Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy coming west in spring 2015
posted on 12.16.14 at 08:28 PM EDT by (@salromano)
Experience-developed sci-fi dungeon RPG headed westward.

Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy

NIS America is bringing Tokyo New World Record: Operation Abyss to North America and Europe in spring 2015 as Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy, the publisher announced.

The Experience-developed PS Vita sci-fi dungeon RPG will be available as both a physical and digital release.

The setting in near future Tokyo, where monsters known as Variants keep the city under constant threat, and portals that lead to a mysterious dimension known as the Abyss have emerged. To investigate these mysterious phenomena, the government has established the Code Physics Agency. Players join the Xth Squad, a unique group of teenagers modified by the Code Physics Agency’s Code technology, and must evade traps, defeat monsters, and investigate to discover the mystery behind the Abyss.

Find more details below.

About

From the studio that made Demon Gaze comes Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy, a sci-fi dungeon crawler RPG set in a near future Tokyo. With the city under the constant threat of Variants—genetically engineered monsters—and the emergence of portals leading to a mysterious dimension called the Abyss, the government has established the Code Physics Agency to investigate these mysterious phenomena. The Xth Squad—a unique group of teens modified by the CPA’s Code technology—must evade traps, face down powerful monsters, and investigate the mystery behind the Abyss.

Key Features

  • Robust Customization System – Recruit and train a unique group of six Xth members to venture into the Abyss. Customize each member from one of ten distinct Blood Codes. Each Xth member’s appearance, class, personality, morality, and stats may be molded to the player’s preference.
  • An Accessible, Yet Deep Dungeon Crawler – The labyrinthine dungeons of New Tokyo offer 40+ hours of dungeon crawling action with traps, secret doors, challenging enemies, and gorgeous art throughout.
  • A Unique Cyberpunk Story – Dive into the unique dungeon crawler setting of Operation Abyss and lose yourself in the gorgeous world, featuring real-life locations rendered by Tetsu Kurosawa and Oxijiyen. A gripping story blends heavy sci-fi elements with a setting to give the game a unique cyberpunk feel.

In related news, a sequel was announced in Japan this morning.

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  • http://youtube.com/miyabigaming 武神水樹

    I like the art

  • Solomon_Kano

    Just after the sequel was announced for Japan. Huh.

  • Orichalon Hades

    aw yissssssss

  • Harry Potter

    too many vita games am i in an alternate universe?

  • TheExile285

    Didn’t expect to see this localized. Sweetness~

  • new_tradition

    So you can customize your whole party’s appearance and what not? Then the only characters in the game are NPCs?

  • PrinceHeir

    So their not bringing Operation Babel instead?

    At least Vita is getting some more games in the west ^^

    • http://youtube.com/miyabigaming 武神水樹

      That’s not how localization works

    • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

      …Why would you want the sequel before its predecessor? :p

  • Mozendo

    Great news. Hopefully we’ll get Stranger of Sword City before NISA goes under.

  • https://twitter.com/RyoonZ RyoonZ

    Sweet. More Experience games!

  • Anoia

    Enjoyed DG and had been hoping for this.

  • NegativeZero

    I wonder why they reversed the title from the Japanese? Things are going to get a bit awkward if they bring over the sequel too. With it arranged this way the subtitle won’t change but the main title will.

    I guess people that know enough to care will also know enough to buy both?

  • commodorewheeler

    Another must buy for me

  • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

    If anybody has any questions about this game before deciding whether or not you want to get it, let me know. I guess I’m the resident DRPG questionnaire man, lol.

    • LemonsArentForever

      yea is this the sequel? and compared to demon gaze how does this game add up?

      • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

        This isn’t the sequel. Operation Abyss was the first installment. Compared to Demon Gaze though… It will feel like a step back and outdated in a lot of ways.

        Well, Demon Gaze actually sets the bar pretty high for DRPGs now since it found a way to make them more enjoyable, even for newer fans of the genre. This particular game uses an outdated system (mainly because it’s a remake for the first two Generation Xth titles which are over 5 years old now) and the graphics aren’t that great either (they did add new graphics for this installment though, but you can still play in Classic mode for the original Generation Xth graphics).

        • Elvick

          Now I’m torn… I like Demon Gaze for making it easier for new fans.

          • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

            That’s what a lot of people liked about Demon Gaze. Hell, even myself. It was a good introduction title to the DRPG genre while still offering veterans such as myself a complex system to work with and challenges later on.

            Generation Xth games are brutal though, even for vets, lol. Better get used to dealing only 1-2 points of damage in the first couple of hours or so while fighting 1-2 rows or more of 4-5+ enemies at 5 levels higher than you or so, dealing 10 points of damage or more to your party members, heh.

