Disgaea 4 Catch-All

North American release is setaiming for September.

Oh, and there's the name a character contest (at the official site) and the game's full title is Disgaea 4: A Promise Forgotten.

Maybe the pile will be smaller by then...

I'm not sure if there's a better place to ask... How is Disgaea DS? Is it a good entry point for someone new to the series?

Dyni wrote:

I'm not sure if there's a better place to ask... How is Disgaea DS? Is it a good entry point for someone new to the series?

Seconded.

Yeah it's the first game in the series, and possibly the best version of said game. (PS2, PSP, DS) They cut some voice acting out to fit on a ds cart, but otherwise it's got all the improvements of the psp version (turn off attack animations to save loads of battle time when grinding, extra game modes, characters), but with the top screen showing a nice tactical map in addition to the main game, and some extra bonus characters the PSP didn't have.

I think I have 200 hours on my DS save file, if you're worried you'll get your money's worth.

And I still have only done about 2/3 of the possible endings and final bosses. Need to get back to that sometime.

I'm there with Stele. It's probably the ultimate version of the first Disgaea. The graphics are not better than the PSP, but there is a map on the upper screen, which you will come to love once you get to cracking those Geo symbol puzzles. I'm quite sure I clocked over 100 hours on it. If it wasn't for Dragon Quest IX I might as well glue the cart into my DS

In short: get it.

I agree with the two above. Definitely a good version.

It is a good version with some nice changes, but if you aren't going to take advantage of the portability I'd stick with a console version. Bigger screen, better controller, more comfortable, and even though it's sprite-based and has that nice upper-screen map, the DS version is not as pretty as the PS2 version. It also has the occasional minor lag problem.

If you have a PS2, I might point you toward Disgaea 2. The story isn't QUITE as good as that of Disgaea 1 and they made some weird art design changes (like switching out the female samurai!) but they also added some stuff. It's a very solid game with a few nice twists.

Forget Disgaea 3. Now that Disgaea 4 is on the horizon there's not much to recommend it. The sprites look fuzzy and out of place on an HD display, the story is so ridiculous it collapses under the weight of a bad joke, and nearly all of the story's major conflicts are essentially resolved in a single scene by someone going, "OK, all this crap is solved now." There are glimpses of a better plot in there and a few poignant moments but it never comes close to Disgaea 1 or 2 and the main conceit is irrational (that demons are not supposed to attend demon schools, even though there are demon schools where demons are taught how to... demon?). It also has a ton of DLC, which is both good and bad. It's mostly new characters and a new game mode. $50 for the lot, and there IS a lot.

In the past I've recommended Disgaea 3 on the grounds that once you're done with the story it's the most complete and deep Disgaea game out there. You don't need to listen to their Etna wanna-be boast about what a "delinquent" she is for attending class when you're diving through item worlds.

If you can wait till September, get Disgaea 4. It looks a bit more serious than 3, despite the "prinny girl" they love to feature in the promotional material.

Sounds great, thanks guys. Thanks for the rundown, Lobster, but I will be taking advantage of the portability. These seem like such daunting games that I'm not thinking about playing more than one anytime soon. I'm having a hard enough time trying to figure out which other DS JRPGs and SRPGs to get.

Regarding platform, it's either DS or nothing for me. Glad to hear that it is such a good choice. Thanks!

While I might agree with Lobster's comments about waiting for 4 over 3 at this point, I definitely would not under any circumstances buy the PS2 version of Disgaea 1. If for one reason alone, the attack animations cannot be turned off. You would waste hours and hours watching the same thing over and over. I was introduced to Disgaea by a former roommate who probably put in a few hundred hours on the PS2 while we were sharing an apartment. But even he rebought the DS version, logged a hundred more hours, and would never dream of playing the PS2 one again.

Although 3 is probably only $15-20 at this point. Yeah $20 at Amazon right now. But I'd still play the DS one first, see if you enjoy it, and I think the 1st game has the most entertaining story. If you are somehow done with the first one before Sept then 3 would be a cheap way to tide you over until 4.

As much as I love the series, I don't know if I will pre-order 4. Guess it depends on what they do with DLC this time around, if it is as ludicrous as 3 I might wait for 4 to get cheaper. Pre-order is currently $50 at Amazon though. I wonder if that's a mistaken $10 discount or if that's the price everywhere?

Disgaea 3 was $50 new when it came out, might be the same thing this time.

Pre-order update.

3 versions from NIS.

$120-Disgaea 4 Premium Figure Set Includes:
• Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten Premium Box
- Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten for PS3
- Full color, softcover artbook
- Fuka figurine
• Complete Disgaea 4 Nine Figure Set ($72 value)
• Free Bonus Disgaea 4 OST

$60-Disgaea 4 Premium Edition Includes:
• Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten Premium Box
- Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten for PS3
- Full color, softcover artbook
- Fuka figurine
• Free Bonus Disgaea 4 OST

$50-Disgaea 4 Standard Edition Includes:
• Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten for PS3
• Free Bonus Disgaea 4 OST

Middle one is tempting, but honestly I think I'd only get it from Amazon. NIS store every time I have looked has killed on shipping. And also not been very fast. If I decide to pre-order something I want it on the day.

Whew. $120, eh? NIS fans are just that crazy.

garion333 wrote:

Whew. $120, eh? NIS fans are just that crazy.

That's what NIS is counting on, anyway. They've been riding the success of Disgaea 2 for quite some time now.

I hope they've taken a step back with this one and made a really solid game. I know it has that goofy little prinny girl they're pushing even harder than the protagonist but she could be fan service. For the three or four people who actually will purchase a game just because you said "prinny."

