Tag Archives: NIS

Time to meet the Monokubs!

Now that we have a feel for the participants of the new killing game in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, it’s time to meet the masterminds controlling the game. Upupupupupu!

Monosuke

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Opinionated and no patience for foul language, Monosuke is the most rational member of the Monokubs.  “Monosuke believes that the Monokubs should be hostile toward each other, and approves of infighting among the group.”

Monokid

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Short-tempered, foul mouthed, violent, spouts incoherent nonsense, unattentative, and completes sentences with a “Hell Yeah!”, Monokid is pretty much the jerk of the Monokubs.

Monotaro 

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“The childish, scatterbrained leader of the Monokubs. Monotaro often struggles to keep his rambunctious siblings focused on the task at hand. ”

Monophanie

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The only female of the group. She is kind and can’t handle violence.  Monophanie often tries to settle quarrels, but ends up joining them anyway.  Cute, endearing (can that even be said about a Mono anything?!), Monophanie suggests the killing game should be less violent.

Monodam

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Enduring years of bullying from Monokid, Monodam has closed his heart and rarely speaks to the other Monokubs.  He’s also the only Monokub to look like a robot.

What do you think of the Monokubs? I’m slightly concerned since they seem highly reminiscent of the Lil’ Ultimates from Ultra Despair Girls.  But we are going back to a visual novel, so I think the Monokub’s might be really fun characters.  Why do you think they are “Kubs”? Do you think there might be more Lil’ Ultimates trying to bring about more despair? Any theories? Let me know in the comments!

Yomawari: Midnight Shadows

Yomawari is back! The next installment after Yomawari: Night Alone, Midnigh Shadows introduces us to two new characters: Yui and Haru.  After getting separated, will they survive the night to reunite with one another?

Key Features

  • A Complete Town to Explore – Enter abandoned homes, climb through junk yards and up mountains, or venture into dark sewers in your search.

  • Two Views of the Dark – Search the night and explore a town as either of Yomawari: Midnight Shadow’s two characters. What you find with one may serve as a clue, or even save the other.

  • Horrors, Oddities, and Mysteries – When Japanese spirits come to life, you’ll encounter horrors birthed in nightmares, oddities that will make you question what is real, and mysteries that may just keep you up at night.

  • Gorgeous Style – Enter the dark with haunting art to view the city and from above, and get close to the heart-pounding moments in beautifully imagined side-scrolling set pieces.

Yomawari: Midnight Shadows is coming to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Steam this Fall!

 

 

More Ultimates from Danganronpa V3 revealed!

Here’s a recap of who we have met so far for Danganronpa V3:

Kaede Akamatsu, Rantaro Amami, Miu Iruma, Kokichi Oma, K1-B0, Gonta Gokuhara, Shuichi Saihara, and Tsumugi Shirogane.

Now introducing:

Ultimate Anthropologist: Korekiyo Shinguji

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Korekiyo has traveled around the world, studying many different cultures as part of his anthropological research. His travels have instilled in him an appreciation for the “beauty of humanity.” For this reason, he observes his classmates with great curiosity, eager to see what sort of beauty they will produce given their unique situation.

Calm, collected and intelligent, Korekiyo’s mannerisms and appearance can nevertheless be quite unnerving to some. Even his ethics and morality may be a departure from what one might consider normal.

Ultimate Aikido Master: Tenko Chabashira

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Tenko is a practitioner of Neo-Aikido, a martial art that she created alongside her master by reimagining the style of traditional aikido.

To say she merely dislikes men is an understatement. As an androphobe, Tenko refers to all men as “male degenerates.” Though compliments from a woman will make her heart aflutter, the same compliment from a man could result in him getting thrown across the room.

Tenko does not hide her emotions well, and she has a tendency to overreact to situations in an exaggerated manner. She also has a habit of yelling at the top of her lungs. Though she claims it helps bolster her fighting spirit, her frequent shouting often strikes others as incredibly obnoxious.

Ultimate Maid: Kirumi Tojo

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A calm, dignified young woman of sound mind and peak physical fitness. Kirumi made a name for herself while working as a part-time maid, earning a reputation for fulfilling to perfection any request made of her. However, she refuses all requests made by corrupt individuals.

As a maid, Kirumi embodies the philosophy of selfless devotion. Even while trapped in the Ultimate Academy, she continues to serve her classmates almost on instinct, such as by preparing meals and doing chores.

