If you have never played a strategy RPG, this is probably the best one to start with!
User Rating: 8.8 | Makai Senki Disgaea PS2
Well, the way I see it, if you put over 100 hours into a game then no one can say you aren’t qualified to write a review. . right? . . maybe? . . Well, in any case I just hit the 100 hour mark in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and even after 100 hours I’m still not sure if I’m spelling that right! Hehe. . In any case. . Disgaea is a strategy RPG with a HUGE emphasis on leveling up. You can level up your characters, each of your characters individual spells, the weapons those characters hold and every other item in your inventory. In fact, each one of your items or accessories can be level up to 99 . . or is that 999?? and your characters . . . 9999 . . woa! . . I don’t ever expect to make it, but the option is there and that’s waaay cool. So, basically in this game you play as a group of demons, some humans and an angel. The story itself is very interesting and . . really. . its hilarious! . . The voice acting is well done too. Etna in particular does some of the best acting that I’ve ever heard. Game play consists of a checkerboard-like map which you can move up to 10 characters out on at a time and battle with a set number of enemies or bosses that are placed there. Your characters can fight both short and long range, but its helpful to decide early which type of weapon you want each character to use and keep it that way as your individual characters skills with a weapon is something else that levels up! . . Bet you never saw that coming right? :P So a typical combat situation might go something like this. You move out Laharl, the main character, and he attacks with a sword. Then your Blue mage comes out and casts Mega Ice on two characters who are weak to ice. Your archer might come out next and shoot a poison arrow at en enemy which will continually drain its life for the rest of the match. After this you might send out a ninja to really kick some tail while your cleric stands to the side and awaits the chance to heal. Now if you haven’t cleared the map by this time you simply end your turn. . wait for the enemy to go .. . heal if you need to and start again! While this game may not have the most revolutionary graphics or varied game play it does have a staying power that not many other games can achieve. I think I may have spent 100 hours on. . perhaps . . three other games in my lifetime . . so that says a lot. If you like strategy RPG’s this is the one to own. . but more important. . if you have never played a strategy RPG before, this is the one to start with. It allows a player to be as involved as he or she wants to be, for as long as he or she wants to be too! It has a decent tutorial and is so well known that internet help is easy to find. . . Plus with 8 different endings and the near limitless amount of characters you can have and level up within your party. You could theoretically play Disgaea forever!
