E3 2016 - NIS America Details Their Upcoming Lineup

We had the pleasure to sit down with NIS America to discuss their upcoming lineup of games. Unfortunately, there were no actual demos available for us to preview, though we walked away with a bunch of information about the company's games and what they are planning to release in the near future.

Phantom Brave PC

Starting off our appointment, NIS America briefed us on the details surrounding their Windows PC release of Phantom Brave. The title is reportedly wrapping up its beta testing period, and the company plans to release the title sometime this July. The port will include all of the additional content from the PSP and Wii versions of the game.

Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet

NIS America flaunted their close relationship with this title's developer, when they detailed that Touhou Genso Rondo will include an additional playable character for the title's western release. The game of course includes all of the modes from the original Japanese release as well, including but not limited to individual story modes for each character, competitive multiplayer, and online rankings. The company likened the game as a type of “competitive, multiplayer Touhou,"  Touhou being a long running series of bullethell titles whose creator ZUN employs a very lax policy in regards to fan-created works. The title is scheduled to release this summer.

Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness

This Visual Novel, which takes place during the Anime's first season, includes a new story that connects with the Psycho-Pass universe. Two new characters take on a new enemy, “hacker kid," when the title releases this fall. Player choices will affect the player character's “hue," and may have an impact on the game's ending, leaving plenty of room for repeat playthroughs. The title is scheduled to release this September.

Criminal Girls 2

Undoubtedly one of the company's more infamous upcoming releases, NIS America went into some more detail regarding the title, as well as the changes that it will receive when it comes West. Any CGs that appear like the character are not in a consenting position will be edited, with NISA working with the original artist to make sure that the edits bring the new art as close to the original art as possible. Additionally, much like the first game, Audio is cut from characters during the Motivation minigame.

Otherwise, the game includes more of an emphasis on each individual characters storyline, with “only 6 of the 7 girls being who they seem," among other things.

Yomawari: Night Alone

A survival horror title from the same developers that made htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, Yomawari: Night Alone focuses on atmospheric survival horror, exploration, and a certain degree of stealth. Players explore a horrifyingly warped town as they search for clues regarding the whereabouts of the main character's older sister and their dog. NIS America detailed some more information about the “Heartbeat” system, where, the closer you get to an enemy, the harder the character's heart will beat with fear. This mechanic, while it might alert you to nearby enemies, apparently can also act as a detriment—the faster that your heart is beating, the slower that your character runs. Ultimately, if you get too close to monsters, you will get drawn into them and die. The title is scheduled to release this October.

Touhou: Genso Wanderer

The other Touhou fangame that NIS America is publishing, Genso Wanderer, is a roguelike taking place in the realm of Gensokyo. Besides being filled with a variety of standard roguelike mechanics, apparently the title will include features such as Item Fusing, enemy attacks that can unequip your characters items, and more. Additionally, all of the different types of enemies in the game are supposed to represent different types of Yokai. The title is scheduled to come out next year.

Disgaea PC

Wrapping up our discussion, NIS America detailed that they have been working on more patches for the PC version of Disgaea. The next update plans to fix bugs and target crashes, with more information coming very soon.