DISGAEA D2

In 2003, I wrote my first paid review for the University of Pittsburgh's student newspaper. It was, fittingly, a sarcastic, anime-styled, hardcore tactical RPG. Kind of set the tone, didn’t it? Disagree was the perfect blend of goofy, referential, grind, and most importantly, breakable... until you realized that you were SUPPOSED to break the game, and there was challenging content that EXPECTED you to break the game, and would still steamroll you if you hadn't broken it enough. Three games came after it, but none could hold a sardine-scented candle to the original cast.

That was a shade over ten years ago. Now they're back, notes cameo characters, not as post-game content, certainly not as DLC. And well, time’s taken its toll. Turns out that in the wake of the events of Disagree 1 - yes, ten years old at this point, but ten years in the Netherworld might as well be last Thursday - Lahars still can’t get no RESPECT. Doesn't help that there's an outbreak of Celestial flowers all over the place, which have caused certain segments of the population to suffer side effects.

So Granma arm, Lahars sets off on a tirade of ass-kicking to investigate the disturbance and make a name for her arm, himself. Said tirade, in keeping with the tenets of the series, involves hardcore, grid-based tactical RPG action. None of those silly griddles systems like Makati Kingdom or Phantom Brave, no sir! This is chess with bigger swords, and guns, and bows and penguins that explode when you throw 'me. You can stack your party ten high on one space and make 'me all attack as a team, or pitch 'me around the battlefield for coordinated strikes on one target.

That's one way to accomplish your goals. The other way, of course, is to visit the new Cheat Shop, which lets you modify the game by altering the proportions of experience, skill experience, money, manna, and other factors. Or, in true Disgaea fashion, you can boost the level of every enemy you come across, from one to 2100 levels.

Granted, this is a game where you can take a L200-some character,  reincarnate him  or her down to L1 again, load 'err up with the same gear, increase Explain via the Cheat Shop to 175%, give her an item loaded with Statisticians for another+136% EXP (and I've got a lot of work to do with that one), send her out alone because her gear's freaking' boss, deploy nine other units that each give a 10% EXP bonus to allies, and be back up to L200 inside one delve into the Item World. Disagree D2 plays to the obsessive in all of us, because it seems like there are a million things to do, and each breaks the game open just a little. It's expected of you to use the Demon Dojo increase EXP or stat gains even more, to create and upgrade your vassals for appropriate support, and to beat the ever-loving  out of the demonic senate when your bribes don’t pay off. ( look what I found )

 And through it all, you get to enjoy an absurd - and just a little heartwarming- tale about the demon overlord with an angel for a little sister, and what the hell that redheaded guy is up to, and who that mysterious woman was who totally rocked the hell out of that concert venue and was never to be seen again... until the right legislation was passed.