Strategy RPGs have been seriously lacking in this blog, for some reason. It certainly isn’t because I don’t like them, because I do. Maybe it’s because I haven’t played all that many. Sure, it’s not been a genre that’s received quite as much attention in the JRPG world as the Action RPG, but there are plenty of great games of this type out there. Strangely enough, I tend to think of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness as the typical SRPG, even though it’s really not that standard for the genre. Oh, who cares, let’s just get into the thick of it.
The story in this game centers around Laharl, the heir to the throne of the netherworld. It doesn’t really have a plot, per se, but each episode (chapter) has a mostly self-contained story about life in the netherworld. That said, once all of the actors are assembled, you start to get into the real story, which is pretty gripping. What strikes me most about the story is the style. While it can have its emotional, dramatic moments, the game doesn’t take itself seriously at all. It parodies all sorts of anime clichés, to the point where there’s an episode preview of each chapter. What it boils down to is an affectionate look at the silliness in anime, fantasy, RPGs, and a few other things.
What really drives the story in Disgaea are the characters. Laharl is pretty funny with his little kid/evil overlord antics, and actually develops into an interesting tsundere (gasp!). I actually quite like Flonne, the angel trainee sent to assassinate Laharl’s father (who’s already dead…), because she’s really cutesy, sweet, and a total dork. No character list from this game would be complete without CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARRRRRTH! Gordon is absolutely hysterical, with his kids tv show hero personality, and the way he constantly spouts off exactly the trite sorts of lines you would expect from such shows, play straight to the point of parody. But really, all of the characters in this game are great, including the villains, who do a great job of being sympathetic yet unequivocally antagonistic.
Now, Disgaea does have some truly innovative features to their combat system, but the base is pretty standard. You have a square grid, with the floor being of different heights throughout. You can have up to eight units on your team at a time, and on your turn you move them all into position. You can choose when to execute a specific action, which is sometimes very important. Once all your characters have gone, the enemies go. Simple, right? Well, things get complicated pretty fast. First off, you can pick up and throw objects and characters (even enemies) on the battle field. You can even stack up all of your characters in one stack if you like, though there’s not often much reason to do so. Then there are inanimate (in this game at least) colored targets called geo prisms, which add an effect, bonus, or penalty to squares that are flashing the same color (called geo panels) as the square the rest on. Utilizing the beneficial effects from these little guys is one strategic element, but the main point is that, if you destroy the geo prism, it turns all the colored squares it’s sitting on the same color that it is, damaging anything else that's on said squares in the process. Including other geo prisms. One effective strategy is to chain these attacks so that they remove all the geo prisms from the map, dealing massive damage to all enemies (and allies!) unlucky enough to be sitting on colored squares. This will usually result in a huge bonus, netting you extra items or money. Setting up the chains actually puts me in mind of a puzzle game, and that’s no bad thing in an RPG. Anything to take your mind off the grind for a bit.
While you’ll eventually have enough unique, story related characters in your roster to fill out a full team, you’ll want to make at least a few generic characters in the early stages of the game. There are several classes to choose from, from classics like warriors, healers, and mages, to some strange ones like scouts (who control geo prisms and panels) and prinnies (penquins that explode when thrown.) Each class can unlock more powerful versions of that class as well as totally new classes. You can also create monster characters like dragons, ghosts and scarecrows.
The final element isn’t very complicated, but it’s a huge part of the draw of the game. Each item in the game has an item world, which is a series of randomly generated levels with enemies. Occasionally you’ll encounter a specialist, who will improve the stats of the item. Anyhow, the world takes the format of a dungeon, where you descend to the next level when you get to the appropriate square or kill everything. The more levels you get through, the more powerful the item becomes when you leave it. Needless to say, some people spend hours powering up their items, trying to make the ultimate equipment.
There’s one rating that I’ve been itching to give a game for a while, and Disgaea is the game that deserves it the most. The replayability of this game is astounding. First of all, there are at least five endings that I know of for sure, and I believe the official count is somewhere around seven or eight. There is a new game plus feature, and there are a large number of ways to play the game, and a great variety of classes to use. Plus, the randomly generated item worlds give even greater depth, adding in some of the puzzle elements of the game that are actually lacking in the main storyline. Finally, although they are quite difficult, there are several sidequests and optional areas to explore throughout the game. In short, this game is one that you can “take on a mission to deep space, it’s that addictive.”
Now, overall, this is a great game. Normally I’d be skeptical when a game says something like “games of this genre are going to get a serious kick in the pants” but in this case, it’s kinda warranted. I think if you ask an American gamer to name an SRPG, Disgaea is likely to come up almost immediately. Definitely before Fire Emblem, a more established series in Japan. 9.8 is my final rating. I can’t put my finger on anything wrong with it, and it was definitely fun enough that I played it again after I lost 100 plus hour save (entirely my fault). It’s an excellent game, but for some strange reason I can’t bring myself to give it a perfect score. Maybe it’s because I didn’t find the class system to be as exceptional as the rest of the game. Whatever the reason, it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty close.
Fun Fact: Prier[e] from La Pucelle: Tactics is in this game, since Disgaea was released after La Pucelle in Japan.
Quick Tip: Get a scout as soon as you can. Their dark cannon ability allows them to summon a turret that can annihilate enemies of much higher level than you (like the ones you might find in a promotion exam), plus they can change the geo panels in an item world.
If you liked this game, you might want to ply one of the following games. Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories is more of what you liked from the original, with minimal updates. Final Fantasy Tactics is an SRPG in a similar vein to Disgaea, but with the typical Final Fantasy series flair, and a much darker plotline. The two Lunar games, Lunar Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete have several moments where they dip into the genre parodying humor so evident in Disgaea.
