Disgaea -Hour of Darkness

[Naiera]

Etna's voice is perfect - sassy, funny, quick, well acted - whereas Laharl's is poor - general video game dub standard, with emphasis in completely the wrong places in sentences and sounding detached when a conversation is supposed to be taking place.

I think you're completely wrong. It sounds like it's intentional, which makes it funny. Both Etna and Laharl cracked me up the first time through the game.

[E. Randy Dupre]

Well, like I say, that's my first impression. It might all come together after I've put a bit more time in, but right now it sounds disjointed and obvious that each actor recorded their part seperately from the others. I'm not sure how that's intentional.

I did post something up on the Koei board asking about the relatively poor PAL treatment, but there's no reply yet. The Gamefaqs board now has this information, though:

A friend of mine sent an email to koei europe to ask if the japanese voices would bein the game, and they said that they:

1. Didn't get the approval for japanese voices in their game because of some stupid strict measures of sony europe.

2. Even if they got the approval they couldn'tdo it anyway because they didn't get permission to use DVD discs. They had to use the blue-bottom CD discs, wich don't have enough spaces for those additional functions.

Ridiculous, if it's true. But then, it's Gamefaqs, so it might need a ...

<edit>

Just quickly going back to what I was saying about there being borders on screen, I've had a quick look at some screenies of the US version again, and it seems that everything on the PAL version is perfectly in proportion - the slightly squished look of the button icons appears on those shots too, so it looks like they're actually designed that way, rather than the result of a squashed PAL screen. Has anybody had the chance to compare the two side by side yet? There's a slight border running down the right-hand side of my screen, so it's possible - if unlikely - that Koei have shrunk the entire display in order to keep everything in proportion. Then again, it might just be my telly.

And, having played a bit more, a quick hint for other newbies: While you can use the analogue stick for pretty much everything - and I'd recommend doing so, because of the slightly awkward way that diagonals are handled - when it comes to throwing something, you have to use the digital cross control to determine throw distance. It's a bit of an odd one, that.

[Kungfu]

Bought Disgaea yesterday, rushed home all excited.

Arrived home and opened the case, had a quick look through the instruction manual and then put the game into the PS2.

Error???

Took the disc out and quess what its a blue disc!!!

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

So Disgaea joins Smash Court Tennis, Rez, Marvel Vs Capcom and many more in the "Blue Disc Club"

Luckily my PS2 still just about manages to read blue discs. But only if it is angled at around 45 degrees.

Apart from that a great game so far. Pure gameplay.

-Rant over_

[edandersen]

Ridiculous, if it's true.

It is true. Sony Europe HATE JAPANESE AUDIO. COMPLETELY. This includes all music tracks with Japanese lyrics. Sony Europe also demand that you prove that your game cannot fit on a CDROM before they let you use DVDROM. Completely and utterly bent. One person told me you have to beg to get any Japanese audio through the submission process.

What this means is that even PAL versions of Cube and Xbox games where there is a multiplatform release gets affected - Sonic Heroes on PS2 wasn't allowed Japanese audio, so neither platform gets it. The files are on the disc. Same goes for Puyo Pop Fever.

Sony Europe are ****tards.

[Corrosion]

Does the problem with the blue discs just affect older PS2's or is it a universal problem? If the latter, why do Sony insist on using them? Yes, they are ****tards, but surely nothing could justify such an insane decsion.

Disgaea will be my first blue disc, so naturally I'm a touch nervous. Wish I'd imported now.

[-Taurus-]

And, having played a bit more, a quick hint for other newbies: While you can use the analogue stick for pretty much everything - and I'd recommend doing so, because of the slightly awkward way that diagonals are handled - when it comes to throwing something, you have to use the digital cross control to determine throw distance. It's a bit of an odd one, that.

Randy, if you put, in the settings menu, the cursor type to b-type, the digital pad works much better, if you not done it already.

I only played yesterday for about an hour and a half (the game arrived yesterday from Amazon, so that was as much as i could play it), but i already like it. The game doesn't take itself to seriously, doesn't it?

So far so good. In my opinion the english voices are ok, i tought they would be worse.

[Kungfu]

Corrosion mine is a launch PS2 so I don't know if blue discs cause any problems with newer editions but I am sure someone on NTSC-UK will know.

Sorry

[E. Randy Dupre]

Mine's pretty new and I've never had a problem with blue CDs. It sounds like a spitfire trying to take off whenever I play Psyvariar, but everything else is fiine.

