"How a Disgaea series newcomer gets instantly addicted", or "The PS3 gets another awesome exclusive"
Upon starting Disgaea 3, I experienced both awe and shock at the same time. I found the world of Disgaea 3 to be immediately enchanting; the music, the awesome voice-acting, the atmosphere, and the characters, like a fantastic Saturday morning cartoon that they just don't make anymore. What shocked me was looking at a loading screen with graphics that more closely resembled a PS1 than a PS2. As I beheld the mixture of high definition windows and scenery with PS1-esque sprites, listening to the dialogue, an odd thing happened... I realized that it was working for me. I was not only enjoying it, I was loving it.
As a newcomer to the Disgaea series, I actually found the game to be easy to understand and entirely accessible. To say that Disgaea 3 is a complex game is to say, in my opinion, that it has so many awesome features, it manages to be thrilling even with its semi-dated appearance. Where the game could have gotten away with just an entertaining story and progressively difficult battles, it adds so much more. The vast amount of dynamics in Disgaea 3 are truly impressive, taking every little aspect into account and making it fun. For example, you don't just shop for items. You have a customer rank at each store with an experience level that increases with every purchase you make, leading to better and more expensive items. Even when you pay to have your characters healed, you gain rank with the healing shop which eventually rewards you with free items. The items themselves vary in statistics and embedded effects, so even if you can only afford one brand of sword, the shop will have a handful of them, each with unique stats and rarity level. The battles allow for plenty of creativity and the geo-blocks are FUN. Every monster type you defeat becomes available to you in character creation for your own use. And if your existing characters don't have the job skills you want for them, you can reincarnate them into stronger level 1 characters in the job of your choice.
While there is more to say about Disgaea 3's depth, I just wanted to put a good word out for other newcomers who are considering the game. I am not disappointed, and this game will probably become known as another reason to own a PS3.