Sign on Options
Theme:
To Dark

Disgaea DS First Look

Related Platforms:
  • DS
By Shaun McInnis, GameSpot, Posted Jun 6, 2008 10:49 pm GMT

We take a gander at the upcoming DS port of this beloved strategy role-playing game.

Disgaea isn't one of the more accessible strategy role-playing games on the market, but it's certainly one of the more well-liked. The Disgaea series, with its whimsically absurd stories about demonic children of the Netherworld and exploding penguin mascots called Prinnies, has garnered a cult following among fans of the genre. But up to this point, Disgaea games have been available only on PlayStation systems. That will no longer be the case when NIS America releases Disgaea DS this September.

Thanks to some already retro looks, the game transitions nicely to the DS.

Thanks to some already retro looks, the game transitions nicely to the DS.

Disgaea DS is a port of Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP. Afternoon of Darkness is essentially an enhanced remake of the original game in the series, which was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2. All versions tell the story of a young lad named Laharl, the son of King Krichevskoy, ruler of the Netherworld. He winds up falling into a pretty sound sleep--for two years, in fact--only to wake up and find that his father has died and he has missed his opportunity to usurp his father's throne. So Laharl does what any good demon prince should be expected to do: take it back by force.

So begins the story of Disgaea. But as with most RPGs, the story mostly acts as a vehicle for the strategic combat. Disgaea follows the familiar route of letting you place your characters on a geometric grid and having you take turns with the enemy, balancing all of your movement with an eye on offensive attacks and defensive positioning. One of the new features in Disgaea DS is the ability to see a cut-and-dried grid of the battlefield on the top screen that shows you a top-down view of the area and characters. This is opposed to the standard view, where you see all the sprites, terrain, and obstacles in your way. The top screen is more of a map to supplement your view of the bottom screen. And while you can rotate the camera on the bottom, the sprite-based characters will often get crammed so closely together that the top screen map comes in quite handy.

While Disgaea DS is being touted as a faithful port of the PSP version of the game, there will be a handful of other new additions, including new playable characters. One new character is Adell, the star of Disgaea 2, who was unplayable in the original game. Another new feature is the Prinny commentary during dialogue sequences. The main story dialogue between characters takes place on the bottom screen, but occasionally you'll be able to read the Prinnies' take on the situation by looking at the top screen. Most of the time they're wisecracking and poking fun at the main characters. It's a bit like the director commentary you'd find on a DVD, but with exploding penguins.

Disgaea DS is scheduled to arrive this September. We'll be bringing you more on the game in the near future..

51 Comments

  • bissonnette990

    Posted Nov 29, 2009 2:47 pm GMT

    looks great

  • owen123454321

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 3:04 pm GMT

    medabots owns , im strayin from the subject ... ive only got the 1st game , but if this is anything like the ps2 one , im in for a treat.i lie penguins , especially cuicidal ones.
    hope its note too expensive.cus' once i bought a new DS game for 45 quid (ripp off)

  • ELEMENTZERO707

    Posted Jul 12, 2008 9:51 am GMT

    w00t exploding penguinse ^__^, an i'v been waiting for a ds port for a while O.o, i wonder if ther gona port the second game aswelll..

  • dethtouch

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 7:04 pm GMT

    ooohhhh sh*t my wet dreams have come true!

  • KingHiei42

    Posted Jul 11, 2008 8:49 am GMT

    I hope it has the original English voices :-/

  • RakkaRage

    Posted Jul 3, 2008 10:54 am GMT

    best game ever... if only i could read japanese

  • GatCloudX

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 9:41 pm GMT

    are the prism rangers in the first one????

  • HiddenOakTree

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 9:18 pm GMT

    WTF penguins?

  • cyberjia

    Posted Jul 1, 2008 4:31 am GMT

    i look forward to this game

  • AbyssSoul

    Posted Jun 28, 2008 3:12 pm GMT

    Can't wait to play.

  • Harvestbuddy

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 6:05 pm GMT

    voice acting present?

  • viewtifullee

    Posted Jun 23, 2008 5:39 pm GMT

    played alito though psp version....think i'll stop an just get this one and complete it??? wonder if itll have voice overs???

  • tiachan

    Posted Jun 23, 2008 5:14 am GMT

    will the story is as same as disgaea hour of darkness?

  • galduke

    Posted Jun 21, 2008 8:22 pm GMT

    The data of the PSP version took over 900 MB on the UMD, right? The DS game card thingy only holds 256 MB (latest versions)... Though textures often take up a large amount of space and this will be significantly reduced due to the DS's technical limitations, I suppose that if we were to expect all of the speech to be included in this version, we had better get used to the lower bit rates (or so I would assume). I agree with bongo264 about the portability bonus, and too answer other peoples thoughts on the PSP version, there is a few instances of slowdown, but not to the extent of FF Tactics. What I'm hoping for the most is that they nerf or ditch the majins, they make each class pointless to have other than to unlock the majins.

  • bongo264

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 8:30 pm GMT

    Everyone giving the game grief should note that games in this genre are not for everyone. But for those of us who like FFT and the like will love this one. I have played the PSP version that I borrowed from a friend and after 25 hours of play returned it. I was going to pick it up then I heard of the DS version so I thought I would wait. I like the DS portability more than my PSP. And the Prinnies will only make it better.

  • MythDarK

    Posted Jun 12, 2008 4:38 pm GMT

    Counting the days.

  • wogboypaul

    Posted Jun 12, 2008 4:14 pm GMT

    SEPTEMBER noooooo too long away

  • PhantomPhoot

    Posted Jun 12, 2008 4:03 pm GMT

    Funny, because this makes a hell of a lot more sense than Disgaea for the PS3.

  • Hotwhls16

    Posted Jun 12, 2008 1:17 pm GMT

    Adell as a playable character sounds awesome im playing 2 right now

  • BrunoBRS

    Posted Jun 12, 2008 1:04 pm GMT

    "It's a bit like the director commentary you'd find on a DVD, but with exploding penguins." LOL awesome
    im not etting, 'cause my wish list is already full...

GameSpot on YouTube

Disgaea DS

Disgaea DS BoxshotEnlarge the boxshot
Not Following
Follow
Add to List

Follow for the latest news, videos, & tips from experts & insiders

GameSpot Fuse

    Game Stats

    Close
    Disgaea DS Navigation

    Games You May Like

    Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

    See More Similar Games