, I can't even find a full portrait gallery of them to compare how they look and if they "pay respects to the original" (lol wtf). In fact, I can only find the portraits that were already shown in here. Even NISA's and Experience's websites are devoid of the anime portraits. Googling has done nothing, and any retail website has screenshots of the original art.

Actually I found these two screenshots, which all things considered don't look that bad. Are they actually redrawing the backgrounds too?

 

[radios shipping overview]

I think what gets me is that the original art is already anime-style, and already shows some skin, but the new art is your typical exaggerated, sexualized, otaku-pandering style that looks like every other moe anime (or Tales game) these days. It's so boring.

 

[CrovaxPSO]

Actually I found these two screenshots, which all things considered don't look that bad. Are they actually redrawing the backgrounds too?

It looks like event images like those are being redrawn, but the regular backgrounds during conversations are not. I really don't understand people getting upset over the new art since the two styles can be switched between at will.

From my playthrough:

 

[Saucycarpdog]

I think jiji said it best. It's not really the anime style that pisses people off but the reduction of the characters to something more otaku friendly.

The girl on the left is reduced from looking like an older teenager to looking like a 12 year old. Meanwhile the girl on the right is reduced from a decently dressed wizard to a cleavage showing seductive girl with glossy skin.

 

[AniHawk]

What an ace response, thanks AniHawk.

So you've got me hopeful that end of 2016 and start of 2017 is when they'll ramp up a bit more in getting titles out. Just in time for Hero Must Die to be picked up, I hope.

Also explains why the end of 2015 was a bit quiet, since they were betting on 3 bigger titles (although Rodea kinda failed on that) rather than a load of smaller ones.

i would just wait until the press event, which is usually late february. last year, they basically announced two games (danganronpa ae and rodea). this year, i expect they'll have a lot more. if they're serious about steam, they might also be confirming/announcing the games that had been leaked.

something else to consider is that they don't seem to be doing anime anymore. their releases basically dried up and all they're promoting now is standard edition versions of previously released titles and love live. that means all the people who would have been on those projects now have to be working on games.

 

[Kresnik258]

i would just wait until the press event, which is usually late february. last year, they basically announced two games (danganronpa ae and rodea). this year, i expect they'll have a lot more. if they're serious about steam, they might also be confirming/announcing the games that had been leaked.

something else to consider is that they don't seem to be doing anime anymore. their releases basically dried up and all they're promoting now is standard edition versions of previously released titles and love live. that means all the people who would have been on those projects now have to be working on games.

I think the reason I noticed it is precisely because we're waiting for the February press event. In previous years they've had kind of a two-tiered set of announcements, with some in Feb and some at AX/TGS or something else later in the year. This year they just kinda trickled W&THK and SoSC out and then threw in Disgaea before year end too.

And to be honest... I am expecting a big Steam blowout this year from them (didn't the CEO say last year that they were gonna start exploring PC overseas?) But even if they do, that makes me wonder even more what their translators are working on - like you say, they have a whole staff who previously managed multiple games + multiple anime all at once, what are they doing now?

But yeah, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Out of interest, what do you think are the chances of things like Coven & Labyrinth of Refrain and Hero Must Die? With them skipping Edo Blacksmith and Shin Hayarigami last year in favour of external titles, it makes me wonder what the chances of some of the smaller NIS developed games are (Hero has the disadvantage of being only published by NIS, too). If you hadn't already gathered, I'm really interested in Hero Must Die and would hate to see them skip it.

I'm quietly confident in Yomawari coming across.

 

[Mr Nash]

Great to hear. I can never have to many dungeon crawlers in my life. <3

 

[lazyproblems]

Lol at the new art, the old art looks so much better.

Going to stick with vita for this one, I prefer my DRPGs on my 3ds/vita.

 

[flatearthpandas]

I'll likely try it on Steam. Still haven't recovered any kind of trust for Exp after Demon Gaze.

 

[AniHawk]

I think the reason I noticed it is precisely because we're waiting for the February press event. In previous years they've had kind of a two-tiered set of announcements, with some in Feb and some at AX/TGS or something else later in the year. This year they just kinda trickled W&THK and SoSC out and then threw in Disgaea before year end too.

And to be honest... I am expecting a big Steam blowout this year from them (didn't the CEO say last year that they were gonna start exploring PC overseas?) But even if they do, that makes me wonder even more what their translators are working on - like you say, they have a whole staff who previously managed multiple games + multiple anime all at once, what are they doing now?

But yeah, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Out of interest, what do you think are the chances of things like Coven & Labyrinth of Refrain and Hero Must Die? With them skipping Edo Blacksmith and Shin Hayarigami last year in favour of external titles, it makes me wonder what the chances of some of the smaller NIS developed games are (Hero has the disadvantage of being only published by NIS, too). If you hadn't already gathered, I'm really interested in Hero Must Die and would hate to see them skip it.

