In about two months, Nippon Ichi Software America will send Disgaea 2 into North American retailers. We killed a man for a chance to talk to one of the game’s producers.
| RPGLand.comBefore we get started, could you introduce yourself and your connection to the Disgaea series? |
| Souhei Niikawa, Nippon IchiHello, my name is Souhei Niikawa and I am the producer for Disgaea 2. |
| RPGLand.comTen words or less, the “Cursed Memories” subtitle referrs to… |
| Souhei NiikawaIt’s referring to the main character’s traumatic past. |
| RPGLand.comIn Disgaea 2, what are the major changes in the battle system, if any? |
| Souhei NiikawaThere are quite a few major additions to the game. For instance some of the new features are stack attack, Geo monsters, newer geo panel features, and the unpredictable Dark sun system. Essentially for Disgaea2 we did not want to make major changes that would disrupt Disgaea’s original game play. |
| RPGLand.comOkay, so, conversely, how is it similar? |
| Souhei NiikawaLike I mentioned the basic game system is the same with the grid based battle system and the linear story telling. However, we have a lot more packed in to this game then Disgaea 1, so fans will not be disappointed. |
| RPGLand.comDisgaea is famous for the outrageous number of combos and damage you can inflict on your enemies. What’s your favorite new attack and why? |
| Souhei NiikawaPersonally, I like Adell the main character’s super moves. They’ve got a nice sprite animation to it with great looking effects. |
| RPGLand.comLet’s pretend for a minute that Disgaea 2 shows up in the US and sells awesome. Gimme the odds of a Disgaea 3, just from that. Would you specifically make a third game, or let it end at 2 and go the way of creating other original titles? Take a guess if you’re not sure. |
| Souhei NiikawaWell sales number always helps for sequels, but we have no intent on ending this series just yet, so you can count on part 3. |
| RPGLand.comWe’ve seen Etna and Laharl appearing in artwork, and Etna even being in the game’s opening movie. What are their roles in Disgaea 2? Also, what other familiar faces from the first Disgaea are going to participate in the story for the second one? Any from other NIS games such as, say, Makai Kingdom? |
| Souhei NiikawaThis time neither Laharl nor Etna will take the leading roll. However, you can expect to see the two throughout the game. You’ll definitely see guest cameo appearances from our past NIS games. There are quite a few of them, so be prepared to spend hours of game play to unlock all of them. |
| RPGLand.comWhat will newcomers to the Disgaea world need to know about the first game in order to understand the second, or even the anime? What might they possibly be mising? |
| Souhei NiikawaOther than the guest appearances of past characters, the story should be quite straight forward. Newcomers shouldn’t have too much problem understanding. However, they should know the characters. |
| RPGLand.comSo is Flonne all grown up now? |
| Souhei NiikawaKind of sort of. She’s a little grown from Disgaea1, but not by much. |
| RPGLand.comThe Underworld seems awfully democratic, with its own court system and all. Any chance of a special unlockable “Lawyer” class? |
| Souhei NiikawaHahaha, that is an awesome idea. It’s a bit too late for Disgaea 2, so we will consider it for the future Disgaea series. |
| RPGLand.comWould you rather be stuck in the Underworld or in Heaven of Disgaea’s world? The Underworld knows how to party, but in Heaven it seems like you’d have less of chance of horrible torture. |
| Souhei NiikawaHahaha, well the underworld seems a lot more interesting, so I’ll try it. I just hope I don’t encounter any of the horrible Overlords. |
| RPGLand.comIt seems a lot of people bark about the graphics in these games. Is any NIS TRPG ever going to get a hi-res treatment? What’s the reasoning behind the looks? |
| Souhei NiikawaYou might be surprised with the graphics of Disgaea2. Both the 2D and 3D graphics has received a nice little treatment and looks a lot better than our previous games. |
| RPGLand.comWhat worries you about Disgaea 2? Is there anything you fear American fans of the original might not react particularly well to? Totally don’t even cop out and say everything’s perfect, either. |
| Souhei NiikawaWell the obvious concern is the fact that Laharl, Etna, and Flonne are not the main characters for Disgaea 2. I know some fans are going to be upset, but we’re pretty confident that fans will enjoy the new characters as well. Especially, the frog character called Tink. He’s a unique one. |
| RPGLand.comRoughly how long will it take the average player to beat the game, and how long will it take them to unlock everything? |
| Souhei NiikawaWhoof, that’s a tough question to answer. We had some people play for 100 hours and still haven’t beaten the game. But, I think if you focus only on the main story and nothing else a solid 40 hours should do it. Now if you try to do everything in the game like the item world and other various side quests, it would take 150-200 hours. I tell you, it’s madness. |
| RPGLand.comAny chance we can look forward to a singing Montague in Disgaea 2 to honor your Rhapsody days? *ducks* |
| Souhei NiikawaHmmm, we don’t have a singing Montague, but you can expect something from Rhapsody to show in the game. |
| RPGLand.comAn angsty forum community member wanted us to ask why he can’t buy a new Etna figurine in the US. What should I tell him, if anything? |
| Souhei NiikawaPerfect timing to ask that question, you might want to check out nisamerica.com for the latest news. You might be surprised. |
| Heath Hindman…Okay, Niikawa, I’ll play into your commercial. Hang on… Wow! I can’t believe the great stuff I found at the NISA store! Like OMG! Figurine sets, stuffed prinnies, shirts, guides, and NISA games for reasonable prices! Andrew DuffWhat’s that you say, Heath? You got this all at the NISA store? I think I’d better get their quick and buy my stuff before supplies run out! Heath HindmanThis is cause to get down and pray to NISA every night! Plus cause to read the other part of this interview, the part about the Disgaea anime! |
| RPGLand.comThank you very much for answering our many questions. We wish you the best of luck in finishing the anime and localizing the game. Do you have any closing comments? |
| Souhei NiikawaPlease look forward to Disgaea 2, it’s looking to be an amazing, so we won’t disappoint you. Also thank you very much for this awesome interview opportunity, we really appreciate it. |
This interview is not done rocking! We also asked about the anime here. Props go out to Mr. Niikawa, as well as various people at NIS and NIS America for helping us to bring you this interview.
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