First Impressions:

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is a difficult game to describe with only one word. I should know, I’ve spent the past two days trying to discover a proper adjective. After loudly and repeatedly swearing at my thesaurus, I have finally found the perfect word for the game, even though I am loathe to use it in polite conversation: cute. Yes, I know, this is one of the most uncouth words to ever make its way into a game review. Before you break out the straightjacket, though, let me show you something. According to the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, “cute” means, “1 a : clever or shrewd often in an underhanded manner b : IMPERTINENT, SMART-ALECKY.”

Yeah, that’s Disgaea, all right. Disgaea was re-released earlier this month, “due to pressure from the thousands of rabid fans saying that they couldn't find the game and to curb the soaring prices on eBay,” according to Gail Salamanca, head of PR for Atlus Games. At first, I thought Gail was exaggerating, but after having played the game, I understand why it has developed such a cult following. This strategy sleeper-hit manages to be both unusual and addictive at once, something that is increasingly rare these days in the video game industry.

The story follows Laharl, a demon-prince who has been comatose for a number of years after his father’s death. Having finally awoken, Laharl now strives to attain his rightful position as the Overlord of the Netherworld. Unfortunately, demons don’t do diplomacy very well. Instead, they use blackmail, sneaky assaults, and evil political machinations to get ahead in life. As a result, Laharl needs to raise an army and eliminate everyone in his way if he wants to assume the throne. But, there are a few potholes along the road to success. Etna, Laharl’s chief advisor, may have had something to do with his father’s death. And there’s an angel named Flonne who somehow joined Laharl’s team even though she arrived in the netherworld under orders to assassinate the Overlord. Plus, there’s an alliance between the forces of Heaven and Earth to invade the Netherworld. And that’s not even including the zombie armed with a horse wiener. Trust me, it sounds bizarre, but it’s really entertaining.

Graphics:

Disgaea’s got an interesting look, to say the least. When first viewed, they don’t seem terribly impressive because they look like something from a Super Nintendo game. Character sprites are viewed from a slight angle and are reminiscent of the old Final Fantasy games in their designs, while the backgrounds look almost as dated. Granted, these graphics look like they came from a very good Super Nintendo game, but they seem out of place on a Playstation 2. Within a few minutes, though, the game shows that every level is actually a 3-D model designed to evoke the nostalgia of older games while providing a camera that rotates and moves even better than that of Final Fantasy Tactics. Special attacks all look excellent, thanks in part to the fact that each one of these has a unique animation, and the PS2’s Emotion Engine does an excellent job of rendering them. My personal favorite involved Laharl riding a meteor down to smash his enemies.

Cut-scenes are actually a lot of fun to watch, despite the fact that they’re not actually movies. Instead, a series of nicely drawn portraits (with a few different poses and facial expressions to express different moods) and quality voice-acting are used to tell the story competently. During group attacks, facial portraits dash across the screen to display just who is taking part in the maneuver as well. This is a really nice touch, because these portraits look like they were actually hand-painted and as a result appear very classy. It becomes even more impressive when one realizes that there’s a different portrait for each of the 150 or so different character classes available in the game. This is a very different visual presentation that takes a few minutes to get used to, but it always manages to feel fun and fresh.

Sound/Music:

Sound, like the game’s visuals, are rather unique. Music is reminiscent of the synthesized music featured in older games (right down to the fake electric guitar) but it never gets old. In fact, it’s pretty common to find yourself bobbing your head along with whatever 80s rock melodies or techno beats are playing during a battle. While there instrumental music befitting a fantasy game sometimes accompanies a battle, this is the most forgettable part of the game’s soundtrack. Sound effects are minimal, limited to attacks, but they sound pretty good. Voice acting is where the game really shines: all of the major characters have different voices that are very well cast. In particular are Barbara Goodson and Amy Winn (both featured actors in the excellent anime, Geneshaft), as Laharl and his advisor/weapons master Etna. Goodson and Winn obviously had a lot of fun with the roles, as did everyone in the vocal cast, but they seem to have really thrown themselves into the snarky sarcasm that drives their characters.

