Last night, NIS America held their annual press event and they had some major announcements. The headliner to come out of the event was the formal announcement of a North American release for Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness. Laharl, Etna, and Flonne will take the helm for the first time since Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. The game will serve as a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Nippon Ichi Software and the 10th anniversary of the Disgaea series.
Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness will feature a host of new features and improvements for the series. Customization has been made even more robust, and for the first time in series the backgrounds will be fully animated. A new affinity feature will be implemented, which basically means that the more two units fight side-by side there will be a higher chance of team attacks and special support actions. The master/pupil feature that is being added will surely expand the strategic nature of the series, with the pupil gaining new skills and weapon boosts while the master gains a stat boost.
The most interesting addition looks to be the monster capture system being implemented. While in combat, you have the ability to capture a monster on the field and to train them. Monsters can also be ridden in battle and have the ability to perform special attacks. Finally, a brand new weapon is being introduced to the series, the book. While you can whack your opponents and threaten them with paper cuts, you will also have the ability to summon powerful creatures.
Never fear though, the Dark Assembly, Geopanles, and the Item World make returns as Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness looks to steal hundreds of hours from you when it launches on the PS3 this fall.