Ultimate Child Caregiver: Maki Harukawa

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Raised in an orphanage, Maki did not seek out the role of child caregiver but instead had the role thrust upon her.

For this, she was recognized as the Ultimate Child Caregiver. But despite her title, Maki’s not particularly caring or friendly. And though children are fond of her, she personally can’t stand them.

Despite her cute appearance, Maki is a hostile misanthrope of few words, and rarely cooperates with her classmates. Nevertheless, she is willing to take action when it suits her.

Ultimate Tennis Pro: Ryoma Hoshi

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From middle school onward, Ryoma was a talented tennis player with a bright future ahead of him, and had won championships around the world. But after he used his tennis skills and a custom-made steel tennis ball to kill members of an organized crime syndicate, he was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to death.

Awaiting his punishment on death row before arriving at the Ultimate Academy, Ryoma claims he is no longer the same person who was bestowed the title of Ultimate Tennis Pro.

Displaying a maturity that is rare among teenagers, Ryoma seems older than his appearance would suggest. Even in the presence of pain and death, Ryoma remains unflappable.

Ultimate Astronaut: Kaito Momota

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Astronaut cadets must have a college degree and pass a rigorous exam before they can even be considered for the astronaut training program. Kaito, however, used forged documents to take the exam before he graduated high school, and became the first teenager to pass it.

Ultimately, Kaito’s forgery was discovered. But his unorthodox approach to the exam piqued such interest that he was accepted as a cadet anyway. Though Kaito still has yet to visit outer space, his romanticized view of the cosmos remains stronger than ever.

Valuing dreams and passion above all else, Kaito often dispenses such wisdom as “Limits don’t exist unless you set them yourself!” and “You gotta be a little reckless to make your dreams reality!”

Ultimate Magician: Himiko Yumeno

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A skilled magician who claims her tricks are the result of real magic. Himiko is the youngest recipient of the Magician of the Year award from the Magic Castle, an organization made up of stage magic enthusiasts from around the world. However, she claims this award was just a clever ruse to hide her actual magic powers from the rest of the world.

She complains about the constant requests she receives from people who don’t believe her magic is real, but still want to see her performances.

Regardless of whether it’s parlor tricks or real magic, Himiko has an uncanny knack for card and coin magic tricks, as well as making doves appear out of thin air. But despite the high demand for her magical aptitude, Himiko is also extremely lazy.

Ultimate Artist: Angie Yonaga

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A zealously devout girl who claims that her island god, Atua, is always by her side. Though Angie draws and sculpts, she considers herself an instrument of Atua, and credits her artistic works to him and him alone.

She has an upbeat, somewhat ditzy attitude, and often says unique remarks such as “Bye-onara.” Chief among her personality quirks is her claim to speak on her god’s behalf, as well as her tendency to ask others for (non-fatal) blood sacrifices to Atua.

The next batch of Ultimates look fun! I absolutely cannot wait for the game to release!  Who is your favorite character so far? Which Ultimate ability do you wish you had? Let me know in the comments.

 

 

NCG Reviews Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness (Steam)

Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness is available now on Steam!  Are you ready to re-enter the world of Psycho-Pass?

Story

Taking place during Season one of the anime series, Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness introduces two new characters: Enforcer Takuma Tsurugi or Inspector Nadeshiko Kugatachi.  Enforcer Tsurugi is searching for his lover while Kugatachi has lost all memories of her past.  You follow each detectives through a series of events that eventually lead to Alpha, an AI whose goal is to provide happiness to all humans.

 

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I am not quite sure how I felt about the story.  I enjoyed the concept of a rogue AI trying to create happiness the only way it can understand; a path of pure lethargy where decisions that would create unhappiness cease to exist.  I wanted to see what would happen with the AI, and furthermore, the connection between the two new characters to the AI.  I feel like this is where the story falls short.  Either because the concept of Psycho Pass itself forbids the exploration of the characters (searching into the past will cloud their hues making them latent criminals) or the characters themselves weren’t as developed as I had hoped they would be.  I was also slightly annoyed that detective Ginoza was so hot-headed.  I felt like it contradicted the character established from the anime series.