Cheers, Taurus. I switched to Cursor B when I first started playing, but as I couldn't figure out exactly what was supposed to have changed - and as I wasn't in abattle at the time, nothing seemed to have - I switched it straight back. Now that I've tried it again, it makes the directional battle controls a lot more intuitive - in line with the way they're handled in games like FFTA. Thanks for that

I'm in love with the game now. It's everything that I wanted it to be and more. The Item World seems to be essential - I'm only up to Mid-Boss in the story, but I keep getting my arse handed to me. This despite the fact that most of my characters are at a higher level than the enemies. So I'm guessing that my items aren't of a high enough level. I'm now just going through the Item World for each, boosting them to lvl10 and shifting specialists around.

Really enjoying the geo node side of things, too - shifting them around properly and clearing a level of panels with one attack gives you a real feeling of satisfaction.

It's an endless game, isn't it? Each time I come out of the Item World, it's with a pile of new gear that I want to level up. I can see myself playing this for a long time.

[Razz]

For now, create a samurai (preferable at a good skill) and watch her pwn everything.

[TheShend]

I've justed playing this, and its the first type of this game i've ever touched.

I've 7 characters at the mo, i've the suspision(sp?) i need a few more.

Any tips for a someone who's way out of his depth?

[E. Randy Dupre]

Take it at your own pace. Don't let the amount of depth scare you into feeling that you've got to get a handle on everything straight away. You don't need to understand it all right off the bat. As it's the first of this type of game you've played, you should probably just get a hang of the basic battle tactics first - ignore geo panels and just experiment with unit position and stuff. replay the first few levels over and over again to get yourself comfortable with the basic game mechanics.

I only created a Blue Mage and a Cleric to start off with - along with the regular story characters, that was more than enough to get me through the first three or four chapters. I'm thirty hours in now and still haven't bothered creating any advanced class characters - the ones I've got are doing me fine still.

Probably the most basic piece of advice is to remember that you cause more damage attacking from behind or to the side of a unit, or above them. If you attack them face-on, the amount of harm you inflict will be relatively low and they'll stand a better chance of counter-attacking you.

Never leave magic users unprotected. try and keep them out of the reach of enemy units at all times - you can check an enemy's movement range by selecting it as you would one of your own characters.

Spend time learning what each item does and how it affects your characters' stats. It's more important for a magic user to have high SP - the stat that governs how many spells they can use in any one battle - than it is defence (providing you've kept them at the back and out of harm's reach) or attack, for example, so equip them with items that increase their SP. Once you get the hang of upgrading items, you can fix any deficiencies in certain areas by shifting item residents around.

Spend time in the Item World. It's the most important place in the game, as far as getting your characters up to scratch goes - learn to make use of any invincibility panels you come across by combining enemy units into one relatively high level unit and letting them waste their time attacking yours. They'll do you no damage and you'll slowly eat away at their health. Be careful that you don't make them too high a level when you throw them on top of each other, though, otherwise your attacks might not take anything off them at all and you'll have to quit out. Also remember that a character only gains experience for killing an enemy unit, not just damaging it. Use this to your advantage by whittling their energy down and then letting one of your low-level units get the kill - they'll speed through a few levels in one go.

Solving the geo node puzzles will bring in much more powerful kit than you've probably got access to so far - rares are pretty common once you've got the hang of getting rid of all the coloured panels with one shot. Make sure you beat the specialists in the items, then combine any you can and shift them over to your equiped items. You'll see your stats rising in no time.

If you want to attempt to clear levels of geo panels - and, like I say, you should, because that bumps up your bonus gauge and gives you tasty rewards - you'll want to give yourself room to breathe. If there's a unit standing on the exit panel, it'll probably stay there for the entire battle and only attack you when you move into range - it won't come for you. So clear the level of all other enemies first, then do the geo panel stuff, then kill gatekeeper. If there's no gatekeeper unit, see if you can throw an enemy to a place where it won't be able to move from - either an island or a panel surrounded by high 'walls'.

So far, I've only used the shop to sell stuff when you want to free up warehouse space - I'm getting much better equipment for free through Item World.

Each time you complete a story battle, remember to exit back out to the castle and heal your party there - HP and SP loss carries over if you go straight on to the next battle. It's something that you have to put up with in Item World, though - you can use a Mr Gency's Exit to leave Item World before you get to its tenth level, but the item won't level up properly. If you're not bothered about the item's level at this point and just want to gain EXP for your characters or defeat item specialists, though, that's not an issue. Again, you don't need to worry about leveling items up too much just yet.

There's a lot more to it, but I think that's the stuff you'll need to get you started. I've played a few SRPGs in the past, but still felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of choice Disgaea presents you with for the first few hours' play. Just knuckle down to it and pretty soon you'll find that you're juggling loads of things with ease and without even noticing you're doing it.

[ryodi]

I keep getting my ass handed to me at the mid-boss so I am now about to go through the item world. A free .pdf guide can be downloaded from here. Registration is required but it is free and it a very good guide.

