Disgaea -Hour of Darkness

[Leynos]

Prinnies Rock!

We challenge you to a game of baseball, dood!

That bit had me in stitches.

[Che Musashi]

Oh I'm not there yet, thanks for the spoiler quote.

Still I'll be there soon enough. If I wasn't so damn obsessive compulsive about levelling up my characters.

Oh and check out this Penny Arcade comic.

This is good too: http://zepyzepy.hp.infoseek.co.jp/disgaeashop.jpg

edit- they moved the link

[Manta Ray vs Guitar]

I haven't modded my PS2 (and quite frankly, I don't even know if it's possible to do that around here) so you guys have to tell me everything about this game so's I can play it vicariously through you.

[Che Musashi]

Edit the review post below this explains it better. Here is a link to some screens and vids:

http://www.atlus.com/dis/screenshots.html

[Che Musashi]

This review says it all. If you don't want to buy it after reading this. You are not a SRPG nerd.

Console: Playstation 2
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software Inc.
Publisher: Atlus USA, Inc.
Reviewed by Richard Brownell on 2003-08-19

Overall Rating: 10

A game like Disgaea only comes along once in a blue moon. It can be played in many ways, it is enjoyable by many types of people, and it is just plain awesome. This game was hit by the good design stick in more ways than one. This game is simply too good to pass up and the rest of this lengthy review will tell the story of how this reviewer learned that.

Laharl has just awoken from his 10 day nap. He is quickly surprised to learn that it lasted two years instead and on top of that, his father, Overlord of the Netherworld, has passed on while he slept. That's more bad news than most want to wake up to (he probably had a nasty case of morning breath after two years as well). His friend Etna explains to him what has happened, including many fellow demons fighting each other to claim the crown as Overlord. Since Laharl is the Prince, he sets out to claim the title for himself. Thus begins the tale of Disgaea, which is divided into multiple episodes and even includes the humorous "Coming Soon" sequences that appear so frequently in anime.

The tone of Disgaea is rather comical. As a demon trying to be Overlord, Laharl fits into the bad guy stereotype rather well. However, he is the "good guy" in this story and many obstacles are in his path. The world of Celestia (i.e. Heaven) and the Human world both intertwine with the story surrounding Laharl. His right-hand demon, Etna, provides a cute yet dangerous ally and a different viewpoint of the story to a certain extent. Laharl also butts heads with Angels who's view of the Netherworld is less than pretty. But isn't the Netherworld supposed to not be pretty? Full of evil hideous demons? Can't possible be humorous and make an interesting story for a strategy RPG? Perhaps Nippon Ichi wants to break that perception in your mind. Or perhaps not. Multiple endings exist in Disgaea and the way the player plays affects how the Netherworld turns out.

One thing many gamers complain about in games that are undeniably anime-influenced and feature lots of voice acting is the English voice acting. Disgaea's English cast is actually quite good. The voices get a little grating from time to time, but are usually quite tolerable and in many cases enjoyable. Gamers should be prepared for what may be described as voices that sound like a Disney movie. The characters are somewhat friendly demons after all. If that thing isn't your bag, perhaps the Japanese voices would be better suited. Atlus knows this and Disgaea includes the option to change them. In fact, they can be changed at any time in the options menu. The Japanese voices can also get on your nerves though from time to time, so perhaps going back and forth is what is best.

Visually, Disgaea differs from many titles on the Playstation 2. That is a dangerous comment to make since the PS2 has hundreds of games, but Disgaea does have a distinct look and feel to it. Laharl's castle is the setting for non-battles. In his castle are his extremely high level vassals that are too lazy to fight for him, some shops, the dark assembly, the Netherworld Hospital that heals/revives whenever needed, and the gate to the Item World. The castle is not very large, but graphically effective. The camera can not be rotated there, but it is designed so that it does not need to be. Battles and story sequences are very different though. In the story sequences, a horizontal bar covers the bottom of the screen where the text goes and above that are anime style drawings of the characters speaking showing their expressions in great (and amusing) detail. The battle mode looks similar to the castle, but now the camera is rotatable and zoomable. This is very helpful since the terrain is at varying heights and rotating the camera is sometimes the only way to see the characters. Backgrounds exist behind the battles which are well done, but players' eyes will be locked on the combat most of the time.

