Interview with Nippon Ichi Software of America

In this chapter, we ask random questions about NIS games in the past (not all published by NISA). There's a lot of entertainment to be found here.

RPG Land Your games almost all have a certain unique feel to them, such to the point that your reputation is one of a strong developer of tactical RPGs. Is this because the company in a whole likes this genre the most? Do you find their engines to be the easiest and/or most fun to work with?

NIS America Yes, we tend to crave for strategy RPG with a unique anime like feel. There are plenty of action, shooting, and ordinary RPGs out in the market. Therefore, we figured why not make games that others don't.

RPG Land Okay, we have to ask this... Prinnies: whose idea was that?

NIS America Their design was Takehito Harada's idea, but their personality was created by Souhei Niikawa. Their special game traits were created by Yoshitsuna Kobayashi.

RPG Land Who would win a fight between a Prinnydood and a Chocobo? How about a bunch of Prinnies vs a band of Pokemon?

NIS America Hahaha, I don't want to put a nail in my own coffin just yet, so I would have to go with the Chocobo & Pokemon.

RPG Land Phantom Brave ditched the grid that is common in Strategy RPGs. Where'd you get that idea?

NIS America We wanted to try something new and innovative, and the idea of a grid-less battlefield was an interesting idea that we had

RPG Land In fact, now that we're thinking about it, "Confine" and other things just made that game totally weird (but in a good way). It seems like you were intentionally trying to really really separate this one from not just the typical strategy RPG, but even from the usual NIS formula. Was that the case?

NIS America Yes. We weren't trying to just create a sequel, so changing up the game mechanics is always a good way of differentiating our games from each other.

RPG Land A member of our community wanted us to ask you about a possible sequel or prequel to La Pucelle Tactics. If I recall, that's part of the Marl Kingdom saga, yes? Anything you can say about more Marl Kingdom at this point?

NIS America I wouldn't say no for certain, but at this point, we don't have any plans for La Pucelle and Marl Kingdom. There are many people who love these games, but we generally don’t make too many sequels or prequels. Hey, you never know though, we could always change our minds.

RPG Land Also on Marl Kingdom, are those games connected by anything other than universe? What links them?

NIS America Actually, all of our games are stand alones, despite the fact that some have guest appearances from other titles.

RPG Land If I recall, one's battle map position in Rhapsody didn't have any effect on the attacks. Was the grid an afterthought to that game's battle system?

NIS America Rhapsody was still our learning phase for strategy titles, so the game's battle system might have been dated compared to titles like Disgaea.

RPG Land Does anyone at the office ever crank up the Rhapsody soundtrack? Be Honest.

NIS America Yes of course! We also play Disgaea, Makai Kingdom, and Phantom Brave soundtracks. Though lately we have been playing lots of old school anime soundtracks.

RPG Land Speaking of soundtracks, a member of our IRC channel said he really digs that Tsunami Bomb song that Atlus USA stuck in Disgaea. Any plans to infuse more punk rock into future games?

NIS America Of course, we aren't sure which title will have extra new tracks, but we are definitely working on it.

RPG Land One of the things we've come to love about Nippon Ichi titles is the colorful cast members. Are these characters ever based on real people you know, or maybe anime characters you like?

NIS America Most of our characters were created through our developer’s demented minds, so who knows what they are thinking. :)

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