Customer Reviews

Disgaea DS

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Pros:

+A charming story
+Loveable characters
+In depth battle structure
+Several side quests
+A good sense of humor
+Great soundtrack
+A couple of extras
+Looks exactly like the PS2 and PSP versions of the game and that makes it the best looking SRPG the DS has

Cons:

-Not the best voice acting
-Camera is still annoying

Nippon Ichi's famed cult classic, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was originally released on the Playstation 2 in 2003. It began as an underground title that eventually became a greatest hits on the console. Nippon Ichi is trying to get it to a huge audience apparently. Within the past five years this is already the thrid release of the game (in which the PSP version came out just last year). This bring about the obvious question: Is Disgaea worth getting if you've got one of the two previous versions?

For those who never played the original (or PSP version, for that matter), Disgaea centers on Laharl. The prince of darkness who has been asleep for some time. As Laharl and with a gaggle of allies, your job is to conquer the Netherworld. The adventure is full of a lot of fun. Some hilarious antics as well as a really likeable cast of characters. The story is told through still shots of the characters facing one another and talking.

Disgaea became popular largely because of the game's different approach to the SRPG genre. On the surface its pretty basic. You send your characters around on a grid style map and they attack the enemies and you win usually when all the enemies on the map are defeated. Some battles require different approaches.

There are a couple of things about Disgaea's system that separate it from other strategy RPGs. Some of them bizarre, others not so much. First there's the Geo Panel system. On the maps you'll certain tiles that are a certain color. These are Geo Panels. There are also Geo Symbols which have certain effects. Placing Geo Symbols on a specific color will make that Geo Panel color correspond with the effect of the Geo Symbol. Therefore, if you place a Geo Symbol that increases a characters attack on a yellow Geo Panel, all yellow Geo Panels will have an attack up. However, you can also destroy Geo Symbols. This causes a chain reaction that either turns all Geo Panels into the same color as the one which the Geo Symbol you destroyed was placed on or causes the Geo Panel to be destroyed completely. Either way, it racks up bonuses for your battle gauge. The Geo Panels and Geo Symbols add a distinct puzzle element to the game.

Even better for Disgaea is the senate of the Netherworld. Battling will net you Mana Points which you can use in the Senate to recruit characters (the more Mana you spend the better the character) and assign him a job. Just the same, however, the senate has power over certain aspects of the game such as what items are available in the shops and whatnot. You can appeal to the senate and they'll vote on certain issues. You won't always win, but you can persuade by force, meaning, battle members of the senate who do not side with you. It's kooky and weird, but it works. There are also exams the senate gives you which are battles Laharl must fight alone.

Lastly, there's the item world. Throughout the game you can go into certain items and venture ten floors in and fight a boss. Doing this power ups items. The item world is no joke, however, as it's incredibly hard to conquer. Disgaea itself is not the easiest game around. There are many moments of the game dedicated to simply raising characters.

Disgaea is an all around immense game. The storyline takes quite a bit of time to get through but there are plenty of side quests abound and there's the item world. All this together can make Disgaea seem like a never-ending experience.

The DS version doesn't add a whole lot to the game, however. There's a map of the battlefield on the top screen, which can really help since the camera is still a problem. You can turn the camera but your view might still be obstructed. The map on the top screen makes it much easier to deal with this issue. There are also, of course, touch screen controls, but you'll probably feel much better off using the D-Pad and buttons. There are also a couple of new quests added to what is already an immense game.

The game looks no different than its PSP or PS2 counterparts, however, it still makes Disgaea the best looking Strategy RPG on the DS to date. There's also some good music here as well. In truth, there's little, if anything that's been changed in the production values. The voice acting is still a little subpar, for the most part. It's been an ongoing criticism of the series. There's a lot of humor to the story but some of would've been so much better had the voice work been a bit more lively.

Disgaea has found the perfect home on the DS. This is by far the best version of the game youc an buy. The only real problem is that this is the games third release within five years and if you've already got it... it might not be worth picking up again. When it was released for the PSP in 2007, there were quite a few extras that made it worth picking up even if you'd completely mastered the PS2 version. This time around, there aren't that many extras that weren't in the PSP version.

After five years it's still a fantastic game. Disgaea is still one of the best SRPGs out there and the DS version is by far the best version of the game you can get.

My experience with strategy RPGs began with Final Fantasy Tactics, and I was happy with it. Then I move onto the Advanced Wars series, again, I was happy with it.

I'd heard about the Disgaea series on some gaming websites and dismissed it as a super hardcore anime-inspired game that eschewed fun in favor of punishing difficulty.

