Sparky's Update - Week 4 of Disgaea 4

This week, Val and his friends take on... the newspaper? Only in Disgaea, folks.

A Boy and His Death's Head Mantle

Episode 4 is pretty much all Emizel, all the time. This is probably the weakest part of the story to this point, which really says something, considering that the story in Disgaea games (and NIS games in general) are godawful. However, as your humble Disgaea guide, I am here to commit the story to that shiny Internet thing so many people nowadays are obsessed with.

The gang very quickly convinces Emizel that the best way to help himself (and them) out would be to use his high security clearance to get them through the apparently good security of the newspaper. We're never actually told what the security is, save for a bunch of ninja-like office workers who serve as the area's cannon fodder. Upon reading the newspaper, Val has discovered a grievous typo - they've misspelled prinny as "primy," and Val isn't happy! And as the crew makes their way towards the newspaper tower, Desco stops for a breather and encounters a suspicious Prinny who sounds awfully familiar. This Prinny makes some quick conversation with Desco and sneaks away, while Desco rejoins the party.

Upon confronting some of the office workers, Emizel tries to explain to them that he isn't dead, insisting over and over that he really is the President's son and he's quite alive. The office workers deny his claims simply based on the fact that the newspaper printed word of his death, so therefore, it absolutely must be true. D'oh.

We also get a little bit of character development from Desco and Fuka. Fuka discourages Desco from calling her Big Sis at first, until Val chides her by stating that if any of them are to succeed, they all must work together. Fuka reluctantly agrees that Desco may call her Big Sis while in her dream, but Desco must agree 100% with whatever Fuka says. Fuka, deeply lost in her hero worship of her Big Sis, quickly agrees that "if Big Sis says crows are white, Desco will paint them white!" Oh, that Desco. Some history between the two is also vaguely hinted at, as well as the first mention of when Val and Fenrich first met up in the Netherworld.

Anyways, more office ninjas are fought. The levels here are kind of interesting, in that there are some definite spatial hurdles as well as an occasional Geo Block puzzle or two. Emizel's continued insistence that he is the President's son and that he really is alive starts to piss off just about everyone in the party, as he starts using his father's title as a crutch. Val asks the boy if he wants to always be known as just the President's son, or if he wants to stand on his own two legs to show the world he's really alive. Emizel thinks about that throughout the rest of the episode. The party contemplates too whether or not Emizel's father has abandoned him. Fuka reveals that her own father had been out of her life for years, despite the fact that he worked close to her school and had no reason to be a shiftless dad (in her opinion). Val sees the common theme of fatherly abandonment for Fuka, Desco (whose father had created her to be a Final Boss on Earth and then cast her into Hades), and Emizel, and believes it ties them together in an even stronger bond.

We see some small plot developments and evil-doings of the President and his nameless benefactor as they prepare to unleash something that will quell the entire Netherworld all at once. What could it possibly be?

The levels aren't too much of a problem here, so we quickly arrive at the last level of this episode, where the Head Chief tells Emizel that the corrupterment was the one to issue the order to print Emizel's obituary. Fenrich also tells Emizel that he's long since notified the President that his son is alive, with an attached note to stay the hell out of their way. Therefore, Emizel's father knew all along that Emizel was alive, and could have rescinded the obituary at any time. After Val and his crew defeat the Chief, Emizel tentatively promises to Val that he will become a great demon on his own merits, and that he will join Val and stand up to his father to learn what exactly is going on. As this wraps up, the mysterious Prinny from earlier makes herself known and informs the Head Chief that she owes her over a million Hell (the game's currency, marked as HL) to go to the heavens as a sort of combination fine and back tax. She reveals herself as the angel Volcanus, but Val gasps and asks aloud how she can be alive. He calls her "Artina." And that's the end of Episode 4, y'all.