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Mugen Souls - The Neptunia team makes a Moe-filled Disgaea parody (Out October 17th!)
KiTA
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Registered User regular
There exists a small galaxy in the universe containing seven worlds, shimmering in seven colors... These worlds exist and act independent of one another. This has allowed them to develop and nurture rich, unique cultures. Then one day, a decree was sent out...
"I'm gonna make everything in each of these worlds bow to me!"
- The Undisputed Goddess, Chou-Chou
"I'm gonna make everything in each of these worlds bow to me!"
- The Undisputed Goddess, Chou-Chou
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIDC7D53WIc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaD6CaRMW8sSo. Mugen Souls.
Mugen Souls is a game by the Hyperdimension Neptunia team (and appears to use the same engine), with the artist behind Disgaea doing the art and character design. Oh, and Keiji Inafune is heading the project, although it's either an in joke or a different Keiji Inafune than "that" one. (The Keiji Inafune who is the lead on this is calling himself "Shin Inafune" -- aka, "Perfect Inafune," it's the kinda name you give to a bonus boss or whatnot.)
Storywise, it's apparently a parody of the Disgaea series. It is a parody of a Parody of RPGs.
The story revolves around Chou Chou, a self proclaimed goddess (who also happens to be amnesiac) who wants to take over the world. Or rather, 7 worlds. Did I mention she's an adorably evil 8 year old -- think Hanako from Disgaea 2 or Raspberyl from Disgaea 3 and you have the right idea.
She is joined by Altis, a demoness so evil they threw her out of hell which apparently turned her into an Angel. She's still outrageously evil. They are joined by Chou Chou's first minion, an airship engineer, although apparently there is a Moe ("Adorable") Kill system that allows you to capture monsters for items and whatnot.
But all you really need to know is this:
Yes, that's a nearly 10,000 hit combo for 933 billion damage.
Oh, and the final bit of the first trailer involves the main character summoning a Spirit Bomb from Dragonball Z, which turns into a Katamari, which grows to the size of a galaxy, and lands on the enemy's head. The other trailer seems to end with a parody of Super Robot Wars.
Now, no one though we were going to see this for one major reason. The game has what amounts softcore porn in it. There is a "hot springs" system where you throw your characters (who are all super deformed anime characters that look underage) in the bath, and er, click on them, which is supposed to be you helping them scrub up. Think Otomedius's loading screen, except they're covered in suds instead of stripper uniforms. Nippon Ichi USA is bringing it over anyway, with plans on censoring the hell out of that aspect of the game.
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Some of the menu screens look RPG-ish, but those battle screens make little sense to me. Still, I smiled at knowing I could break all kinds of "traditional" damage barriers, just like in Disgaea.
Steam: TheArcadeBear
It starts with the main character and the angel doing a pop duet. On stage. Like, straight from Idolmaster or one of those other creepy pop star raising games from Japan.
(At least this one doesn't have Keiji Inafune interrupt them and dry hump the screen like he did in one of the commercials.)
... And then, cause this is by Compa Heart, and because they're following the bold tradition layed out in Hyperdimension Neptunia 1, a random softcore drawing of anime girls. That lasts for like 5 minutes.
Here's a few other commercials:
I love the super deformed look the 3D characters have outside of cutscenes and the like. It's like 3D Sprites. Very adorable.
Thank fucking god. I love me my Compile Heart games but the overt pedophilia in them is just making me wanna puke.
Oh, I wouldn't get too excited over the censorship, they will likely be cleaning it up but not everything.
The problem with this particular Compa Heart game is that it's way over the top even for them. There's a minigame where you pick your soap and your "bath toy", then are treated to a slightly animated picture of an anime girl covered in suds, and are told to "help her wash." Doing so properly (as told by the lewd noises she makes and the amount of bubbles you remove) gets you some pretty significant buffs. It's this game's powerleveling mechanic I believe.
Mechanically, it appears to be similar to the Otomedius Loading Screens (where you could randomly torment the Otomedius girls with a magic mouse cursor), except instead of having an animated picture of an anime girl in stripper clothes that reacts lewdly, it's an anime girl covered in soap.
