Ahead of the game’s launch, Final Weapon had the opportunity to interview Sohei Niikawa, the creator of the Disgaea series and producer of Arc System Works, Drecom, and SuperNiche’s “raising speedrun simulation RPG” Demons’ Night Fever. Niikawa also worked on a variety of titles during his 26-year tenure at Nippon Ichi Software, including the Rhapsody series.
In our interview, Niikawa shares insights into how development of Demons’ Night Fever began, Arc System Works’ involvement as publisher, the opportunity to work with VOCALOID producer syudou, and many more interesting tidbits in his early tenure as founder and head of SuperNiche.
Get the full interview below:
Can you introduce yourself and your role on the development of Demons’ Night Fever?
Sohei Niikawa: I am Sohei Niikawa from SuperNiche LLC. I spent 26 years at Nippon Ichi Software, where I was in charge of planning, scenario writing, and production for the company’s representative titles such as Disgaea and Rhapsody. I am also in charge of planning, scenario writing, and production for Demons’ Night Fever.
Alongside Etrange Overlord, Demons’ Night Fever was one of the first games ever announced by SuperNiche following the company’s opening last year. When did development of Demons’ Night Fever start? How was the team assembled to develop the project so soon after the company was founded?
Niikawa: Preparation for the concept began four years ago, shortly after going independent. I have three life’s work projects: fantasy, dark comedy, and horror. Since I was already writing the novel for the fantasy project Etrange Overlord, I started working concurrently on the concept, planning, and script for the dark comedy Demons’ Night Fever. Once the core concept of “enjoying evil” was solidified, I developed the story, characters, and game mechanics simultaneously. Since some staff members whom I had previously collaborated with on a dark comedy belonged to Drecom (the development partner), team formation proceeded smoothly.
Arc System Works is best known for its stylish fighting games, but the company has been branching out to games in other genres in recent years. How did Arc System Works get involved as the publisher of Demons’ Night Fever?
Niikawa: Initially, Drecom, the developer, was planning to handle the publishing. However, since they had no prior experience publishing consumer games, we decided that an experienced partner would be necessary to sell the game globally. So, I approached Arc System Works’ President Kidooka—who is a drinking buddy of mine and always complains about “not having enough titles”—and he happily agreed to take it on.
Did you have any creative input on Demons’ Night Fever? If so, did you draw some inspiration from your time working on Disgaea and/or other projects?
Niikawa: Since I am in charge of planning, scenario, and production, I was naturally involved creatively. As a producer who places a strong emphasis on concepts, the most important thing for me across game mechanics, narrative, and art was ensuring that the concept of “enjoying evil” was fully realized, and I provided feedback accordingly.
The combat system lets you leverage and sacrifice your peons to activate certain skills and tactics. Along with these mechanics, what are some other elements that make Demons’ Night Fever stand out among other strategy RPGs?
Niikawa: Traditional strategy RPGs are established on three rules: “gathering allies,” “raising ally stats,” and “winning without sacrificing allies.” In contrast, based on the concept of “enjoying evil,” we designed Demons’ Night Fever with outrageous mechanics: “Companions are unnecessary for evil!”, “Minions are disposable!”, and “Killing both enemies and minions is the correct answer!” The point of fighting by working your minions to the limit is the most standout element, and other elements are fleshed out to further highlight that.
No act of evil is off-limits in Demons’ Night Fever. Will there be multiple endings or unlockables based on your misdeeds in the story?
Niikawa: Players can earn achievements depending on their strategies and completed elements. Therefore, even if you get a game over, you can do a “New Game Plus,” making it designed so that even those who are not good at strategy RPGs can clear it through repeated play. There are no multiple endings based on evil deeds within the story, but you can see the true ending by encountering random events during the story and achieving the best clear method.
What were your experiences like working with the composer(s) and determining the ideal sound direction for Demons’ Night Fever?
Niikawa: Tatsuya Yano, who handled the background music, is an experienced game composer who has worked on music for the Atelier series and Palworld. He composed the music with a deep understanding of the game’s concept, planning intent, and scenario. Thanks to that, he was able to firmly adapt to this work, where the world setting changes drastically with each chapter, and provided the best BGM for each chapter. He is a composer I would love to work with again.
syudou has performed and provided OP/ED songs for several popular anime series, including Chainsaw Man. What were your experiences like working with syudou for the theme song “Dropout”?
Niikawa: Working with syudou was a very fortunate and honorable experience. I still vividly remember my excitement when syudou—whose lyrics and composition for Usseewa helped launch Ado, now a global diva, to stardom—decided not only to write the lyrics and compose the song, but also to perform vocals himself. Just like Tatsuya Yano, syudou thoroughly understood the concept and scenario of this work and completed an opening song that fits the game perfectly. Actually, we hadn’t originally planned to include an opening animation, but after listening to syudou’s song, we thought, “We simply have to include an opening animation,” so rushing to produce it was a happy miscalculation.
Are there any plans to release a Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game?
Niikawa: It’s undecided. If Arc System Works requests it, we will respond, but if we do it, we’d want some kind of plus factor, wouldn’t we? Or, if we support Nintendo Switch 2, I’d rather have them let me make a sequel, 2!
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Niikawa: Demons’ Night Fever is a project whose concept I began conceiving after leaving Nippon Ichi Software. I intentionally designed the concept, art, and game mechanics to create a game completely different from Disgaea. The tone of the scenario might feel familiar, but I hope you’ll forgive that as part of my authorship (laughs). Having worked on numerous strategy RPGs and even received a Guinness World Record, I am confident that Demons’ Night Fever is a crazy game that completely shatters the conventions of SRPGs.
How this game will be evaluated is up to the gods—or rather, the evil deities—but I am proud that we were able to deliver a truly unique gaming experience and cast a stone into the history of SRPGs. The kind folks at Arc System Works gave it a friendly pricing. It’s a price you can afford just by skipping one weekend leisure outing and dining out once. Video game fans, please purchase it to become living witnesses to history! I want to continue delivering niche yet super games to everyone, so please support this title. Thank you very much!
Thank you so much for your time!
Demons’ Night Fever is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam worldwide.