This little prinny girl.

IMAGE(http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100921022913/disgaea/en/images/thumb/2/2c/Fuka_Kazamatsuri_full.jpg/123px-Fuka_Kazamatsuri_full.jpg)

Fuka.

The one of whom you can get a figurine, for some reason.

LobsterMobster wrote:

The one of whom you can get a figurine, for some reason.

Too bad they went Chibi with the figurine. I'd have been tempted if it looked like the jpg. Standard edition for me.

Uh, you want to talk about flying under the radar and coming out of left field. Disgaea 4 is out tomorrow in North America. Wow ... completely forgot.

Wow, me too. Going to have to go find a copy.

I didn't forget but with so many games coming out I think this is the first to get put on the "wait for a really good deal" pile. I did put 100 hours into the 3rd one though, maybe I should move it up.

Yeah I still never finished much post-game of 3. Not sure when I'll get this... the pile she is big.

Disgaea 3 added a bunch of stuff that made it much more time consuming to really customize a character. I don't know how much of that made it into Disgaea 4, but I'm about to find out because it's in my PS3 right now.

What's better than getting to the store to find out the game is only $50 (which I had forgotten about)? That I had $49 worth of credit with Gamestop. I don't usually trade in games, but a couple months ago I pruned my collection and unloaded a bunch of games on Gamestop. Net effect: I got Disgaea 4 for $1.

Anyway, really enjoying the HD graphics, though some stuff does look a bit cheesier now. The English audio lasted through one mission as I think the main character's voice actor just didn't have enough energy. The Japanese voice actor sounds much better and more interesting, though I do miss all the "doods" in English.

Nothing much else to report. Apparently there's some new online features that I haven't bothered looking into, but I'll be adding people who pick up the game so we can, ah, trade items and such.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Disgaea 3 added a bunch of stuff that made it much more time consuming to really customize a character. I don't know how much of that made it into Disgaea 4, but I'm about to find out because it's in my PS3 right now.

I'm under the impression (both from reading and my own experience) that Disgaea 3 made character creation in general take a lot less time. Does this only apply to levelling up and not to customization?

I am stuck in a hotel. I need impressions, people. How is it?

Rezzy wrote:

I am stuck in a hotel. I need impressions, people. How is it?

Did you like 3? Did you like 2? Did you like 1? Do you want more of that, but in HD?

Really, there aren't a great many deviations from the formula. So far it feels tighter than the previous games, which is to (hopefully) be expected in an iterative series like this.

gregrampage wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Disgaea 3 added a bunch of stuff that made it much more time consuming to really customize a character. I don't know how much of that made it into Disgaea 4, but I'm about to find out because it's in my PS3 right now.

I'm under the impression (both from reading and my own experience) that Disgaea 3 made character creation in general take a lot less time. Does this only apply to levelling up and not to customization?

It only applies to leveling up. In order to really unlock a character's potential you needed to do runs through the item world, if memory serves. Like, multiple runs for each character.

I've put a few hours into Disgaea 4 and so far it's looking good. Kind of drowning in prinnies and sardines but the storyline isn't nearly as nonsensical as in Disgaea 3. My biggest complaint so far is how long it takes to load the "Cam-Pain HQ." It's an interesting feature, but they've integrated character creation into it. You don't just create a character, you create a "senator," and each senator has its own piece of territory that you get by beating dungeons, so if you don't have enough territory you can't make any more characters. Kind of annoying if you just want to make your guys and go play. It'd be nice if there was a way to make a character from the main "town" area and just stick them in the first available vacancy. That way I could spare myself a few load screens and only "optimize" every now and then.

The art is hugely improved. That alone makes it worth the price of admission to me. It also seems there are a bunch of DLC packs in Japan that might make their way over stateside. Disgaea 3 had an obscene amount of DLC (about $50 worth) and the new stuff from Disgaea 4 looks similar, but maybe a slightly better value for your dollar.

Some of the network-based features are interesting. The map editor is okay-ish, you have to unlock a lot of stuff. It's kind of cool to take your party and send them out against other player's partys. You can appoint a character to serve as a Foreign Minister (meaning they will appear in other player's senate hearings).

Some of my favorite changes so far:

  • You can hold R2 to skip battle animations (rather than turning them all ON or OFF via the settings menu).
  • Magichange seems to be improved. I haven't unlocked all of it yet, but the videos show that you can get super-sized weapons and dual-wield weapons (magichanged weapons that is)

I haven't gotten through the story, so I can't comment how it rates overall. So far, it seems very much like an allegory to me. Fuka is a fun character.

Yeah, Fuka's a better character than I'd expected.

So. Found a reference to Homestar Runner. I'd say that's obscure for a Disgaea game, but one of the others had an item description, "I put on my robe and wizard hat."

I guess that's part of the localization process, though. NISA takes that pretty seriously and hires people specifically to "Americanize" the humor. I applied for a job there once and the application process includes a bunch of awkwardly translated or culturally specific lines, and the instructions to make them make sense to an American audience within a certain number of characters.

Maybe that's why I randomly generated a character named "Nobama."

So the GF decided that I need to own this game. She apparently loved watching me play 3, and even dabbled a bit with a save game of her own.
BestBuy- never heard of it, can you spell it again?
Target - maybe on the next truck.
Gamestop - sold the last copy three minutes ago. Me: Did you see what kind of car they were driving? They: Laugh. Me: Serious face.
Last resort: Walmart. GF stays in the car for this one. No joy.

Just placed the order on amazon with rush processing. It's a little depressing to see a franchise I love so much get so little retail love.

A little surprised by Best Buy, but not the rest. Gamestop never orders extra past their preorders.