A unique bond exists between Niche Gamer and imports—you know, those games you see in enthusiast magazines but can never seem to track down. This fascination is what carried the site in its early years, and part of it is still present in our constant coverage of lesser-known Japanese games.
Long gone are the days of trying to track down obscure PlayStation Vita titles and untranslated visual novels, but we still harbor a deep respect and fascination for smaller developers and publishers, like D3, for example, a subsidiary of Bandai Namco who is known for their budget-friendly games with crazy premises.
It’s safe to say that we were quite happy to see D3 Publisher get its own Humble Bundle filled with some of their best titles, most of which we actually covered or even reviewed over the years.
Niche Gamer simply wouldn’t be Niche Gamer without, well, Niche Games™, and that’s why we wanted to showcase the titles available in the Slice, Dice, and Everything Nice: D3 After Dark Bundle. We hope you enjoy:
Samurai Maiden
Alongside Ed-0: Zombie Uprising, which is also present in this Bundle, Samurai Maiden is one of D3 Publisher’s most recent and impressive endeavors. Players are put in the shoes of Tsumugi Tamaori, a 21st century swordswoman who is magically transported to the Sengoku period.
Developed by Shade, also responsible for the Bullet Girls series, Samurai Maiden is one of the most fluid hack-and-slash titles that D3 Publisher has released. The game is a spectacle in motion, and manages to deliver some really smooth melee character-action gameplay.
Samurai Maiden also features quite a bit of Yuri content for those interested, as characters have to lock lips to activate certain techniques. As your bond with your party members grows stronger, so do your skills and techniques, making for a really compelling visual novel and character-action hybrid experience.
Bullet Girls Phantasia
Phantasia is the latest installment in the Bullet Girls franchise, known for its third-person shooter gameplay and generally insane premise. The games feature a cast of girls who happen to be expert military soldiers that take part in special missions for their country as extracurricular activity for their school’s Ranger club.
The original Bullet Girls game mostly took place in school grounds or regular city environments, but Phantasia goes all out and takes the main cast of characters, as well as a few newcomers, into a medieval setting where orcs and dragons are the main enemy.
Bullet Girls Phantasia also contains a good amount of ecchi content through the clothing damage system, which allows the girls that you have carefully dressed to lose their clothes during battle if enough damage is taken, a common trend in D3’s games.
If you want to know more about Bullet Girls Phantasia, then take a look at our in-depth review for the game, which covers about everything, from localization to lewd content and more.
Onee Chanbara Origin and Onechanbara Z2: Chaos
The Onee Chanbara series started out as a simple hack-and-slash title for the PlayStation 2, but quickly spiraled into a massive franchise with over 10 games, spin-offs, and even live-action movie adaptations. Onee Chanbara is known for its violent and simple hack-and-slash gameplay, and like most D3 Publisher titles, also features girls dressed in skimpy clothing.
Onee Chanbara gained quite a bit of popularity in the West around the 7th generation of consoles thanks to Onechanbara Z2: Chaos and the Strawberry Banana Surprise DLC outfit, which replaces the bikini the main character wears with two cherries and a banana. It’s safe to say that no DLC in the history of gaming has ever reached such a peak again.
Onee Chanbara Origin serves as a celebratory remake of the series’ first two games, which were a part of the Simple 2000 series, a collection of low-budget titles released by D3 Publisher for the PlayStation 2. Both titles have been re-imagined in a cel-shaded anime art style that matches the franchise quite well, and their gameplay has also been adjusted to be more in line with Z2: Chaos.
If you want to know more about this franchise with humble beginnings and insanely violent gameplay, then check out our review for Onee Chanbara Origin, and our review for Onechanbara Z2: Chaos.
Omega Labyrinth Life
So, remember that introduction paragraph where we said that D3 Publisher was responsible for games with crazy premises? Well, Omega Labyrinth Life is one of those. Omega Labyrinth Life is a pretty straightforward visual novel and dungeon crawler hybrid, except that your character’s bust grows every time she defeats an enemy. Yes, there’s a full screen animation for it and everything.
There’s really no way to make this up, and to quote the game’s store page: “Defeating foes builds up Omega Power in the chest, increasing bust size and parameters. They go all the way up to a Z cup!”.
Gameplay-wise, Omega Labyrinth Life is pretty similar to other simple dungeon-crawling games, like the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, but the sheer ridiculousness of its premise makes for quite a weird spectacle to behold.
MAGLAM Lord
Much like Omega Labyrinth Life, MAGLAM Lord is another visual novel and RPG hybrid by D3 Publisher, except this one has a slightly more grounded premise. Players are put in the shoes of the newly-resurrected Demon Lord, who discovers that he is the last of his kind and that the world has completely forgotten about his reign.
MAGLAM Lord is at its heart a dungeon-crawling JRPG, but features 2D hack-and-slash combat reminiscent of the Summon Night series whenever players enter a battle. Crafting your own weapons and managing your own equipment in smart ways is also a big part of the overall RPG experience.
The visual novel portion of the game manages to be incredibly charming, thanks to its commitment to a straightforward plot filled with charismatic characters. MAGLAM Lord juggles quite a few things at once, but manages to be entertaining as both a dating simulator and a JRPG.
If you want to know more about MAGLAM Lord, consider reading our review for the game right here.
SG/ZH: School Girl/Zombie Hunter
Serving as a spin-off of the Onee Chanbara series, SG/ZH also takes place during the zombie apocalypse, except this time the protagonists are a group of school girls who have been extensively trained in firearm handling at the Kirisaku private school.
Players can take control of five different characters in this third-person zombie shooter, and the game actually features multiplayer modes in which all characters can be controlled by players, making for a fun and chaotic experience.
The secret sauce for SG/ZH: School Girl/Zombie Hunter is that each girl has a different set of skills, and can throw their clothes at the zombies to distract them. Despite having a pretty simple and goofy premise, SG/ZH is reasonably dialogue-heavy, and is filled with character interactions that help flesh out each of the main cast.
Ed-0: Zombie Uprising
Ed-0: Zombie Uprising is D3 Publisher’s own twist on the roguelike genre, taking place in an alternate Edo era Japan that has been invaded by zombies. Players are given the choice between three characters: The speedy Ninja, the balanced Samurai, and the heavyweight Sumo Wrestler to face the zombie hordes.
Zombie Uprising is one of D3 Publisher’s most unique games, being considered by some as a modern release of the Simple 2000 series. Its boldness and simplistic nature do come with a price, though. The game’s hardcore and slow-paced nature have been somewhat controversial, even though some would argue that these characteristics are what make Ed-0 such a fresh title, especially in the modern roguelike landscape.
If you want to know more about Ed-0: Zombie Uprising and its charming weirdness, then check out our in-depth review of the game.
And that’s it for our coverage of the Slice, Dice, and Everything Nice: D3 After Dark Bundle. This package of games is divided between tiers, which range from $10 to $30 depending on which games you want to pick up.
The Bundle can be found right here, and is running for a little over 11 days as of posting, which gives you plenty of time to grab the whole thing or slowly move through the tiers if you feel like testing the waters first.
