Was NIS Classics Vol. 3 Worth It?

The third NIS Classics collection has released. Both games in this collection feature very earnest young women: Priere is on a literal holy quest, and Cornet is the star of her own romantic comedy. Was NIS Classics Vol. 3 worth it?

Full disclosure: We received a review code for the Nintendo Switch version of this game. Rest assured that this will not affect the quality or candor of our review.

Background

At this point, NIS has rereleased many of their older Disgaea-adjacent back catalogue on modern platforms. There are a few other titles they could pull (Disgaea 2, 3, and D2 come to mind), but at this time a fourth entry hasn’t been announced.

This particular collection features La Pucelle: Ragnarok and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure originally released on the PS1 back in 1998. Shenanigans ensued when it was rereleased on the DS in 2008. Substantial content from the PS1 version had been cut, and an entire extra story arc was missing from the English release. Rhapsody is part of a larger sub-series known as Marl Kingdom, but none of the other entries were ever localized.

La Pucelle: Tactics dropped on the PS2 in 2002, and made its way to American in 2004. The rerelease La Pucelle: Ragnarok would later come out on the PSP, but wasn’t released in the West.

Both of these games predate Disgaea, so players will need to exercise some patience when it comes to the mechanics. Visuals are also quite dated.

What does NIS Classics. Vol. 3 do well?

I only played the DS version of Rhapsody, so I was surprised at how much I had missed out on. Being able to recruit monsters was a great way to round out my party before getting the higher tier puppets. If you couldn’t tell, this game is also a musical. It’s a bit of an odd choice for a JRPG, but it works given the context.

Overall, the stories are interesting and the characters are charming. The female-driven plots are a nice change from the standard RPG fare.

I’d recommend doing Rhapsody first, and use the CRT visual filter. It’s a quick run that doesn’t overstay, and it’ll ramp up nicely into the grind of La Pucelle, which is undeniably the meatier entrée here.

What could NIS Classics. Vol. 3 do better?

Going into this, I was already wary of glitches. I ran into a visual bug early on in Rhapsody within a few minutes of starting the game. When I started this review, La Pucelle had a gamebreaking crash at Chapter 9. This has since been fixed, but the obvious caveat here is that the game on cart isn’t fully playable, so keep in mind that you’ll need to patch it.

Was NIS Classics. Vol. 3 fun?

Both games are cute, but how much fun you’ll get is entirely up to your tolerance for old RPGs.

Is NIS Classics. Vol. 3 good value?

At 39.99 on the Switch, this isn’t a bad deal. La Pucelle is the one carrying most of the weight here in terms of gameplay. Steam players have more wiggle room and can pick up the titles piecemeal.

Who is this game for?

This game is for Switch collectors who want to have all three volumes on their shelf or extreme NIS fans.

Was NIS Classics Vol. 3 worth it?

We’re in the middle of a renaissance for classic games. Corporations are all too happy to remaster their back catalogue, and we’ve covered several of these offerings: Chrono Cross, Live A Live, and even NIS Classics Vol 2. Classic JRPG fans are eating well right now. However, these are both relatively niche titles, and I don’t think that this is quite the level of TLC that they deserve in order to bring them into the modern gaming zeitgeist.

If you’re interested, then wait for a sale. Unfortunately, these cuteness of the narratives may not compensate for the overall lack of polish.

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