A grind heavy SRPG that caters to hardcore completionists
Fans of the Disgaea franchise will undoubtedly pick this game up but players new to the Disgaea franchise will find the gameplay grind-heavy and a lot less forgiving than other games on the DS.
STORY
Disgaea DS tells the story of Larharl, the prince of the Netherworld who wakes up from a two year slumber to find his domain in chaos and sets to defeat his enemies with his vassal sidekick Etna. What turns out to be an interesting opening premise of you playing the villain ends up becoming a typical Anime storyline filled with Japanese style humor. The plot goes off on wild tangents ranging from characters talking about bust sizes to group chants akin to those of the Power Ranger shows or of Team Rocket from the Pokemon cartoons. If this sounds appealing to you, you’ll enjoy Disgaea DS’s story.
PRESENTATION
Presentation wise, Disgaea DS is sub-par. This game is not pretty and borders around GBA levels of graphical prowess. The terrain is bland with little to no detail, the special effects are not impressive and the sprites are very pixilated. In addition, the quality of the anime drawings is very poor compared to those found in the PS2 and PSP versions. The voice acting is well done but ends up becoming an annoying nuisance as characters repeat the same lines over and over. The music is decent, but there’s a lack of variety and similar to the voice acting loses its’ punch after hearing the same music multiple times.
GAMEPLAY
For those in the dark, the Disgaea franchise is notorious for its’ hardcore content including the ability to level up characters to 9999 and deal damage in the six figure range. Fortunately Disgaea DS teaches the essential gameplay mechanics thoroughly and allows the player to pull up the Help Menu any time during the game. The basic gameplay is standard for a SRPG. Each battle starts with you spawning up to 10 characters from a warp tile. You then control the characters using the control pad or stylus and can command them to move and attack your enemies. The DS version has a handy top screen map which makes it easy to line up spells and skills. After you finish executing your turn, the enemy gets a chance to attack and the whole thing repeats.
This is where the similarities between Disgaea DS and other SRPGs on the DS end. Disgaea DS is unique in that it allows players to be creative with the gameplay, one example is highlighted by the lifting mechanic. Humanoid characters can lift other characters/enemies and throw them a few spaces away. The beauty of this mechanic is that it is possible to lift guys who are already holding someone else. In turn it is feasible to create a ridiculous tower of characters. Using this strategy, one can traverse through the entire map in a single turn.
There is a ton of gameplay depth in Disgaea DS that would take an additional page to explain including Item Worlds, the Dark Assembly, Geo Panels and a multiplayer component. Disgaea DS is the kind of game you can play for months and still barely scratch its’ surface. In lieu of keeping this review concise, I won’t mention these gameplay elements, but you can easily learn about them from the GiantBomb wiki.
The main issue I had with Disgaea DS is it requires an extreme level of grinding. It is outright impossible to play each level once and complete the game on the first play through (and without going to Item Worlds). Expect to play the same levels over and over to power level your characters so that they won’t die in two to three hits. While there are some levels that make it easier to power level your characters, with some conveniently placed enemies, the fact that the game forces you to grind so much makes the gameplay experience monotonous and boring.
FINAL OPINION
Disgaea DS is a true hardcore completionist’s dream. There is a New Game+ feature, multiple endings, a bonus Enta mode and of course the ultimate goal of leveling to 9999. The story is simply a love it or hate it affair and the presentation for the most part is awful. The gameplay makes up for these downsides with interesting and deep mechanics.
If you are only playing Disgaea DS just for the story, don’t play this game and read the story from the GiantBomb wiki instead.
If you are the player that likes to explore every single wreath of content in a game, you’re in for a treat. Disgaea DS will consume months, even years off your life. Whether or not you will feel satisfied after reaching that level 9999 goal will be up to you.