To leave Laharl's castle, the player must go through the dimensional gate. The gate leads to the various stages of combat through a menu system. At first, only the very helpful tutorial zone is available, but as the story progresses, more and more becomes available. In each zone, four or more missions are available. When the story mode is currently on a particular zone, each mission will have a story sequence before and/or after the battle. When visiting a zone already completed, it goes right to the monsters, so that the player can level up her characters easily.

Combat is a complicated, yet simple experience. Simply put, move the characters near or next to the bad guys and attack them or use a skill. Simple, no? The complexity comes in the customization. Aside from the story characters, which have special classes like Vassal, characters can be created from the many humanoid classes or from the list of monsters that have been defeated thus far. These characters are created using mana earned by defeating enemies. Monsters become cheaper as more monsters of that type are defeated. Each humanoid class specializes in a different weapon and has different skills that become available from being leveled up. Using transmigration (available in the Dark Assembly, more on that later), a humanoid character can restart from level 1 with a different class. Skills are transferred from the other class, so theoretically, an uber-character can be created by going through all classes and ending on a warrior class to get maximum attack damage as well. Special attacks are also available beyond the attacking and skills. These include lifting and throwing and combo attacks. Any humanoid can lift and throw any good or bad guy. Throwing good guys is usually to get places, while throwing bad guys might be to get them too far away to attack a weaker character or to throw them onto another bad guy (combining them, but making a more powerful enemy in the process). Combo attacks occur when a character is attacking an enemy and other characters are adjacent to the attacking one. Up to four allies may attack at once, but beware; the enemy has the same ability.

Magic is divided into three types: ice, wind, and fire. A different class is available for each in male and female form. The spells are the same power and similar names for each type. Every character, bad or good, has a certain susceptability to each type of magic. Sometimes, they take less damage from them, sometimes more, and sometimes normal. A major part of the strategy with magic users is to pay attention to this and cast selectively.

Each battle comes with a bonus gauge that allows the player to get bonus items, more experience, or more HL (Hell), the monetary unit of the game. The bonus gauge fills up as characters attack and use their skills to defeat the enemy. Also, whenever a geo square has its color changed, the bonus gauge goes up a bit. Get a massive color change combo and the gauge will go up many levels at once.

Geo squares are areas of the map that glow a certain color. If a geo symbol is on a square of that color, all squares are affected by it. Sometimes the symbols add experience or make characters invincible or any of a number of effects. The geo symbols can be thrown or destroyed. When destroyed, they may change to a different color, which hurts any characters standing on that color and fills the bonus gauge.

The Dark Assembly is available in Laharl's castle. It is a group of Senator's who help to decide Laharl's fate. If he wants to create a particularly powerful character. If he wants to increase his rank (not level, rank is only applicable to Dark Assembly matters), he must take a promotion exam (kill monsters). Upon gaining highers ranks, characters are able to get better items in shops, extort money from the Assembly, gain better movement, more counter attacks, and transmigrate to a different class. Of course, some of these require the approval of the Dark Assembly and this provides some interesting gameplay. Giving gifts to the senators makes them more likely to vote "yea." If the vote does not swing in the player's favor even after winning approval, she gets two options. Give up...or fight all the disapproving senators to the death. However, even after beating them, they will be back next time a vote occurs and they'll be mighty pissed off.

Aside from the Dark Assembly, another great innovation in Disgaea is the Item World, reachable at any time from Laharl's castle. Entering the Item World means entering a specific item to raise its level, which makes it more effective. Each level of an item is one battle map in the Item World. The level of the monsters depends on the rarity of the item and how high level it is already (all items start at level 0). Occasionally,special enemies will appear in the Item World. These are specialists and will give the item a special boost to a certain stat if the player defeats them. They can even be traded between items, adding yet another layer of customization.

