Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories

"Addictive"

"Addictive"

Disgaea 2 : Cursed Memories is a sequel to the great turn based strategy RPG (role playing game) Disgaea : Hour of Darkness. The genre is like chess, were you and your opponent take turns, attempting to destroy each others team.

Game play 10/10

The game plays much like Disgaea : Hour of Darkness, with you able to dispatch up to 10 units at the start, and move them one by one to attack enemies scattered around the map. The game is far superior to Disgaea 1 as the generic units (non story line humanoids) are far more balanced. So you can actually make a team of humans that's superior to an all Majin team. Some new features have been added, like special abilities that units get when they're on 25% or lower HP. 10 units isn't many to dispatch though, so you won't be able to have huge armies fighting.

Story 7/10

A good RPG always needs a good story. And Disgaea 2 has a great one, though not as humorous or parody ridden as Disgaea's. You're a demon hunter, called Adell, who is the only human not to be effected by a curse casted by Overlord Zenon, that turns humans into monsters. Adell's mission is to go and defeat Overlord Zenon to free humans of the curse, so his mother attempts to summon Zenon. Unfortunately the summon goes wrong, and they've actually summoned Zenon's daughter. From that point, Adell decides to help her get back, facing many challenges on the way. The story is rather uninteresting for a person who's looking for an in depth story. I didn't really find the story interesting or deep until the MAJOR plot twist at the end.

Graphics 7/10

Disgaea 2 uses 2D sprites, and a camera that can be rotated 90 degrees in either direction. The sprites are far more cleaner this time, especially the character portraits. The enemies will sometimes spawn in awful positions, and because the camera has only 6 different views, you'll probably get attacked a few rare times by a enemy hiding in a ditch or behind a pillar.

Re-playability 10/10

After playing Disgaea 2 through the first time, you'll probably want to play it again, as you'll be a much more efficient tactician this time round and can annihilate your way though with the New Game+ option. Even after completing the story mode, there's still MUCH more things to do, you can make perfect weapons, train a new team or go pirate hunting. The options are numerous.

Final score - 9/10

If you're looking for an in-depth strategy RPG - Buy it. Now. By the time your rent time expires, you'll be begging for more. ;)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/23/07, Updated 01/24/07