Disgaea

[disorderlyvision]

I heard a lot of good stuff about the series. i just started afternoon of darkness for the psp. so far i think it is pretty good. i am not very far into yet though. it seems to have some pretty unique moves in battle for a strategy rpg. what are your thoughts? are the ps2 games worth picking up? favorite one?

[MrPopo]

So my only Disgaea game is Disgaea 3 on the PS3. I just made it to the post-game (which most people say is the actual game), and I've really enjoyed it. It's a game that's not afraid to poke fun at itself, or anime, or games in general.

What I like best about it is that it moves quickly, compared to the standard FFT style of tactical RPG. You have all these over-the-top attacks, and in general it emphasizes killing the enemy in one-two hits, since they can do the same to you.

[thecommontask]

I highly recommend Disgaea Hour of Darkness (?) which is the first PS2 title. The Laharl story line is very fun to follow through, and the amount of insane level building the series provides makes it perfect for an obsessive gamer. I played Disgaea 2 for a short while but lost interest because I never finished the first one. I have only praise for the series, but it is daunting for me to think of the amount of time it takes to achieve all the real cool things in the game. Geo panels can be annoying to figure out sometimes too.

Heck I'm rambling - it's a solid and unique series of games. I'm more excited for the DS version of Disgaea to come, it has some unique alterations and for a portable version this game is a great fit on long road trips or flights.

[Gamerforlife]

I really like the series, Disgaea 2 is far better than the original in every possible way. Unless I'm mistaken, I thought the PSP version was sort of a remake of the first one, so you may be able to jump right into Disgaea 2 after you finish that. I haven't played Disgaea 3 as I don't have a PS3 but the reviews have been good

The series as a whole is great. It's accessible but very challenging and it gets ridiculously complex and deep for the player who is looking to go outside the main storyline and do the optional stuff. You WILL need a guide or faq to get the most of the game. Everything is crazy, hilarious and over the top in Disgaea. It never takes itself too seriously which is great. I mean characters openly discuss their levels and their parts in the storyline. As far as power-leveling goes, Disgaea games let you makes characters so ridiculously powerful they would laugh at level 99 characters from other rpgs. This is what makes Disgaea games so addicting, the endless power-leveling and the insanely strongly enemies you get to face as your characters rise in power. These games are a HUGE time sink and while you can set goals for yourself to complete, you can never truly complete a Disgaea game, unless you're willing to sacrifice a couple years of your life. Most people just try to unlock everything, do the optional quests and bosses and then move on to another game.

[disorderlyvision]

sounds like a good series to look into more. I guess the main characters are the same in all the games then? do all the games follow the same story?

[General Chaos]

I've only played the original on the PS2 and some of the PSP remake but from those experiences I can recommend the series. As others have said, it has a really good sense of humor and is incredibly deep.

[MrPopo]

Each game is standalone, but you can get the main characters from previous entries as bonus characters once you hit the post game. Once again, only speaking from the perspective of Disgaea 3, but you can get three of the characters from Disgaea 1, and a few from Disgaea 2 (don't remember how many). But you really need no knowledge of previous titles to enjoy any single game.

[black flag nc]

I loved the first game. They largely did away with the best characters for the second game and I lost interest.

That said, Disgaea 1 is one of my all time favorites.

[blaix]

I can't wait to play this. Sounds right up my alley. I've got a ps3 and I'll be grabbing a psp 3000 when they come out, so I'm not sure where I should start, the ps2 or the psp version of the first one? If it's a simple port I'd rather go portable...

[muskratwarrior]

I can't wait to play this. Sounds right up my alley. I've got a ps3 and I'll be grabbing a psp 3000 when they come out, so I'm not sure where I should start, the ps2 or the psp version of the first one? If it's a simple port I'd rather go portable...

Having played and at the very least beaten the main story on both, I can say without a doubt the psp version is superior in almost every way. Being portable makes the game that much better strategy rpgs just tend to be better on the go.