I'm quietly confident in Yomawari coming across.

hero must die is kind of a wildcard to me. it looks interesting but i am not so sure about it. coven has a better shot with it having harada art and usually games like that make it to the us (i can't think of the last one he did for nis that wasn't localized by nis america). i think a lot of it will also have to do with how the vita market is currently a corpse party. at that point, those games probably need to be on steam since no one's really betting on vita exclusively in the us anymore. that said, yomawari will probably make it just because the firefly diary was actually pretty popular. i can see them trying the same thing with it having a limited physical release.

 

[Kresnik258]

hero must die is kind of a wildcard to me. it looks interesting but i am not so sure about it. coven has a better shot with it having harada art and usually games like that make it to the us (i can't think of the last one he did for nis that wasn't localized by nis america). i think a lot of it will also have to do with how the vita market is currently a corpse party. at that point, those games probably need to be on steam since no one's really betting on vita exclusively in the us anymore. that said, yomawari will probably make it just because the firefly diary was actually pretty popular. i can see them trying the same thing with it having a limited physical release.

I know the market is dire, but have their Vita releases done that poorly for them? You said yourself that DRAE seemed to do well for them, for a spin-off.

I do understand the point that going forward they're going to need PC SKU's for gthese games going forward though, which is a shame but a reality of the market at the moment I guess.

I just hope this last run of Vita exclusives from their parent company doesn't get lost in the shuffle, along with stuff like Operation Babel (though I'm not convinced Abyss did well enough for them to consider that).

 

[Kresnik258]

I got an interesting response about this from Prinny Supervisor (one of the localization team I believe) over on NISA's forums:

http://nisamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=881964#p881964

Will you be publishing the PC version of the game as has been rated by ESRB?

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/search.aspx ... 0PS%20Vita

We have no plans to...

If you're wondering, the reason it's rated for PC and Vita is because of the ESRB's console tier system. It's way easier to just list the product as being available for Vita and PC during the initial rating than to have to potentially do a resubmission if and when we ever decide to go to PC. Almost every game we publish from this year on will probably be rated for PC too as a formality. Doesn't always mean something's in the pipeline.

Sounds a bit like the "we have no plans" response about Hyperdevotion Noire that someone from IFI provided back when that was rated for PC.

 

[m@cross]

Another interesting game to try out on my VITA. I wish all game systems died like the VITA, years of numerous new games, no end in sight...

 

[Pellegri Testament]

Sounds a bit like the "we have no plans" response about Hyperdevotion Noire that someone from IFI provided back when that was rated for PC.

So in other words it's a "wait and see how Disgaea does, to see if PC is even a worthwhile venture for more of our titles" kind of thing.

 

[Basileus777]

I got an interesting response about this from Prinny Supervisor (one of the localization team I believe) over on NISA's forums:

http://nisamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=881964#p881964





Sounds a bit like the "we have no plans" response about Hyperdevotion Noire that someone from IFI provided back when that was rated for PC.

Uh-huh. And it's just a complete coincidence that the game was in the steamdb leak too.

 

[Jazz573]

I got an interesting response about this from Prinny Supervisor (one of the localization team I believe) over on NISA's forums:

http://nisamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=881964#p881964





Sounds a bit like the "we have no plans" response about Hyperdevotion Noire that someone from IFI provided back when that was rated for PC.

 

[Vamphuntr]

So in other words it's a "wait and see how Disgaea does, to see if PC is even a worthwhile venture for more of our titles" kind of thing.

They already have a build on steam https://steamdb.info/app/409890/subs/. They're probably doing the general thing of releasing the PC version late so people will buy it twice.

 

[Skulduggery]

I'm a weeaboo motherfucker myself, but goddam the anime version is laughable compared to the original style. Complete trash.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

They already have a build on steam https://steamdb.info/app/409890/subs/. They're probably doing the general thing of releasing the PC version late so people will buy it twice.

Damn.
Wish I could get in on that beta test.

 

[Falk]

So in other words it's a "wait and see how Disgaea does, to see if PC is even a worthwhile venture for more of our titles" kind of thing.

Nah, "we have no plans" has been their modus operandi.

 

[Shizuka]

I got an interesting response about this from Prinny Supervisor (one of the localization team I believe) over on NISA's forums:

http://nisamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=881964#p881964

Sounds a bit like the "we have no plans" response about Hyperdevotion Noire that someone from IFI provided back when that was rated for PC.

Interesting, I guess it's another case of NISA learning something from IFI after IFI mimicking NISA through the first years.

