We are big fans of the Disgaea series at Retro 101 and have
been more than happy to dive into the ‘complete’ versions of the games as they
arrive on the Switch. Disgaea 4 always had a lot of personality so we were
excited to have a reason to return to it once more.
This time around the plot revolves around a Prinny trainer
by the name of Valvatorez, a once powerful tyrant who has renounced much of his
power based on a promise he made many centuries ago. A noble demon, he never
breaks a promise and when a group of Prinnies are taken away by the government
for execution he leaps into action to save them. Why you ask? Because he
promised them some sardines for tea and they were taken before they could eat
them. Yes. Really.
Of course as things progress it gets much more complex than
that and before you know it you’re on a mission to overthrow the powers that be
with a bunch of rag tag companions, failed demons and several Prinnies. It’s
possibly the maddest plot yet and it’s beautifully written and funny throughout
with a lot of fourth wall breaking, several of the characters believing they
are the main hero and one thinking they are the end of game boss.
Imortanly, the game is easy to see on the Switch screen.
Graphics are smooth and while that removes the pixel style of previous games it
certainly helps out with knowing what is going on. You can also pan and zoom
around the battlefield easily which gives you all the angles you need.
The standard systems are still in place so if you’ve played
Disgaea before you’ll know what to expect. There were new systems introduced
here as well such as tower combat given more flexibility and monsters being
able to morph together to create bigger monsters or turn into special weapons
for human characters. You can also place special buildings on a game board then
place characters around them to gain special effects such as gaining experience
from the head of that building. The more levels you complete the bigger the
board gets and the more buildings you can place (after senate approval of
course).
While it’s not too tricky to pick up for fans of the series
it’s not massively newcomer friendly. With a fair few systems added to what was
already there it means there is a huge wealth of stuff to take in. There is a
very short tutorial section but you’ll have to do a lot of playing around to
see how things work if you want to really get into the meat of the game.
The levels don’t exactly ease you in gently either. While
enemies are generally of a manageable level the layout and design of stages is
somewhat advanced. Very early on we were taking on intricate patterns of Geo
Symbols which in previous games haven’t appeared until quite some way into the
game. By world three we were already facing strings of snipers and archers
placed out of reach on panels that allowed double shots and health recovery.
There are certainly very few levels where you just rock up
with your squad and hit the enemy until they disappear. This isn’t of course a
bad thing but we can certainly see how it might be too much for newcomers.
While we’re on the subject there really needs to be a colour blind filter
implemented in some way as well. Having so many different Geo Symbol colours is
fine but it’s impossible to identify what panel is what when it gets so crowded
with different colours and characters.
Small issues aside this is a highlight of the Disgaea series.
It has the more flexible difficulty curve of Disgaea 2 while having a sense of
humour and quality characters that rival the original game. If number
crunching, levelling and bizarre characters are your thing then there isn’t
anything out there better than this. It’s certainly going to last a very long
time as well with all the additional content included. If you aren’t shouting
SARDINES! Within a week of play we’ll be amazed.
Overall 9/10
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