Monday, September 30, 2013

Calling all present and future Vita owners: here's a Q&A about DanganRonpa that's worth a peek

I'm going to have a very interesting decision to make once Sony finally gets around to announcing the Vita TV's North American release: am I going to buy one of those sleek (and cheap) micro-consoles--along with a handful of games, of course--or am I going to buy a regular ol' Vita?

Regardless, I think the writing is on the wall that I'm going to buy a Vita in some form over the next 12 months or so--thanks in large part to the release of delicious-looking games like Spike Chunsoft's DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.



Speaking of which, DieHard GameFan's Joshua Moore recently picked the brains of two Nippon Ichi Software of America staffers about their employer's decision to localize this enhanced remake of the first DanganRonpa title, which achieved a respectable amount of attention from Japanese PSP owners all the way back in 2010.

A few of the passages of this Q&A--with Phoenix Spaulding, the NISA editor working on the project, and David Alonzo, the company's marketing coordinator--that particularly stuck out for me:

Spaulding on why NISA decided to work on this title--"We’d been doing a lot with the Vita and wanted to do something that was a little bit outside of our normal wheelhouse. The tone is really different from anything we’ve done and the gameplay is different, but we saw with 999 and Virtue's Last Reward that there’s an audience [for this type of game], not just in Japan, but an establishing audience here as well."



Spaulding on DanganRonpa's being like 999 mixed with Phoenix Wright--"In terms of style, I guess that closest thing that a lot of people would know would be the Phoenix Wright games, where there’s sort of two components: the research and investigative part, and the trial portion. It’s sort of an information game where you have to keep track of a lot of details and look for those little points in the game." Also, like 999 and Virtue's Last Reward, the tone and style are "very dark, where you can’t really trust anyone and your life is on the line, while you’re sort of under pressure to figure out what’s going on."

Spaulding on the title's "hardcore gameplay"--"A lot of people tend to describe [the game] as sort of a visual novel, or that kind of thing, but I think people will be surprised that there’s a lot of hardcore gameplay elements that people don’t realize: there’s a lot of timing-based stuff, once you get to the class trial you’re not just sitting there. It’s very active, you have to be paying attention. There’s a lot more than just sitting there reading a lot of text."



To read the full comments of Spaulding and Alonzo, direct your browser of choice to diehardgamefan.com.

DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc will be released in both Europe and North America--and in both digital and physical formats, I believe--in early 2014, courtesy of NISA. Pre-order the boxed US version here.

10 comments:

thegaygamer.com said...

We'll see. I'm def. leaning toward a full Vita at this point mainly because I far prefer to play games on handhelds these days.

Monster_Hunter2882 said...

I'm glad we're getting the game but I'm kind of annoyed how they're silting the vita release in of 1+2 apart but I understand why due to the cost of localization, hopefully we'll get the squeal also. I also can't decide if I should watch the anime before or after I get the game since it'll be awhile before I get a Vita.

Monster_Hunter2882 said...

I'm with you on preferring handhelds. I like them not just because I can play out of the house but because I'm not tied to TV. This is a reason I find the Wii U intriguing.

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, yes, the main reason I prefer handhelds at the moment, Sam, is that they allow me to play games anywhere in the house. As such, I think I'll quite like the Wii U, too, once I finally get one (due to off-screen play).

thegaygamer.com said...

I can see where you're coming from, Sam, but I'm OK with the situation as it currently stands because I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be getting either game (or wouldn't be getting them for some time) if it had been an all-or-nothing kind of decision. Anyway, here's hoping the first remake sells enough to warrant releasing the second one outside of Japan, too.

Monster_Hunter2882 said...

Oh well it's better than when Namco Bandai split One Piece: Unlimited Cruise SP (a 3DS release of 2 Wii games) apart in Europe and charged full price for both of them even though they already localized both games.

Zaphod65 said...

It's nice being able to play The Wind Waker as a portable game.

thegaygamer.com said...

I'll bet! And it'll probably be nice to be able to play Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8 that way, too :)

Zaphod65 said...

The Wii U update I'm downloaing now is supposed to allow off-TV play for Wii games as well. If that means my Virtual Console Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, etc. /drool

enorka miho said...

I really think you will like the Vita since handheld is your favorite.. It is the most powerful handheld console I have ever own and never regret having it for even one day.. Speaking of which I think I should name my Vita as well... Lol..


And I am happy that we get Danganronpa! Been waiting for years~! Not to forget Ys:Celceta's memory is coming for PSVita this Nov too.. Please help support Falcom and Xseed! If possible write an article about it too.. Least I missed out that post? Thank you! XD