            • Elvick

              Eeeeeeeekk… Unless there’s some godtier CE, I can’t see me buying this one. Thanks for the insight!

        • LemonsArentForever

          ahh thanks man you really helped me decide what im going to do. i thoroughly enjoyed (and still play demon gaze) and i enjoy a number of other drpgs but they are usually very good or just plain meh. and from what you described it seems like this one is leaning more towards the latter. ill probably still pick it up when i can get a good deal but im glad i asked you because i gotta pick and choose which games buy because theres just so many games to get i have atleast 30+ i still need to pick up not even including games that are still coming out and my wallets got a gun to my head lol so thanks for helping me out there man.

          • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

            Well, don’t get me wrong. It can still be enjoyable, but if you come from Demon Gaze to this, you may find it to be lackluster, haha. I guess what I’m saying is that Generation Xth is more for the hardcore DRPG fans rather than people just looking to pick them up and play them every now and then. Generation Xth games are rather brutal when it comes to new players and it’s still the only game where I can say I have ever been defeated by a pair of flying tits.

            • LemonsArentForever

              flying tits you say….bought and bought….in all seriousness im no stranger to drpgs so i might give this one a look after all. but ill probably still wait for a deal.

              • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

                Well, I haven’t seen them in this game. I think they were in Code Realize (which, oddly enough, is the name of the OP for this game… Nice little easter egg there, heh). I’m going to post some screenshots in a minute showing the differences between Classic and Basic mode though (Basic being the updated UI and character models).

                • LemonsArentForever

                  haha its ok man itll take more than flying tits to sell me anyway…maybe. but the setting seems cool and i like the art so thats enough for me. and if you think its a competent drpg then im sure its got some merit.

                  • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

                    People will probably take one look at it and go, “Why would I ever play this?”, especially if they see it in Classic mode, haha. I played it originally in Classic on PC, which is why I’m playing in Basic now, plus the models do look better in Basic (they learned from their Demon Gaze experience, no doubt :p). This is enough to push a lot of people away though:

                    http://dengekionline.com/elem/000/000/880/880148/opabyss_004_cs1w1_1280x720.jpg

                    • LemonsArentForever

                      oh i dont think that looks bad at all, has a very classic feel to it. so i guess what it boils down to is its a good game for those who know what they are getting into. and everything looks really clean in the screenshots you posted above.

    • Mozendo

      What other games are apart of the series/connected to this game?

      • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

        In this particular game, it is connected to the following:

        Generation Xth: Code Hazard
        Generation Xth: Code Breaker

        Unfortunately, neither of these are in English, iirc, but oddly enough… Someone took it upon themselves to translate the third installment, Code Realize, lol. All of these are for PC though.

        • RedSuisei

          The fan translated game was Code Hazard, just correcting a bit ^^

          • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

            Ah, you’re right. It is. Man, if they wouldn’t have released these games months apart from each other, I wouldn’t have them confused at times, lol.

  • orzorzorz

    i love that all these vita games i wanted. yet started to give up on getting in the west, are slowly making their way over.

  • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

    Uploading quite a few screenshots at the moment to show the differences between Classic and Basic mode in this game, for those interested. While you wait, you can listen to the battle theme and boss theme :p

    Encounter ver.A – http://a.pomf.se/uwvxhm.mp3 (battle theme)

    OPERATION XTH – http://a.pomf.se/jlrril.mp3 (boss theme)

  • Gustavo

    Keep’em coming NISA, I want all the Experience games. Day one buy of the limited edition.

  • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

    Okay, so since this game has two modes, I’m going to show you what you get in each. There’s a Classic mode which gives you access to the older character models and customization used in the Generation Xth titles (which this game is based on), then there’s a Basic mode which gives you new character models which were specifically designed for this game. In Classic, you can change their clothing, give them a mask, accessory, that sort of thing.

    In Basic, you lose all of those customization options from Classic, but the character models themselves actually look better, imo. That and you get 3 color variations for each model (default + 2 more). So, here are some images of the game in Classic mode.

    http://i.minus.com/ivkl0CddRxhwJ.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/izoy3bQTZCVc1.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iY5FTDwhA3Bs5.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iInREHOoXSDhi.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iupDjYuJMNfMO.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ibsId1hwjM6TR0.jpg

    Now, here is how the game looks in Basic mode, showing all of the characters you can create and their color variations.

