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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

With a penchant for gritty visual novel games, Nitroplus is known for hit titles like Saya no Uta and Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa. In recent years, they've also been involved in major anime titles like Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Psycho-Pass, gaining even wider recognition as a Japanese entertainment brand. Perhaps thanks to this strong reputation, news of their next project being a 3D action game – a first for the studio – has stirred both excitement and anxiety among Nitroplus's cult-following.

AUTOMATON sat down with the key figures behind the development of Dolls Nest – director Yojo Ota and sub-director Keiichi Ogami. We asked them about the game's development process and how the project originated in the first place. They told us all about their passion for the Armored Core series and what makes Nitroplus games "Nitroplus-like."

―You made the proposal for Dolls Nest before FromSoftware announced they were making Armored Core 6. Until that point, there had been a 10-year gap in the series. Be honest – were you thinking "I'll make it myself then" when you decided to pitch Dolls Nest?

Ota:
Yes, a big part of me coming up with the proposal for Dolls Nest was the lack of a new official Armored Core entry – it made me think "I want to make it myself."

Ogami:
If I remember correctly, you even wrote "there isn't one, so I'm going to make it" in the proposal itself (laughs).

―(laughs) Then I'm guessing Armored Core 6's announcement in 2022 came as a surprise to you?

Ota:
As a fan, I was overjoyed, but as a developer of Dolls Nest, it was quite a surprise. At first, we were worried about whether the game systems would overlap heavily, but in the end, Armored Core 6 turned out to be a very different game from what we were making, so we decided to proceed with our release. Although, I must say that I'm afraid of being compared to Armored Core, given the huge difference in development budget and technological capabilities.

―Were there any aspects of Armored Core 6 that influenced Dolls Nest?

Ota:
We launched the project with the previous Armored Core titles in mind, and we were already in the midst of development when Armored Core 6 was announced, so I don't think we ended up drawing much from it.

Ogami:
When we released our demo, we received many requests to balance the game so that it's more like Armored Core 6. We weren't going for a super high difficulty for Dolls Nest, and since its core concepts are different, balancing was a challenge for us.

―Which pre-Armored Core 6 title was closest to the vision you had in mind for Dolls Nest?

Ota:
That's a tough question, but personally, I think I enjoyed Armored Core 5 the most because of how crazy you can get with customization and how fun it is to play after you've built your unit. So, that's probably the title I was most conscious of while developing Dolls Nest.

―On the other hand, how have you sought to differentiate Dolls Nest from influences like Armored Core 5?

Ota:
In Armored Core, exploration is generally a secondary part of gameplay, but in Dolls Nest, we've brought both customization and exploration into the foreground, and I think this is what gives the game a unique color.

Ogami:
Since we're emphasizing exploration in Dolls Nest, we've placed NPCs throughout the map, and you can have conversations with them as you progress. In that sense, while the game was definitely inspired by Armored Core at the start, the experience we've created feels quite new.

More at the link:

Interview: Nitroplus missed Armored Core so much, they started making their own mecha action game Dolls Nest – then AC6 got announced - AUTOMATON WEST

Developer interview with Nitroplus's Yojo Ota and Keiichi Ogami - director and sub-director of 3D mecha action game Dolls Nest.

automaton-media.com

 

[Gbraga]

Somehow my first time hearing about this game was the news that it just came out, immediately grabbed it and I'm still early on but enjoying it so far. The 5 influence does make a lot of sense, it still has quick boosts and stuff after all, but you're not going at insanely high speeds barely caring about energy. I feel like it's closer to 1-3 than 5 personally, but with the right touches from 5 to make it a bit more modern.

I still miss the bunny hopping to conserve energy, but yeah, overall I'm happy to have another Armored Core style game that actually has the older style controls of not having character and camera movement decoupled from each other. The camera acceleration thing was super interesting, bringing turn speed into the tactile feedback, the mechanics you're using instead of just stats, it makes it fun to handle and uses analog movement quite well, feels like a logical next step from the end of gen 3 which already made the switch to dual analog.

I was quite shocked to see that it's in fact a soulslike in structure and level design. I was scared that AC6 would ditch mission-based structure and that it would ditch the movement, but it only changed movement, and now I get to see what AC in a Souls style game feels like. Interesting that I get a taste of both poisons after all.

It's kind of interesting seeing the usual build variety being a big factor but not only in combat performance and dealing with specific mission scenarios, but also general exploration, making tricky leaps and stuff like that. It's a better fit than I expected for sure. I rather like how few "bonfires" there are, only found one so far. This is something even From can't contain themselves on anymore. Checkpoint spam everywhere.

Also like the melee being far weaker than 6 and even 4/For Answer. Because I think the melee being as good as it is in 6 is very welcome, it's a great change, but I want a classic-AC style experience to feel more like classic-AC.

We'll see how it holds up as it progresses I guess, but I'd say Armored Child is worth checking out.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Annoyingly, there isn't a DRM-free release on JAST like with basically every other Nitroplus game. Oh well.

