Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten

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When the Disgaea series debuted way back in 2003 it had a unique appeal. It was something that you just simply didn't see a whole lot of. It was funny and was charming in a way. But what made it stand above all else was by far the interesting concepts put forth in the battle system. Since then, however, Disgaea hasn't really changed much. Disgaea 4 is the same way. If you didn't get into Disgaea before, Disgaea 4 isn't going to change your mind. But if you've stuck with Disgaea since the beginning, you may find something in Disgaea 4.

As usual for a Disgaea game, it takes place in the netherworld where you'll likely control demons. Valvatorez was once a powerful tyrant but after losing his powers he has been reduced to being the guy who trains the new Prinnies. Unfortunately he may soon be out of the job when the corrupt government of the Netherworld decides that they need to exterminate every last Prinny. It is up to Valvatorez to save the Prinnies. Compared to the last couple of entries, Disgaea 4's story is actually quite political. This doesn't mean it forsakes its characters, but those not too big on political humor or satire, may not find Disgaea 4 to be that enjoyable. There are a lot of ridiculous jokes weaved into the tale along with some clever parodies and satirical observations. You'll find bigger and better stories in several other JRPG's but at least it's enjoyable to a degree. The characters are likable and charming and some of the dialog is funny. What you may not appreciate right off hand is the voice acting itself. Disgaea has always gone for over the top voice acting and at times it has been annoying. You can opt to listen to the dialog in Japanese if you wish, or you can turn it off all together. The story is still told through, for the most part, small skits that involve character portraits standing across from each other. A charm of Disgaea that has yet to actually grow tiresome or old. All told the story might not keep your attention but some of the funny lines will. But nothing will hold your attention like the gameplay.

Disgaea has always been known for it's unique gameplay structure. And if you've played previous games in the series you won't find too many additions here. Like your typical strategy RPG Disgaea has you sending characters into the field of battle where you battle your enemies in phases. The game is much more complex than most Strategy RPGs, even today. As I said, if you've played the series before you'll have no trouble slipping right in, but newcomers will find themselves lost. The game slowly piles on new concepts for you to grasp. First introducing you to the basics of attacks before slowly introducing you to special moves and defending. It then jumps into some of the more interesting concepts of the gameplay, such as the Geo Symbols. The Geo Symbols have always been what separates Disgaea from other games. When in battle you'll no doubt notice that certain tiles are certain colors and blocks on them. Each Geo Symbol will give any color tile it sits on a specific buff or debuff. It can be something as simple as "Recovery 40%" or something as damaging as "Ally Damage 20%". It might even be something different such as providing you with 50% more experience. This aspect of the Geo Panels has often made some of Disgaea's battles feel a little puzzle based. The enemies are not always something to worry about. So are the different tiles in battle. And Disgaea 4 is relentless at times. If you go rushing off into too many battles it isn't shy about punishing you. If you don't take time to meticulously learn some of the gameplay mechanics the game is likely to be much more challenging than it has to be.

Along with the Geo Symbols, Disgaea 4 brings back other familiar things. The item world is back, allowing you to dive in and go deep to raise the level of your weapons. The item world has been expanded upon a bit. Every five floors you now get to branch off and explore more than you otherwise would. There are still mystery rooms filled with goodies and surprises too. The item world pretty much showcases another thing Disgaea is about: Grinding. If you've been coddled by RPGs where you can pretty much do anything, Disgaea 4 will change that quickly. This is a game that actually expects you to grind. And if you don't, it WILL punish you for it. The good news is, the gameplay is engaging enough that grinding doesn't feel like a chore. Especially because going into the item world presents a unique experience each time. You won't find a lot of floors the same and the Geo Panels and Symbols are randomly generated.

Disgaea 4 hasn't changed much from its predecessors at all. Much of it will be familiar to fans. At times its more like putting on a pair of old gloves and finding they still fit perfectly. If you haven't been much of a Disgaea fan, there isn't anything here that will likely turn you into one. Disgaea probably isn't going to reach much higher. It's still unique in its own way, but at some point it may have to do more than just add on small tidbits to its gameplay.

There is one area where perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad for Disgaea to progress just a little. The presentation. The sprites here are perfectly redone in HD, but it doesn't look all that different from what you've already seen. All the artwork is pretty much exactly the same. It is definitely noticeable, however. The game gives you the option to toggle between HD and SD sprite settings. Needless to say if you're playing on an HD TV then the difference is obvious. Still, it's hard to shake the fact that even in HD Disgaea 4 looks exactly like the three games which came before it. More so than the graphics, however, Disgaea still uses isometric maps where you can only shift the perspective left or right. But you can't zoom in or zoom out or tilt the perspective. On some maps its fine but on others you might lose track of your characters or some of the enemies this way.

The music on the other hand, actually sounds really good. The voice acting may, at times, grate on your nerves, but the soundtrack isn't likely to. It fits the game perfectly. You will also hear a couple of remixed tracks from previous entries.

