NIS America

[Marissa Moira]

That sure makes me want to buy more of their games

Just look on the bright side, at least they're not charging a full 60-80 for 10+ year old games....


yet.

 

[The Lawgiver]

Was going to get mad rat dead, didn't have the money, now can't own physicalcause limited one time only run bullshit for physical and don't want to get digital. Made this clear in other threads.

Poison control was a pretty fun game, kinda like megaman legends without an overworld or jump button due to the character swap mechanic stuff. Some translation stuff was kinda jank like the strange differences with character names. The audio is all japanese but the subtitles are english so when names or engrish come up in the audio and it doesn't match it always fucking bugs the shit out of me. Somehow never got around to playing that void terrarium game I got they published despite it really intriguing me. Then again, lockdown has completely killed my time perception, so that might have something to do with it.

From what I've seen of them it's a bit less horrible with the uneccesary changes compared to others. It's usually slight additions to funny moments that werent there before, or censoring via toning shit down which sucks. Not usually complete meaning changes or omissions of entire swaths of plot-relevant dialogue. Sure there's DEFINITELY shit like that and it's horrible but then you got absolute trashfires from bigger companies like the world ends with you part 2 where it's ONLY that kinda shit for the entire fucking translation.

 

[ZMOT]

I know I am bringing this thread from the dead, but I just want to bitch a bit about NISA.
So yesterday I finished playing D6, which has the same stupid translation problems as ever with all the needless changes, either way, I remembered that they ported phantom brave to steam and was going to buy it, the thing is that I found out that they fucking increased the price of a lot of their games on pc for no apparent reason.
PB price is now four times what it was back in august from 5 to 20.
Fuck NISA.

to be fair they lowered the price last year to a third (it was originally 15 bucks), it only looks huge compared to the reduced price.
there's a few theories floating around, like getting on another store requiring price parity or needing money (would wonder why...), if it's the former there might be a sale coming up at some point possibly pushing it back down to 5 for a time.

since it's recent might be worth checking key sites, although they usually track steam prices and adjust their price accordingly, but you might get lucky. unofficial ones aren't listed on ITAD, so you'd need to check them individually (if you don't like unofficial resellers, there's a difference between markets (like g2a) and stores, and keep it mind no store will run for long if it's constantly fucking over it's customers; plus paypal will happy return the money in that case).

tracking official ones like fanatical is always a good idea for a possible sale or bundle, can't remember the last time I bought a game on steam directly (just be aware you can't refund in that case).

Was going to get mad rat dead, didn't have the money, now can't own physicalcause limited one time only run bullshit for physical and don't want to get digital. Made this clear in other threads.

physical for console won't save you from the console kicking the bucket much sooner than the game would stop working, ps4 production has stopped already. that's why I have less an issue with digital on PC (and steam won't go anywhere anytime soon, otherwise gog).

 

[The Lawgiver]

physical for console won't save you from the console kicking the bucket much sooner than the game would stop working, ps4 production has stopped already. that's why I have less an issue with digital on PC (and steam won't go anywhere anytime soon, otherwise gog).

I don't give a shit if a consoles still in production or not I just want to be able to own shit without the chance of some dumb legalese shit causing the digital stuff to be pulled. Steam and ps4 usually let you keep things when pulled but like it's been getting more frequent where companies just pull access to a thing full stop or have some weird denuvo drm shit on the digital version that turns digital editions unplayable on certain computers or consoles. Mad rat physical came with the complete soundtrack in both digital and physical format which is different from the usual special edition releases of games these days where it's a "soundtrack selection" which made me kind of want it more on top of other things. Sure I could theoretically just have a digital pirated copy and infinitely use shit like that but that's not my ideal gaming experience. I could literally whip out my old snes,n64, or dreamcast and plug those into a tv and though it might not be the smoothest shit ever and might look like ass on modern flatscreens but the things still fucking work and aren't tied to some big fucking EULA shit that if you get banned for saying nono words somewhere else online you can't access your media ever again. I really don't trust digital after getting fucked over by digital exclusive content mismanagement or deletion by companies over the years.