The music and sound effects in Disgaea are both good. The sound effects are mostly for battle sounds and while they might not be as amazing as the spell effects themselves, they serve their purpose quite well. The music is very fun to listen to and comes in a variety of styles, but certain songs are heard a lot, like the song played in Laharl's castle. This may be due to playing the game many many hours at a time; emphasis on many. The music is enjoyable and well orchestrated though, and is accompanied by the voice acting and sound effects to spice it up.

Upon completing the game or dying in certain parts, the game will ask the player to save if desired. This save file will be labeled "2nd Cycle," which means all the player's current characters, items, etc. are transferred over to start a brand new game. If saved from a Game Over screen, simply make a new save file to conserve the original. Multiple endings are available in Disgaea, so it may be worth it for some players who insist on seeing everything or if a second runthrough with powerful characters is appealing.

If this game doesn't sound interesting (awesome) by now, then it's suprising this sentence is even being read. A marvelous game that will remain in my collection forever, Disgaea is bound to please. RPG lovers, strategy fans, and those just enjoy a good time, Disgaea is a masterpiece easily overlooked on a system with hundreds of games to play. Do not overlook this one, as Atlus has brought another classic to the US

Courtesy of Games Are Fun

[Siri]

Just got it delivered this morning. I best get some cereal down me first, so i don't need to get up to eat anything.

[MartyG]

I'm reviewing this game for the site. I play a lot of RPGs, certainly my favorite genre and one thing is for certain, this game is fabulous. Storylines are normally largely incidental in TRPGs, but Disgaea's is actually quite flowing.

It's certainly the best TRPG I've played since FF:Tactics, and because of the huge amount of stuff within the game, I'd say it excels it. Look out for the review in a couple of weeks.

Regards
Marty

[Siri]

Nice one Marty.

I've played it for a bit (a couple of hours clocked up, I went out last night), and the word 'fun' definately springs to mind while I play it. And the english dub doesn't spoil the mad dialogue.

Only one problem in my game, mind - I need to get rid of some prinnies, after the tutorial I went and got 2 more. Prinny overkill IMO

I'd love to do a 'Prinny only' game, mind. DOOD!

[Che Musashi]

So far I just have my original Prinnies and they are coming along. I would love a Prinny Avatar.

For the folks who want Disgaea wallpaper I found some on the Japanese gamespot site here: http://www.zdnet.co.jp/games/wall/disgaea/01/640.html

It looks ace!

[Mayhem]

Hard to find? No crap... several US friends of mine are having a very hard time tracking this game down!

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19528

One man's attempt to locate the game

[Che Musashi]

I actually called an EB, one I'm semi regular at and asked them to hold me a copy. I think they had one other one. Now I realize how lucky I am. Atlus always has this problem, we all went through this last year with Tactics Ogre Knights of Lodis.

I wonder if it will happen again when Working Designs finally releases Growlancer Generations?

[gozaimas]

The only place I could find it was Dvdboxoffice.com. Everywhere else sold out. Bought it on friday and got it today...

[Leynos]

The only place I could find it was Dvdboxoffice.com. Everywhere else sold out. Bought it on friday and got it today...

Heheh. Congrats. That's a good turnaround for DVD Box Office.

Hope you enjoy it.

[Che Musashi]

Not to bring this back from the dead, the thread that is, but last night I subdued some residents in a stealing hand and put in a rare common bow and it kicks ass. Its not the most powerful weapon, but the whole resident thing clicked last night.

So now my little chicky green mage can level up faster, or anyone I equip with it. A good leveling up trick is to go to the item world with low level characters, but I suggest you got to a low level item.

I have the ninja and samurai classes available but I transmigrated my warrior to a samurai too soon and ruined, no pun intended, my chance of getting a rune knight. I guess I could make another female warrior.

I haven't got into making monster creatures yet though, has anybody done that yet? I figure my prinnies and hogmeiser are enough for starters.

[MartyG]

Good levelling up trick is going to the amazon women map (on the 5th Episode) where all but one squares in Invincible - even combining enemies to level them up. Then kick ass with a high leveller until HP are low, then bringing in a low level char - lots of Exp for me thanks. There are other power levelling maps too, but I'm not going to tell you where they are

The review is finished, and is going through the editorial process atm - so watch out for it on the site very soon.

Regards
Marty