Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

"The Best Playstation 2 Game"

Picture the scene of August 2003. While the fans of Nintendo or Final Fantasy twiddled their fingers in anticipation for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, one cult of gamers sneaked into stores and bought the game known as Disgaea: Hour of Darkness for Playstation 2. While this cult chanted “Dood!” all the way home, the loyalists of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance sat back and groaned. Now, picture a scene a few months later. While the Disgaea fans were still dancing and chanting “Dood!” up and down the streets, only the most dedicated of fanboys were chanting “Kupo!” Most were disappointed with their game's lack of depth. However, those brave enough to venture into Disgaea's ring were entering perhaps the most remarkable experience in this generation of consoles.

The candles had been put out as the Demon Prince lay in his seemingly eternal nap. However, one demon girl by the name of Etna had come to help the boy. Once awakened, the Prince, Laharl, was surprised to hear that the King of the Netherworld had died from an unfortunate choking of a black pretzel. Laharl, who had been forgotten after his two-year rest, was determined to restore his position of the throne and let his power be recognized, even at the tender age of one thousand three hundred and thirteen years. Along the way, this love-free prince met an angel named Flonne. The cute girl was shocked to hear that demons cannot love. Therefore, she made a commitment to see otherwise. Their story takes many twists and turns as demons and angels learn the others' ways. In addition to the dramatic change seen in these characters, also expect tons of humor ranging from radioactive penguins that say “Dood!” to zombies equipped with certain horse body parts.

Laharl's story will be of one that occurs mostly on the field of battle. A grid will dictate each character and object's location while in battle. Every character has special statuses that can be varied through equipping a weapon and three accessories or armor. Each unit can be moved on every turn. In addition, the unit can use an item, attack, defend, use a special attack, or even lift and throw another unit (though not off the field). The warriors of battle can use team attacks to gain the upper hand on the opposition. When a character is placed next to an attacker, he, she, or it may follow along. That character will gain an equal amount of experience as the lead attacker; thus, raising a weak character's level becomes much easier.

The team attacks are only but the tip of the ice burg. Laharl and his gang and also harness special attacks. Some special attacks are exclusive to Laharl and his fellow story characters, but others can be learned by any of the gang. There are six basic types of weapons to be encountered on Laharl's quest: swords, spears, axes, guns, bows, and staffs. If a combatant uses a particular weapon for a great wealth of time, they will learn an ability directly associated with their tool. For example, if Laharl chooses a sword as his weapon, he will learn a wide variety of different attacks, such as Hurricane Slash or Nightserver. If Etna decides to use a spear, she will learn attacks that will change her location on the field, which includes Avalanche and Asteroid Drop. If a character is not a humanoid, however, it is stuck using a “Monster Only” weapon and learning only their own special attacks. Every special attack will become stronger if the user takes advantage of its powers during combat.

The Demon Prince will have to use his noggin on his adventure due to the Geo Panel system. In many courses, some of the squares will be lit a certain color. Every Geo Symbol has a special effect, such as an increase in defense, extra experience, cloning, or invincibility. When placed upon a colored panel, the Geo Symbol will put its effect on every single panel of that color. These can be lifted and tossed around to gain an advantage on the field of battle.

When Laharl and his troops are not out killing, they reside in his castle. There, he can walk around and talk with his servants. There are two shops, and a hospital, two things any adventurer would want. However, there is also passage to the Item World. The Item World will place the party into a randomly generated set of battles. Every battle, or floor, won will level up the item. There are also special residents for which the gang should keep an eye out. Certain residents will further increase an item's strength, or even put special effects such as extra experience for the equipped person. In addition to the depth-adding Item World, the group and visit the Dark Assembly.

The Dark Assembly is where many functions can be done to help the gang on their journey. Characters can be generated from nearly one hundred classes, each with many special upgrades. If the prince's gang ever needs a special request, they can ask for different bills to be passed, such as stronger enemies or extra cash. The members of the Dark Assembly can be persuaded through items, or even through a fierce battle! Laharl and his friends will meet with the Dark Assembly on a number of occasions, so learning to deal with the senators is a useful talent.

Beyond all else, what will make the experience of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness so remarkable is the variety of ways the characters can become stronger. The mentor and pupil system will allow a mentor to learn spells from the pupil. For example, Flonne is struggling because her intelligence is high, but she can learn no magic. In order to solve this problem, she can create various mages under her name and learn their spells. In addition, the cute little angel will become stronger alongside her created characters. Though not all spells can be learned, Laharl and his buddies will turn to this often. In order to power up even further, Transmigration can be used. Also meaning “reincarnation”, this will raise a character's base status or even change their class. For example, Laharl decides that his warrior should become a higher-powered Ninja. By using this process, the character will still remember their old skills, but be of a new class. By raising base status, the amount of power in each subject gained will increase. If a character starts with 15 defense, they will have 150 defense at Level 10 (just multiply). However, if the gang transmigrates them enough times for 45 defense, the character will have 450 defense at Level 10!

Also, let it be known that the maximum level is 9,999. Though this may seem daunting, only about Level 70 is needed to finish the main story. Plus, Laharl and his band of merry penguins and friends will gain enough resources by the high levels that leveling up hundreds of levels can take mere hours. Though Disgaea almost never misses a beat, those powering Laharl and the gang past Level 100 may feel the amount of action decline greatly. Despite this problem, it must be admired that the story can take usually over sixty hours with eight different endings (the game can be played again with the same strength held at the end) and defeating the ultimate enemy could take nearly two hundred hours!

Though Laharl's crazy quest is a splendid play, the visuals are not exactly remarkable. The scenery is very blocky and will bring back memories of Playstation One games or early Nintendo 64 games. The characters are actually sprites that have not entered the third dimension. Even when mages begin using their most enchanting spells, most of the special effects are represented through flat models. However, this look seems to pool together through the amount of style in the world. The characters are some of the coolest ever to be featured in video games, and the concepts behind the attack animations are simply genius. The cut scenes are usually pictured through large artwork of the characters. This art is very unique, and is sometimes crazy and cool enough to dance on the line of reality. The graphics are not modern, but they're stylish and free of glitches.

Demons must have pointy ears so that they can listen to this game's great audio assortment of goodies. The music has many different styles, all of which work well in their given situation. The sound effects are relatively cartoony and add some spice to the battles. What is truly remarkable is the voice acting. Each actor and actress is spot on with their character (especially Etna) and says his or her lines perfectly. Plus, the original Japanese voices were included for hardcore gamers that want to play the game “the right way” or for those who just want a laugh.

Those who choose to join this quest in the Netherworld are choosing to embark on one of the most incredible experiences in the entire video game world. The game is never dragged out, despite the fact it can run circles around the average game's length. The experience is full of depth, yet has painless tutorials and rarely grows tedious. The game is full of style and has a story that I will forever remember. No matter how long it is played, there always seems to be something brand new to experience. Even those who cannot understand the entire complexity of leveling, transmigration, and the Item World can still go through the story and have a blast. Standing as the best Playstation 2 game ever made, this will go down in my books as one of the most memorable games in this console generation.

Gameplay: 9.5 – The game is deep and fun for all audiences, but insane power leveling may bore some.

Graphics: 7.5 – Though out of date, the visuals of this game simply ooze style.

Sound: 8.5 – The music is catchy and the voice acting is superb.

Lifespan: 10 – Is a 60+ hour story enough for you? What about a 100+ hour leveling jamboree?

Closing Comment: This is a gem that deserves the treatment of royalty and a fifty “Dood!” ceremony.

Final Score: 9.4/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04