Disgaea -Hour of Darkness

[Che Musashi]

I think it should be settled with Virtua Fighter 4 Evo!, anyway I reduced to searching for my answer on the Atlus boards. I'd have more time in this game if it weren't for Evo. Still it is the best SRPG on PS2 to date.

I like your idea of teams, I don't have that many characters yet. Team Prinny's moto: 'C'mon Dood!'

On a bright note Nippon Ichi is working on a new RPG for PS2!

[JetBlack]

Yeah, the "teams" is pretty fun. A bit like a small army division where squads have specific tasks. In my game I have it broken down like this:

Team Fisty (fighters/warriors)
Fisty (Warrior)
Team Fisty 1 (Ninja)
Team Fisty 2 (Ninja)

Team Arrow (Archers/bows)
Arrow
Team Arrow 1 (Striker)
Team Arrow 2 (Striker)

Team Magic (Mages/Clerics)
Magic (Wind)
Team Magic 1 (Ice)
Team Magic 2 (Cleric)

Prinny Patrol (Prinny)
Cpt. Prinny
Lt. Prinny
Sgt. Prinny
pvt. Prinny

Of course, LaHarl is the leader of everyone, and on his right hand is Dragon (who is wiping out all competition). Etna isn't doing much for me, and Flonne is just so far behind I'm almost not considering her as a playable character (even with her Legendary weapon).....much like all the story characters they keep loading on me.....I wish I could delete them.

I'm now getting into all the tiny details.....I've been told you can throw on a diagonal, not just on a two-point axis (yeah, they hide this fact, sadly). I tried it, took a while, but got it to work. So many things still to learn in this game......at 86 hours......it's insane!

In fact, if I were to review this game all these secret little gems and deep under the hood details would almost be a negative against the title. It asks so much of the gamer - those who really wants to conquer it all - that in a way it is unfair, simply because you may never actually learn it all. And the amount of hours spent playing is a mountain. Even worse when you consider the game has multiple endings. Even if a person flew threw this game in 40 hours, asking them to do that time and again is a bit steep.

But hey.....I'm lovin' what I see, and please sir, may I have another! haha!

[MartyG]

Found another cool feature about the game tonight. You can inherit spells from the people you mentor. If you stand next to them in battle, you can cast their spells. If you cast the spells enough to get them to level 1, you learn them. Then you can use them whenever you like and build their levels up as you would any other special you have.

Laharl is now lvl 63 with mega heal spells learnt - but I need to blitz Item World for a bit now to improve my equiped stuff a bit more. There's a level in Ep 11 that's still defeating me, need more HPs.

Regards
Marty

[JetBlack]

Marty, oh yeah cross-learning spells is fine.....BUT, if you transmigrate you might see much of that learned magic tossed out the window - since it wasn't native to the chracter.

There is a LOT under the hood of this car.

Have you tried tossing an enemy into your "Character Panel" on the battlefield? It's very.....well, I'll leave it at that. (gah, why don't they tell you these things in the manual, or in-game tutorial).

So many surprises.

I spent all day just trying to get my Cleric up to snuff - they are so HARD to level up, since they lack offensive skills (besides that of giving them a weapon)

[MartyG]

My cleric and bishop are both level 30, in fact most of my characters are at least lvl 30, apart from the Prinnies - the trick levelling these fast is to go to get a high level enemy (say 60) down to its last few HPs, and then with a decent weapon equiped, get the cleric to kill it. Gain 20 levels in hit The world with loads of zombies (think ep 7) is good for this.

I haven't tried throwing an enemy onto the start panel, I shall give that one a go.

Laharl is now lvl 70 - seeing as you can reach lvl 9999, it doesn't really seem like much an acheivement.

"In fact, if I were to review this game all these secret little gems and deep under the hood details would almost be a negative against the title. It asks so much of the gamer - those who really wants to conquer it all - that in a way it is unfair"

I certainly don't think this is a bad thing. You don't need to know everything to compelte the game, but those who want longevity have all the hidden secrets to discover, surely a satisfying thing. My review should be up on the site very soon.

Regards
Marty

[JetBlack]

Oh yeah, I agree, you don't need a full comprehension of all the working details, but does put me off a bit that it appears I'll never reach the level of the vassal NPCs that are in my castle. Though the game is very fun, it is easy to just waste away dozens of hours gaining absolutely nothing, whereas another gamer - properly equipped can race beyond the next guy simply due to modifiers and add bonus'.

In most cases, you can work like an underdog and still get to the end by just putting in the hours. You slowly build up the levels and acquisition. In Disgaea, you can put in over 100 hours (as I have done) and never see level 100.....and as you say out of level 9999 that's still a FAR cry from really "playing" the game at its fullest. In short, there's so much variation and options to this game that a player can easily just "do it wrong" for a long time.

Perhaps this speaks to the legacy that recent video games have trained today's gamers to expect a full understanding of a title in about one, to two weeks. In many cases, not only an understanding, but completion, and moving onto the next game. Disgaea, god bless 'em, tosses that out the window. Unlike Animal Crossing that has no real end, Disgaea not only ends, but also with multiple conclusions. And at a rate of close to 60 hours each time, and more - if gamers want to open up each class, it seems like a mountain higher than what most gamers are used to.