Compa Heart even put out a special trailer for the bath system:
I imagine what we'll see for censorship is either they add a ton of suds to the scenes (unlikely given how over the top some of those poses and CG pictures are), or they replace the minigame with a static scene (and some random sound clips from the minigame) instead -- i.e., you pick your soap and toy, you get a loading bar, the characters make their "oh, baths are fun" sound, and bam, you get your buff. They can't remove it entirely (if I'm reading my kana right in that video, it's a major part of the game's powergaming mechanics and a lot of items dropped in combat are for the bath system) so they'll have to work around it somehow.
Also, It's only the bath system that is likely to be censored somehow, hot springs and baths seem to be a running gag during the game given all the tamer cut scenes of them at the end of that video, and the fact that the game literally starts with a random idol singer scene, then suddenly, bathtime. So this will likely still be pretty high on the "kinda uncomfortable to play in mixed company" scale.
Edit: There are a few videos on Youtube of people going through the minigame out there -- won't inline them directly. As you go through the minigame more and more soap vanishes to reveal bathing suits -- this is an old meme from 2chan, actually. The lewd bit comes in the voice clips -- much like Otomedius's loading screnes, the voice acting is downright... awkward.
$99 for the Figure set, which comes with 3 Nendroids: http://store.nisamerica.com/Preorders/Mugen-Souls-Limited-Edition-plus-Figure-Set
... And a bath set.
The Bunny is this game's Prinny, sorta. They're weak enemies and demon lords that the main character has beaten into submission, if they're too weak they don't even become side characters, instead turning into bunnies which she abuses... and uses as a bath sponge / towel.
Also, details of the censorship are coming out -- in the Japanese version, you can skip the bathing minigame at any time, useful for if you've done it 50 times and you just want to buff your characters. In the US version, the game will auto-skip it. You'll gain the maximum benefit without having to do the minigame.
In addition, the main character has a "Perverted Sadist" personality in the Japanese version (think "Dominatrix", from what I'm hearing) which is being toned down slightly for the US version.
Official site finally opened:
http://www.nisamerica.com/games/mugensouls/
The description of the Angel girl is a bit off. She's... A Demon, who is so horrifically BAD at being evil she accidentally turned into an Angel because she kept doing good things.
NintendoID: Nailbunny 3DS: 3909-8796-4685
XBL: GamingFreak5514
PSN: GamingFreak1234
Oops, I mean not weird.
Innuendo is Compile Heart's strong point. While I can understand why they'd censor some of this stuff, I have a pretty high disdain of media censoring (at least when it's related to private enjoyment; in public, there would be a large group of people who could be offended by mature contents, such as gore, language, or nudity).
Besides, I've been playing Agarest War 2. Instead of being disturbed that I can increase the stats of female characters by giving them massages, I just laugh and shake my head. Gotta take things with a grain of salt, in other words.
XBL: GamingFreak5514
PSN: GamingFreak1234
It's Hyperdimension Neptunia with "chibi" (short and cute) characters, and a storyline that is parodying Disgaea.
I am actually getting a feeling that this game isn't pre-selling very well. NIS has sent a few newsletters mentioning it, I got a form letter from their store talking about it, and even after being up for a good while, it's still in Green stock level.
Also, this:
Chou-Chou: Masochist
"Eep! U-um, excuse me... Please forgive me! I'll do anything you want... anything!"
This is Chou-Chou's closet masochist personality, hidden under the guise of a timid and fearful girl. Whenever she is spoken to, she responds with a dramatic apology.
Nobody is exempt from this response -- not even her own peons, the shampurus. On the other hand, she is rather brave and jumps headfirst into the fray.
But when you recall she is a closet masochist...
Whenever she is bullied or abused, she derives extreme pleasure from the pain. In fact, she tends to get annoyed and angry if she is treated kindly.
Oh, JAPAN.
Edit: Oh god, more:
Chou-Chou: Sadist
"Hmhmhmm. Have you reached your limit? That's fine. Drool all you like!"
This is Chou-Chou's absolutely sadistic personality. She is the tallest, most adult, and most well-endowed of her forms.
Although her speech pattern is indulging and slick with innuendo, there is usually a backhanded compliment or veiled insult hidden within. She especially enjoys tormenting Ryuto. Contrary to her appearance, she has an insatiable sweet tooth and cannot stand spicy foods.
New trailers are up!
