EVILNess reviews DS games

[Regulus Tera]

I hope the averageness of IV doesn't stop you from trying V whenever it comes around here. It is one of my favourite JRPGs ever.

[Mirai Gen]

I'd like to back up Regulus Tera's post by saying, hey, Ness, do more reviews.

[EVILNess]

Disgaea DS



Story
Score: (8/10)

You are Laharl, Demon Price of the Netherworld and next in line for the title of Overlord. Unfortunately, you've been asleep for three years and everyone is after your rightful place on the throne. Not to mention you have to deal with lazy and manipulative servants, an annoying Mid-Boss, love freak assassins, crazy humans and their All-Purpose Robot, and a not so angelic angel!

To say that Disgaea is a rollercoaster is putting it mildly. The game starts as rather cliche, but from there it just gets more and more absurd. There are multiple endings, some more serious than others. While the game begins in the depths of the netherworld, over time it will reaches into many other places. The story is full of wacky Japanese humor and there is some decent romantic tension. Anything with Prinnies is pure gold.

In fact, there is a new feature in this version called "Prinny Commentary." If you have beaten the game I actually recommend you turn it on ASAP. You have to unlock it though by completing a cycle. However, any Disgaea vet knows that can be achieved within the first 30 minutes of gameplay.

BOTTOM LINE: It starts out as slightly cliche, but moves on to something more. It is truly funny many times throughout. Also, Prinnies.

Characterization
Score: (10/10)

The range characters in Disgaea is frankly staggering. You have a demon prince, an angel trainee, and an underhanded demoness, and thats just the three main characters. Don't get me started on the freaks you meet in throughout the game. Also, Prinnies. The characters that get speaking parts have wonderful voices as well. I am still amazed at how close Laharl's voice is to his Japanese counterpart. NIS did so much right with this game. Even the random NPCs in the Castle hub have their own determinable personalities.

I honestly go through so many games not really giving a crap about any of the characters, but I really got into Laharl. He had a not so subtle way about him that just screamed BADASS, and then halfway through the game you realize he has been changing the entire time and he isn't really the same person he was before, but he doesn't do this by becoming a whiny sort of main character *COUGH*CLOUDSQUALL*COUGH*. Laharl gets shit done. The best part about all his development is that he still is the same person he was at the beginning of the game, childish, violent, and moody, but at the same time he is a much fuller character. Someone you have grown to relate to and care about. (Or at least I did )

BOTTOM LINE: The subtle growth of all the characters in the game is amazing. Also, Laharl meets lots of wacky personalities. Also, Prinnies!

Graphics
Score: (3/5)

The graphics for the Disgaea series has always struck me as a tad basic. Don't get me wrong, the sprites are beautiful and detailed, its just that Nippon Ichi relies a tad too much on the character portrait set against a background image. Its something that has become less noticeable with the subsequent games, even if it is still there, so I won't harp on it too much.

The spell effects and terrain are nicely done, even if I saw a noticeable drop in quality coming from the PS2 version.

BOTTOM LINE: The graphics aren't ugly. The sprites are clear and emotive, the portraits are nicely drawn, and the spells and levels look really good for being on a handheld.

Sound
Score: (7/10)

You guys have to to forgive me on the whole rating music thing, because unless a game has eardrum breaking bad or epically grand music I probably am not the one to rate it. Still, the music in Disgaea has always been something I enjoy. It has a nice range to it. And now there is a music player!

The voices have taken a severe beating in this version though. First of all, there is actually a large difference in the voice work in the game versus the PS2 version. Things that were voiced in the PS2 version are not voiced in the DS version and the quality of the voices themselves is rather low. They did keep the chapter summaries which is good because they are some of the most hilarious dialog in the game.

There are also a few voice changes. Most noticeable is that Etna is speaking in her Disgaea 2 voice and the Prinnies have yet another new voice.

BOTTOM LINE: I really enjoy the range of the music in Disgaea. The voices are spot on even if they aren't as abundant as in the PS2 version and a little bit low on the sound quality side.

Gameplay
Score: (9/10)

Ugh. Where to start.

First off let me say that the Disgaea games offer more than likely the deepest turn-based strategy experience of any SRPG ever. With its 9999 level cap, absurd stat caps, and mentor system it is the ultimate twink SRPG. This impresses many of us, but it also can turn a lot of people off. This game throws so many gameplay mechanics at the player, it's more than some can handle, its just the way of the world. I happen to personally adore this game. I sank about 325 hours into Disgaea when I first grabbed it on the PS2, and here I am doing it all over again. And loving it.

