It seems like a life time ago that Etna erupted onto the
scene in the first Disgaea game. From that moment massive number crunching
became a way of life for many console gamers and there have been few games
since that are so humorously twisted and crazy. Disgaea 5: Alliance of
Vengeance is the sixth console game in the series and the first for the PS4 and
as you might expect it has more than enough packed into it to keep you occupied
for hundreds of hours.
As usual the plot revolves around an overlord trying to take
power. This time it is Seraphina who is the daughter of the king of the
Gorgeous Underworld. Along with a host of other odd overlords she bands
together with the mysterious Killia to try and destroy the evil demon emperor
Void Dark who has decided to take over the entire universe. There are also Prinnies.
It’s another mad cap adventure with Seraphina fascinated by
the fact she can’t use her magic to charm Killia and the two jet around the
universe on a giant space ship which is used as your hub between levels. Instead
of different regions for each episode you are now going to different realms which
adds a nice epic feel to the game as you try and repel Void Dark.
We could spend pages talking about all the systems in
Disgaea by now and this version adds even more into the mix. All the previous
systems such as the geo-panels and skill levelling return and work much in the same
way as the last version of the game. There is a new revenge mechanic which
raises damage given and reduces damage taken when a bar is filled by your team
being attacked. Overlords also get special attacks when in the revenge state – these
are wide ranging and include skills like turning into a giant or charming the
enemy.
Later in the game there is also a squad system which allows
your team to be split into different groups and differing effects then being
added to the leaders of the group who take the battle field. The item world is
now more ridiculously packed with things than ever with copious amounts of
random events and encounters that you’ll need more than one lifetime to
uncover. There are also side quests to complete and extra levels that stretch
way off into the distance after the main campaign has ended. This game could
literally last you forever and it’s highly unlikely you are going to see all it
has to offer.
Despite all the systems we found this fairly friendly for
newcomers to the series. Each new element is explained well (and also quite
quickly) and there is the option to skip tutorials for anyone who already knows
how they work. It’ll certainly take a while to get to grips with things but
there isn’t an assumption that gamers will have followed the series all the way
to this point so if you’ve ever wondered about Disgaea this is as good a place
as any to start.
One very good change is a slight adjustment to the geo-panels.
As well as being slightly textured now they also display more information when
highlighted. This information includes what colour the panel is which means
colour blind gamers no longer have to see their best strategies scuppered by a
light green block sitting in amongst the yellow ones.
If there is one slight criticism we have it is that the
dialogue doesn’t seem as on the mark as in the best of the previous games. The
exchanges between Seraphina and Killia never really reach that of Etna and
Laharl or Adell and Rozaline. It’s still very solid and entertaining but just
lacking a bit of magic and chaos and nothing that made as chuckle as much as
Valvatorez and his continual battle cry of SARDINES!
Overall, Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance keeps the series’
trademark high standard of quality going. This has to be among the deepest strategy
games ever and if there’s anything with more content outside of an MMO we’ll be
amazed. If you like Disgaea then this is a justification to own a PS4 and you
can’t really give a game much higher praise than that.
Overall 9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment