I have always liked the properties that NIS and NIS America have brought to the masses. I have also tried quite a few times to get to see the booth and games at PAX East to no avail. However, that changed this year, so I want to thank NIS America for taking the time to see me. I also want to thank the staff at the booth for assisting me. I slipped and fell at the booth, and the staff, as well as a few visitors, were very helpful when I needed it. Once again, thank you, NIS America staff. Now that I got that out of the way, I looked at two games at the booth. Disgaea Mayhem and Brigandine Abyss.
Disgaea Mayhem is the first time the series has gone from a tactical RPG to more of an action RPG. It reminded me a lot of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma in terms of when you explore a dungeon and control schemes. You could also compare it to the likes of Dynasty Warriors regarding attacking wave after wave of enemies. After defeating a certain number of enemies, you’ll have to attack the boss enemy, who will be a lot bigger than the normal enemy. AND in typical anime style, the boss enemies shown in the demo were sexier than the normal enemy, but I judge. The demo had special PAX East weapons for your character to pick from. There were three rounds, so I switched my weapon all three times. The first level, I went with bare hands/boxing gloves, and that was pretty cool. There are combo attacks that you can use, and in this instance, you have punches that you can string together.
The second demo level at the booth was a little tougher, and I gave my character a spear-like weapon, which gave me more range. It also gave me much better coverage, as well as different special attacks. You might want to save the special attacks for large groups of enemies or the boss enemy. You’ll be able to aim the special attack to do the most damage, so aim carefully. The final level, I switched to guns, and that might not have been the best idea because the range on the guns isn’t great. The enemy attacks had a better range than my attacks. That being said, I found a nice balance between jumping and shooting as I could shoot three to four times while jumping and that took out most enemies. The super special attack from the gun was crazy strong and helped a lot against the boss. You’ll also be able to dodge enemy attacks, and I love the way this is done. Think about the way a gymnast does a backflip, and you have your awesome dodge. Disgaea Mayhem is a game I’m looking forward to playing in the future.
The other game I got to see at the booth was Brigandine Abyss, a strategy/tactical RPG. I’m not the biggest fan of tactical RPGS and I had lost the battle in the demo. That being said, the game looks, sounds, and plays great. Don’t put stock in me being bad at tactical RPGS. During the demo, my team had three groups of fighters. We had two that were fighters and one that was a healer. We also had other characters that had healing abilities, as well as other characters that could attack. We had wolves that were quick and able to counter. We had dragons that blew fire, and we had rock golems that could attack with rock and snow. However, in this game, each group has a captain as it will, and if that character is defeated, the whole unit fails and is gone for the remainder of the fight. Your captains also have rally abilities that can help the unit if needed. You’ll have to combine movement, attacks, and special attacks/magic to win the day. In terms of attacks, think Pokemon-logic where attacks have elements and certain elements do better against others. Learn that quickly because if you don’t, you’ll be doing less damage to the enemy, and they could be doing more to you. I didn’t think I was doing that, good in the battle, and we almost pulled it off. Even though I don’t like tactical RPGS, I enjoyed my time playing the demo for Brigandine Abyss. Getting to have more time with the game and learning the ropes will make the game even better!