With Disgaea Mayhem's release coming on July 23, NIS America has provided Hardcore Gamer an opportunity to interview the development team behind it from Nippon Ichi Software. As a unique departure from the franchise's usual genre, the game is an action RPG, and it'll be possible to play it on PlayStation 5, PC (Steam), Switch and Switch 2.
[Hardcore Gamer] In Japan, Disgaea Mayhem actually isn’t associated with the Disgaea franchise in its name, being instead called Kyouran Makaism. What led to the change in the name for the western public?
[Disgaea Mayhem Development Team] We are hoping to attract players who simply enjoy action RPGs, whether or not they have played Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) titles or the Disgaea series. It's our hope that the title doesn't create preconceptions, but rather communicates its appeal as a new game.
On the other hand, the setting and systems of Disgaea Mayhem are built upon the elements and playfulness we've cultivated in the Disgaea series. For that reason, it's important to us that existing fans feel that this game fits the image of NIS and Disgaea.
Regarding the title itself, we intend to have new players engage with it as a fresh title that stands apart from the Disgaea series, but we also aimed for a name that would resonate with fans of NIS and Disgaea. We hope that the title "Disgaea Mayhem" communicates the unique appeal of this game to both new and longtime fans.
The word "Kyouran" in the Japanese title also involves a bit of wordplay, and "Mayhem" is one potential translation of that phrase.
How would you define Disgaea as a franchise? What elements make a game fit into your vision for the series instead of becoming its own thing (like Bar Stella Abyss) or part of other series like Phantom Brave?
It's difficult to sum up all of Disgaea in a few words, but a few key elements would be "vast character progression," "unique setting and stories," and "the ability to cheat." It doesn't necessarily need to be a strategy RPG. A game that lacks these elements, or doesn't aim to include them, would therefore not fall under the Disgaea series.
So, can you tell us more about the Disgaea Mayhem story? We do know that the protagonist is a mercenary called N.A. and he is working for Princess Tichelle, who loves puddings and her royal flan went missing, which is just the sort of silly antic we come to expect from many NIS titles, but what can we expect from it?
N.A. takes on a variety of stages in his battle against the vassals who stole the royal flan. As he fights on, his relationship with Tichelle evolves, and he learns the truth behind the plot, such as how Tichelle became the new Overlord, and why the royal flan was taken.
Disgaea Mayhem is a very unique departure for the team when you take into account that not only is Disgaea a Strategy RPG series, but also that NIS traditionally works more with turn-based experiences in-house. What was it like to make an action RPG in the Musou genre? Was there any specific reason for the choice of this particular gameplay style?
We've wanted to make an action RPG in the Disgaea series for a while, so this seemed like the best opportunity to take on that challenge. The flashy moves and massive damage numbers of Disgaea seemed like a perfect pairing for a Warriors-style action RPG.
Was it challenging to get the balance and the game feel right? Having to take into account hordes of enemies to fight and having to model different weapons and make them feel somewhat unique from each other, it can definitely get tricky.
It was definitely harder to apply action RPG concepts while maintaining the feel of a Disgaea game than we expected. While we've attempted to make action RPGs before, we don't have extensive experience producing titles of this genre, so we had to design everything from the ground up.
Disgaea is also well-known for how many systems it has to offer. Checking the assembly, grinding, using the item world to level up your weapons, doing reincarnation for your units, and then grinding some more. With that in mind, what can we expect from Disgaea Mayhem in terms of mechanics?
Broadly speaking, progression in this game feels similar to that of the Disgaea series. However, we have added—and removed—elements in order to better fit the action RPG genre.
Disgaea Mayhem has been out in Japan for some months now. How has been reception so far? Was there any feedback you got from fans that you took into consideration for updates and patching?
At this time, our focus is on the upcoming North American and European release, so we don't have any comments regarding the Japanese release or post-launch updates. We look forward to sharing the game with Western players soon.
It's difficult to sum up all of Disgaea in a few words, but a few key elements would be "vast character progression," "unique setting and stories," and "the ability to cheat."
NIS currently also has various other projects which were announced alongside Disgaea Mayhem in the UNTITLED// events, such as Sayaka Oda’s new game Shinigami Hime to Ishokan no Kaibutsu, the party game Prinny Sugoroku and cartoon-ish platformer GOBBLE. How do you work on multiple titles in parallel?
Can we expect to see more smaller projects from you in the future? The last decade has shown a lot of interesting experiments, like Mad Rat Dead, Lapis x Labyrinth, Void Terrarium, Labyrinth of Galleria, Process of Elimination, and a few that unfortunately never made it west, like Bar Stella Abyss and your visual novels like Jack the Ripper, Bokuhime Project and the Fuuraiki series.
Each project is independently produced through our internal development pipelines. The development time differs by project, but even the longer ones tend to take no longer than two years. We'd like to put out as many IPs as possible, and our company intends to continue with this approach.
Thank you very much for your time and this interview opportunity. Would you like to leave any special messages to your western fans reading this interview?
Thank you for playing NIS's games. Here at NIS, we're continuously pushing ourselves, not only by developing new IPs, but also by taking on fresh challenges with existing ones, just like with this title. Even as I answer this interview, we're hard at work on the next one (though I can't share any details just yet!). We'd be so happy to have your continued support. Again, thank you.