Almost a week has passed since PAX East has come to a close. This year’s event was surrounded by controversy due to the fear of the spread of the Coronavirus. Just a week prior to the event, Sony announced that they were pulling out to avoid any contamination; after previous announcements, Square Enix and Capcom announced that they would not be sending their international development teams to the conference. This, however, did not stop many indie developers and other AAA companies from attending the event. One key publisher that chose to attend PAX East was NIS America. We met with the team to preview Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories & Langrisser I&II.
Prior to E3 2019, I had never heard of NIS America. Despite unawareness, I decided to meet with them during this convention. This meeting showed me that I had a huge blind spot in my knowledge of the gaming industry. Of course, after meeting with them I decided to research what they had published. During the meeting, three titles stood out clearly to me, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3, Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers, and Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories. Sadly, the latter two did not have previews to see, but we were giving a synopsis of the two. After the previews, I eagerly awaited additional information on Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories.
Fast forward nine months and we finally had the opportunity to preview Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories and Langrisser I & II HD. After playing a preview of Langrisser I & II HD, I can clearly say that I am not a turn-based RPG player; although, after seeing the changes that had been made between the original game and HD adaption, I was impressed. What truly surprised me from our NIS America appointments at PAX East was Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories.
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories has players experience the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. The player must make choices that will impact their safety as well as those around them and these split-second decisions can be the difference between life and death. The player is tasked with guiding survivors and having impactful conversations that can have lasting consequences. Disaster Report 4 reunites players with established series characters in the wake of the aftermath.
The PAX East demo allowed players to create their own unique characters. During our character creation, we had the option to choose between a male or a female protagonist. The character creation and visuals felt a little bit dated but this is due to the game being a localization of the 2018 Japanese edition. Graphics aside, we chose a male protagonist and dressed him in an outfit similar to a red power ranger with a red cowboy hat. The beginning introduces players to a choice system and shows that their choices have serious consequences. Based on the answers chosen, the player receives paragon points that will help or hinder their progress throughout the game. Sadly, some of the choices we made during the demo had little to no significance.
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories seems to focus more on the stories being told rather than varying gameplay elements. Character interactions give the player a variety of dialogue options that will affect how the AI responds. The demo reveals that characters from the prior games will return and further their stories. The core mechanics of the game are rather simple. If you see the environment shaking, take cover and avoid any falling objects. The game is not about the action but rather the player’s interactions with the world.
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories gives players a variety of customizable elements. Sadly, the demo did not really give us a sense of direction for quests and made our choices feel unimportant. The demo’s loading screens also detracted from the experience; however, these loading sequences may not be an issue in the final product. The game seems to focus on the player’s interactions and choices over everything else. Despite the demo not really showing off the meat of this title I am looking forward to the game’s release next month. One key moment I recall from the demo was when an old man dropped his bento box. The player has the choice to console the man and learn about his problems or to kind of ridicule him. I want to see how the story plays out and what lasting consequences will occur based on player decisions. What becomes of this man and his lost lunch?
The game’s controls were rather simplistic but their in-game transition felt bulky. The game appears to be predominately in Japanese but it will feature multi-language subtitles.Overall, the demo was a mostly positive experience that aims to show the player certain circumstances they could face during an epidemic.
We will just have to wait until the game releases on the PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch on April 7th, 2020 to see if the drama sticks.
More information can be found on the official website.
