Disgaea 4 Catch-All

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Nippon Ichi has announced Disgaea 4 for Japan and state-side, and seems to be betting the farm on it. In fact, N1 seems a little desperate. Rumor has it there's a collector's edition in Japan for over US$100 and all it includes is the OST and a figurine of this gal:

IMAGE(http://www.rpgamer.com/games/disgaea/disgaea4/screens/disgaea42.jpg)

Yeah, there seems to be a pretty big emphasis on prinnies this time around.

IMAGE(http://www.rpgamer.com/games/disgaea/disgaea4/screens/disgaea41.jpg)

IMAGE(http://www.rpgamer.com/games/disgaea/disgaea4/screens/disgaea43.jpg)

If that doesn't seem like $40 worth of Collector's-ness, it's probably because the standard edition is priced around $80, or so I've heard, so it's really only $20. I don't imagine they'll use those prices state-side as in America, that dog don't hunt.

The sprite art has received a huge update, which is great since they looked awful in Disgaea 3.

The protagonist seems to be some sort of vampire, which means little to me other than a few guaranteed Twilight jokes. Hopefully the story will be better than in Disgaea 3, which crumbled under the weight of the weak and illogical joke that comprised its entire setting.

I'm also hoping there'll be some sort of benefit to having played Disgaea 3 and purchased the DLC. All $50 of it. Given N1's dire financial straits, I'm guessing two or three extra characters for playing D3 and nothing for the DLC.

Lobster, you've gotten so very cynical.

Wasn't expecting a thread to be created for this game, but I'm all for it.

Malor wrote:

Lobster, you've gotten so very cynical.

You've only just noticed?

Still buying the thing day one...

Might as well post this.

Sigh.
I'd be happier if they didn't turn this franchise into a sick DLC fest, but I'm thinking it's inevitable.
Still... I'm a sucker for Disgaea. Inevitable purchase, but I will definitely pass on anything over $60 that doesn't include OST and maybe an art-book.

They're still doing pixel art for D4, but it's up-resed a bit ... and it looks AWESOME.

IMAGE(http://www.rpgfan.com/news/pictures2010/disgaea4_comparison1.png)

IMAGE(http://www.rpgfan.com/news/pictures2010/disgaea4_comparison2.png)

IMAGE(http://www.rpgfan.com/news/pictures2010/disgaea4_comparison3.png)

I missed 3, but is that mechanic in the vid where you can stack all your guys up and move around slinky-style new? It looks weird.

Awesome. I played countless hours of the first one on my DS. After watching a roommate play countless hours of it on PS2 a few years back and thinking he was crazy.

Itching to pick up D3 for PS3. Just read about the $50 DLC recently. I guess it's a good thing the game is only $20-30 now huh?

Any release date info yet? Nevermind, clicked on the article. I see summer 2011 for NA. Cool. I better get D3 soon then and get to work if I want to get hours in the next 9 months.

juv3nal wrote:

I missed 3, but is that mechanic in the vid where you can stack all your guys up and move around slinky-style new? It looks weird.

They added some new "tower" moves in Disgaea 3 that I never found useful. The slinky walking is new to 4, I believe.

Another old article I just saw:

Disgaea 4 will allow online invasions of friends' worlds.

Not a whole lot of detail there, and with Disgaea level ranges, who knows how they could balance it? But extra stuff is always good.

Probably the same way Demons's Souls handled it by level gating it. DS was within 10 levels, so Disgaea could be the same. Whatever level the main vampire character is +/- 10 levels and you can invade.

I'd be picking it up at release anyways, but the updated artwork looks fantastic. Not so sure about the potential online features, but it might be worth a laugh at least once.

garion333 wrote:

Probably the same way Demons's Souls handled it by level gating it. DS was within 10 levels, so Disgaea could be the same. Whatever level the main vampire character is +/- 10 levels and you can invade.

Yeah, till you get slammed by someone who just happened to transmigrate their level 7,000 main character back to level 1, while the rest of their army is still at 7,000.

Yeah with transmigrating and equipment levels and specialists, there's a whole lot of stuff to balance.

I loved Disgaea on PS2 and haven't cared too much about the others. I had been spending my time grinding through my weapons and equipment in preparation for Uber Prinny Baal, but I gave up trying to get my character lvls and equipment up because any noticable experience gain only came in the last 10-20 lvls of a high level item.

What financial distress is Nippon Ichi having? Did they cater too much to the "I LOVE PRINNIES" crowd that pushed me away? Or have their games not been selling enough to cover production costs?

