Disgaea, Atelier crossover for PS3 headed to US, Europe

While Nippon Ichi Software is still a niche publisher of games in the West, it has enjoyed continued success with its imported role-playing games, specifically the Disgaea series of strategy RPGs and the more traditionalist Atelier RPG franchise. Gamers will soon discover if those tastes taste great together, as NIS announced today that will publishing the Disgaea-Atelier crossover game Trinity Universe in North America and Europe this June.

Set for release on the PlayStation 3, the RPG Trinity Universe will take the pair of 2D franchises into the third dimension for the first time. The game will feature faces familiar to fans of the series, including original Disgaea staples Etna, Flonne, and the ever-abused army of penguin servants known as Prinnies. Nippon Ichi promises a wealth of other guest appearances that should ring a bell for fans of the publisher's franchises.

Beyond the returning characters, Trinity Universe will be set in an original Netheruniverse in danger of demolition from space debris. Previously, the Netheruniverse had been protected by a series of Demon God Kings whose title came with the understanding that they would eventually sacrifice themselves to prevent such calamity. But the latest such ruler, Kanata, has gone into hiding rather than accept the responsibility. Meanwhile, galactic peacekeeping valkyrie Rizelea has learned of the peril and launches her own investigation into the matter.

Trinity Universe is being developed by Idea Factory, the outfit behind a wide swatch of strategy games, from this month's DS debut Spectral Force Genesis to PSP efforts Neverland Card Battles and Generation of Chaos. For more on the crossover RPG's contributing franchises, check out GameSpot's reviews of Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice and Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm.