Disgaea 4

[Tobi]

Disgaea 4 stars a Vampire named Valbatos and Fuuka who's dressed in a Prinny Suit. Valbatos is trying to overthrow a Netherworld Regime. Disgaea 4 has a new graphic engine with high resolution sprites and a network feature.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/09/17...a-next-summer/


Disgaea 4 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L3zdx7I8oI

Disgaea 3 - Disgaea 4 comparison
http://i51.tinypic.com/5ai3pk.jpg


http://i55.tinypic.com/2dhenns.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/5ai3pk.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/2dhenns.jpg



Release date Feburary 24 2011 for Japan, and Summer 2011 for NA.

[Elcura]

I like the idea of HD sprites, especially if they can get close to Vanillaware quality while having loads of units on screen with crazy backgrounds, animation and effects. Might be asking for a lot, but I dunno what to expect from a sprite game on the PS3.

I thought they would be trying to do it in 3D, but sprites definitely feel more Disgaea.

[Kaisha]

The problem I have with the new sprites is that they're still fuzzy, rather than sharp. Is there not an efficient means of taking a graphic stored in a vector format and rendering it to a higher-resolution texture, rather than sticking with a fixed sprite resolution?

[SephYuyX]

<3 Disgaea, cant wait for this.

[Elcura]

They're still a bit fuzzy, but I think they might have a smooth option or something, maybe at the cost of frame rate? In anycase, it's still a huge improvement, I imagine animating all of those sprites at that quality isn't easy.

[Kaisha]

In anycase, it's still a huge improvement, I imagine animating all of those sprites at that quality isn't easy.

Less effort than it takes animating them at the original game's resolution, where they had to spend extra time making sure the movements are readable when they're so pixellated.

They're still a bit fuzzy, but I think they might have a smooth option or something, maybe at the cost of frame rate?

It's the texture filtering that's making it look like that. There'll likely be an option to turn it off like in Disgaea 3, which was my preference.

[Tobi]

The online seems to be similar to Demon's Souls. You can invade other players world to attack or assist them and vice versa. I have to go for a few min, so can't post the whole thing, but maybe someone can quote it for me.

Here's the link: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...a_4_announced/

[SephYuyX]

It's going to be online? Ugh.

[Lucavi]

PS3 is terrible at anything resembling anti-aliasing, so that's about as good as we're gonna get. I still only see cat tits in that picture.

[Qalbert]

It's going to be online? Ugh.

having online != being an online game

[Kaisha]

PS3 is terrible at anything resembling anti-aliasing, so that's about as good as we're gonna get. I still only see cat tits in that picture.

Anti-aliasing has nothing to do with texture filtering. Also, regarding AA, the only reason it's shit at it is because developers never bothered finding an alternate solution until only recently with an MLAA implementation slowly becoming popular on the cell processor, which gives results comparable to 16x MSAA at a fraction of the cost, demonstrated nicely by God of War 3.

Anyways, seems like they're just recycling the artwork for all the pre-existing sprites prior to downsampling them for the PS2, so I guess that saves them an assload of money not having to redraw them from scratch. Probably explains why the shadowing and poses are the exact same. Not a bad way of saving a lot of budget to focus elsewhere on the project.

[Kingadem]

Need to get platinum on 3 before this comes out. Damn those stupid rare pirates.

[Kaisha]

Need to get platinum on 3 before this comes out. Damn those stupid rare pirates.

Ditto. I'm currently stuck figuring out the best means of maxing out my guys so I can even *beat* the 3 sets of pirates that only appear in LoC Item World Floor 90+. -.-

Everything in LoC in general just rapes my units, even at 9999, so I'm stuck having to min/max items to dupe for everyone.

[Taruchyaan]

Posting by request of Tobi:

The online seems to be similar to Demon's Souls. You can invade other players world to attack or assist them and vice versa. I have to go for a few min, so can't post the whole thing, but maybe someone can quote it for me.