 

[AniHawk]

I know the market is dire, but have their Vita releases done that poorly for them? You said yourself that DRAE seemed to do well for them, for a spin-off.

I do understand the point that going forward they're going to need PC SKU's for gthese games going forward though, which is a shame but a reality of the market at the moment I guess.

I just hope this last run of Vita exclusives from their parent company doesn't get lost in the shuffle, along with stuff like Operation Babel (though I'm not convinced Abyss did well enough for them to consider that).

generally, you don't want to stick around until the system is doing badly for you. you want to get out while the fanbase is still there to give you money. this can be tough to figure out, but sometimes it hits you in the face. phantom brave psp, prinny 2, and zhp all did less than 10k within a short amount of time between each other, which meant that was it for nisa and retail psp games. from now on, vita-only games would be there for relationship purposes and specialty reasons (like firefly diary was). everything else is going to have to be multiplatform one way or another.

 

[Shizuka]

generally, you don't want to stick around until the system is doing badly for you. you want to get out while the fanbase is still there to give you money. this can be tough to figure out, but sometimes it hits you in the face. phantom brave psp, prinny 2, and zhp all did less than 10k within a short amount of time between each other, which meant that was it for nisa and retail psp games. from now on, vita-only games would be there for relationship purposes and specialty reasons (like firefly diary was). everything else is going to have to be multiplatform one way or another.

Still, NISA went forward with DD-only releases for the PSP after those games, what's to say they can't do the same with the Vita, specially now that limited prints are working for the company's store?

 

[AniHawk]

Still, NISA went forward with DD-only releases for the PSP after those games, what's to say they can't do the same with the Vita, specially now that limited prints are working for the company's store?

well psp games were playable on the brand new vita, which was hospitable to their efforts. nothing is replacing the vita.

 

[Kresnik258]

generally, you don't want to stick around until the system is doing badly for you. you want to get out while the fanbase is still there to give you money. this can be tough to figure out, but sometimes it hits you in the face. phantom brave psp, prinny 2, and zhp all did less than 10k within a short amount of time between each other, which meant that was it for nisa and retail psp games. from now on, vita-only games would be there for relationship purposes and specialty reasons (like firefly diary was). everything else is going to have to be multiplatform one way or another.

Haha. It's the fact they supported PSP for so long that I'm kinda expecting it to be honest. I mean, I get the feeling that Vita fanbase isn't massive but is pretty loyal and is enough to be profitable, at least from what we've heard from XSEED in the past.

I get the point about fanbase dwindling, but Vita has been in this death spiral since the end of 2013 pretty much when Sony withdrew support, so I don't see how things are massively different now compared to then.

But you're right of course, they have to withdraw at some point. From my own personal PoV I just hope it's after they can get this last batch of titles out.

 

[AniHawk]

Haha. It's the fact they supported PSP for so long that I'm kinda expecting it to be honest. I mean, I get the feeling that Vita fanbase isn't massive but is pretty loyal and is enough to be profitable, at least from what we've heard from XSEED in the past.

I get the point about fanbase dwindling, but Vita has been in this death spiral since the end of 2013 pretty much when Sony withdrew support, so I don't see how things are massively different now compared to then.

But you're right of course, they have to withdraw at some point. From my own personal PoV I just hope it's after they can get this last batch of titles out.

it really depends. those games are vita-exclusive and would really need a console or pc release in the us to gain any sort of recognition. i think that's why this thread for stranger of sword city is as big as it is. if this was just for vita i don't know if it would have had quite as much attention, although i know a lot of discussion focused on art work.

for coven and hero must die in particular, they're going to be a real hard sell unless there's another platform attached. i would turn those vita games into ps4 and pc games if i were them, but again, nippon ichi seems to do what they want without regard to a more worldwide market (criminal girls 2, anyone?).

 

[Kresnik258]

if this was just for vita i don't know if it would have had quite as much attention, although i know a lot of discussion focused on art work.

but again, nippon ichi seems to do what they want without regard to a more worldwide market (criminal girls 2, anyone?).

I do agree that if it were just for Vita this thread would be smaller, but the vast majority of this thread has been about the artwork, which I'd have thought would've been coming regardless of platform really.

As for thinking worldwide, it is strange considering how much of their revenue came from NISA last year (I think it was much larger than domestic revenue). Then again, if they are thinking about the domestic market, then PC is basically a non-issue and PS4 isn't massively attractive compared to Vita, especially for the kind of smaller, low-budget titles they've been making lately that I'm convinced would be a much harder sell on a home console.

 

[prudislav]

so its like , its not officially planned , but will most likley happen later down the line , but we cant tell you that

 

[dirtywhirlwind]

They already have a build on steam https://steamdb.info/app/409890/subs/. They're probably doing the general thing of releasing the PC version late so people will buy it twice.

