1. The Absurdity
Though Disgaea is a Strategic RPG, this series is far from serious. The franchise prides itself on humor and absurd proportions. These characteristics can be felt and seen through each installment as you spend time building your mighty Netherworld army, with plenty of gags and jokes to be had along the way.
2. The Story
The story for each installment of Disgaea changes with each addition, save for a few remasters. The very first game in the series follows Prince Laharl and his conquest to conquer all the netherworlds that surround him and become a true Overlord in the absence of his father, the Demon King Krichevskoy. While this may seem simplistic in nature, Disgaea games have a charming yet comical way of connecting you to these characters that allow you to revel in the bonds that they share.
3. Overlords
In the Disgaea Universe there are mighty beings that preside over these fictional realms called Netherworlds called “Overlords”. Oftentimes, the protagonist themselves will be an Overlord that the player will get to customize, other times they are the bosses that await you after clearing a set of 8 to 10 maps. These Overlords are usually integral to the story with their sick character designs complimenting their usual over the top personality. They also end up joining your party after the battle, so they’re overall just a treat to run into.
4. Prinnies
I know this is kind of specific but hear me out. Prinnies, right. In the Disgaea Universe they’re these poor human souls that died and are now forced to take on the form of penguins. They’re quite literally the butt of everyone's jokes within the game and are often the main source of comedic relief. Don’t be fooled though, in some games these beings who have been punished to damnation are given crazy stats and even become important plot points within some stories. Also, they can explode when you throw them, so yeah. Prinnies rule!!
5. Customization
Much like other JRPG’s, Disgaea offers several facets in which you can level up and customize a character, but they implement these facets time 1000. From weapon proficiencies, to skill power and range, “evilities” and even passive abilities, Disgaea gives players the absolute freedom to build a Netherworld armada of their extremely specific dreams.
Delivering on their absurdity brand, one of DIsgaea’s most prominent features and also toughest challenge is having the ability to level up characters to level 9999. In later games they would RAISE this level cap to even more astronomical heights. Disgaea is truly a gamer’s game.
6. Flashy animations and designs
One of the main reasons why I'm such an avid fan of JRPG’s is the way characters and the overall world is designed. Some classic examples are Final Fantasy 7 with Cloud’s iconic hair and Buster Sword, Kingdom Hearts with Sora’s many abilities and Keyblade variations, or even the famous Dragon Quest series. Disgaea delivers on just that and then some.
Over the course of each installment, the design team for these games would evolve their skills to deliver an even more vibrant product from the last. The special abilities and weapons that each character and monster possesses are carefully crafted and animated to show the absurd power (and sometimes humor) of said ability or weapon, and for that, I humbly thank them.
7. Mechanics
Though I haven’t played many Strategic RPG’s, I will still say that Disgaea has some of the most robust and satisfying game mechanics I’ve ever experienced in the genre. The first installment is rather simplistic in the design of the core gameplay, later installments would soon implement features during combat that add extra dimensions to the gameplay like the transformation of monsters into weapons, affectionately named the “magichange” system, monster fusion, and Geo effects.
8. The Jokes
I know I’ve already spent a large portion of this article discussing the silliness in these games, but I just wanted to highlight just how many jokes there are in these games. Even the description for items in the game, from Weapons to food items, have joke descriptions that come with them. The sense of humor these developers have with these games is truly a highlight and the reason why I enjoy these games so much.
9. The Netherworlds
For the most part, the Netherworlds that players embark on journeys to are just maps that they do battle on, however, these maps are usually highlighted by the uniqueness of their title. There’s just about every type of Netherworld you can imagine in Disgaea, Ice Netherworld? Yup Undead Netherworld? Yes A Sweet Netherworld? Of Course ! As you can imagine these Netherworlds would get more creative and expansive with each installment
10 The Monsters/Classes
I’ve never seen so much care and effort put into character and monster units in Strategic RPG’s, until I ran into Disgaea. This franchise has over 20 classes and monsters players can create and add to their party. They also come with their own deep levels of customization, even down to their personality! This effort certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed to me, as it’s little things like personality changes and weapon proficiency that further strengthens my bonds with these characters.