I seriously love the mechanics that Disgaea 1 had. I just wish that turn based tactical games in the vein of Disgaea, FF Tactics, and Front Mission still held people's attentions.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

What financial distress is Nippon Ichi having? Did they cater too much to the "I LOVE PRINNIES" crowd that pushed me away? Or have their games not been selling enough to cover production costs?

They put out too many crappy games, so they pulled back their operations and instead focused on quality.

Here's some more screenshots and stuff in Japanese:

http://dps.dengeki.com/2010/10/29/p2...

garion333 wrote:
Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

What financial distress is Nippon Ichi having? Did they cater too much to the "I LOVE PRINNIES" crowd that pushed me away? Or have their games not been selling enough to cover production costs?

They put out too many crappy games, so they pulled back their operations and instead focused on quality.

Yeah, Disgaea 3 didn't look like a PS3 game and didn't feel like a Disgaea game, they did some crappy generic 3D game that came and went without a whisper, and now they're working on a game that seems to be, "let's make this as WACKY AS POSSIBLE, WOOOO!" Now they're leaning way too heavily on the prinnies, which is a shame since they're neat characters. Neat supporting characters.

Was there no Disagea 3 catch-all? Finally got it today after the newegg sale last week. Forgot how slow this series is on your first playthrough when you actually don't have even hell and mana to do whatever you want. I've been living in new game+ disgaea DS land for a long time.

Hmm. Could've sworn we had one.

Short version is that Disgaea 3 looks kind of like ass as the sprites did not carry over well, the story is the worst of all Disgaea games (struggles under the weight of a joke premise that was not that funny to begin with and then literally resolves 90 percent of its threads in a single scene with no real logic to it), and if you find DLC offensive it's a slap in the face with $50 worth of characters and the like to download.

On the other hand, it's got the most "stuff" of any Disgaea game to date and I like the character design. If you play Disgaea because you like the gameplay, it's a very solid choice. Also if you like DLC it's got plenty.

Right there with Laharl:
IMAGE(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs413.ash2/69144_142942732418602_142905722422303_213408_2834657_n.jpg)

Shamelessly linked from NIS America's facebook.

Apparently there will be some kind of save file import or reward for save file or something:

Save Your Disgaea 3 Save Data, You Can Use It In Disgaea 4

I don't know if it's the writer or the translator, but you can tell something's just a little bit off about those comics. I offered to help them with that. By which I mean I applied for a job when they were looking for editors to clean up basic translations. However, when they said they wanted someone in the immediate area they apparently weren't talking about the opposite side of the country, where I happen to be! Buncha... jerks.

Stele wrote:

Apparently there will be some kind of save file import or reward for save file or something:

Save Your Disgaea 3 Save Data, You Can Use It In Disgaea 4

Maybe it'll have something to do with the $50 in DLC?

I'm subscribing to this on the off chance I ever get a PS3.

My copy of Disgaea 3 should be in my mailbox today, hopefully.

What a bizarre game. While I needed to scratch the tactical RPG itch, I recall the original Disgaea being less out to lunch.

I assume you're talking D3? I finished the main game, had fun, just barely had to powerlevel a bit for the last couple stages. Fully intend to go back and do sidequests, unlock characters and really have some postgame fun, but I had a few other games to dabble in for now.

Stele wrote:

I assume you're talking D3? I finished the main game, had fun, just barely had to powerlevel a bit for the last couple stages. Fully intend to go back and do sidequests, unlock characters and really have some postgame fun, but I had a few other games to dabble in for now.

Yeah I was referencing my previous post which said I was about to receive D3 in the mail. I haven't begun to grind, but the Item World seems quite daunting with its 10 level minimum. I only just gained access.

Oh, and what's with the crazy trophies? I feel like I'll barely grab any unless I spend considerable time in the Item World.

Yeah like half the trophies are pirate item world related. Not looking forward to that...

Disgaea is a game based around scratching the grinding itch. It's not a game for completionists unless they intend to list "Disgaea 3" as a career on their resume.

You're right, Stauf. The original Disgaea is less "out to lunch." Disgaea 3 has a wacky premise (demons are so crazy that the more you go to class, the worse you do!) that only has enough integrity to support one, maybe two dumb jokes. Instead they hang the entire game on it and force you to scrutinize the idea far too deeply for its own good. Why would they even have an academy if the point is not to attend? Where do the "honor roll" students learn everything they've missed by virtue of being so very scholarly? I think the justification is that the academy is not there to give students an education but rather to give teachers a very easy paycheck.

I don't know how far you are yet but they do resolve all the various plot threads in an abrupt and unsatisfying way, and miss a few obvious twists that would have made the story better. The final twist is a decent enough to stick with it, and of course the core gameplay is still as good as it was in the first, if not a bit more complex.

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