One of the best games I've ever played and a must have for fans of JSRPG games.
Those who are unfamiliar with Disgaea will need to know the basics of its amazing amount of customization; like any RPG, you can buy items, armour, weapons, etc. from stores, pummel enemies to level your characters, and set up attacks in an engaging combat system. The way this is done, however, is what makes the game special.
You start the game in the main hub zone (which serves as the gateway to the battle maps in the game), the small village of Holt. The village has been turned into a netherworld by the great Overlord Zenon, who is titled "God of all Overlords," amongst many other areas that have been plagued with his curse. This causes all of Holt's residents (except Adell) to turn into demons, and because Adell is the only human left, he sets out to fight Zenon and restore balance to his village. This isn't so easy, though, as even after years of searching, Zenon is nowhere to be found. Adell's mother, now a Summoner, decides to summon the Overlord himself; what she gets instead is his daughter, Rozalin. Rozalin commands Adell to take her back to Zenon, so Adell decides to stick with her to confront the overlord.
Some might be disappointed that the story of Disgaea 2 doesn't revolve around the idea of evil demons as main characters, and rather a protagonist who can only talk about justice all the time, but I for one like the story of Disgaea 2. It isn't as likeable as the first game but the characters are funny enough to keep you entertained and the story is, for the most part, well told, although there are spelling errors that pop up a little too much.
Onto the main gameplay itself. From Holt you can go to the battle maps of the game, different stages which you must clear to progress. You choose a stage and are thrown onto a grid-styled battle field, with an enemy army you need to take out. You have what's called a Base Panel which allows you to dispatch Units, or Characters, onto the battle field. By selecting a character from the Base Panel, you can direct them around the grid and assign them each commands - such as using items, attacking enemies, or defending - and when you're ready to put those commands into action, you need simply select "execute" and your characters do the rest. By defeating all the enemies on a map, you clear the stage and are allowed to progress.
However, the game isn't as black and white as that; each of your characters can only move a certain number of blocks per turn, and have different areas of effect for the many special attacks they learn as they level up. You need to effectively plan your attacks to have an impact on your enemies before they can retaliate in the next turn they get. Do you direct numerous units to pummel a single enemy, or do you spread the damage evenly out amongst the enemy army, attacking multiple targets? Another strategic effect to keep in mind is the Geo Panel system. Some of the grid spaces (which are called Panels) are highlighted with different colours; A pyramid-shaped object known as a Geo Symbol sits on one of these coloured panels, and gives all the panels of that colour a special effect. For example, blue panels might give your characters more attack power when they stand on them, or they might stop units from moving past them. You can destroy Geo Symbols by attacking them, which in turn eliminates the effect the Geo Symbol brings; and if the Geo Symbol is a different colour to the panel it's on, the panel becomes the colour of the destroyed symbol. During the colour change of panels all units on the panel take damage, and multiple Symbols can be destroyed for huge chain reactions, which lead to filling your bonus gauge. This in turn leads you to bonuses such as more money or extra items as the spoils for your victory.
The stages start out simple but get progressively harder, thanks to the Geo system and powerful enemies. Towards the later stages in the game, you'll need to really think before you go sending out your units; be prepared to make some sacrifices too. Fortunately, you have total control over your units. You can use what is known as the Dark Assembly to create new characters, increase the number of better items at shops, toggle how powerful the enemies are, and much more. Using the assembly for any of these reasons requires Mana, points which characters earn for defeating enemies. Because any character can use the assembly, you'll probably want to use the character with the most Mana to make powerful characters for use in battle. All other uses of the assembly require the approval of the Dark Court. These demons will only vote for your cause if you bribe them with the right supplies. If all else fails, you can beat them into submission, but since their levels can be thrown into the hundreds, you might want to stick with bribing until you become a bit stronger.
The customization doesn't stop there; while you can buy items to increase the many stats of your characters, you can also use what is known as the "Item World," where you enter your item in the form of randomly generated battle maps. These maps don't require you to think as strategically as those in the game, but because they are always random, there is an infinite amount of battle stages to play, and infinite enemies to fight. Every 10 floors you clear (or skip) in the item world give you the chance to return to the real world; doing so can sometimes be a chore, but it's worth it. Not only do you gain hefty experience for your characters, you also recieve numerous bonuses (such as even more experience or very rare items) as well as making the item itself much more powerful. This adds on to the already large amount of gameplay involved. Any item can be entered, and the number of floors ranges from 30, to 50, to 100.
Even after you clear the main game (of which there are more than 52 stages) you can play the all-new Axel Mode, an additional 4 chapters which tell the story of one of the games characters, Axel. These stages are well done and still allow you to retain all your characters, items, etc.
Of course, Disgaea isn't without its faults. The combat system and amount of customization is poorly explained, meaning Disgaea isn't very accessible to those who aren't willing to learn the ropes of the game themselves. And seeing as the whole game is purely fighting and directing your troops around, those who don't like grinding a whole lot (your characters can go up to level 9999, if you have that much time on your hands) won't find as much to enjoy in Disgaea 2. If you are a fan of that sort of thing though, you will find that Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days is a game that will have you consumed within its immense customization for months.