Disgaea 2 (PS2)
- Publisher:
- Nippon Ichi Soft.
- Developer:
- NIS America
- Release Date:
- 29.08.2006
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Action Adventure
- Reality Factor:
- Fantasy
- Perspective:
- Third-Person
- Extra:
- Other World
- Blood Level:
- Blood-less
- Age:
- Ancient Times
2 movies
We play Disgaea 2...
Nippon Ichi Software return to their acclaimed strategy role playing game series, and all the demon themed insanity that came with the first title. But is their advertised “100+ hours of devilish mayhem” quite as appealing the second time around?
Calling the SRPG genre impenetrable would be somewhat of an understatement. For casual gamers looking on, the idea of spending upwards of 80 hours playing a regular role playing game is unthinkable; to do all that with unimpressive graphics and a grid based combat system must dredge up feelings of absolute abhorrence. In many ways, though, which is half the point – SPRGs aren’t intended to cross over into the mainstream. That was why it was such a surprise to see Nippon Ichi’s Disgaea: Hour of Darkness reach the level of, if not success, then certainly awareness that it did, when the only other titles in the genre to achieve mass-market consciousness had been the Final Fantasy Tactics series.
For the first Disgaea, it seems a big part of that appeal was the game’s humour. The gameplay was undoubtedly solid, and proved an inventive, if unspectacular take on the genre, but it was the translation that really hit home for a lot of people – there’s not a great many games that have so accurately captured the nuances of anime dialogue.
Which leads into the first criticism of Disgaea 2 rather nicely: the first title was localised by Atlus, who have proven themselves in this regard time and time again, but the sequel has been handled by the newly set up Nippon Ichi Software America, and it shows. That’s not to say that Cursed Memories’ localisation is of a low quality, though – there’s still more than a few genuine laughs, and the snide references to levelling up, ultimate weapons and other RPG clichés are fun. Same goes for the descriptions that come with items, which reference Fight Club and Dirty Harry, as well as Katamari Damacy and even Penny Arcade. For all that, though, it’s just not up to the level of Atlus’ job, and the game suffers because of it.
Not that it’s all Nippon Ichi America’s fault; a good deal of the blame must rest with the original writers for the game. Somehow, it just seems less interesting than the previous title. When Adell’s world is turned into a demon populated Netherworld by the Overlord Zenon, he is, for some reason, left as the only human, with even his family changed into demons. When his mother attempts to summon Zenon so that Adell might defeat him, she ends up summoning his daughter instead, who is initially taken hostage by the hero in order to lure Zenon out, but ends up talking Adell into helping her search for her father instead.
It’s mostly a separate story to that of Hour of Darkness, although there are a number of cameos from the cast of the original game. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough to retain anyone’s interest – the characters are original enough, but just not complex enough above their joking and by the time the story actually starts throwing some serious twists out, it’s far too late to really care much.
Things have improved in some small way in terms of graphics, which can only be a positive, considering the barrier to entry that the graphics of the original presented. Even with the improvements, though, Cursed Memories still looks little better than an early Dreamcast game, and for anyone used to the standards offered by current PlayStation 2 titles, it’s jarring. The sprites lack detail, and can very often look blurred if the camera is zooming in during a cut scene, and although the level of care placed into the character designs is obvious from the anime style talking heads that also appear during cut scenes, there’s just not enough movement and emotion shown to really immerse the player in what’s happening. The same goes for the voice acting, which is capable, but far from exceptional. There’s a Japanese voice track thoughtfully provided, which is stoic enough as to not be offensive, but given the game’s humour, it kind of misses the point to be using this, and the lack of a well recorded, well timed comic voice track is a missed opportunity.