Here's the link: http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/201...a_4_announced/

Nippon Ichi opened an official site for Disgaea 4 earlier today and shared a first trailer, which consisted of a bunch of vague gameplay bits.

While Nippon Ichi was not an exhibitor at the Tokyo Game Show (which explains why there was no Criminal Girls this year!), the company chose a hotel near the event's venue to announce Disgaea 4. Impress Watch provided some details from the announcement, which clarified a few of the points mentioned in the trailer.

The announcement was lead by Disgaea 4 producer and Nippon Ichi CEO Souhei Niikawa, who sported Prinny boots and hat as he said "Disgaea is a game that shifts the fate of our company."

Niikawa mentioned three sales points for the game, all of which were hinted at in some capacity in the tariler.

First, the game uses Takehito Harada's illustrations in their original form, rather than converting them first into sprites. He said to expect smoother animation as a result. Fans of Nippon Ichi's sprite work will also be pleased to know that the game also includes sprite versions of the art, and you'll be able to switch to them if you please.

The next sales point is "yarikomi" elements. "Yarikomi" is the Japanese word that encompasses all the extra crap that extends gameplay time -- things like collecting items, aiming for the high score, and building up your characters. Disgaea is known for such elements. For part 4, Nippon Ichi is implementing a system where players will be able to show off to other players just how much "yarikomi" they've gotten out of the game. When connected online, you'll be able to attack other players. They'll also be able to attack you.

So what happens if a player who's raised his characters to top levels attacks a beginner player? Niikawa cited two possibilities for dealing with this. First, they're considering allowing players to set it up so players at certain levels will be abel to attack in this way. Additionally, it's possible for players to come into your Disgaea world not just to attack, but to assist as well.

The final element was one of the big focuses of the trailer: a political theme. This replaces the school theme of part 3. You'll be able to manage internal factions in a government.

[Rokku]

I am intrigued. Also, cat tits. I agree with Lucavi on that one, I feel like I should be able to see so much more in that image but all I see are cat tits.

[Priran]

I for one am glad the guy who did the Nekomata art didn't work on any Disgaea games past the first. Harada is the patron saint of flat.

[SephYuyX]

Press Release from NISA http://nisamerica.com/images/email/D...917-public.pdf
http://nisamerica.com/images/email/varuvatoze_full.jpg
http://nisamerica.com/images/email/F...tsuri_full.jpg
http://nisamerica.com/images/email/fenlihi_full.jpg

[Insanecyclone]

Third guy looks like Mid-Boss and they all have code geass long legs.

[Lucavi]

Anti-aliasing has nothing to do with texture filtering. Also, regarding AA, the only reason it's shit at it is because developers never bothered finding an alternate solution until only recently with an MLAA implementation slowly becoming popular on the cell processor, which gives results comparable to 16x MSAA at a fraction of the cost, demonstrated nicely by God of War 3.

Anyways, seems like they're just recycling the artwork for all the pre-existing sprites prior to downsampling them for the PS2, so I guess that saves them an assload of money not having to redraw them from scratch. Probably explains why the shadowing and poses are the exact same. Not a bad way of saving a lot of budget to focus elsewhere on the project.

GoW is jagged on PS3 compared to if it was on PC. PS3 will never have comparable smoothness. I haven't seen a game yet on PS3 that wouldn't be smoother on a PC. The best example I can think of is the PS3 SF4 compared to the PC. Its hard looking at the original once you see the PC.

Edit: The tits. I love them. I can't wait to see the succubus. Since this is a PS3 game, and as such, is supposed to be so big and strong and next-gen, I'd love to see NI include -all- of the returning characters and monster's abilities from the first game on. I miss my Nekomata mystic blast from DS1, which was not only strong, but looked amazing. I also miss the ninja's "King of Beasts", since it was an ura renge on steroids.

It shouldn't be so hard to do.

[Elcura]

King of Beasts was amazing, I also miss the old Omega Comet. It was so shiny before and now it sucks. Also, new Big Bang is terrible, gimme back my D2 animations.