Cool the game finally launched.

 

[JDF]

Loved the Demo, hopefully they fixed some of the issues.

 

[64gigabyteram]

we have this and expedition 33 for april
I love being a gamer

 

[Rat Rage]

I like the traditional Armord Core camera perspetive and the little slower, less flashy gameplay - this is how new Armored Core games should be like.

However, the artstyle and everything else in this particular game looks fucking ASS!

 

[Gojiira]

Man I hope we get a AC4/FA/5/VD Remaster at some point…

 

[Gbraga]

I like the traditional Armord Core camera perspetive and the little slower, less flashy gameplay - this is how new Armored Core games should be like.

However, the artstyle and everything else in this particular game looks fucking ASS!

I like it, environments seem to be inspired by Nihei's work a bit, at least the early ones I've explored so far have that strong post-cyberpunk megastructure atmosphere.

And then you take that and combine with mecha musume, what could go wrong? It's peak.

 

[Mikado]

Not far into it yet, but it is surprisingly good so far. I love the art style. I was more of a fan of the AC5 era than AC6 so this game sits well with me, but with a touch of Code Vein'y soulslike on top.

Worth my 20-30 bucks (or whatever it cost).

 

[Crayon]

Good looking out. I've got it wishlisted so I can take a better look later.

 

[Kataploom]

Well, I tried Daemon x Machine recently and it bored me to death, dropped it after the first D rank missions because I thought it would get good there and it never did... Still hoping the sequel engages me and this game seems good to fix the mecha whole it left (AC6 is just too difficult for me to bother right now, maybe later)

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Never heard of it, just watched the trailer on Steam and the first scene is some loli in a short skirt with a mecha suit, then you got like some Nier Automata vibes with white flower petals?
Yeah I'll stick with AC, thanks. I'm sure this will do great on Steam though.

 

[RaZoR No1]

Well, I tried Daemon x Machine recently and it bored me to death, dropped it after the first D rank missions because I thought it would get good there and it never did... Still hoping the sequel engages me and this game seems good to fix the mecha whole it left (AC6 is just too difficult for me to bother right now, maybe later)

Is it really that bad?
I only played the first two missions and dropped it for later (Switch) but never bothered to play it again.

You should definitely try AC6 again. The patches nerfed some of the boss fights...
And if you should have any problems with your build, there are tons of vids/ builds online, which you can copy.


B2T:
Gameplay looks good, Mech + Loli design ... let us say it definitely a different / interesting approach to the game design.

The OST reminds me a bit of Ar Tonelico combined with NieR.

 

[Kataploom]

Is it really that bad?
I only played the first two missions and dropped it for later (Switch) but never bothered to play it again.

You should definitely try AC6 again. The patches nerfed some of the boss fights...
And if you should have any problems with your build, there are tons of vids/ builds online, which you can copy.


B2T:
Gameplay looks good, Mech + Loli design ... let us say it definitely a different / interesting approach to the game design.

The OST reminds me a bit of Ar Tonelico combined with NieR.

Well, it was for me, like to mindless easy even for my current mood where I don't want to be pushed too much and it really bored me.

And I don't have AC6 yet, I'll get it when I feel like putting some hours into a challenge.

Also, my problem with DxM is not only that gameplay is boring, but I wasn't feeling the characters at all, they talk too goddamn much, never stop talking, so maybe this game is different, I'll need to check it out, this thread came in the perfect moment lol

 

[Gbraga]

Well, it was for me, like to mindless easy even for my current mood where I don't want to be pushed too much and it really bored me.

And I don't have AC6 yet, I'll get it when I feel like putting some hours into a challenge.

Also, my problem with DxM is not only that gameplay is boring, but I wasn't feeling the characters at all, they talk too goddamn much, never stop talking, so maybe this game is different, I'll need to check it out, this thread came in the perfect moment lol

I have the exact same issue with Daemon X Machina, dropped it fairly quickly. Too easy so your brain is just turned off going through the motions and the game never shuts up for a second, boring is the perfect description. So I do recommend Dolls Nest for sure, far more engaging.

Though I don't think you have any reason to be scared of AC6 if you like Armored Core, I don't find it particularly difficult. If you thought Daemon X Machina too easy to the point of being boring, AC6 will feel just right. Especially if you're already used to Armored Core, as movement and aiming in 6 is completely effortless compared to any previous game, for better or worse.

 

[mayham2199]

Well, it was for me, like to mindless easy even for my current mood where I don't want to be pushed too much and it really bored me.

And I don't have AC6 yet, I'll get it when I feel like putting some hours into a challenge.

Also, my problem with DxM is not only that gameplay is boring, but I wasn't feeling the characters at all, they talk too goddamn much, never stop talking, so maybe this game is different, I'll need to check it out, this thread came in the perfect moment lol

That's actually one thing I liked about AC6 is it was damn near just a boss rush game.