Now lets move onto the implementation of the DS's unique features. I will start off by saying the touch screen controls have are very smooth, but I still prefer to use the button controls. If you use the stylus, you'll find you can make all your selections quite easily and several icons have been added to the touch screen to take care of basic functions like rotating the screen or zooming in and out. The entire game can be controlled with the stylus. The top screen was not treated as fairly as the touch screen controls i am afraid. The implementation seems to be slipshod at best, most of the time the screen is blank and in battle all you get is a 2d map of the battlefield that leaves something to be desired. Its just isn't as useful as it should be. The top screen is where the Prinny Commentary shows up though, so maybe thats why it is left blank most of the time. Still, they should have done a better job on the map.

The general flow of the game goes from a hub castle, where you can buy items from the Rosenqueen Company and deal with the Dark Assembly, to a cut scene setting up the next battle, to the actual turn-based combat scenario. Fights will be fundamentally familiar to anyone who has played any Final Fantasy Tactics or Ogre Battle game. During your turn, you can give commands to everyone in your party, but they won't act on their commands until you select "execute." You can either attack with characters one at a time or assign an action to everyone and let them all go at once to do combos and build up your bonus gauge for fabulous prizes. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is.

On most maps, certain panels will glow in different colors. These are the geo panels. You'll also find small pyramids called geo-symbols lying around. Bear with me here, because this is as complicated as it sounds. The geo symbols each possess one stat-altering effect, but they have to be resting on a panel in order to be activated. If they are, their effect will be transmitted to every panel of the same color and therefore to any character standing on one of them. These symbols can be destroyed, and if they're resting on a color different than their own they will destroy all the panels change to that color, damaging units on the panels and possibly stringing enormous combos that clear all the panels from a map, kill all the enemies, and earn you a hefty increase in your bonus gauge. This aspect adds much more strategy than one would typically find in a competing title. It does take some thinking to get the full effect for it though, and is often just faster to blow through the stages and not worry about it.

In between battles, you can make proposals to the Dark Assembly, the ruling body of the Netherworld, for legislation like better items in the shops or more powerful enemies. The senators are all crooked demons and can be bribed into voting your way. Once they have voted you can either accept their decision or try to defeat them all and beat them into submission.

There is also wireless play available for two player to engage in head-to-head combat. If you're not feeling particularly violent, or are afraid of that level 9999 Majin your buddy is pimping, you can connect with a friend to buy or sell items.

Aside from the basic story progression and secret missions, there is the Item World, which is almost an entire game itself. Every item in the game contains a world that can be delved into. Once inside you fight your way through hordes on enemies that carry cool equipment you can steal, stat boosting characters you can subdue and move around on different weapons, and the chance to really play around with the geo panels. The thing is, you can only escape from the item world by completing 10 levels or using a special item. The monsters get progressively stronger as you go deeper and if you aren't careful you can find yourself outgunned with no way out. When you are defeated at any point in the Item World, you lose all your progress and are forced on your last save. The purpose of the Item World is to gain experience, find powerful items, and level up the item the world is contained in. This feature provides almost infinite gameplay opportunities since the maps, geo placement, and enemy placement are totally random. Doing a stint in the Item World is a great way to kill an hour.

Did I mention there is a clock display and a battery display built into the game now? Useful since the game can eat so much time.
BOTTOM LINE:

Overall Score: (8/10)

Disgaea might just be the longest lasting game available for your DS. If I were stranded on an island with my DS and just two games were given to me, this would be one of them. The story is overflowing with (sometimes black) humor and personality, and by god this game has demonic fucking penguins. How can you argue with that shit? Disgaea might be a little too "hardcore" for some, despite not being hard by any stretch of the imagination, but if you're a fan of the genre you should get it. Even if you played the original game, you might find yourself falling in love all over again. It's not as pretty as the original or even some of the other SRPGs on the DS such as Final Fantasy Tactics A2, but Disgaea DS is a port being forced to work on a graphically inferior system after all. It's still a terrific game, even if the two screens haven't been used to their best advantage, but how many games really ever do. Oh well.

[Kim]

Well, I guess I have to get this game now. I was considering it before, but I wasn't sure if it was the original Disgaea, or a new one for the DS, and I wanted to start at the beginning of the series.