Disgaea 6 Review: A Rotten Good Time

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny promised to kick strategy RPGs by the throat. Turns out it's more than just a tagline, though in some ways Defiance of Destiny punches Disgaea itself in the throat.

Nippon Ichi Software's latest entry in the long-term strategy series doesn't differ much from its predecessor, but the changes it introduces are a subtly more substantial refresh than if the team tried to change the whole structure. I've played every Disgaea game except Disgaea 2, and Defiance of Destiny is by far the most fun I've had with the series.



Disgaea 6 Review: A Rotten Good Time

Disgaea 6 Review: A Rotten Good TimeNot enough…

Disgaea 6 opens in the middle of the story, and while you can pretty easily guess what's going on, I'll keep the details to a minimum. The story begins with Zed the zombie in the middle of a battle-torn battlefield with Prinny about to defeat the Netherworld's most powerful God of Destruction.

Except he doesn't. Zed dies at the last minute and is reborn in a new world facing the same silent and menacing God of Destruction.

The reasons for Zed's invincibility are many, but chief among them is his emotionless undead dog Cerberus. Cerberus was a powerful sage and developed a forbidden magic called Super Reincarnation, an ability that allows the user to reincarnate infinitely until they achieve their goal.

The more you play, the more you'll find out what Zed's purpose is, but I was surprised at how well NIS took the concept beyond making it a gimmick. Disgaea has never been too big on character depth, and while that's still somewhat the case with Disgaea 6, there are some notable improvements.



Disgaea 6 Review: A Rotten Good Time

The circumstances surrounding Zed's mission, how it changes him, and how he ends up connecting with new party members give Defiance of Destiny a more intimate feel. It's easier to care about the tragic zombie boy than it was to connect with Killia the edgelord or the blowhard Laharl, and the story is surprisingly touching at times.

It helps that Disgaea 6's cast of characters outside of Zed is easily one of the best in the series, both in variety and in writing. We've already covered them, but there's a delicious array of quirky personalities out there.

These range from scheming princess to slightly wacky TV superhero, though King Misedor's linguistic quirks and Cerberus' delivery are standouts for me. It's one of the more humorous Disgaea games out there, helping to give the more serious points the gravitas they need when they happen.

Of course, eccentricity is nothing new to the series. In this and more, Disgaea 6 is recognizably Disgaea. Character building and progression is the same, quest styles are familiar, item world structure is almost identical to previous item worlds, and even the DLC chapters where you recruit old characters are built from new. the same way as previous games.

Again, however, NIS is able to keep most things the same thanks to a handful of changes to the formula. These are all more substantial than the changes introduced by Disgaea 5, and best of all, they lower the barrier to enjoying Disgaea without changing what makes the series enjoyable to begin with.


Disgaea 6 Review: A Rotten Good Time

Take the juice bar, for example. You will accumulate EXP and Mana at a good rate during each battle, and part of it will be stored in the bar. You can spend part of it to level up characters and even increase their class skills, which comes in handy when creating new sub-level characters.


Getting the most out of the Juice Bar means grinding for more EXP and Mana, and luckily Disgaea 6 makes grinding less… well, grinding.

Super Reincarnation the mechanic differs from Super Reincarnation the plot device and requires a bit of grinding to make it useful. However, with the generous amounts of EXP you get from each battle, repeat battles are much more tolerable than before in Disgaea 6.

Auto-battle with extensive control over party AI is now a thing, and you can even send squads into the item world to fine-tune levels without you needing to be there yourself. It may seem like a simple change, but it's hard to overstate the effect these few features have on the enjoyment of the game.

I'm no min-maxer and rarely engaged in previous Disgaea games outside of the main storyline and some Item World shenanigans. Disgaea 6 changed that. I was surprised to find myself leveling up multiple characters, experimenting more with classes, and upgrading items.

Disgaea 6 Review: A Rotten Good Time

In other words, I was doing everything NIS wanted us to do with Disgaea before, but making it so unappealing to all but the particularly dedicated.


The best part is that you don't have to do any of it. You're free to pursue a more punishing or traditional Disgaea experience if you wish, and this level of flexibility is the real punch in the throat for SRPG. The only problem is that it takes about until Chapter Three for these features to open, which means the first few hours feel all too familiar at times.

The visual changes in Disgaea 6 had me a bit unsure what to expect initially. The old 2D illustration still stands, after all. There seemed little reason to change it, so I was pleased to see how much more dynamic it makes the game. The character models are clean and distinct, with a sufficiently chunky design, and despite my initial skepticism, it makes the special attacks feel more dynamic.


However, these improvements come with some drawbacks. Movement in the base is a bit jerky, and the cooldowns that go to special attacks feel like they last a few milliseconds longer than they should. Neither is a significant problem, it's true. However, Disgaea 6 isn't a demanding game, and it's odd that such hiccups exist to begin with.

Disgaea 6 Review — Le verdict

Disgaea 6 Review: A Rotten Good Time

Benefits

  • A much-loved set of quality of life improvements
  • Always excellent writing
  • Satisfying and surprisingly moving story
  • The same basic Disgaea systems and mechanics

The inconvenients

  • The same Disgaea experience
  • Some performance issues

Disgaea 6 focuses more on improving on what's already there, and it more than succeeds in this task. Yes, NIS will one day have to make more substantial changes to the series beyond a few tweaks here and there. With Defiance of Destiny, I'm happy to wait a little longer for that day.

[Note: Nippon Ichi Software provided a copy of Disgaea 6 for this review.]

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