Disgaea devs intro Z.H.P. for PSP
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
New superhero strategy RPG to be released by NIS America this winter; publisher also prepping retro dungeon-crawler Cladun for portable, teases next Disgaea for PS3.
While Nippon Ichi Software is best known for its Disgaea line of strategy role-playing games, the publisher's ambitions extend beyond that brand. For example, today the publisher announced a new intellectual property from the Disgaea development team and a downloadable retro-styled action RPG. The company also had something for those who would prefer more Disgaea, as the series' producer teased a new PlayStation 3 installment in that line would be announced before long.
Starting with the new intellectual property, NIS America will be publishing the PSP superhero strategy RPG Z.H.P. in North America this winter. Known in Japan as Zettai Hero Keikakuin, Z.H.P. lets players create their own heroes and bases of operations, then do battle with the forces of evil on randomly generated maps.
NIS America's other newly announced game uses both its name and its subtitle to describe the game. Cladun: This Is an RPG is a "classic dungeon" action RPG set for release as a downloadable-only PSP game this fall. The game will feature retro-styled pixel-art characters, with players able to create their protagonists from scratch. As with Z.H.P., NIS America is touting the game's character customization features and randomly generated dungeons.
At a NIS America press event revealing the games, Disgaea series producer Souhei Niikawa underscored the importance of both titles to the company. Nippon Ichi Software has decided to limit the number of titles it launches in a given year in order to focus more on quality, Niikawa said, and Z.H.P. and Cladun are products of that philosophy. Z.H.P. in particular was made "to surpass Disgaea," Niikawa said, adding that the team is as excited about the project as it was when making the first game in the company's flagship franchise.
Speaking of that series, Nippon Ichi Software will be returning to the world of Disgaea soon. Niikawa said that the next Disgaea game will be released in Japan for the PS3 later this year, with a full reveal of the title expected by the time the Tokyo Game Show kicks off in September.
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
27 comments
.... OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH EEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMM GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! O_O
Yet another disgaea to take loads of my time...sweet dood! I think I might check out how this new title shapes up too.
@flaMbOaStiN: I was extremely saddened by the one certain battle bug and the poor translation during one certain dive that plagued Ar tonelico 2 as well, but that didn't stop me from getting 100%. They may have been bad with a handful of games, but the fact remains is that we have too few options when it comes to localizations. That leaves those of us who love translated games in a bind. I'd also like to point out that quite of number of translation complaints are by the same handful of Japanese gamers/Weeaboos who just plain don't like seeing games getting translated at all and would consider ANY localization a failure no matter how bad/good it is. Until people start admitting to this there will always be "complaints". Just because a story needs to be adjusted somewhat for someone else that don't speak Japanese so they can understand it doesn't make it a bad translation. The point of any localization is to give people "other then those who might have already played the game" an opportunity to enjoy it, and for the most part the Jp VA is still included, so there really is no excuse for those types of complaints, especially in the days of the PS3 where region really no longer matters and Jp fans can import their games without worry. I have played quite a few "post Ar tonelico 2" NISA releases and i'm quite happy with what i have received.
awesome stuff coming from these guys! check out the trailers for these 2 games. Cladun looks fun. ZHP looks lots better. glad to be a PSP owner!
Nice to see 2D gaming still going strong. Although I'm not a huge Disgaea fan, video gamers have a lot to thank NIS for.
And man right when i sell my PSP Disgaea and Persona games start comein out.. Looks like ima have to go buy another one >.>
Why do they go with NIS? NIS has to be the worse translators!! omg they made AR Tonelico II unbeatable for heavens sake.. Please, go with Atlus or something..
@ninja_where They're going to do what they did in Disgaea 2 Dark Hero Days; skip to Makai Wars 2 and make loads of cash!
I love Disgaea, but please: if you insist on using sprites still, please make them HD this time!
good a new disgaea 4. hope they up some of the graphics otherwise im just really happy we get a new ps3 one instead of so many remakes.
Yeah ok. It was quite a bland event. I'll eventually get ZHP and Disgaea 4 but it's nothing mindblowing i guess... It's all about Atelier Rorona and Ar Tonelico III. Shame they didn't confirm Atelier Totori though...but it should come in time unless Rorona majorly flops.
@sakanakami : Same here, I look forward to disgaea and the new game, but Ar Tonelico is much higher on my list than any of their other franchises. shame it hasn't caught on as well stateside as Disgaea has.
Awesome news. I've been waiting for a US release of Zettai Hero for a while now, and on top of that, an action RPG and a new Disgaea.
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Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
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- Publisher(s): NIS America
- Developer(s): Nippon Ichi Software
- Genre: Strategy
- Release:
- PEGI: 12+
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