The Niche Series Goes Next-Gen!
by McFini May 6, 2009, 7:35 PM PDT
My Disgaea experience started back when I got a demo disc in a Playstation magazine which had a trailer for the first Disgaea. It was quirky, odd but it immediately had my attention (when I saw the damage number reach into the millions). A sequel and a couple remakes later, we've arrived at the latest installation of Disgaea, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice.
Yet again, a new protagonist leads the series, Mao, student at the Netherworld Demon Academy who is obsessed with destroying his father after he destroyed his game console (remember, Mao is a Demon so death is probably letting his old man off easy). However, after careful research (read: Comic books), Mao has determined that the only way to beat his dad is to become a Hero! If you're at all familiar with the series, you know what comes next. If you're not, well:
Hilarity ensues!
Story cutscenes are carried out via cut-outs atop a detailed background or sprites wandering around the isometric field. For a game running on the PS3, it's a bit of a disappointment they didn't go for fully animated anime cutscenes... The battles unfold with the familiar style as in the two previous games with your little damage dealing characters running amuck slaughtering everything that stands in your, and Mao's way!
Being confined to the four rotated views of the battlefield (as well as the three levels of zoom) still causes some problems as some of the more detailed levels might obscure some of the action.
The Disgaea series, nay, NIS, never really relied upon the "high-quality" graphics of staples like Final Fantasy, Gears and what have you to be the defining points of their games. They have their own undeniable charm which mostly involves breaking the 4th wall like it was a lv 1 geo block. The writing is humorous and witty while still retaining a degree of seriousness and urgency that makes you want to play that next stage or chapter in order to see what happens.
In all, Disgaea 3 will provide you with a great experience as you get to hear Laharl complain, yet again, that he isn't the main character!