 

[Marissa Moira]

I don't give a shit if a consoles still in production or not I just want to be able to own shit without the chance of some dumb legalese shit causing the digital stuff to be pulled. Steam and ps4 usually let you keep things when pulled but like it's been getting more frequent where companies just pull access to a thing full stop or have some weird denuvo drm shit on the digital version that turns digital editions unplayable on certain computers or consoles. Mad rat physical came with the complete soundtrack in both digital and physical format which is different from the usual special edition releases of games these days where it's a "soundtrack selection" which made me kind of want it more on top of other things. Sure I could theoretically just have a digital pirated copy and infinitely use shit like that but that's not my ideal gaming experience. I could literally whip out my old snes,n64, or dreamcast and plug those into a tv and though it might not be the smoothest shit ever and might look like ass on modern flatscreens but the things still fucking work and aren't tied to some big fucking EULA shit that if you get banned for saying nono words somewhere else online you can't access your media ever again. I really don't trust digital after getting fucked over by digital exclusive content mismanagement or deletion by companies over the years.

For shit that's had limited runs, that might be true in some regions while others it was just a common release.

Like the US version of something might be ungodly expensive but the EU version will be a billion times cheaper. There's also the fact that smaller companies exist in many countries and also do limited printings. They will partner with larger companies and publishers and do more printings from time to time.

Mad Rat dead is pretty cheap in the US for the PS4 copy for example it's around 40 bucks.

 

[Becomemysoulreaver]

Usually when the us or eur copies of a game are too expensive I just get the jp copy and then play a rom of the us one

 

[The Lawgiver]

For shit that's had limited runs, that might be true in some regions while others it was just a common release.

Like the US version of something might be ungodly expensive but the EU version will be a billion times cheaper. There's also the fact that smaller companies exist in many countries and also do limited printings. They will partner with larger companies and publishers and do more printings from time to time.

Mad Rat dead is pretty cheap in the US for the PS4 copy for example it's around 40 bucks.

Last I checked it's over 100 for any version now unless that changed. Switch is the version I aimed to get and the "cheap" listings for them seem to be 40-60 for just the game with the stuff normally included with the physical as seperate things for the same price, meaning it's back up to the over 100 dollars mark. US version of either just seems scalper city unless I missed the few decently priced actually complete physical editions.

 

[Marissa Moira]

Last I checked it's over 100 for any version now unless that changed. Switch is the version I aimed to get and the "cheap" listings for them seem to be 40-60 for just the game with the stuff normally included with the physical as seperate things for the same price, meaning it's back up to the over 100 dollars mark. US version of either just seems scalper city unless I missed the few decently priced actually complete physical editions.

It's on amazon for 40 bucks for the PS4 version.

Amazon.com: Mad Rat Dead - PlayStation 4 : Koei Tecmo America Corpor, Koei: Everything Else

Amazon.com: Mad Rat Dead - PlayStation 4 : Koei Tecmo America Corpor, Koei: Everything Else

www.amazon.com

The switch version had a limited printing and not a general release. That could explain the price discrepancy.

 

[NoonmanR]

NISA is not a good translator, not in the slightest. IIRC, they get their jobs by being the cheapest around, or from the rumors i hear with falcom, the CEOs being buddies. Not to shit on Trails, as to their credit they did hire some of the more dedicated Xseed autistics(Wryward, and i forget the other one's name) to work on it after they left xseed, so it has some chance of being decent.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Their games are pretty shitty. They've made so many that I can't completely write them off since I've only tried a fraction of them, but definitely seems like trash with few exceptions.

They seem to have published a few great ones though, like Ys 7 & 8 and Persona 4 Golden. They should probably stick to publishing rather than developing...

 

[Marissa Moira]

Their games are pretty shitty. They've made so many that I can't completely write them off since I've only tried a fraction of them, but definitely seems like trash with few exceptions.

They seem to have published a few great ones though, like Ys 7 & 8 and Persona 4 Golden. They should probably stick to publishing rather than developing...

They didn't publish Ys 7 that was Xseed, they've published Ys 8 and Ys 9.

 

[The Lawgiver]

RIP my posts about vidya games in this thread from the last almost 2-ish days.

 

[Overcooked Raccoon]

As much of a cesspool Danganronpa has become (at least through some very high level autists going nuts) the NIS translation since Danganronpa 1 has been very bad imo.

"Super High School Level" is ridiculous and stupid, which is exactly what you would expect going into a series like that. They changed that to Ultimate (turning into generic let alone weaking a point of why they're all in high school together anyway) and also changed some of the actual titles for characters into something for brownie points with fans. Like Hifumi from DR1's title in Japanese is basically "Super High School Level Doujin Author", yet in the NISA translation they call him "Ultimate Fanfic Creator." The problem is Fanfics are generally written, while Doujin artists can write and also draw, on top of the other things like sewing and craftwork. There's a whole bunch of variables tied into that title. So it seems like to me they just did it to go "lol you guys will love what Ted thought this dude looks like." It's minor in the grand scheme but for the people who wanted the game brought over for support and just get things like this it doesn't really make me excited for NIS translations.