But then I took a chance on Disgaea DS after seeing some reviews. I thought that the worst that could happen would be that I was out $5 and at least I would learn to steer away from the series.

...well, what happened was that 2 days later I plunked down the extra $25 to buy the game and have since sunk at least 30 hours into the game.

I even sold my copies of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and Advanced Wars Days of Ruin, because I knew that I would only be playing one SRPG series from now on.

Disgaea DS is, quite simply, the best strategy game I have ever played. The options it gives you on the battlefield are immense. You can rush your enemies with straight brute force and power through the game, or you can sit back, build up your combo meter and gather up some really awesome items.

The Item World portion of the game is absolutely genius. Although optional, it is almost like a full-fledged puzzle game set inside Disgaea's world. Sure, you can play the Item World portions just like the regular battles, but stringing together multi-hundred hit combos with Geo Squares is where the real fun is, and how you snatch up the best items in the game. It also tacks on a near infinite number of hours onto the game as there are hundreds of items, each with a 100-level dungeon inside them. Yes, you can level up anything from the mightiest swords down to a piece of chewed gum...and it's great fun the whole way.

I also really enjoy that the game doesn't take itself all too seriously. So many SRPGs are concerned with being more and more grim and dark while their characters talk for what seems like hours between battles. Disgaea, on the other hand, has a pretty breezy story filled with witty writing and memorable (if not a bit stereotypical) characters. I don't buy games to watch them, I buy them to play. I'm not saying that a strong story isn't important to a good game, but some games have delusions of grandeur that they are cinematic events with long text interludes that are often really poorly written. Disgaea DS doesn't fall into this trap, and it is so much better for it.

If you've ever played a tactical RPG, and you've dismissed the Disgaea series, you are selling yourself so short. Buy this game immediately, you will not be disappointed

Disgaea, a little sleeper PS2 hit Turn-Based RPG game, finally came out for Nintendo DS.

Since the storyline / game play are already covered by other reviewers, so I will go straight to the condensed version of why you should consider buying this game:

* Gameplay Style Difference from PS2 / PSP Version:

The most striking difference is the fact game takes advantage of the dual screen of Nintendo DS.

During the battle, upper screen functions as a "minimap" -- which is very useful in some of the bigger maps by letting you see how the map is laid out as whole. This is not available in other versions.

Another bonus is, the function to move characters during the battle have become much easier by being able to directly tap the place with your DS Stylus instead of manually pointing there using your directional pad on your DS (this might take a while to get used to if you are new to the genre or to this type of a game).

* What Else is Different?:

Disgaea DS is largely a port from the PSP version of the same game. This means, the extra features seen from the PSP version (that are not in the original PS2 version) -- including Etna Mode where Etna (one of the characters players control in the game) becomes the lead character instead of Laharl (lead character by default) -- exists in this version as well.

However, due to the lower capacity of DS, graphics details are lesser than what you would see on the PSP version, and voice acting is limited to English and not too many of them exist compared to PSP version of the game (PSP version features both English and Japanese voice-overs, as did PS2).

* Overall:

The game has not changed much otherwise, so I'd recommend Disgaea DS only if you are new to the game or the series -- it is quite... different and unique from other typical RPGs. Storyline is quite wacky, as are the dialogues. Despite the case art design, the game is not about being totally serious, and a sense of humor is recommended!

Replay value is pretty high for this game as well due to multiple endings, lots of additional dungeons and areas, and that the level limit in this game is not 99... not 150... not 255... but 9999! Yes, the characters (and monsters) can reach level 9999 in this game. Players that are obsessed with the perfection will have fun time gathering all the rare items and leveling to 9999 and dealing out not just 9999 damage every hit... but millions of damage.

You might also consider buying it for the Etna Mode and other added bonuses (such as secret characters) if you're a diehard Disgaea fan who have played the PS2 version, but did not buy or try the PSP version of the game. There's also a multiplayer function in this game, but it is fairly minor (restricted to battling another player's party).

If you already own the PSP version, or think these additions are not worthwhile (after all, it does not contain any huge changes to the main game itself), then this game is probably not worth your while.

am over fifty and fairly new to rpgs. ff4 to the world ends with you to chrono trigger, loved them all but was blown away by disgaea. the characters and story are fun but the abilities to create new characters then reincarnate them, and level up even weapons and armor keep the game endlessly fascinating. by the time you reach the end of the story the game is truly your own, and i couldnt wait to start over again using everything i had learned. i am addicted.

There's no way around it: Disgaea DS takes some getting used to. The battle system, where you'll spend the vast majority of your time, can be wonderfully complex, and the AI can tear you up if you're not careful. For some, this may be frustrating (it was for me at first), but once you get the hang of it (as I eventually did), you can play for hours without getting bored. I've played around 30 hours, and I feel like I've only scratched the surface.