I applaud Atlus for this, I like all their games, a shame their recent financial state will force them to refocus on the arcade sector, but perhaps the lack of play-through on their games doesn't provide enough of a "quick fix" for today's gamers. Obviously I'm not advocating that Disgaea be brought "down" to the level of other games that can be beaten within a week, but on the flip side, with so much to figure out, and such a long road to haul (even half of 9999 levels seems outlandish).

In other forums I've read of gamers being happy about their level 300+, and level 1000+ characters......but the ratio is still on the down side. The developers say you can hit levels over 9000, but a character at level 2000 is akin to level 20 in Final Fantasy, where the highest is level 99.

But many of us are still playing in the 60s, 70s and some at over 100+. I have a friend who has finished the game and was actually replaying it again - and he was at level 317. A far cry from even just one thousand.

So, in all, I still love this game, it just presents something not often seen in most titles. A very lofty goal not easily reached.

Granted, this is Atlus we're talking about here. Home of the Shin Megami Tensei series (Persona / eternal punishment) and other extremely time consuming games. Thank you Atlus, you are gods among men.

Now......I gotta get back to my game. I just transmigrated ALL of my characters, Laharl on "genius" level and everyone else on "skilled" and "distinctive".....so weird after 100 hours on this game to start all over on level 1. However, the percentage of level and experience gain "should" have be back where I was in very little time.

Let's hope. Hahah!

Looking forward to the review, mate. Ja ne.

[MartyG]

I guess I just like levelling. I maxed characters in many of the RPGs I've played. Disgaea just seems to be more interesting from that aspect. Mind, with TRPGs that's the entire point. The fact is you want to keep playing Disgaea simply to find all the nuances within the game - this is what makes it so good.

With something like FF7, you've pretty much nailed the combat system within the first couple of hours. With Disgaea, you uncover things that can completely change the way you go about combat, and this is why I enjoy TRPGs, especially something as involving at this title.

Disgaea is going to keep me going for months yet.

Regards
Marty

[Che Musashi]

I'm like you marty I like to level up my characters as well. Atlus really has gem here, maybe this game could be a wakeup call to some other RPG makers **cough squaresoft**. I like how they don't tell you everything. I just got the japanese character art book and it is a beaut. I can't really appreciate it until I finish the game because it has spoilers.

Still the beauty of Disgaea lies in the fact that you get as deep into the game as you want too. I lost a day of playing it because of Evo again. This thread gets me going though. Tonight I play.

Some people dis the prinnies I think they are cool and I level mine up. Also I believe that Nippon Ichi intended this game to played multiple times otherwise why have level 9999. Just think the Dark Assembly would be your b tch then!

[MartyG]

"otherwise why have level 9999. Just think the Dark Assembly would be your b itch then!"

Well now you've not paid enough attention

The DA doesn't care about your game level, only your assembly level, (which I've explained in the review).

Assembly rank only goes up to 9 - at that point, pretty much everything you propose goes though.

The higher level stuff is obtainable - you need to increase the rankings of your enemies - there is a knack to power levelling in the game, but high levels are easily obtainable.

Regards
Marty

[JetBlack]

Yep, I love leveling up, as well. And this is where Atlus gets me everytime.

To really get up in levels not only do you need to fight harder enemies, but you need modifiers on your weapons and armor (Statisticians, brokers, managers). However, nearly every case, those modifiers are on the weaker weapons. Do I choose a sword with 330 atk - or the other with 280 atk? Logically you go for the higher up weapon. But without the modifiers you're looking at a LONG game.

I've transmigrated my entire team. And a few are identical, restarting at the same level and % rate. However, after an hour of play one is pulling ahead of the other simply because of the modifier base on their weapon and armor. Now, the trick becomes going to the Item World to pull those modifiers off other things and give them to your party.

And the wheel spins round-and-round.

God, I love/hate this game I have to keep playing it.

[Che Musashi]

"otherwise why have level 9999. Just think the Dark Assembly would be your b itch then!"

Well now you've not paid enough attention

Sorry Marty I should have been more clear, I meant it would be easier to kill them to pass tougher proposals.***Through Violence***

I'm well aware of how the Dark Assembly works. I'm easing my Laharl up the promotion ladder and I've successfuly transmigrated a female warrior into a rune knight( blah blah blah)

But if when I get to level 9 everthing gets passed easy then that is what I'll strive for.

[MartyG]

I understand what the multiple endings thing is about now - it's not what you think. Keep playing, this game is going to take you a very long time.

Regards
Marty

[Che Musashi]

Just to bring this thread back from beyond. I have to mention how really great Disgeae is. I made it to the captain gordon stage and cleared the first level 50 times with Laharl and now he's level 99. I'm level 9 with the dark assembly of sorts.

Now I want to try to open up Prinny Land and the Cave of Ordeals. I'm working on my lower level characters now.

Nippon Ichi rocks the hizouse!

[stroppa]

I'm getting this for christmas so I can see myself boycotting the family dinner or taking my ps2 round to play it whilst eating or something equally extreme. I'm really desperate to play it, the worst part is I know it's somewhere in my house but I can't find/have it ft:

Nippon Ichi indeed rocks the party, La Pucelle coming soon

[JetBlack]

Don't let PrinnyLand fool you.

It may look "cute" with all the Prinnys....but trust me, you better be ready for some ass kicking. (well...at level 99 you should be just fine).