[E. Randy Dupre]

Cheers for the link. Makes a bit of a mockery of the Amazon Marketplace sellers' prices...

Also: Do Specialist-only runs on the ****ty items. My warehouse is full of crap that I was going to sell, but before I do that I'm going through the lesser bits and bobs (Common Spears, Mint Gum and the like), freeing all the Specialists. Providing you've got about six human characters, you can use the lift ability to get across to any Specialist and defeat it, then jump into the exit portal, all in the space of one turn. Just ignore any enemy units that aren't directly in your way and forget about the geo panels (other than any 'No Lifitng' ones, obviously).

Once you've got to the tenth level, defeat the Item General and make for the exit again. Then you can move your freed Specialists to some stock rares/legends, combine them in there, then move them over to your equipped items when you're happy with their levels. Major stats increase.

[TheShend]

I've been rooting in the item world and it's definitely paying off doing the geo-panels.

At the mo, i'm just going through the low level weapons, certain floors are ripe for disgusting combo's.

What i tend to find is that it's easier to kill all monsters except the gatekeeper. This frees up the time to think about how to clear all the geo panels in one go.

What's tricky is once you'd caused the 1st chain the other's must run in sequence. Best bet is to place all the geo crystals on the same colour, so if all are on a green panel, and you destroy the first coloured crystal, the chain will definitely destroy them all, continuing the colour combo.

Then it comes to sequence, which doesn't matter a great deal. Just as long as the last crsytal in the chain to go is the null crystal.

Remember that the panel destruction occurs in a clockwise motion around the crytal you first destroy, take this into account when setting up the order of the geo crystals.

Lastly, make sure all you team are either away in the start panel or on unaffected areas of the map. You'll lose them and your bonus >_<

I managed 3151 chain on a 6 colour combo.

I got a stink load of items and HL. Over ?3k.

One thing i'd like to know is though. I managed a chain of around 2800 on a 5 colour combo, but because i didn't kill the last monster, he was floating on an island away from the main map, and i jumped in the warp gate i don't think i got my chain bonus prizes. Is that right? If you don't clear the map you don't get the chain bonus? Or does it accumulate until reach say the tenth floor?

Anyway, laharl is at lvl 13, and i'm loving every slow minute of it.

PS Any quick way gainig lots of mana? I defeated the dragon in the 2nd chapter, but i need 2000+ mana to buy him and i only had 166!!!

[E. Randy Dupre]

Yeah, you've got to finish a floor by clearing it of enemies for the bonus to pay out. Jumping through the exit won't do it. That's why I'm currently heading straight for the exit after taking out any Specialists hanging around - it means that I don't end up refilling my warehouse while I'm trying to empty it.

The bonus gauge resets to level 0 on each floor, by the way.

There's a standard pattern you can use to clear levels of geo panels with one hit. For example, a level with five different colours of panel and at least five colour nodes (not including the Null one) would go:

Node B on Panel A
Node C on Panel A
Node D on Panel B
Node E on Panel C
Node F on Panel D
Null Node on Panel E

Node B is the first one you hit. Obviously, you'll need to make sure you designate the correct nodes with the correct letters in certain situations - 'No Colour Change' and 'Invincible' nodes will mean the pattern doesn't work if you make them Node B or Node C by mistake, and there are times when it's just not possible to clear the level at all - but it's still basically correct. Sticking them all on one colour as you suggest works well in levels where there are only a couple of different colours of panel, because they'll probably be clustered together and it'll be easier to judge the distances, but in those with five or six different type of panel, it can get tricky to pull of a substantial chain doing it that way.

Actually, looking at it again now, that pattern above is the most simple one you can find and not all that common. What you might find yourself having to do more often is using a combination of that and the method you're already using - putting some nodes on the same colour panels, but spacing them so that they destruct in the correct order. An example might be:

Blue node on red panel
Red node on red panel
Green node on blue panel
Yellow node on blue panel
Purple node on green panel
Null node on yellow panel

The last three steps follow the previous pattern, but the combo is maximised by changing some panels back to their original colours during the chain. So, the reds change to blue, then because all the blues change to red, they revert back to their original colour. The pattern above gives you an extra step in the combo for free, which adds to the multiplier, but only if you get the positioning of the green and yellow nodes correct - if the yellow node gets destroyed before the green one, the combo breaks down half way through.

Hope that makes some sense - it's complicated enough when you've got the game playing in front of you.

I wouldn't worry about creating a dragon yet, but it's entirely up to you. I'm not sure if there's any particularly easy way to increase it if you're up to Chapter 3, but once you open up Chapter 5 Level 3, you'll be able to start bumping your mana and character levels with ease for a while.