Also I can't remember what SA called them but changing the name for the students who are found guilty into "Blackened" is just stupid and has always bugged me since it first came out.

 

[Bruh Really]

Man I can't believe my first post after years of lurking on the farms is gonna be about fucking Nis-america of all things.

The amount of fuck ups this company had over the years, where do I even begin?
Let's start at Disgaea 1 PC because why the hell not.

Not only did it launch as a buggy still incomplete mess, but they couldn't even be bothered to implement the most bare-bones of PC options, not that TRPG's need a ton of graphical options but still, compare it to the "Pretty Prinny" mod which adds:

• Adds proper VSYNC support​
• Uncaps the 720p internal resolution​
• Removes artifacts caused by sprite smoothing​
• Enhances SSAO quality​
• Fixes bad texture coordinates on many sprites​
• Bypasses Intel integrated GPUs on laptops​
• Improves OpenGL performance​
• Supports custom button icons​
• Supports custom resolutions​
• Adds cursor management​
• Adds UI color customization​
• Adds MSAA support​
• Adds support for Steam Controllers​
• Adds a PSN Trophy sound on achievement unlock​

Till this day, you can't play the OG Disgaea on PC on a higher resolution than 720p without it looking like a stretched out blurry mess.

Then there's the fact that it launched with cut-content, which again, can be restored using the "Netherworld Content Pack" which adds:

• Features bonus content from Disgaea DS, including cutscenes and dialogue that are otherwise missing from the PC release
• Fixes some minor glitches of the original game
• Adds some extra content​

All of this could have been added via updates, but instead it's radio silence after like 3 small patches and onto the next game.

The ultimate irony is the the HD edition of the game actually removes\replaces even more content such as certain mobs and classes, since the lazy fuckers couldn't be bothered to actually make new HD sprites for the original Disgaea mobs, instead replacing them with whatever alternative mobs they had from Disgaea 4/5.

Disgaea 2 PC:

Disgaea 2 is probably one of the few games that is actually complete and functional, with most (but not all) of the Pretty Pinny features integrated into the base game (MSAA,SSAO, Proper fucking VSync and no 720p internal resolution bullshit) an actual step up, and probably the last time they improved on anything which I'll get into right now.


Disgaea 5 PC:

Aight, I have some bias with this one since it's my favorite Disgaea, it's pretty feature complete and actually fucking works without crashes.
But it wouldn't be Nis-America if they didn't fuck up somewhere, like a dog who decided to drag his ass on your new carpet they fucked up probably one of the more important features from the console version.

Any and everything related to the online features of the game, was cut, and never even patched back in.

Here's the list of what's missing in the PC version of Disgaea 5:

• Data Shop​
• Everybody’s NW, Someone’s Records​
• Netherworld Edit Shop​
• Netherworld Network, User Netherworld​
• Map Edit Shop​
• Facility Removed​
• Settings​
• User Netherworld, User News​
• Strategy Assembly​
• Spread News to Everyone!, Give Item to a Friend!​
• Netherworld Hub​
• Map Edit Shop NPC​

So the entire point of base building, to invite whatever friends you had to visit and show it off or just see what you made, sharing items and what not, completely gone.
Sure you can still build, but what's the point? Can't do jack shit with the base other than make your overworld different for the sake of it.

Disgaea 4 PC:

No I didn't order the list wrong, this is the order they decided to release the games in, for whatever reason, apparently releasing games in chronological order makes too much sense now a days.

So that thing I just mentioned about the online play? They brought it back for Disgaea 4 PC.
Again, this is the older title, that has online play, yet the newest entry in the series on PC which should have had the same from the beginning, never got patched in.

Really? you honestly couldn't go back and fix that shit on Disgaea 5.

Also there's many performance issue's on Disgaea 4 PC compared to 5, somehow, even though it's an older title, the system requirements are higher, so your potato laptop that could run Disgaea 5 just fine, probably cant run 4 at all.

Don't ask me how that makes sense.

Phantom Brave:

Going to include this for the sake of saying what the fuck are you guys smoking thinking that this, somehow, someway, looks good and should be one of the featured... features. I don't fucking know anymore.