    http://i.minus.com/imtwLsvZeIW0a.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iPiqG2DHSnxdJ.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ibqGbKXN3MnIGG.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ibtxAquYa8BsOS.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iMS8HANwAnrFB.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iXUYRL3BbZDkR.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iGNYjBDlSNaZI.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iu9pO7urQEIcf.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ibx16FwrLGLJ8M.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iAP97EfMNb9pD.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i7q59cnuAqZW4.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ih2GbtZsHzHxw.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ienmcXkh3VcfV.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iVsVF7XSvSu4i.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ibgQ2jpgBdQ5OF.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i9ARgaw1caX9t.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iKzXRmhlXcJRP.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ittMFAlmeOHyM.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i3PBbFpMirhj9.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ibz4ajk6yg6FHZ.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iboNgw05a923yU.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i1QhMiX8eSkok.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iqaprSjmxNjMy.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i1M1VjEtrd9Zx.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i1Bb8A2tNxalm.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iI4NShYcW9ay3.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ivRTcGsISwsYH.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iwWioyLh2pWoF.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i64GAnqAd0mZM.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/i6HE1Fxq0oBg0.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iCCWG4MPlwspe.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/ibzsSkx36eO91p.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/igoUaubMdLGuI.jpg

    http://i.minus.com/iLbMF6Bk9fjbO.jpg

    As you can see, the UI is also touched up a little bit and looks cleaner as well when you play in Basic, but at the end of the day… It all comes down to personal preference. It won’t change anything besides aesthetics in the game and even if you play on Classic, you’ll still get to see Basic style artwork for the monsters and NPCs, so it’s mainly just for your own benefit.

    • RedSuisei

      Classic mode really looks the same as Gen Xth lol.
      Anyway, from what I’ve seen the game is largely similar to Gen Xth, from story and gameplay mechanics, doesn’t seem there’s any significant change to them?

      • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

        Well, it should look like it since Operation Abyss is just Generation Xth: Code Hazard and Code Breaker with some updates here and there, heh. As for significant changes though, not from what I’ve noticed. It has been a few years since I played the PC games though, so my memory could be off.

        • RedSuisei

          Does it have difficulty settings? I’m pretty sure without difficulty settings a lot of newcomers will hate this game.

          • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

            No difficulty setting. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of people avoid it because even if it’s difficult for newcomers, they can’t adjust the difficulty to something easier in order to at least experience the story.

            • RedSuisei

              Hmmm, well, I don’t mind the difficulty personally (if it’s anything close to Code Hazard, that is), but I really want this game to sell well so NISA will be bring other EXP games ._. Hope there will still be enough people not put off by the game.

              • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

                Depends on how you define “well”. It didn’t even sell well in Japan, lol. I doubt we’ll even see this one sell 5,000 units in the first week in NA. Over the course of a few years, I’ll be surprised if it even reaches 20,000.

                • RedSuisei

                  “Well” relatively to NISA’s expectations, of course :) At least well enough for them to bring the other games. Would hate it if Babel, Cross Blood, or Ihoujin don’t make it. I think that in Japan, even with such a low number (11k first week I think?), it still met EXP’s expectations, which is why Babel is made?

                  Though Ihoujin seems like a safer bet? From the demo it didn’t seem as hardcore as Gen Xth, and it does have a difficulty setting.

                  • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

                    It’s a bit too late to be getting Cross Blood, so we can probably cross that off the possibilities. Ihoujin could be possible since the Vita version hasn’t come out in Japan yet, but don’t be so quick to judge the difficulty. I imported the Windows version and I’ll tell you right now… You’re going to be grinding a lot if you want to be strong in that game, heh.

                    Due to the job changing system and skills carrying over, you’ll probably have to level 5 jobs up to at least 21 (30 if you want all of their skills), and considering how long it takes to level once you reach about 15 or so… You can probably imagine how much time that would take, lol. You just can’t even hope to beat the bosses in that game without the bonus stats and extra skills though, so you’re going to have to grind out other jobs and the thing that sucks is when you level up one job and revert back to an old one, it cuts the level by half (so if you leveled Ninja to 21 and wanted to go back to your level 30 Knight, your Knight would be dropped to 15).

                    Things get pretty crazy in that game, but you’re right… At least it has a difficulty setting though, so that does make things easier to deal with.

                    • RedSuisei

                      That… seems quite grindy lol. One of the reasons I loved Demon Gaze was the fact that I didn’t feel the need to deliberately grind even on highest difficulty.

                      I suppose it might be a good idea to assume that my original party composition will get shuffled a lot during the course of the game, and it might even be that my final composition is different if I don’t want to get the job level cut in half?

                    • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

                      Well, what you’re going to want to aim for is something like this:

                      Knight
                      Ninja
                      Cleric
                      Mage
                      Archer
                      Knight

                      Just giving an example, but you basically just want to grind out the other jobs, then go back to Knight as your last job and grind it back up. The party composition will change a bit though.

