Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Publisher: Atlus

Developer: Nippon Ichi Software

Players: 1

ESRB: Teen (Comic Mischief; Mild Language; Mild Violence)

Memory Card: 377KB

Release: January 20, 2003 (JP); August 27, 2003 (US); May 28, 2004 (EU)

I really wanted to talk about this game series for a while, and now I finally have the guts to spill my thoughts of the PS2 Disgaea games, and what better way to start than the very first one. We should all thank Atlus, who first brought Disgaea mayhem to the US, and what we were in for is the strategy RPG for the strategy RPG enthusiast.

The story revolves around a demon prince named Laharl, who wakes up after a two year nap (what a sleeper) and finds that his servant, Etna, has been trying to wake him to inform him that his father has died. Now, Laharl must prove himself worthy of the throne, through many trials, and many hardships. Of course, don’t expect to be bored by his journey, as he is joined by an angel trainee Flonne, Captain Gordon: Defender of Earth, and other oddball characters. Yes, the game has some really off kilter humor here, and it’s in full effect in this game. Of course, that’s not the only thing what makes this game worth playing.

The gameplay itself, at first, seems like a typical strategy RPG, but you’ll soon realize that the gameplay is far from that. You have situation panels that change the field attributes of the stages, like lowering defense, raising attack, etc.; the ability to throw your own character or an enemy (careful when throwing the Prinnies who say “dood”, as they explode when thrown); exploiting combos when two allies are next to each other, and so on. Also, the leveling system lets you really create a powerhouse character. If you want a character to be level 9999, go ahead. Exploit the system as much as you want (and many times, it encourages it).

Now, the main thing that the games were criticized for was in the graphics department. I guess most critics thought that it looked like a Super Nintendo cartridge at times. Still, I don’t mind that. In fact, I find the graphics charming, and there’s really something about 2D art that no 3D game can duplicate. The art also has some nice portraits that look quite attractive, and anime style. To me, I think the graphics do look nice.

Anyway, the game ended up getting past the vein of cult classic and into a quite popular franchise. There ended up being a manga, an anime series, collectable toys, and other stuff. Still, we have to look back on how all this Disgaea madness started. The game was incredible, awesome, and other words that describe good. The game eventually got a sequel, and my next contribution to the RPG Vault “Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories”. The original game has recently been re-released on the PSP in the form of “Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness”, with more content and stuff, but if you (like myself) owns the original game before this game is released, just keep playing that. Of course, this game series is mainly only for the strategy RPG enthusiast, but if you are, this game will keep you in and won’t spit you out!! It’s just that good!!

(Screens curtosey of Gamespot.com. http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/disgaeahourofdarkness/images.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gsimage&tag=images;all)