Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Written by Chris Reiter on August 27, 2003

Full Review: Big ego small brain makes.

In a sense, strategy is dead for the console world. Many companies have attempted to create a following across different platforms in hopes that there's someone out there that owns a console and likes to put their brain to work from time to time. But due to the PC's broader range of releases in the genre, which can be both played online and are easier to control using the mouse pad, consoles have ultimately failed as a contender in this share of the market. There is one title however that didn't succumb to obscurity. When Squaresoft brought forth Final Fantasy Tactics in 1998, combining the parts of both strategy and RPG together, a new faith arose for strategy. Since then it's been a dead terrain, but just that one time meant something for console owners. Now it seems like the only way to go if you're creating a strategy type release for console, is that you better make sure it has RPG elements. So, Atlus teamed with Nippon Ichi has made this so, gluing the essence of both genres and fitting them into one for a shot at a big win in the company's latest called Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.

A long time ago in a Netherworld far, far away, King Krichevskoy has been laid to rest. But that was then and this is now, and now it is two years later when Prince Laharl awakens after his demon nap, informed from his underling Etna of the bad news. That's not all however, as during his unrelenting snoring and the king's passing away, demon legions -- the scum of this inhuman realm -- have been vying against one another to take control over Laharl's rightful place as heir to the throne. Self-centered as he his, Laharl isn't going to stand for that. Now it's your job as an egotistical brat to gather what forces you can and fend off against the unruly demons who seek to steal what is yours.

Doing what most strategy titles' today doesn't offer by pairing a heavy RPG attribute into its hide, Disgaea is different from the norm. Not different like its type has never been done before, but the ratio over the count of RPG versus real time strategy games favors the latter's court. How the game works is you're Laharl and Etna, and together with a large group of followers who do your bidding, your task is to seize control over differentiating sectors of the demon universe. And to do that you'll need an army -- an army in which you're able to create and then customize to your liking. Operating as a hub of sorts, Laharl's manor serves to centralize options in which to perform a set of odd jobs that will allow you to do things like buy or enhance new items, restore any character's status, or as was mentioned, construct warriors from scratch.

Getting your list of allies started heralds from the power of the Dark Assembly chamber, the section of Laharl's castle where by choosing amongst various magic user and fighter types, you can mix and match your party (consumable up to 10 at a time) for a stronger offensive and defensive lineup. Fighters for example specialize in their ability to take control of a weapon -- whether it's something like a sword or a lance for close ranged attacks, or maybe a bow and arrow or pistol arrangement for distant striking positions. Magic users on the other hand excel better in the field of sorcery. Fire, ice, wind, and other spell elements become these guys' best friends. But as there are many variable kinds of lackeys in which to assign to your party, each one made comes with its own price: Mana points. Gain enough Mana through fighting baddies along the way, and you can return to Laharl's place at any point during the game to manifest even more legionaries for your purpose of victory. Earning experience can be difficult at times however (as enemies are prepared with their own groupings of individual types), and without the different types of creatures in stock, your party will tend to struggle in certain battles where the exposed weaknesses are difficult to compensate for otherwise.

Although bundling your minions together isn't the only thing to do in Disgaea's Dark Assembly menu, as another path leans toward the more "subtle" approach. If you're interested in making monster types that cannot be assumed into your ownage without the Assembly's official seal of approval, persuading one of the judges on a list of senates may tend to work. By either bribing or battling judges in a strategic counter up, you'll be able to win at your leisure the kind of character you'd like -- or die trying. This type of arrangement also goes for Item World, the next attraction of Laharl's keep that instead of monster management practices itself on items instead. Slightly dissimilar to the Dark Assembly, the Item World consumes your team inside a singular weapon or another item type that you wish to upgrade. Yet, these strategy battles are an endurance test that will last you through an inescapable ten rounds of enemy attacks -- making them a tough frenzy to complete.

But when the going gets tough in a strategy game, the tough gets healed up in Disgaea's Hospital outlet. Basically the Hospital services dead or weakened characters, and in turn takes Hell to pay for -- and quite literally at that. Hell, like Mana is to buying new class acts for dishing out the punishment, is Disgaea's currency. One great thing about the Hospital is that the more Hell you give them, the better the chances are at receiving bonus gifts in return (ranging from health, magic, or even weapon assortments). Hell can also be used in one of Laharl's two item shops that are also found inside his castle. From armors, to weapons (staff types, guns, axes, and more), to health and magic restoration drinks, there's lots and lots of things in which to pick up (and new items are being added all the time) that will tailor better for some of your ilk's status, and for others not so.

