Criminal Girls and the Netherworld

The situation at Nippon Ichi Software may not be rosy at the moment, but that’s won’t stop them from promoting their upcoming titles. The problem might be that the only announced titles they have coming down the line soon are the ports I posted about a little earlier this year: Criminal Girls Invitation and Disgaea 4 Return for Vita. It’s possible they have more than that in development, but those rumors about the sizable exodus from their Japanese studio (and the small one at their American counterpart, NIS America) are assuredly true. Their titles haven’t been selling well recently, so they’re banking on these ports to sustain them at the moment.

Upon reading my old post, you can tell I wasn’t sure whether Criminal Girls Invitation was an enhanced port of the original PSP title or a brand new one. It’s the former, but it sports a bunch of new features for everyone who…enjoyed the original. I wish everyone reading this was aware of what the original Criminal Girls was, so I wouldn’t have to elaborate on what it’s really about, but you’re probably intrigued. One part of it is a well-made dungeon crawler, but the other part is about spanking the young, female criminals for disobeying your orders in battle. This is a game for that audience, one that neither needs nor deserves any further elaboration.

Why yes, there is a trailer. If the description above turns you off, then trust me, don’t watch this.

But even if that turns you off, you might be wondering what new features Invitation has. The Vita version invites two new playable girls to the scene, a pink-haired barely-clad girl draped in chains named Himekami, and a blue-haired girl whose identity is unknown. Apparently they’re being added in case someone’s fetish wasn’t being appealed to. They will be part of the new “Garden of Evil Memory” scenario, which will take place in a school near the end of the game.

Invitiation releases in Japan on November 28th. NISA didn’t localize the original, even though it was released at a time where they were still localizing PSP games. They’re localizing Vita games now, with Demon Gaze and DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc coming soon. But don’t be surprised if they don’t consider this a good candidate.

Meanwhile, the localization chances are much higher for Disgaea 4 Return, considering most of it was translated for the PS3 version last year. The Vita version will hit Japan on January 30th, and comes with the $50+ worth of DLC the console version had (no, seriously), including a plethora of downloadable characters from previous games and other NIS franchises (a whopping 23 in total), six new classes, new items, extra modes, and two story scenarios. Basically, that’s so much DLC that they could have released an enhanced version that includes all of it on PS3. And they did…in Japan. But us westerners will have a chance to get that when it’s localized.

Similar to NIS other Vita ports, though, Return will have some new content of its own. It will have a scenario focused on Artnia, whose origins probably aren’t being explained  for good reason. It will also have a bunch of other features that have yet to be revealed, though some of them are coming in the form of enhancements to the formula that previous Vita port Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention and the recently released Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness received. Don’t be surprised if there’s more DLC exclusive for the Vita version too. In fact, it would be a surprise if that didn’t happen.

Expect NISA to confirm a western localization soon, perhaps around the time it releases in Japan. They’ve never skipped a Disgaea game, and they probably won’t start now.

These ports will help NIS now, but they’d better hope they have something swell in the pipeline. This could come in the form of a new Disgaea game, that could make some interesting changes. Whether fans will like them is another question entirely, meaning the reactions will be fun to watch when it’s revealed.