Disgaea 5 Complete Review

Let's go back to the crazy world of Nippon Ichi.

Version tested: Nintendo Switch.

Fourteen years have passed since the first Disgaea, published in 2003 on PlayStation 2. Basically it was played by dinosaurs, given the speed of evolution in this sector, where something ages in just five days. But in fourteen years the basic gameplay of the Disgaea series hasn't aged (nor fundamentally changed). The fact remains that Nippon Ichi has constantly refined the gaming experience in the various sequels and secondary episodes / spin-offs.

And on closer inspection Disgaea 5 is not a completely new game either: we had reviewed it in October 2015 on our pages, promoting it with flying colors. Instead, we have in our hands the Complete Edition of a title that was a bit muted two years ago, and able to sell just a handful of copies (thanks to the fans). Up Nintendo Switch Nippon Ichi brought the most crazy of its strategic RPGs, including all the DLCs released at the time, and corroborated (as always should be) by the peculiar mechanics possible only on the hybrid of the Kyoto house.

We have a conversion in our hands, therefore. A conversion with all DLCs. Is it worth paying the ticket price to take it home? And also to carry it around, if you want, since with Switch we play “when, where and with whom we want”? Of course yes, and we explain why.

Unlikely heroes, light-hearted plot

Disgaea 5 Complete is the right title to approach the Nippon Ichi saga for the first time. Indeed, in this case it even acts as a prequel to the entire saga, suggesting that it is set long before the original chapter, the famous Hour of Darkness. But let's analyze a little the events narrated in the Complete Edition.

The evil Void Dark, lord of chaos with an innate disposition for destruction, is quickly reaching out to all the realms of the Netherworld (a sort of demon-inhabited Underworld). One of them, the ranger Killia, has some unfinished business with the cruel general at the head of the Lost, the army that is subjugating the entire solar system. He will therefore have to ally himself with all the rebel demons and with the champions of the various worlds, the Overlords, in order to destroy the Void Dark army and finally be able to quench his thirst for revenge. Don't worry if it looks like the Iliad, because in the end you quickly become familiar with the various and crazy characters of Disgaea.

In detail we will meet Seraphina, vain betrothed to Void Dark, Red Magnus, wiry red demon eager to graduate as the strongest Overlord of all the Netherworlds, Christo (and here a giggle cannot be taken away from anyone), a fine strategist from the past and mysterious intentions. They are the interesting characters that make up the unprecedented cast of the fifth episode. Except for a few winks at longtime fans, the story of Disgaea 5 has no contact with the previous chapters of the series, which makes the game coming to Switch a great starting point for those who want to discover the bizarre situations described by Nippon Ichi Soft.

For the rest we try to be honest with ourselves: the plot of Disgaea may like and may not like, but objectively it has little or nothing serious. It is a real constellation with situations bordering on the absurd, and a black humor that accompanies each of the infinite lines of dialogue. Disgaea is a shamelessly Japanese game for several reasons, and the plot only confirms this identity. Just think that each of the chapters into which the story is divided is closed with the previews of the next chapter, exactly like at the end of the episodes of an anime. Not that it bothers, indeed, once you become familiar with the thing, the latter is also nice.

Nippon Ichi strategy

to Nippon Ichi Soft e NIS America it's a "Old School" Tactical J-RPG: it means that we are struggling with menus to browse, statistics, skills and dozens of hours of grinding, practically in the long run we will always do and do the same things again, yet we will not tire of it, for a sort of magic that permeates almost all strategic RPGs , and certainly the well-made ones. You know Final Fantasy Tactics o Fire Emblem? Well, at the base there are the same mechanics and situations: an isometric map divided into many small blocks that form a chessboard, where two teams face each other by moving different units in order to attack the enemy army and thus win victory.

To differentiate Disgaea from the illustrious competitors is rather its own charisma right from the gameplay. In the vast majority of tactical RPGs made in Japan, the leitmotiv is already written: the player waits for his turn, issues an order, and alternates control of the various units, hoping that the one used previously are not too exposed to the arrows of the enemies. In Disgaea 5, however, no: first of all, units can be moved as many times as you like during your turn, as long as they take no action. The freedom of movement is almost absolute, but not random: when two or more characters are close, they can make attacks in combination with devastating effects. In addition to this, the title allows players to manage their own sequence of actions.

Once we have chosen to strike that monk who had the courage to get too close to our position, or to shoot an arrow between the eyes of that magician who has taken refuge on a hill, the attack input is not immediate. You must select "Execute" in the game menu to make the orders given effective, in order to give way to the different combinations of attacks, to elemental spells, to the use of healing potions or to the long throw of your comrades in arms.

Don't panic: it only takes a few hours to fully enter the game mechanism. It will therefore become practically instinctive to move the units close to each other to be able to successfully close the combos. To this light-hearted freedom, Nippon Ichi Soft accompanied an impressive depth of play. We are talking about dozens of classes, lots of skills and abilities to learn, and virtually endless possibilities with which to develop characters. In short, in Disgaea 5 experimenting with new combinations plays a key role in the gameplay.