Each of these distinct hot spots in Laharl's castle does fit into a general purpose though, which is meant for the main course, the Warp Gate. Here is where the game sets itself up for grid battles in an isometric, overhead perspective that gives you the opportunity to work your way across singular block pieces hovering in midair, made to look like a new part of the multiple areas in which you'll need to conquer in order to let Laharl's greedy plot thicken even further. During battle it's a very standard fare of traits for a strategic/RPG/turn-based mixup as the object of the game is to send in the clones. Through a target area on each midget map, a blue square is used to launch your allies into the heat of battle wherever you want to stick them as long as the surface isn't deformed and is in reaching distance from your position. From here on you can select options from the game's menu to move your character into ready mode near an enemy, and attack, defend, activate your special ability (some containing three hit combo strikes, while others can perform a dash attack for example), defend, and of course use an item like a sip of life.

What separates Disgaea from say any other of its kind is mostly that you can even throw stuff while locked in combat. Portions of each and every bouting arena contain both highlighted color panels and Geo Effects -- a triangular object in which you can pick up and toss atop these tinted spots and proceed to destroy them causing a chain reaction of the color changing to that of the Geo's own. In doing so, this move cannot only terminate foes bound to the hue blocks, but it can also serve for you in favor as these shaded symbols mean either a good or bad sign. Sometimes the enemy might have the upper hand, as whoever rests in a block where the defense is heightened by a percentage, the properties of their map portion will make it harder to eliminate these foes. However, tossing objects isn't the only thing you can perform to get your way. Characters (the human types only) share the ability to raise into the air your own party members or the enemy so as to launch an ally or enemy somewhere far where they're out of reaching distance for easier restoration (with the ally), or capable of causing more hurt temporarily (with the enemy). It's also interesting to note that automatically when two or more of your party parries together to defeat a creature when using surrounding adjacent methods, the same teammates will automatically lock into a combo maneuver adding extra damage to the target for free. Be careful out there though, as the same rules apply to enemies...making it easy to lose when you're not thinking carefully.

One reason why PC strategy titles are better is because they can use a mouse for practically every command, this opposed to the controller that has to find a way to function with ample commands inputting into the lesser than a keyboard's buttons a controller possesses. Luckily, Disgaea is different. It's not made for real time usage, giving its controls a fit that's rather appropriate for it. In the game's limited fields of operation, there are mainly two buttons you must always rely on (since the character's do all the work for you): the X and the triangle button. A press on triangle will open the game's menu, and the X is to commence each decision into actions. As for the other buttons, they're there for support most of the time (like the analog stick that moves your guy's around, or the back buttons that twist the camera angle so you can view behind walls that try to disguise enemies from you from knowing that they're lingering by). Though the controls tend to be easy soon enough, learning about the game and all its multiple forms of knowing how to do this or that exactly can be a bit too much for one sitting -- even though every entry division's guides are roughly explained within a handy tutorial mode provided for each individual one.

Akin to how Final Fantasy Tactics is a PlayStation strategy and RPG type, Disgaea much in the same way also looks in show an appearance straight out of the 32-bit era. It's not bad, and it's not great; it is what it is, and Disgaea follows a little bit something more old school in its design. Everything is sized down as to achieve a feel for the thinking man's game of its kind. Where characters of various races lurk in miniature fantasy models, the environments where the dueling goes on are also small in scope -- as in, it's like looking at a chunk of graphical brick hovering in 3D air with solidified coloring in its background. Because the stages are small, there's also not a whole lot to see here, and a whole lot that doesn't look too different from one stage to the next in its every teeny tiny little makeover of plainly textured pillars, or staircases, or flaming candles, or even the stone tiles that are recycled and reused.

While the look of the game isn't going to wow anybody searching for a new Gran Turismo, Wind Waker, or Halo, Disgaea's visuals still aren't totally distasteful with such qualities as the neat little animations thrown in. Laharl's cape for instance flaps behind him all the time, and during attacks -- regular or magical -- the characters can pull off a decent slew of vivid flips, slashes, explosions, and other things. Shadows too are in the game, just not by much. Underneath each individual character there's a dark circle that definitely reveals an infancy in Disgaea that's incapable of maturing. Disgaea's story is one told through anime imagery though, so not all of its features are outdated. These drawn photographs aren't of the heartiest quality, but at least there's comical merit to be had with its existence for those fans of the Japanese art style.

Awkward as it may seem that Disgaea isn't speckled with next generation eye candy galore, the sound aspects of the game are even stranger (except for the audio, which isn't really present much as standardized fill-in bytes shape the thrashing of enemies and getting beaten in return). Music for one thing is composed of a quirky synthesis that while isn't terrible, definitely packs a collection of bizarre melodies along with it. And when it comes to the voice acting, it's another ear opener that in a way makes you want to listen and think to yourself, "What the...!" It's because when you have grown ups who force themselves to sound like squeaky speaking children and other oddball types that round out Disgaea to a most unusual standpoint you'd rather not listen to but just cannot refuse.