To be fair, we have no idea if NISA is behind that. I see no reason why Experience couldn't publish it on Steam themselves, especially since they're doing it on Xbox One IIRC.

 

[Durante]

I just saw the image comparisons. I'm not someone who just hates on anime aesthetics in general, or even what people call "pandering", but in this case the redrawn art really doesn't fit the general aesthetics of the game.

So in other words it's a "wait and see how Disgaea does, to see if PC is even a worthwhile venture for more of our titles" kind of thing.

That would make very little sense. One is an SRPG and the other is a dungeon crawler :/

 

[Augemitbutter]

don't really care about the new artstyle. at least you can get more attention by including it in your game.

happy to play this soon.

 

[Parakeetman]

To be fair, we have no idea if NISA is behind that. I see no reason why Experience couldn't publish it on Steam themselves, especially since they're doing it on Xbox One IIRC.

Considering the ESRB rating was vita pc paired together and NISA PR made a statement about it on the forums, its NISA.

 

[dirtywhirlwind]

Considering the ESRB rating was vita pc paired together and NISA PR made a statement about it on the forums, its NISA.

I'm obviously talking about the Steamdb entry and not the ESRB listing.

 

[Vamphuntr]

I'm obviously talking about the Steamdb entry and not the ESRB listing.

NISA had it rated for PC and Vita. It wouldn't be make much sense to get it rated for other publishers. That's what he's saying.

Like in the same ESRB entry there is no Xbox One version mentioned because NISA isn't publishing it.

So the steamdb entry has logically to be by NISA.

 

[Tohsaka]

Got an e-mail from Amazon saying that the release date has been pushed back to April 19th. They had it listed for sometime in March, previously.

 

[Parakeetman]

Got an e-mail from Amazon saying that the release date has been pushed back to April 19th. They had it listed for sometime in March, previously.

How accurate are those mails from Amazon US? Am guessing fairly since the ones I get from Amazon JP are pretty on point when it comes to date changes. A bit odd that it would suddenly change considering that they already announced the release date.

 

[Basileus777]

How accurate are those mails from Amazon US? Am guessing fairly since the ones I get from Amazon JP are pretty on point when it comes to date changes. A bit odd that it would suddenly change considering that they already announced the release date.

Amazon uses placeholder dates a lot, but it's not typical for them to incorrectly delay a game.

 

[Tohsaka]

How accurate are those mails from Amazon US? Am guessing fairly since the ones I get from Amazon JP are pretty on point when it comes to date changes. A bit odd that it would suddenly change considering that they already announced the release date.

Usually pretty accurate from my experience. For what it's worth, GameStop is also listing the game as releasing on 4/19 now too as well.

 

[Parakeetman]

Amazon uses placeholder dates a lot, but it's not typical for them to incorrectly delay a game.

Usually pretty accurate from my experience. For what it's worth, GameStop is also listing the game as releasing on 4/19 now too as well.

Yeah I saw that Best Buy also changed the date.

Main reason of concern is that since things from the West usually show up for me in bulk, this puts a bit of a delay in that next shipment.

 

[lazyproblems]

Walmart and Gamefly are also saying 4/19 now.

Only places that still have the old date are Newegg and the NISA store, but I'm guessing those websites will get updated with the new April date too.

 

[lazyproblems]

NISA have released a new trailer, and it shows the release date as April 26th.

 

[Parakeetman]

NISA have released a new trailer, and it shows the release date as April 26th.

Hmm guess that settles it then. D:

 

[Chairmanchuck]

They also work on the PC version again since yesterday according to SteamDB, so I guess the delay happened so that they maybe want to release both versions at once.

 

[lazyproblems]

Courtesy of Gematsu, here are a few more art comparisons:

 

[Tohsaka]

Sucks that the delay was real, at least it's not too much longer I guess.

 

[Arzehn]

I don't get it, doesn't the developer look at their work and realize it's so much worse with the new style? Looking at those screens side-by-side I don't know why anyone would use the new animu style given the choice.

 

[Hubb]

I don't get it, doesn't the developer look at their work and realize it's so much worse with the new style? Looking at those screens side-by-side I don't know why anyone would use the new animu style given the choice.

There are a lot of things I don't understand why people like, and yet they still do. I don't understand all the huff over an optional art style you never have to use or see in your own game.

TLDR: Opinions.

 

[Pellegri Testament]

I don't get it, doesn't the developer look at their work and realize it's so much worse with the new style? Looking at those screens side-by-side I don't know why anyone would use the new animu style given the choice.

It would be one thing if the new style were completely replacing the old one, however as it's been said many times already, it is completely optional and you can switch between them freely. No ones work is being censored or replaced, there is nothing wrong with having the new style there as well as the old one.