Z.H.P. has all that Disgaea flavor and more

10:00 PM on 07.16.2010   |   Tim Sheehy

Another game announced at the NIS America press event the other day was Z.H.P. -- an acronym for Zettai Hero Project. Those of you who love the quirky humor and strategy-based gameplay of Disgaea will absolutely love this game. Though we weren't given a playable demo, the trailer that debuted at the event did a wonderful job of filling us in on the basic premise of the game, as well as showed off a good portion of the games mechanics.

The level of customization seems rather unprecedented, at least for a SRPG. Z.H.P. allows us to customer our character from head to toe, with all kinds of items such as drill arms -- that much makes this game worth buying alone -- Prinny hats, tank legs, you name it. You even get to customize your own city which doubles as a secret-base.

The battle maps are randomly generated, which I'm sure adds to the re-playability -- but you're probably going to end up playing the game to death any way as you actually get stronger from dying. Crazy, right? Well, it sounds like a good idea to me, at least. 

Finally, I managed to officially confirm that the characters from the light novel Dengeki Bunko, as well as several anime related crossover character will be present in the US version of this game. While I don't have any word on potential DLC, I confirmed through Nippon Ichi that the US version will receive the same content Japan is getting, should any be released. The game is currently scheduled for release sometime this Winter.

Check out the trailer, along with additional some info regarding Disgaea 4 after the jump!

Now, I realize we mentioned that NIS America only announced three titles at their press event, however there was one little piece of news from the event that I didn't really discuss very much. Nippon Ichi Japan's President and COO Souhei Niikawa, was on hand for the event as well, and talked quite a bit about Z.H.P. and his love for the Disgaea series.

While I couldn't press him for any details on the latest Prinny game, he did keep insisting that we'll be pleasantly surprised with the next installment of the Disgaea franchise, Disgaea 4, at Tokyo Game Show later this year. He emphasized that each previous installment has experienced a small evolution in terms of gameplay and that the upcoming title is no exception -- unfortunately, we're just going to have to wait and see what happens with that come September.