If you've enjoyed previous Disgaea outings then there is no harm in giving Disgaea 4 a try. The change in the story's themes may not be for everyone at first, but it still maintains a lot of its humor to make it easier to swallow. Either way, in regards to its storytelling it is certainly a step up from Disgaea 3. If you've never been into Disgaea you're not going to change your mind with this.

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Before I begin, I must confess I am a die-hard sRPG gamer (Super Robot Wars to Disgaea 4). I have played all Nippon-ichi/Atlus sRPGs. My review may be a little biased; I will be comparing them to not only others in the industry, but to themselves as well.

Cons:

-Locked screen only lets you rotate, but you STILL can't change the angle or zoom in and out

-Sound track might put you to sleep after pro-longed play (Also the case in D1, D2, and D3)

-Loosely tied plot line (so far)

-No True Multiplayer. I was (and still am) waiting for the ability to play with friends online, but I was disheartened to hear about the changes made to the U.S. release. An ultra-limited map editor with no real playability is of no use to me or my friends.

-Some battles can't be conquered with strategy; making you rely on brute force aka "powerleveling"

-AI isn't very advanced; they're still very predictable (always go for easy kills first for example)[see below for balancing]

Pros:

-Graphics You can toggle between HD/SD sprites ... AND you get to change the speed of the battles

-Maps while the AI has been stagnant over three series, they have always been balanced out by randomized maps, geo-panel difficulty, and play-styles; The same enemy team you find in one map might be exponentially harder in another map.

-*VERY*Lighthearted humor, there will be lots of giggles to be had (Pretty satirical if you're up-to-date with world topics)

-The reward system is great for people who love dungeon crawling

-Character Customization A one-man-army or an army? Your choice, your playstyle.

-Customization you can customize ANYTHING; items, weapons, equipment, skills, traits

-Voice Acting It amazes me where they find some of these people. Absolutely wonderful.

Hours to Completion:

-Main Story: I'm about 8 hours in, and I don't see the end in sight. I'll update this soon.

-Bonuses: Estimated based on previous installments...maybe 20+ hours

-Custom Maps: Infinite.

-Expected DLC: ??

Replay Value: 5 out of 5, item world is the biggest contributor

Bottom Line: A very good pick-up-and-play game with a great dollar to game-play ratio. The fact that the standard edition is $10 cheaper than the regular entry price for PS3 games already makes it that much better.

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I'm relatively new to Disgaea, and I haven't beaten this game yet, so I may change my review at a later date but as of right now, I am really loving this. I was skeptical because, as shallow as it sounds, I wasn't too fond of the character designs this time around, and I was wondering if the whole "demon" schtick might be getting a little old... I was wrong. I can't say that the plot is on the same level as that of previous games, but the characters are quirky and likable and the dialogue is hilarious, which is typical of this series. The voice actors are really great, the art direction is (imo) flawless, and the music is catchy and cute.

It's a huge bummer that you can only rotate the camera but can't change the angle, and the enemy AI hasn't really improved. Also, I'm not really a grinder, I hate leveling for hours on end, but if you want to get certain things then that's exactly what you'll find yourself doing. The story is a little weak at first but it shows potential. I'm loving what I've played so far, and I'm excited to play the rest... it's not often I can say that about a game recently.

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I found this game decently fun. The game for the most part was what I expected of a turn-based strategy rpg. You can find descriptions of the game mechanics elsewhere, and the purpose of my review is just to give you my impressions.

1. Story: The story parodies rpgs and is light-hearted. The characters very often refer to terms like final bosses and leveling. The humor is quirky, and I thoroughly enjoyed the humor throughout the story.

2. Strategy: The game as expected is very heavy on tactics and has a lot of depth. This is especially true if you just try to go through the story mode without much grinding. Still, the game didn't feel difficult and there were only a couple of points in the story where I felt I needed to spend some hours grinding to level-up my characters to progress further. I would recommend not spending much time grinding as this will essentially remove the strategy aspect to this game. Level-up your characters or their equipment too much, and your characters will avoid almost all enemy attacks or take zero damage even if they get hit. In addition to the story characters that you can use in your party, there is a wide selection of generic characters that you can use in your battles.

3. Graphics: The main focus of this type of game is strategy, so I was not expecting graphics like Uncharted. The characters during the story cut-scenes have a lot of personality. In the turn-based battles, though, they seem more like just icons, and I found them somewhat underwhelming. For some reason, there are only a few set viewpoints for the battles which I found annoying as it wasn't always easy to tell where one character was in relation to another depending on the complexity of the terrain.

