warcraft 3......ahhh....pure joy
Beat Disgaea with the first ending (no sidequests required), and i have to say, if you like SRPG's and anime, you just have to play this. Its a lot of fun; you can train your characters up to level 9,999, deal billions of damage in to 7 character combo's, and have 16 of your own characters out at once. Its like FFT with less restraints.
Now im going to allocate .hack//infection more time, and see what i can do to prepare for the next installment.
Beat R&C on Challenge Mode, picked Prince of Persia, today, also. I played through a few levels but it isn't as fun now. Especially when you have to fight five million bad guys. Gets quite annoying. At this point I might just play it on the side and not try to complete it any time soon.
I played a demo of the original R&C, and thought it was very good, but didnt pursue it in the retailers. I might find myself a copy sometime.
By R&C in that last post I mean the second one.
I'm going to buy the original soon, however.
so is disgaea a good game? i was wondering whether or not i should buy it.....can you give me a quick review.....1 to 10? isnt it a turn based rpg?
Yeah, sure:
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness review
Gameplay - There are 14 episodes, each containing roughly 6 stages, and there are 4 side-quest episodes for those that want to go that little bit further. I managed to beat the game within 30 hours, refraining from doing the side-quests, however, this lead to a bad ending. There are 6 endings, that reflect your decisions throughout the game, the strength of your characters, and how many sidequests you completed before taking on the end boss.
The game revolves around the standard conventions of a Tactical RPG: you have a terrain with a squared grid, to move and attack on in one turn, much like in Final Fantasy Tactics. However, there are several enhancements to this tried and tested formula.
Firstly, theres the ability to do combo attacks with up to 7 of your allies. The game is, as you said, turn based, so in your turn, you can move around and attack using all your characters (you can have up to 16 on a map at once). So using this ability, you could move all your characters into a set formation around an enemy, and if the combo attack goes through, you deal a lot more damage. The great thing about this tactic is, it only takes the turn of the character who started the combo, all the other characters still have a turn left, and you can return them all to their original positions on the map and do it all again on another enemy.
Combo's arent just for dealing extra damage, however. In the corner of the screen, theres a bar which slowly fills up according to how many hits were in a combo, and how much damage was dealt. Once that bar reaches the end once, you'll get a special prize at the end of the stage. This can be repeated over and over, up to 20 times, and you'll get a better prize each time (for example, +2500 experience). So, combo's play an important part in the game - plus they look very cool. ^_^
Secondly, theres the new element of the geo panels. Basically, the stage is as normal, but sometimes some of the squares are coloured. These coloured squares wont do anything, but if you put a special marker on any square of that colour, its affect will spread to all others of the corresponding colour. For example, if i were to take a +50% attack marker, and put it down on a red square, all the other red squares on the map will give your characters +50% strength (provided their standing on them of course). This enables for some interesting stages, and a new tactical element, especially since some markers have a detrimental affect, and you'll want to get rid of them as soon as possible.
In addition to this, if you destroy a marker placed on a coloured square, all other squares of that colour will explode, dealing damage to those on top of them. This will also contribute to your combo count, and you can combine this with your characters combo formations.
Thirdly, theres the ability to pick up and throw enemies and allies around you. This enables for a new dimension of tactics, because one character can pick up another, and then another character can lift those two up, and then another can pick those up, and so on. This means you can have a walking tower of characters, and all but the bottom character will be protected from enemy attacks. This also enables you to get your characters into areas which wouldnt be possible by just walking; in using the throw command, you can get the character at the top of this tower all the way to the other side of the map if you wished. Be warned though, as soon as a character uses the throw command, their turn is over, only the person on top of the tower will have a turn left. This is useful, because it allows you to, for example, reach a marker which is strengthening your enemies, and destroy it before the enemies turn, thus dealing damage to them.
The fourth new element of the game belongs to your characters, and what you can do with them. You, as Laharl, can create an entire army of crazy characters, with hundreds of different classes (mages, thieves, ninjas...)and monsters (dragons, ghouls, manticores...) to choose from, to name, equip, and train. You can train any character up to an incredible level 9,999, and you can ultimately deal billions of damage in combo attacks. This is what divides the players who beat the game in 30 hours, to those that have played it for 300 hours, and are still going. With such a high level potential, you'd think that it'd be easier to level up. This is not the case, you level up at a slightly faster rate than normal, but it'll still take you countless hours to train your character up to 9,999. However, having a character this strong is necassary for some side-quests.
The fifth and final interesting facet of the game is in the Item World. Basically, if you have a powerful weapon, and you want to make it even more powerful, you come here, and go inside the weapon. You see, every item in the game has a level, and in "going inside" the item, and completing a stage, you make that item go up a level, and intensify it. The more powerful the item is, the harder the stages are to complete. Within this, there are infinite stage possiblities, as they are randomly created and accustomed to the items attributes(which also have random stats). This is another way of training your characters up, making your potions heal more, or making your weapons and armour stronger.
However, despite all of this, there are some problems with the gameplay engine. As fun as it is, victory in battle seems to rely more on the level of your characters than your tactics. I once or twice found myself stuck on a stages, decided to train for a bit, went up 1 level, and then i could thrash the enemy. This is not a hard game, in that sense, and you barely have to train your characters up anyway (i rarely needed to).
