NIS America (NISA) has come around again with news for fans, and unlike with Criminal Girls 2, there is no feasible way to put a positive spin on it: thanks to an error, Spike Chunsoft's upcoming Grand Kingdom game for the PS4/PS Vita will be delayed for a week.
Initially, because of the launch for both systems on June 21, Grand Kingdom will now launch on June 28 instead.
In a blog post, NISA explained the delay was "due to a mix-up" in its packing facility, which requires the product to be disassembled and reassembled. NISA claims that by delaying the product by one week, it will be able to ensure that everyone who ordered the game will be able to get what they paid for.
There is just one catch with that explanation, though. The delay only affects North American (NA) physical copies of the game, while digital copies will still arrive on the original launch date.
In a similar vein, the European release date, for both physical and digital copies, will remain the same, but it too has its own problem to contend with. According to NISA, instead of the 15-track original soundtrack Call to Arms, all Limited Editions were packed with the five-track soundtrack sampler CD First Call because of a manufacturing error.
Fortunately, affected customers can go to a special website where they can request a disc replacement.
On an added note, NISA announced it won't release the game's PS4 LiteDEMO until the game is launched in Europe and North America "due to an unforeseen technical issue with the preorder."
While this triple whammy is certainly bad news for fans of all types (except for those who are getting a digital copy of the game in North America), prospective owners of physical copies got particularly shafted by the delay - primarily because of the game's unique features: online wars.
In Grand Kingdom, players are tasked with creating a one-of-a-kind mercenary squad and using them to take on an assortment of missions/quests. However, the real action can be found in the online wars that players can participate in.
Basically, players will be able to fight on behalf of one of the game's Four Great Nations during an online war and earn rewards the longer they participate in them. Furthermore, depending on the performance of a particular faction, better items will be available for purchase for those who fight on its behalf and will be available for use thereafter.
As things stand, there are the beta players who have had access to the game already (and can carry over their data into the full game), and now there are the digital and EU owners who can get the game a full week early. All the while, NA physical copy owners will get left in the dust. It's always frustrating when a game gets delayed, but it's even worse when only some of the players get affected by it - especially when considering that online multiplayer is a huge component of the game.
Granted, those who get it late can catch up by hiring someone with the Experience field skill, and investing in TEC momentarily. But that might not mean much if players who get the game in advance do the same, not to mention the raw experience that comes with playing the game during that duration.
Honestly, it's not all too bad - at least NISA will be extending its one-time free download period for the "Lord's Set" DLC in North America to July 28 to compensate.