Nah that's shits hideous, I get that no one's forcing you to use it but there has had to be better filtering options for pixel art other than making everything a blurry mess.
And again, that's shits a feature that they actually decided to slap on the front page as one of the selling points of the game.


I'm not even going to get into how they raised the prices for all their old games from 5$ to 20$ recently, the fuck are you guys smoking? If I didn't buy your shit before there's no way in hell I'll buy them at 4x the price.

Not going to cover YS since I only played Origins, I remember YS VIII having performance issue's that Durante had to step in and fix for them like 2-3 years down the line and Disgaea 3 & D2 STILL haven't been released on PC.

Rant over

 

[Gensou Hadou]

Let's start at Disgaea 1 PC because why the hell not.

Not only did it launch as a buggy still incomplete mess, but they couldn't even be bothered to implement the most bare-bones of PC options, not that TRPG's need a ton of graphical options but still, compare it to the "Pretty Prinny" mod which adds:

Till this day, you can't play the OG Disgaea on PC on a higher resolution than 720p without it looking like a stretched out blurry mess.

Then there's the fact that it launched with cut-content, which again, can be restored using the "Netherworld Content Pack" which adds:


All of this could have been added via updates, but instead it's radio silence after like 3 small patches and onto the next game.

The ultimate irony is the the HD edition of the game actually removes\replaces even more content such as certain mobs and classes, since the lazy fuckers couldn't be bothered to actually make new HD sprites for the original Disgaea mobs, instead replacing them with whatever alternative mobs they had from Disgaea 4/5.

What irks me about Disgaea 1 Complete, which isn't necessarily to do with NIS America specifically, is that the style of dialogue portraits from 10 years ago doesn't match the style of the newer HD sprites.

Promotional artwork and other (square and cut-in) portraits for the interface are still drawn in the new style. Just to make the dialogue portraits stick out like even sorer thumbs.

But they couldn't be bothered to get Harada to draw new dialogue portraits. Lazy fuckers.

And now that I look at those screenshots, dear fucking god that font. That inconsistent spacing between the letters. Ugh!

And may we never forget that it was NISA who decided not to localize Disgaea 6 on the PS4-- you know, the actually functional version of the game-- because Disgaea 5 sold a bajillion more copies on the Switch than it did on PS4.

 

[Marissa Moira]

NIS/NISA's main audience is people on consoles and the amount of people who buy their PC ports is apparently a pittance.

If they spent time fixing the ports they would supposedly wind up losing money. There's also the fact that Ys 8 is their best selling game and that launched with a botched translation which later got fixed. However the game sold well DESPITE the translation being basically done by a machine with some brief editing for spelling errors.

They've always gotten by, by just being "good enough". Xseed took years to put out a single title that within the same timeframe NISA put out two to three. Them being able to meet deadlines with a flawed product turned out better than rotating shifts of troons and other sadbrain translators until the translation was almost nearly perfect and then they Xseed could release a 5 year old game.

 

[Pissmaster]

View attachment 2454322

View attachment 2454358

And now that I look at those screenshots, dear fucking god that font. That inconsistent spacing between the letters. Ugh!

The inconsistent space between the letters? That's called "kerning"! And the font looks like it's monospaced, meaning each letter takes up the same amount of pixels as the next, which is a common thing in games where they just directly replace the Japanese characters with English ones. A lot of old games had that happen, because it'd require new programming to implement variable width font, but monospaced fonts could look fine if the font were designed carefully enough:

But that also meant that you couldn't have nearly as much dialog without resizing the text box, which was also more effort, so if you didn't want to gimp the dialog, utilizing a variable-width font tended to be easier.

But to see a game ported in 2016 using a lazy ugly monospaced font? It's like they're going out of their way to let you know that they just don't care.

 

[Becomemysoulreaver]

Ill be honest, I didnt have much problem with Disgaea 6's performance, I played it with the balanced mode which runs at 30 instead of close to 60 like performance, but it doesnt look even close to as blurry as that one

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

I don’t know enough about the company, I just like the Disgaea games. Haven’t played the newest one yet though. Does the switch from sprites to 3D models hurt the game any?

 

[Becomemysoulreaver]

Well, because of the swith to 3d we got less unit types, but the models themselves grew on me, tho I still prefer te 2d sprites.
Also this game from the beggining was aiming more to newer players, so it is way way more simple than 5, tho I feel that at least the stage designs afe better than 5