                      For example, my Archer became a Ninja and I changed my Ninja to a Samurai, then my Cleric to a Mage, and my Mage to a Cleric, so forth and so on. I wish I would have leveled my Mage for a little longer though. It would have helped him when he switched to Cleric.

                      I found out later (cause of my Cleric leveling up as a Mage) that the Mage gets a skill called Double Cast later on, so… As you can imagine, that can really help. Granted, I’m glad my Cleric can heal twice as much now, but it would be nice if my Mage could nuke things twice, heh. Because of my negligence though, my party is going to be handicapped since my Mage won’t actually be going back to a Mage to level that up and get the Double Cast skill until I finish leveling all the other jobs I want for him first ;w;

                      I guess it sounds confusing, but I’m just basically saying you need to plan ahead if you want a successful party since once you change jobs, you can’t just go back and fix it. If I remember correctly, I think the wiki said you can loop the process 3 times, so… What that basically means is once you reach your final job (if you went back to your original job, Knight, for example), you can start the process all over again for additional bonuses in stats.

                      I took a break from the game a while back because I just simply don’t have the time to grind for 100+ hours to do this. I’d rather invest my time in other stuff at the moment.

  • RedSuisei

    I almost gave up hope for this game. NISA YOU’RE THE BEST! Don’t care what people kept hating you for as long as you keep bringing these games.

  • Francois Vigneault

    this game is a remake of Generation xth Code hazard and code breaker on pc.
    in term of gameplay it’s kind of similar to the first class of heroes but better . with this version they reworked couple things, making crafting/enhancing gear easier and added some other stuff.

    there’s a meter in the game, the higher it is, the stronger the monster get. but you can lower the meter by just running away. So if you keep the meter low, the game is not too hard. I think anyone can play this.

    • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

      Unless you’re someone like me that wants to kill everything I encounter for the exp, gold, and loot, then you’re going to run around with DANGER for a while, heh. Once the gauge reaches max, you will have to fight a sub boss in order to lower the gauge. It will appear at random, so it may or may not immediately be your next encounter once the gauge reaches maximum.

      • Francois Vigneault

        the first part of the game is a bit more rough because of the lvl 15 cap, but the second part isnt too bad. once you have acces to certain spell it’s easy…

        • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

          Yeah, but the same can be said for most DRPGs. Rough in the beginning, but not so bad later on. It’s just a matter of getting past the beginning, haha.

    • xXDGFXx

      When you say like the first, do you mean the horrid ?/?/? system for spells? If so, I’m gonna have to pass on this game…

      • Francois Vigneault

        yeah the spell system is a number of charge for each level of spell. personally I don’t mind that sytem, it’s classic with many wizardry type game and I actually like it. the cleric later get a skill that can replenish his charge…but instead of having a max of 9 charge, the max in this one is 20.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwS2RPhFfik

        • xXDGFXx

          ARGGHHHH. I hate this system, I can’t replenish them if I run out…

          • Francois Vigneault

            sleep at headquarter?
            you rarely use magic in normal fight if you use or crafted weapon that can hit a certain type of monster. you’ll end up using the wizard skill that attack a line with some magic dmg instead(requires no mp)

            and once you get teleport with your scholar, it’s not too hard to port out,refill and return to where you were.

  • Jansen

    YES! THANK YOU!

  • BizarreJelly

    I can’t help but feel down that they didn’t announce Dangan Ronpa Another Episode.

    • Franggio Hogland

      It’s coming
      #Believe

    • PenguinPlayer

      Dangan Ronpa is surprisingly big in the west. It prints money for a small company like NISA, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t pick it up.

      • novurdim

        It actually did worse than expected, Dangan is definitely not “printing money” in the West. But, well, its sales are still more or less viable, so I’m pretty sure NISA won’t drop the series just like that.

        • PenguinPlayer

          Really? With all the incessant talking about it and the fact they localized the sequel too? Color me surprised.

          Maybe it’s because it’s Vita only. Someone with the resources should port it to PC and put it on Steam so tumblr can jump on it. Infinite money guaranteed.

          • novurdim

            My bet is on the fact that western gamers don’t really tend to buy a lot of VNs. Even on Steam.

            • https://www.youtube.com/user/GamingHeroTetsuya TetsuyaHikari

              Hell, even JP gamers don’t buy that many VNs.

  • http://s932.photobucket.com/ usagi_san

    I feel like hulking out right now! So much good gaming news coming out recently. The Experience title I’ve been waiting for, among others.

  • Lightthrower

    UEEEEESS! Thank you NIS! please don’t go bankrupt!!!

  • Vayu Purana

    OMFG……they had me at cyberpunk….but also a dungeon crawler AND i can customize my party that well too? SOLD DAY ONE BUY oh yes <3

    oh its the same creators as Demon Gaze, so you know it'll be good by that alone