4. Fun: I found going through the story mode decently fun. In addition, there is a post-game where you can continue to level your characters and equipment and where you can gain additional characters to join your party. The story in the post-game is barebones though and seems more about just grinding to see if you can max stats to achieve trophies. I think the post-game could be better implemented as trying to get some of the achievements involves loading a game, entering battle and seeing if some rare event is randomly triggered. If not, then quit, reload and try again until the event is triggered. You literally will need to repeat this process 10 to 100 times in a roll in the hopes of triggering some events. After a while, I realized me playing the game had devolved to me just loading, quitting and reloading the game over and over again.

Overall, Disgaea was a decently fun game while going through the story. There is a good amount of strategy involved as long as you don't grind too much and over-level your characters. Characters have personality, but the graphics are somewhat underwhelming during the turn-based battles. Lastly, I really didn't find the post-game much fun as it seemed mostly about grinding.

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Disgaea is one of the most well-known and beloved SRPGs in the video game industry. Now on its fourth installment (excluding ports), does Disgaea 4 continue to expand the series in new and exciting ways? After playing through the main story and dabbling a bit in the post-game content, I can confidently say yes to that question.

Disgaea 4 is a turn-based strategy game that plays on a grid. In each battle, play begins by selecting up to 10 units from the home base to move around the grid and battle against the opponent's units. By using the basic commands for each unit -Move, Attack, Skills, Defend, Lift/Throw, and Items -the player can navigate through the battlefield and accomplish the objective of the level (typically the goal is to defeat all enemy units). Of course, being a Disgaea game, this is just the tip of iceberg -those who have the desire to explore further (or anyone who has extensively played a previous Disgaea game) can choose to utilize the absolutely enormous set of features included into the game, from passing game-changing "bills" in the Netherworld Senate, to entering randomly created levels within your items to power them up, to creating, customizing, and reincarnating new characters to place them into whatever role you desire. Newcomers however shouldn't be intimidated by this -not only are most features described via in-game tutorials, but in fact most of them can honestly be ignored if completing the main story is your only goal. That said, the depth is available, and I'd highly encourage exploring at least some of it -it makes the already addicting Disgaea 4 even harder to stop playing!

The main story focuses around Valvatorez, a vampire who used to be known as the Tyrant. However, as a result of a promise he made long ago, he has forbidden himself from drinking human blood and has fallen to the lowly rank of Prinny Instructor. At first, all is well with Valvatorez's job of training the prinnies, but on the graduation day of the latest batch of prinnies, the prinnies are mysteriously abducted. Thus does Valvatorez's quest begin with the initial goal of recovering the prinnies and fulfilling the promise he made to them -to give each one a single sardine upon graduation! However, things quickly become much more complicated, and he is quickly drawn into matters that affect the entire Netherworld. The story of Disgaea 4 is quite excellent as long as you take it with the right mindset. Like all Disgaea games, the story contains plenty of humor and witty dialogue between the characters. As long as you know this and don't go in expecting a dark, serious drama, you should find it most enjoyable.

Since Disgaea 3, the graphics have had a complete overhaul, now appearing in crisp HD, though fans of the old look can still choose to utilize the old sprites if they so desire. The new sprites do an excellent job of both improving the old look as well as remaining true to the original designs -each character class still feels the same (i.e. an HD dragon still looks like the tradiational Disgaea dragon, the archer still looks like the archer, etc.), so fans can rest assured that the new designs in no way compromise the originals.

Fans of the series should also take note of some new improvements since Disgaea 3. Monster class characters have some new abilities to make them more powerful, such as being able to now use 3 evilities instead of only 2, and 2 monsters can be fused in battle to make one giant monster in its place! The magichange system has also been improved, now allowing characters to duel-wield weapons while magichanging, or even wield giant weapons when magichanging with a giant monster! New additions like this extend the already enormous replay value of Disgaea to an even greater length!

Speaking of which, newcomers should note that while Disgaea 4's main story should only take about 20-30 hours to complete, there is a near infinite amount of content during the post-game. Players can seek to battle against returning Disgaea characters to unlock them for use in their party, can level characters to 9999, and can even seek to unlock the Land of Carnage -a world identical to the normal game, but featuring significantly more powerful enemies. Those seeking to experience Disgaea to its fullest can easily get hundreds of hours of gameplay if they choose to. On a purely money to hours of gameplay ratio, Disgaea is probably one of the best deals in gameplay out there. Additionally, those who want *even more content* can choose to purchase DLC for the game, ranging from additional characters (generally cameos from other NIS developed games, such as Disgaea 3 or Phantom Brave), parts for building new levels with the level editor, and even new story chapters (which admittedly are not released yet in North America as of this writing, but should be coming within the next few months I would imagine).

Honestly, the game is packed with so much content that I could go on further, but this is probably a good place to stop. Disgaea 4 was easily one of my most anticipated releases for this year, and I am pleased to say that it is every bit as good as I had hoped for. SRPG fans in particular will not be disappointed by this game, and I would encourage newcomers to the genre to try out Disgaea 4 as well -it's a absolute blast to play and is a great way to get into the genre.