Game Features Trailer:
Talks a bit about the Mugen Field, which is this kinda-sorta-not-really this game's version of Item World. Basically a place to fight random stuff. Includes the ability to intentionally disable parts of the battle engine ("No magic," "No physical," etc) or whatnot for more bonus points. Mugen points appear to be this game's version of Mana from the later Disgaea games, and allows you to unlock new outfits, new level caps, et cetera.
Character Customization Trailer:
It would be interesting to see if this makes it into Disgaea 5. A ton of cosplay outfits (I see Hatsune Miku in there for a brief second) with stat bonuses. It also briefly shows character classes and talks briefly about making your own original "Peon" character in the game.
The official website also has some updates, including... "Chou Chou Tsundere". Only they're translating it as "Chou Chou Bipolar." Well ok.
And a video of someone playing a bit of it. Mostly featuring Chou Chou Sadist seducing a lesbian princess and the legendary hero.
... Oh, Japan.
Edit: And here's a discussion on the combat system and other stuff. Personalities (Bipolar, Sadist, etc) play a heavy role in the game's combat engine, apparently.
http://nisamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=10175&sid=6b32ff9b9072c91ad76b313e51522b95
Edit2: Oh, and the game apparently has a variant of the ship combat from Skies of Arcadia.
Showing off a few of the random combat skills, but also hinting at the crystals in combat (which are important), as well as Moe Kill, which amazingly they pronounced correctly. (Moh-Eh)
Oh, and they show just a split second of the ship combat.
First review out:
http://www.justpushstart.com/2012/08/mugen-souls-review/
7.0.
Good: Hodgepodge of previous titles, Plenty of customization options, Sub Party
Bad: Story is boring and predictable, Moe Kill, LAG!, Not Suitable for Children
Final word:
The whole "it looks like it's for kids" bullshit was annoying back in 1980 when I was listening to an idiot explain that she had rented "La Blue Girl" for her kids and was shocked, SHOCKED to find that not all animation is for kids. Nowadays it's just ignorant.
http://www.siliconera.com/2012/10/05/mugen-souls-playtest-whats-your-fetish/
Talks a bit about the Moe Kill system, points out just how weird localizing "Tsundere" as "Bipolar" is, hints at load time problems.
I'm a bit worried this one is going under the radar, even for NISA releases -- the little meter NISA has on their site suggests that the game hasn't even presold half of it's figure set.
http://rpgamer.com/games/other/ps3/mugensoul/reviews/mugensoulstrev1.html
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Though if they had any, they'd stop localizing Idea Hacktory's stuff.
Because they mistakenly thought that no one in the US knows what "Tsundere" means. I am fairly confident that the term would be well known to anyone who would likely buy a NISA release.
Put me down as a another +1 to see this and all IF games drowned in the bathtub.
Yow.
I think part of the problem is that this game seems to be setting you up for a post-game exploration of the Mugen Field et all, which they don't mention. A lot of their criticisms seem valid, but would be akin to saying one of the Disgaea games suchs because you can get to level 9999, but the story ends at level 75ish.
Still, we'll have to see.
What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak
I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
IGN hated it, too.
Specifically:
+ Some Interesting Themes
+ Tons of Content
- Unforgivable Framerate
- Shoddy Visuals
- Groan-inducing writing and humor
- Poorly designed RPG systems
The reviewer comes across as the type that would have spent a page and a half ranting about the Horse Weiner in Disgaea 1. Regardless, these reviews are kinda worrying.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/12/mugen-souls-review
http://nisamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=10294
Most of the reviews are in the 7-8 range. IGN and RPGamer are the outliers. Impression I'm getting from reading most of these European reviews (game's been out for weeks in PAL) is that the game is distinctly in the Disgaea / CompaHeart / NIS style, and if you like quirky JRPGs, you'll like it, if not, you'll probably hate it.
Now it's a proper Compile Heart thread.
But seriously play whatever you want, girlfriend~.
NIS America wants us to believe that the people playing this game would understand what "Moe" means.
But NOT that the people who know what "Moe" means would know what "Tsundere" is.
Why not translate Moe as "Cute"?
Seriously, cj, the horse is fucking dead already. Let it go.
And "Idea Hacktory" wasn't clever the first time you posted it; it's certainly no better the 36th. You don't like their games, we get it.
No one is claiming they're high art for crying out loud.