In some ways, though, that’s all window dressing to what true SRPG fans will be interested in – the combat, and the ability to level up characters well beyond anything you’ve seen in other RPGs. Cursed Memories certainly offers a number of gameplay options in both regards; as it should. The grid based fight sequences return from the first title, and are once again robust, and offer plenty of options for well thought out strategy. Adding to the complexity of maps this time around is the Geo Panel system, which places coloured tiles around the battlefield that alter character behaviour in different ways – adding 50% to defence, or even levels to enemies that stand on those tiles, amongst many other stat changes.
It’s inventive, and often requires a lot of thought, especially on high levels. This is most apparent in the well designed story based levels, when the appropriate usage of the panels can make or break a battle.
The Item World once again makes an appearance, allowing players to enter any item, and level it up from the inside by traversing through up to 100 floors of randomly generated maps. It’s an intriguing idea, which undoubtedly adds longevity to the title, but the randomness can take away a lot of the joy from fighting, as consecutive battles can begin to feel drawn out and repetitive.
After a while playing, even the scripted battles suffer from the same problem, and a good deal of the problem seems to stem from the game’s lack of overworld – it just doesn’t feel like a coherent setting, seeing as battles are accessed from speaking to a gatekeeper in Adell’s village. This also makes it all too easy for a pattern to emerge: go to area, watch cut scene, fight, watch cut scene, go back to village, heal, go to scene, and so on. Even with a number of distinctly different settings for the fight scenes, it just begins to drag.
In the end, this is the downfall of Disgaea 2 – it’s a fun game in short bursts, but too repetitive for the promised 100 hours of play. There’s plenty to do, but everything begins to feel the same after a time, and while most RPGs would be able to use their story to carry themselves through that, Disgaea 2’s narrative isn’t compelling enough to be able to rely on in that fashion. Unless you’re a hardcore SRPG fan, you’d be better off spending your time on more deserving titles.
Top Game Moment: The confused insanity of the Demon Lord Etna’s penguin-like Prinny Squad brings more laughs than anything else in the game. Fortunately, while they make their fair share of appearances, hilariously punctuating each sentence with “dood”, they aren’t overused, and manage to remain funny each time they come on screen.
 |
 |
|
| Combo attacks lend an impressive sense of complexity and strategy to the combat |
The Item World throws out some interesting levels, but can't stave off a feeling of repetition |
Calling the SRPG genre impenetrable would be somewhat of an understatement. For casual gamers looking on, the idea of spending upwards of 80 hours playing a regular role playing game is unthinkable; to do all that with unimpressive graphics and a grid based combat system must dredge up feelings of absolute abhorrence. In many ways, though, which is half the point – SPRGs aren’t intended to cross over into the mainstream. That was why it was such a surprise to see Nippon Ichi’s Disgaea: Hour of Darkness reach the level of, if not success, then certainly awareness that it did, when the only other titles in the genre to achieve mass-market consciousness had been the Final Fantasy Tactics series.
For the first Disgaea, it seems a big part of that appeal was the game’s humour. The gameplay was undoubtedly solid, and proved an inventive, if unspectacular take on the genre, but it was the translation that really hit home for a lot of people – there’s not a great many games that have so accurately captured the nuances of anime dialogue.
Which leads into the first criticism of Disgaea 2 rather nicely: the first title was localised by Atlus, who have proven themselves in this regard time and time again, but the sequel has been handled by the newly set up Nippon Ichi Software America, and it shows. That’s not to say that Cursed Memories’ localisation is of a low quality, though – there’s still more than a few genuine laughs, and the snide references to levelling up, ultimate weapons and other RPG clichés are fun. Same goes for the descriptions that come with items, which reference Fight Club and Dirty Harry, as well as Katamari Damacy and even Penny Arcade. For all that, though, it’s just not up to the level of Atlus’ job, and the game suffers because of it.
Not that it’s all Nippon Ichi America’s fault; a good deal of the blame must rest with the original writers for the game. Somehow, it just seems less interesting than the previous title. When Adell’s world is turned into a demon populated Netherworld by the Overlord Zenon, he is, for some reason, left as the only human, with even his family changed into demons. When his mother attempts to summon Zenon so that Adell might defeat him, she ends up summoning his daughter instead, who is initially taken hostage by the hero in order to lure Zenon out, but ends up talking Adell into helping her search for her father instead.