Gameplay:

Making a strategy role-playing game remarkable is no easy task, and Nippon Ichi has done an excellent job. A key feature is the puzzle aspect accompanying many of the game’s battles. A lot of the levels have colored squares that affect the flow of the battle, including attribute adjustments, cloning your characters and sending them against you, acting as physical barriers, or randomly teleporting everyone after each turn, to name a few affectations. Also, Disgaea has approximately 150 different character classes that you can easily “transmigrate”, or switch, your units between and thus change their abilities. As Laharl, you can address the Netherworld’s senate in order to gain new abilities and items. Finally, you can increase the power of your equipment by traveling through a series of battles known as “Item World”. Aside from all these enjoyable side-quests, movement and camera control is really easy to manage. As a result, gameplay is never frustrating.

Enjoyment:

If you like strategy role-playing games, Disgaea will be one of the most enjoyable games you will ever play. The various level puzzles and side-quest/mini games will keep you occupied for a long while and you’ll never find yourself growing bored. However, what really makes the game a true joy to play is its incredibly sarcastic and rather adult sense of humor. Almost every piece of dialogue will have players chuckling, but particular highlights include when Laharl faces his first boss battle and renames his adversary from “The Dark Adonis” to “Mid-Boss”, when it is revealed that the toughest zombie in the Netherworld was constructed from the body parts of the dimension’s most powerful demons and is armed with, “a horse wiener” (according to its particularly smug creator, much to alarm of everyone else in the scene), and when Etna shoots the Mighty Morphin’ Power… er… the Rainbow Crystal Rangers before they can unite in order to unleash their most powerful attack Laharl and his party. “You shot them before we could unite to unleash our ultimate attack! That’s not fair! What are you guys, demons?” screams the Red Ranger. “Um… yeah!” Etna chortles as she reloads another magazine into her gun. The only downside to this humor is that it makes it a little harder to recommend this game to younger audiences. This threw me for a loop, because the anime-like design makes the game look like something intended for younger players. When I asked Gail about this, she replied, “Although the art style might scream a younger audience, strategy games have normally skewed older so we weren't really worried about alienating certain demographics. Although, the humor might not be appropriate for the younger gamers. But they're probably playing GTA anyway, so anything we do will be mild by comparison.”

You know what? She's right.

Multiplayer:

n/a

Overall Impression:

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is a fine game. A damn fine game. This does not mean that it’s for everyone, though. If you’re looking to invest more than 60 hours to and enjoy some very sly satire and very blatant sarcasm, then look no further.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

As is common in most of my reviews, Disgaea is one of those games that has taken a more gender-neutral stance in its marketing. Most of the game’s main characters are very androgynous teenagers (as is the norm with most good anime characters) who have a lot of personality and wit instead of curviness. This is not to say that sex-appeal is ignored. Instead, it is mocked quite a bit. One of Laharl’s weaknesses is that his attributes are reduced when he fights against “women with sexy bodies” because they terrify him. His other weakness happens to be words like “kindness”, “sweetness,” and “love.” There is a key battle where he faces several succubi who constantly utter these horrific concepts. When Etna asks him about it he explains that women with sexy bodies terrify him but, “flat-chested girls like you, however, have no effect on me.” To say that Etna and Flonne almost kill him is an understatement. But, most of the women in the game are tastefully dressed, with a few notable exceptions. One character who joins your party late in the game, Jennifer, comes off as a bikini-clad bimbo but quickly proves how devastatingly intelligent she really is. Any major female character in your party has a deep personality and a quick wit, and Flonne is the only one who seems to be worthless in battle… however, it would seem slightly odd for an angel who preaches love and peace more than any hippy to be skilled at fighting.