Also, each stage also seems to have a theme or trick to it that makes it incredibly easy if you work it out. For example, a stages can have a one geo panel giving +100% strength, +100% defence and +20% recovery (per turn), however, an enemy occupies it. Basically, to solve this, you have to get your characters close enough to throw the enemy off the panel, before getting attacked, so that you can occupy the geo panel, and kick its ass whilst on it.
Overall, the gameplay is top notch and never gets repetative. Theres always something new to do, and new ways to fight, even if its a bit easy at times. That said, some of the side-quests require a lot of time and dedication to beat, and the multiple endings feature will provide extended entertainment on whats already there. 97%
Story - You play the villain! Ok, so thats not too original in todays videogames, however, in RPG's its an unexplored avenue. You play Laharl, a demon who has just awakened after 4 years of sleep to realise his father, the Demon overlord, has died. Not only this, but his position as heir to the throne has been overlooked by his fellow demons, who now want the crowning title for themselves. You, as Laharl, must win back the support of the demons and reclaim your position as the rightful heir to the throne, all the while being devious and evil to all you encounter. However, things dont go to plan, when a cute, young, naive female angel trainnee, named Flonne, is sent to assassinate the Overlord. However, when she finds out that the overlord is already deceased, her interest is turned to Laharl, whom she feels sympathy towards, for his loss.
Yes, the story is a massive comedy, spoofing other RPG's, anime, and life in general. Now, we've all seen RPG's which attempt to be funny (FFX-2, for example), and sure, they may make you smile once or twice, but Disgaea proves to be absolutely hilarious all the way through, seen to by its notably japanese humour and interesting cast of anime characters. The game is worth it for the comic value alone, and serves as a constant force, driving you through stages, just to see what happens next.
There is an actual storyline progression, and towards its conclusion, it does turn out to be quite serious (something that may take you by surprise), but im willing to bet that you'll never find a game more funny.
However, at some stages, you'll wish it were entirely a serious story, and not just a spoof, since the plot used is actually very original throughout, and full of twists that could have been made more powerful and thought-provoking. Alas, this games story is technically original in the fact its a spoof of other RPG's. Overall, a very good storyline, despite being a comedy. 84%
Sound - Uses highly synthetic sounds throughout, and tends to be quirky and upbeat. Nevertheless, it is highly appropriate to the games theme, and they are very well composed, catchy and just generally a joy to listen to.
I would have preferred it if they had used higher quality instrument effects, and didnt rely on the Synth so much, but it can be overlooked. Its a good soundtrack, one or two might be memorable, however, its not a touch on that of the FF or Xeno series.
However, what really stands out in this section, is the american voice-acting. Yes, its customary for fans of anime to take a preference to the original Japanese dubbing, however, the voice-acting quality in this game is high. Very high.
The voices fit the characters perfectly, and every joke sustains its originally scripted humour, capturing every nuance of charisma to be found in the characters. Theres nothing to fault here, besides the fact that not all scenes were dubbed over. However, about 9 out of 10 cut-scenes will be dubbed over (the most important ones, typically), and thats sufficient. Overall, the dubbing was very good, but the music could have been improved. 74%
Graphics - I left the worst until last. These graphics could have been easily pulled off on the Playstation, and thats no exaggeration. This game uses sprites on a rotatable 3D terrain, just like in FFT, and thats it. Some of the lighting effects are nice, but nothing incredible, most effects involve use an aristic anime background or speed lines (especially during special attacks). All i can say is, that the graphics are sufficient. The PS2 can do so much more, but it just wasnt required for a game like this. And besides, what extra effort wasnt put into the graphics went into the story and gameplay. 52%
Value + replayability - I personally found that i could beat the game within 30 hours, no sidequests. However, to get the other 5 endings, i would probably have to invest another 100 hours. Once the game is beaten, you can save all your character stats and weapons, and start the game again on a new cycle (a la the "New game+ option from Chrono Trigger).
if you wanted to spend your time training up your characters, you'll be investing...your lifetime. It'll take you ages to level up to 9,999, and create the ultimate warrior (however, it has been done by several fanatics out there). Its also necassary to reach this level to defeat some side-quests. Overall, theres plenty of replay value here, especially with the presence of the Item World which poses as an infinite source of stages. 98%
Conclusion - Perhaps the best of the Tactical RPG genre (rivalling even the legendary Final fantasy tactics), supplying more than enough originality in both gameplay and storyline, and plenty of gameplay time.
There are dozens of characters to choose from, and hundreds of different attacks, weapons, and character possiblities at your perusal. Its a rare gaming combination that you wont want to miss out on, but if you dont like anime or RPG's, then its best to give it a rental.
OVERALL SCORE = 81.4%
<font color="#101010" size="1">[ June 17, 2004 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Cataferal ]</font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana,sans-serif">Hahahahahahaha.Originally posted by ShampooChan:
so is disgaea a good game? i was wondering whether or not i should buy it.....can you give me a quick review.....1 to 10? isnt it a turn based rpg?
LOL, you outdid myself with the Morrowind thing...
Its satisfying, i find. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Oh yeah, im replaying FFX, just to relive old memories (its still my fav PS2 game).
<font color="#101010" size="1">[ June 17, 2004 07:31 PM: Message edited by: Cataferal ]</font>
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