It’s mostly a separate story to that of Hour of Darkness, although there are a number of cameos from the cast of the original game. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough to retain anyone’s interest – the characters are original enough, but just not complex enough above their joking and by the time the story actually starts throwing some serious twists out, it’s far too late to really care much.
 |
 |
|
| Some of the story based maps prove rather impressive in terms of design |
The English script provides a few languages, but also falls flat a little too often |
Things have improved in some small way in terms of graphics, which can only be a positive, considering the barrier to entry that the graphics of the original presented. Even with the improvements, though, Cursed Memories still looks little better than an early Dreamcast game, and for anyone used to the standards offered by current PlayStation 2 titles, it’s jarring. The sprites lack detail, and can very often look blurred if the camera is zooming in during a cut scene, and although the level of care placed into the character designs is obvious from the anime style talking heads that also appear during cut scenes, there’s just not enough movement and emotion shown to really immerse the player in what’s happening. The same goes for the voice acting, which is capable, but far from exceptional. There’s a Japanese voice track thoughtfully provided, which is stoic enough as to not be offensive, but given the game’s humour, it kind of misses the point to be using this, and the lack of a well recorded, well timed comic voice track is a missed opportunity.
In some ways, though, that’s all window dressing to what true SRPG fans will be interested in – the combat, and the ability to level up characters well beyond anything you’ve seen in other RPGs. Cursed Memories certainly offers a number of gameplay options in both regards; as it should. The grid based fight sequences return from the first title, and are once again robust, and offer plenty of options for well thought out strategy. Adding to the complexity of maps this time around is the Geo Panel system, which places coloured tiles around the battlefield that alter character behaviour in different ways – adding 50% to defence, or even levels to enemies that stand on those tiles, amongst many other stat changes.
It’s inventive, and often requires a lot of thought, especially on high levels. This is most apparent in the well designed story based levels, when the appropriate usage of the panels can make or break a battle.
The Item World once again makes an appearance, allowing players to enter any item, and level it up from the inside by traversing through up to 100 floors of randomly generated maps. It’s an intriguing idea, which undoubtedly adds longevity to the title, but the randomness can take away a lot of the joy from fighting, as consecutive battles can begin to feel drawn out and repetitive.
After a while playing, even the scripted battles suffer from the same problem, and a good deal of the problem seems to stem from the game’s lack of overworld – it just doesn’t feel like a coherent setting, seeing as battles are accessed from speaking to a gatekeeper in Adell’s village. This also makes it all too easy for a pattern to emerge: go to area, watch cut scene, fight, watch cut scene, go back to village, heal, go to scene, and so on. Even with a number of distinctly different settings for the fight scenes, it just begins to drag.
 |
 |
|
| Characters have plenty of energy, but often don't progress beyond a humorous shell |
The grid based combat system is robust, but repetitive |
In the end, this is the downfall of Disgaea 2 – it’s a fun game in short bursts, but too repetitive for the promised 100 hours of play. There’s plenty to do, but everything begins to feel the same after a time, and while most RPGs would be able to use their story to carry themselves through that, Disgaea 2’s narrative isn’t compelling enough to be able to rely on in that fashion. Unless you’re a hardcore SRPG fan, you’d be better off spending your time on more deserving titles.
Top Game Moment: The confused insanity of the Demon Lord Etna’s penguin-like Prinny Squad brings more laughs than anything else in the game. Fortunately, while they make their fair share of appearances, hilariously punctuating each sentence with “dood”, they aren’t overused, and manage to remain funny each time they come on screen.
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Trailer #2
Posted 15.08.06
Length 01:45 Views 400 -
Trailer #1
Posted 26.07.06
Length 01:37 Views 397
