Back in 2003, a more innocent time, when strategy RPGs had damage that reached four digits at most, and the game stopped when the story did...
Until these clowns showed up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOsvsyIElRI
And the rest is Netherworldian history.
Here's a brief summation of the stories(?) so far:
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (2003)
(PS2, DS, PSP, PC, etc)
The game that started it all: introduced astronomical levels of damage, the dark court, Prinnies, and a crazy cast of characters that the series still pulls from to this day.
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories (2006)
(PS2, PC, PSP)
A slightly more serious but still often wacky tale about a demon hunter out to return his family to normal.
Introduced crazy and often exclusive additions like the felony system, even crazier item worlds, and the Dark Sun mechanic.
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice (2008)
(PS3, PSV)
A return to the more wacky stylings of 1, a low key story about a Netherworld Honor Student out to dethrone his crazed father with the help of the school's top delinquents).
Introduced classroom formations, one of my favorite mechanics that lets teams get benefits from each other in battle, and using Geoblocks instead of panels(which can be stacked upwards).
Raspberyl, mach love!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKWaMMASy28Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten (2011)
(PS3, PSV, PS4, PC, NSW)
A heartfelt tale about a Prinny instructor out to protect his wards from the evils of the Netherworld.
The first game to utilize gorgeous HD sprites instead of the PS2 models, and it shows. Also introduced the mechanic of using monsters as weapons.
Disgaea D2 (2013)
(PS3)
A sequel to the original game, introducing a female Laharl, and mostly going back to the basics.
Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance (2015)
(PS4, NSW, PC)
A ragtag group of outcasted overlords set out to dethrone a rampaging Overlord before he conquers the entire universe.
D5 also started having a quest system, in addition to Revenge mechanics, where taking enough damage lets a character become super powerful.
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny
(PS4, PS5, PC, NSW)
The less said, the better. An extremely divisive entry that started using auto battle, and ugly-as-sin 3d models instead of sprites.
And last and hopefully not least, just announced:
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless
While it still uses 6's inferior models instead of sprites, it seems to have a lot of charm that 6 lacked, and is hopefully backpedaling on the mechanics from 6 that (rightfully) put players off.
Rhapsody 2 and 3 are also coming, the OG Nippon Ichi RPGs, storybook-esque musical RPGs which are comparatively low stakes and straightforward cute experiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxjCLGeeGAQ
Feel free to talk about those and many of the other NIS-adjacent SRPGs: La Pucelle, Soul Nomad, ZHP, even Guided Fate Paradox and The Witch & The Hundred Knight if you like.
(and let me know if I missed anything, apart from Infinite. :P )
Posts
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198004484595
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198004484595
Disgaea 5 sold 300k units and Disgaea 5 Complete sold another 200k. That's pretty good for a small company like Nippon Ichi.
I meant the way it ran on the Switch. Frequently had slow down and occasionally long load times.
6 I did feel a little lag but the "almost a mobile game" stuff was more pressing. But then again, I really did enjoy programming the AI for my item world runs and stuff.
Here's how the upcoming plushies look. They added the original Trio to the store.
I see articles claim that it has more generic types than any other Disgaea game, but I don't think that's true?
https://www.nisamerica.com/rhapsody-chronicles/contest/poster-voting
I voted for:
They're all cute, but I like the others more than the main R3 melancholy image:
Hm. Not sure on this one.
I'll probably get it later on discount when I'm done getting through the other higher priority games I've got lined up.
There's a ton of QoL fixes in 5 I like, but it feels like they also wanted to make the game less broken, which is most of the fun.
Eh. I'd say it's far more broken than 3 or 4, but it's broken in different ways, and leveling (and duping) items isn't the way. From what I recall, they're basically ignorable on the power curve from around level 80 until like... difficulty 20 carnage superbosses because base stat pumping is ridiculous in 5.
I do like some of the stuff they added to Item World, like deciding what you want to encounter more via paths, but it feels like the unpredictable chaos was part of the experience.
I'm just used to breaking the early game via Item World by using the level bonuses from overpowered enemies to buff new party members' levels through the roof. :P
(Usually thanks to the Deathblow geo panel)
It's basically a genocide route. She kills all her friends and goes after Croix solo.
https://www.nisamerica.com/disgaea/d7/contest/reverse
The best one is losing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jd3LTRAis4
(45 allied characters!?)
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198004484595
We're getting the game with a dub!
That's good!
But they're not dubbing the songs.
That's bad.
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
Yeah, I figured it was all or nothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx2StiwZks4
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198004484595
I end up going on a 2, 4, or 5 kick every so often, so if this is anywhere in the ballpark I'll just have a 4th game to screw around with when I want some mostly mindless game to play.
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198004484595
Switch (JeffConser): SW-3353-5433-5137 Wii U: Skeldare - 3DS: 1848-1663-9345
PM Me if you add me!