Disgaea DS

"Who knew the Netherworld could be so much fun?"

Disgaea breaks the mold from most RPGs in that the focus is on humor and parody as opposed to an enriching, epic storyline. That's not to say the story and characters aren't good; it's just the focus is on making the player chuckle.

The game begins with Etna, a demon girl, trying to wake up the prince of the Netherworld himself, a young demon named Laharl. Turns out Laharl has accidentally been sleeping for two full years. In the meantime, his father has died, so demons everywhere are vying for the throne. But Laharl is going to have none of it. He's going to kick the crud out of any demon who would dare challenge him for the title of the throne. Unfortunately, Laharl has his work cut out for him...

When Laharl first un-heroically (he is a demon, after all) leaps into action, the game starts your party with Laharl, Etna, and three of her prinnies - penguin like beings who preface or end just about every sentence with "dood." However, after thrashing enough demons and monsters and other creatures of the night, you can recruit other party members. This is where the game really, really shines. Okay, it's the Netherworld, so maybe it's not so shiny. But anyway, there are literally TONS of classes to choose from. Brawlers, knights, mages, maijins, ninjas, monsters of all variety, you name it. You can even reincarnate/transmigrate characters into other classes until they've learned all the skills you want them to learn. Don't think this effort will be a waste of time, because the game lets you bring up to 10 characters into any fray.

Which leads me to the next shiny.. errrr..dark.. err.. whatever aspect of this game. The battle system absolutely rocks. It's way simpler than anything from Final Fantasy Tactics, and retains just as much strategy and possibility. Essentially, all your characters get to go first. But here is where it gets really interesting. When you move a character and select attack, that character will not actually attack until you go to the sub menu and select "execute." This really comes in handy when you try to initiate team attacks, which are triggered at random when ally characters are adjacent to one another. You can potentially have one character attack, move one or two other characters next to that first one. Select "execute". Watch as three of your guys kick the stuffing out of some poor ghost. Now, since the two supporters have not actually been assigned an attack command, you can even cancel their movement, and have them move on to a new target. Yeah. You can have some real fun with this battle system. Simple and lots of strategy and options. Perfect job!

While it's true the game can potentially last several hundreds of hours, you won't notice because the combat system is so simple and fun, and because they are plenty of little nuances in addition to the main storyline. One example is the item world, which is a series of levels inside one of your weapons or items. Yes, you can go inside a weapon, play the psychedelic levels in the item world, subdue residents to make your weapon stronger, and eventually level up said weapon after clearing 10 floors. This is also a great way to level and to earn bonus items from filling the combo meter by ganging up on enemies and clearing geo panels.

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about those geo panels. Geo panels are essentially color coded panels that occasionally cause a positive or negative effect while standing on one panel of that color. Their is always a pyramid shaped object on one of these panels that causes every panel of that color to have a certain effect. You can basically either opt to just destroy the ones that cause negative effects, or figure out how to clear away all geo panels to boost your bonus meter. Geo panels is unlike anything I've seen, and is another way the game gives you choices as to how you want to approach the situation.

The only downsides are the graphics and sound. The graphics could've been a little crisper and sharper. The colors are fine, but the game at times looks more like a GBA game than a DS game. Also, the music is barely audible even at full volume. Then again, these are minute differences and won't really seriously detract from the game play.

Disgaea is a great game if you have played and enjoyed great games Final Fantasy Tactics and/or Fire Emblem. The humor will at least make you chuckle. The game gives you absolute freedom in terms of how you can approach combat. All the little extras and unlockables will keep you busy for an eternity in this funny Netherworld. Go out there are get the throne back... dood!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/08/08

Game Release: Disgaea DS (US, 09/23/08)