Disgaea DS

"Etna keeps those Prinny's in LINE, dood!"

I don't usually go back to games right after I finish them. I may re-play them in a couple of years, but after I finish a game, I'm generally done. Disgaea DS is a huge exception. I still find myself going back just to gain that level or power up my gear. The game is very well done with a lot of great gameplay concepts, and an excellent storyline with fun characters.

The gameplay element is where this game really shines. It's your basic SRPG. I'm sure you've played them before. But this game really tries to go for that limitless feel, and your characters won't even cap out their level until they hit level 9999(Don't worry though, if you don't think you'll level up that much, the game can easily be beaten around level 60-100.) With all those levels to gain, you may think it's a daunting task, but that can easily be attained through the use of bills.

Bills are kind of like upgrades to your characters or game which can only be passed through the Dark Assembly. If you go to the Dark Assembly and enough of them like you, they'll pass your bill. If they don't like you, you can always bribe them, or "persuade" them to pass it by force. Some of the bills including increasing a characters movement or counterattack score(both very important), creating stronger enemies(passable up to 20 times, allowing for super powerful enemies.), and increasing the shop's merchandise. The Dark Assembly works very well for a game like this and was performed perfectly.

Disgaea also adds other new concepts, such as the Item World. If you got your entire team to level 9999, and are out of ideas, the Item World is there for you. You can level up each of your items separately to even further power up your team. The Item World is a very dangerous place but you'll find yourself losing hours there if you play it, all while having a good time.

The only downside to the Gameplay is that the game is sometimes brutally difficult, and there was more than one time I found myself beefing my entire team up 10-20 levels just to get pass one stage. The leveling goes by quick and easy if you know what you're doing, though, but the game only gets harder, with the final boss being fairly hard, and some optional bosses being ridiculously difficult.

The story is awesome and hilarious. The story involves a young prince named Laharl awakening from a two-year-long nap and finding his father, the Overlord, dead, and his home, the Netherworld, in ruins. He teams up with his loyal vassal Etna and the two attempt to reclaim what belongs to Laharl. One thing leads to another and eventually a huge cast of characters gets involved for much bigger adventure. The game seems serious, I know, but they throw jokes in everywhere, making the game seem less serious and more fun.

They also added an amazing cast of characters, from Laharl, the ill-mannered demon prince, to Etna, his loyal vassal whose also very, VERY evil, and Flonne, an Angel from Celestia sent to assassinate Laharl's father but instead joins Laharl to investigate the Demon's not knowing love. Theres Captain Gordon, the 37th Defender of Earth, and his loyal companions, Jennifer, a very attractive genius woman, and Thursday, the robot that she built who has many features. These characters and more create a very good game atmosphere.

The bad part is that the game does suffer compared to it's PS2 and PSP counterparts. The voice acting has been SEVERELY cut, whereas every scene was voiced in the other versions. The music hasn't suffered too bad, but the graphics have been condensed to hell. They make up for this by using the second screen to show a very helpful map of the battle area, but to be honest, it really doesn't make up for it. If you were to buy Disgaea, you may want to consider getting it for one of the other systems. You'll still love it on this system, but I feel that the voice acting really adds a lot.

Let's take a final look here:

PROS
+ Great strategy-based gameplay
+ Dark Assembly and the Item World work well
+ Awesome and Hilarious Story
+ Great Cast of Characters

CONS
- Brutally Difficult
- Suffers compared to PS2 and PSP versions

So, if you are a fan of funny stories, SRPGs, or just plain awesome games, then I definitely recommend you pick up Disgaea. Again, you may wish to get this for a different system, but I promise you'll enjoy it on any system. If you're looking for a good game that you can waste a good 100+ hours on, or even 400+ hours on, then this is the game for you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/22/09

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