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»Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
"Check out this review, d00d!"
Okay! So I’m a little bit late jumping on this bandwagon, but damn it
all, this series rocks! I also realize that N1 is bringing it to the
market at an awful time considering that Final Fantasy Tactics has just
been released for the same platform. Now, I’m all for some FFT, but
where that game made this genre of strategic role-playing games
popular, Disgaea makes it seem like a fine craft.
Disgaea originally launched on the Playstation 2 with a
limited release, but it became rare for a bigger reason than just
limited supplies. People liked it, they liked it a lot – they just
didn’t know it at first. Disgaea is a game that appeals more towards
anime fans than just anyone, so it is a bit of a niche design. This
didn’t stop just about every copy from being snagged up as soon as a
retailer had one in stock. After a while, Atlus re-released it due to
popular demand. Perhaps it’s because of this that N1 thought it would
be a good idea to bring the portable version stateside. I, for one, am
very pleased that they did.
As the great Wolfdogg once said, “Enough of the history
lesson, let’s move onto the review.” I only hope I can convey to you
what makes this game so fantastic in this small amount of space I have.
To start off, the game is really big – in fact, it’s MASSIVE.
It’s not so much that it’s incredibly long – you can make your way
through the entire story mode in about 40-50 hours, which is about
average for this genre. What makes this game so big is that it doesn’t
end when the storyline does. There is so much to do before and after
finishing the main quest. Before I get any deeper into all of that, let
me explain the game’s story and how it functions first.
The story begins with a cute little girl trying to wake up
what looks like a vampire by shooting him with rocket launchers and all
other sorts of pain. After she gets fed up with everything, she pulls
out a handgun and points it at his head, but he wakes up. Laharl is his
name and he’s your avatar for this adventure. His story is that of a
demon prince who is on a quest to claim his right to the throne of the
Underworld. You see, Larharl’s father was the overlord before suddenly
kicking the bucket, leaving Laharl as his only heir. However, his boy
fell into a deep sleep for the past two years and now all the demons of
the Underworld are trying to claim the throne as their own. As Laharl,
you must take your place amongst the demons by force and rule with an
iron fist. This won’t be easy, as there are a lot of demons out there
willing to step in your path.
Wait, what?
As the story unfolds, you will see something sinister
afoot. An angel will be sent down to kill the overlord, only to find
that he’s already dead. This angel, Flonne, takes it upon herself to
“save” these demons from their unloving ways and teach them that love
is the only answer. Laharl finds her ways unrealistic and annoying, yet
he is unable to kill her.
The plot unfolds from there like a well-scripted anime
movie. Even the voice acting is on-par with some of the top shows out
there. The music is creepy in that it’s utterly and ridiculously happy
all the time. It really doesn’t seem like the theme music for Hell, but
it works. It works very well, and sounds fantastic. The only thing you
may find a tad annoying is that after 200 hours of hearing it, you may
not be able to ever forget it.
That’s not to say that there isn’t a lot of variety in the
music, but you will hear one or two specific tunes more than the rest
of the music. In fact, all of the music is really great and compliments
the rest of the game’s overall feel.
In a game that is comprised mostly of battles, the battle
system needs to be good. Thankfully, Disgaea has a very deep and
complex battle system. Each battle begins by giving you an overview of
the battlefield then centering on your home panel. You can have up to 8
characters on field at once. If all 8 of them die, then your mission is
failed. There are a whole bunch of classes you can create, including
Priest, Warrior, Archer, Ninja, Samurai, Mage, Thief, Angel, Knight,
Majin and Scout, among others. Each class has a distinct use: thieves
are necessary if you plan on getting the best items in the game, while
warriors are needed to take the brunt of the enemy’s damage.
Attacking from the side or rear will give you a better
chance to hit or deal more damage. Also, when you attack or are
attacked from the front, there is a higher chance for a counter attack.
Speaking of counters, each class has a certain allotment of counter
attacks, some having more than others. Unlike many games of this ilk,
counters aren’t just a little backlash: they pretty much do the same
amount of damage as full-on attacks, while still costing a turn.
The thing about Disgaea that gets so many people into it is the insane
amount of options the player has to work with when tackling a certain
mission. You may need to pick up a string of your characters with your
strongest warrior so you can throw a beastly attack team over a ravine
or just to get them closer to the boss so you can kill him more
efficiently, hopefully obtaining better rewards.
...and pedophiles all over the world rejoiced.
A friend of mine was telling me that I should describe the
game as simply repetitive. However, he hunkered down for more than 150
hours into the second game, attaining level 1000 or so – boasting a
total level of 1800. The fact remains that this game has one of the
deepest and richest battle systems you’ll experience in a game of this
sort. The story is gripping and really makes you want to trudge through
the next five or ten missions just to find out what happens in the next
“episode”.
If I’ve not lost you from my ramblings, allow me to
explain about what makes this game so fun to keep going on after
beating the main story. For one, you’ll learn very early on of a place
called the Item World. This world is a world belonging exclusively to
the specific item in which you visit. By traversing through the item’s
seemingly endless randomly generated levels, you will level up the item
in question. Doing so makes it stronger in all aspects, both good and
bad. At later levels of the game, this actually becomes a great boost
to your stats so you may want to level an item you like a lot very
early on.
If that weren’t enough to make your mouth water, the PSP
version even has an extra “what if” story line where Etna accidentally
kills Laharl and is thrust into the role of protagonist herself. This
story isn’t quite as long as the original, but it is a very nice extra:
it’s done exceptionally well and keeps the feeling of the original
storyline intact. What’s more, you can even battle with a friend who
also has the game, pitting your raw skills, tactics, and items against
theirs.
The VS battles suffer from a little bit of load issues,
but are really fun and offer some really cool rewards only available
through these means. Another thing you might find interest in is the
ability to purchase items from your friends’ lineup at half price.
Doing so doesn’t take the item from the selling player, but instead
duplicates it on your game. Items have a sort of serial number on them
via their rarity code. Once you’ve bought an item from a friend, if you
want more of the same, you’ll need to find the same item in your game
or trade with someone else.
Before I finish, I should probably tell you about what the
game looks like. If you couldn’t make it out for yourself from the
screen shots, Disgaea couples 3D environments with hand-drawn skins and
2D character sprites. This gives a great sense of being in a living
anime since all of the characters are animated very fluidly. The
graphics aren’t perfect, but they work. The 3D aspect is kind of blocky
in some areas, but the hand-drawn characters are absolutely fantastic.
With so much to do and accomplish, there’s no wondering as to why this game made its way to the PSP and even the US.
If you fancy SRPGs or were a fan of FFT and want something with a
different flavor, I highly suggest that you give this game a shot.
Article by: Bloodspoor
Posted on: Oct. 31st, 2007 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| The gameplay does get a little repetitive…after 100 hours. The breadth and depth of the game’s battle system is absolutely fantastic. |
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Graphics |
| The graphics are not the greatest the PSP has received but they are a pretty combination of 2D and 3D styles. |
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Sound |
| Etna’s voice was redone by the voice actor from Disgaea 2, but she does a great job. |
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Replay Value |
| There’s no beating the replayability this game contains. There’s so much to do by yourself or even with a friend. |
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Comments |
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Comment Posted on: January 21, 2008 |
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Why does every game get a replay value score of 10?
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Comment Posted on: February 17, 2008 |
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oh lawd iz dat sum chickens?
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