There are very few, if any, games which can provide this much value, provided you have the patience to live through a couple growing pains. If you've enjoyed any similar games (such as Final Fantasy Tactics), I can almost guarantee you will love Disgaea DS even more, and it should be an instant buy.

This game is FUN. That's all I can say about it. The actual gameplay is similar in principle to games such as Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics, but ramped up to levels that are simply absurd (and speaking of levels? I hope you enjoy building them, because you will be grinding your freakin' brains out, especially if you want to do the bonus content. There is a reason that your characters can be leveled up to roughly 1,000 times higher than the average RPG hero.), to the point where it's not rare to see the battlefield split by giant mushroom clouds or planet-smashing meteors a dozen times each battle. Heck, that's a conservative estimate.

But where it really shines is the story. The narrative switches seamlessly between utterly goofy, truly inspirational, and genuinely heartrending, and all of it truly seems to fit. One minute a character can be bidding a tearful good bye to a long-lost loved one and finally beginning to live again after years of hiding his feelings from the world... then in the next minute, the Netherworld is being invaded by a parody of Flash Gordon. And somehow, it all works. Don't ask me how, I haven't a clue. But it's funny, it's touching, it's exciting, and most of all it is FUN.

Oh, and the Prinnies are just awesome, dood.

Disgaea is a many-faceted game that is utterly addictive both for its amusing story and for the insane potential for completism. You can take any character to level 9999, enter any item and level it up to 99, remove stats from one item and fuse them into another, suborn and level any monster, and teach almost any skill to almost any character. A devoted gamer could play Disgaea and only Disgaea every day for a year, eight hours a day, and still not exhaust the opportunities for more.

However, the other reviews have covered how addictive and fun this game is, so I'll cover the differences between this and the other versions (that were released in the USA) for the benefit of those who already love replaying the game's many endings:

The PS2: You can choose between English (and not very good) voice acting or pick the Japanese. During combat, the shouts of some characters will be in English regardless (which is rough, because some of the voices you'll hear a lot (Flonne) are VERY annoying in English.)

The PSP: When you choose the language, it applies to both the cut scenes and to ALL the combat. Very nice. You get the mode where you play through the game as Etna. You can track of your 'collection' (which items in the game you've ever owned, including rarity), how many of your own people you've killed, which monster types and character types you've unlocked as playables, and so on. A bug broke the ability to see how many times each senator has attended the dark congress with you, but that wasn't useful. Awesomely, you have the option to 'buy' songs you've heard while playing the game and play them while going through item world. They're extremely expensive, but you were having trouble finding a use for those trillions anyway.

The DS: You get English only, and most of the voices have been removed from the game (presumably to save space.) Attendance bug in dark congress is fixed. Songs are simpler, but still nice, but I don't think any of them have lyrics anymore; they've been rewritten to be simpler. Graphics are simpler, but not so you'd notice. You can't buy songs (probably not much point.) You can still play two-player (I believe.) You can unlock Pleinair as a playable character. You can play Etna mode. You get a the top-screen view, which can come in handy. You can unlock a whimsical Prinny commentary that appears on the top.

I'm playing the DS version because I don't own a PSP and because I'm curious about the prinny commentary. I'll probably switch to the PSP version later, so I can have the nicer songs, graphics, and voice acting.

I'm the kind of person who, as far as RPG's are concerned, can't handle super comples games. I'm more of a pokémon, Zelda person. Yet, besides all expectation i really loved this game. The learning curve may be somewhat steep for some, but i recommend it for all ages and types of players.

This game is, in essence, "Disgaea Hour of Dakrness" From the playstation 2 ported over to the Nintendo DS. While i always loved this game for its unique appeal and anti-hero cast, anyone who is looking to get the same experience as the original should be warned so they won't be dissapointed:

The graphics have been reduced from their original quality to something that the DS--with it's relatively low capabilities--can render. It can even skip a few frames of display (aka. lag) in heavily crowded Item World Maps.

Second, the game's music, which was incredibly brilliant in the original has not been directly ported, it's bitrate is now something like a hybrid between the venerable midi and a normal mp3. So it sounds dull by comparison.

Thankfully a few features have been added to the game to make it more interesting, like new secret characters, levels and Etna mode (where you play through Etna's campaign.)

Overall the experience is very close to the original, even though I miss the great music a quite a bit. If you keep the above in mind your play through should be a good one.

They are loving it! There are four kids in the house and they have been playing the multi-player option (two at a time). It was a wonderful Christmas present.