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Visuals

Visual novels are not heavy in graphics and Mandatory Happiness is no different.  The story takes place inside the Public Safety Beareu headquarters and in the newly introduced city Sado Marina City. Some scenes are rendered as they were in the anime but the general landscape of the game felt extremely lacking and most scenes were reduced to only dialogue. Cut-scene art was far and few between; and even action scenes were merely sound effects. There were quite a few scenes that could have benefited from a more detailed cut-scene; it would have drove home the drama just a little bit more.  While I understand the series itself takes place in a bland dystopian Tokyo landscape, I felt like the game could have used more imagery to bring the game to life.

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Audio

I can’t say the sound track brought about anything new to the series.  Sure, helicopters and other background effects were utilized, but at a minimum.  Every now and then when I was prompted to make a choice, the music tempo increased to show the intensity of the decision, but otherwise, there was nothing noteworthy.

Game Play

Visual novels are basically pushing “enter” until you are prompted to make a decision and the decision is what determines your course at the end of the game.  After playing nothing but romance visual novels, I came to realize that it’s damn near impossible to get good endings without a walk-through and that’s the fun part about them; it’s why I keep going back to the story because I like to test out each and every option to see where it leads.  I felt let down when my final choice in Mandatory Happiness felt like the only thing that determined whether I got a True End or Bad End.    Even after saving a few time and going back to change my decisions, the story progressed essentially the same way, say for one or two things. The decision line felt very linear which took the joy out of playing a visual novel. I questioned whether there was a point to monitoring my hue (which you are frequently prompted to care for), if my relationship with the other characters even mattered, and whether or not my choices in the game really made a difference to the outcome.

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Verdict

I think this story would have been a wonderful release between season releases of the anime series. After having watched the entire series and sobbed like a baby, the desire to be placed back into the Psycho Pass world is long lost.  However, I think anyone who has been newly introduced to the series would certainly enjoy the story of Mandatory Happiness.

Visuals, audio, and game play were a let down.  I would have enjoyed alternate endings, or at least a path that made me really question my decision making though the game.  After my first play through, I thought Mandatory Happiness would have made a wonderful novel instead.

I played this title on Steam.  Steam has a vast collection of visual novels but I always feel like they’re better off on a portable console versus PC.  If you’re used to playing on PC, looking to expand your Steam library, and just love Psycho Pass, this is a great buy. However, I think it’s a better fit on the Vita.


Are you a fan of the Psycho Pass series? Will you be adding Mandatory Happiness to your collection? Do you like playing Visual Novels on your portable console or PC? Let us know in the comments!

 

More Ultimates revealed for Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

The best thing about Danganronpa games is the cast of characters you meet.  NIS is giving us the next round of Ultimate Students participating in the killing game! Upupupu!

K1-B0 (AKA Keebo): Ultimate Robot

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Equipped with recording functions and hyper-advance AI, Keebo can learn to be a real boy! Unfortunately, it doesn’t help him pick up queues from human interaction which in turn, leads to him making comments that get him in trouble.  Keeba is earnest, proper, and is sensitive about the issue of “robophobia”; he won’t hesitate to call out robo-discrimination!

Gonta Gokuhara: Ultimate Entomologist

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Raised by a pack of wolves for ten years after getting lost in a forest, Gonta learned to speak with animals and insects. After reuniting with his family, Gonta decided that he must always act like a true gentleman since he spent his childhood in the forest.  He has a hard time talking with students his own age.  Gonta is gentle by nature; he has never killed a fly!

Shuichi Saihara: Ultimate Detective

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Another detective is in the midst of a game! This should definitely get interesting.  Shuichi is an apprentice detective with a variety of small jobs under his belt; mostly finding cheating couples. However, he did solve a murder before the police did and so he was named, “Ultimate Detective”.  Although, Shuichi doesn’t believe in his ability.  “Shuichi’s insecurities tend to make him rather timid, but he is quick to act in situations where his keen intuition is needed.”

Tsumigi Shirogame: Ultimate Cosplayer

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A true Cosplayer, through and through, Tsumigi loves making costumes but hates seeing her costumes on people who don’t truly appreciate the art.  Tsumigi is reserved, studious, and kind until Cosplay and Fandom are mentioned; she then becomes outspoken and passionate!   “She has a tendency to completely ignore those around her when she’s especially deep in thought. She also has a habit of referencing anime, video games, and manga over the course of a normal conversation. “