GRcade

What is Disgaea?

The video below does a great job of explaining what Disgaea is in general, specifically Disgaea 5, and how nearly anyone who likes SRPGs is likely to enjoy it. If you're unsure about the game, but like the genre, check out the video.

There's also a demo of Disgaea 5 Complete on the eShop so you can try it before you buy. Click here to use the Nintendo UK site to send the demo to your Switch while it's in sleep mode.



How well did the Switch version review?

Very well:

Metacritic - 87 with 13 reviews

USgamer - 4.5/5
God is a Geek - 9/10
Real Otaku Gamer - No Score
Destructoid - You pick the score with a quiz
Confreaks & Geeks - 4.06/5
DualShockers - 9/10
HardcoreGamer - 9/10
Nintendo World Report - 8/10
Areajugones - 95/100
Twinfinite - 3.5/5
Switchitalia.it - 8/10 (English summary)
Digitally Downloaded - 5/5
Multiplayer Italy - 8.5/10
Eurogamer Italy - 8/10
Cubed3 - 9/10
App Trigger - 9/10

Ok, dood, you got me. Where can I buy it?

At the time of writing:

£38.95 at The Game Collection
£39.85 at Simply Games
£39.99 at Amazon (£37.99 with Prime)
£49.99 for the download version from the Nintendo eShop
£74.99 for the Limited Edition from the Nintendo UK Store

Love love love love this game. Sunk 300 hours in to the PS4 version. Finished all content except carnage Baal and never got started on fully levelling traps and rank 41 weapons. I've been thinking for months how I'm going to approach this on release as I think I can play it much more efficiently. Can not wait for this.

Oh yeah and I can play this on the toilet.

Super Dragon 64 wrote:...The video below does a great job of explaining what Disgaea is in general, specifically Disgaea 5, and how nearly anyone who likes SRPGs is likely to enjoy it...

Pattybean wrote:Love love love love this game..

Okay... I had no idea what Disgaea is and I'm not sure if I'm really into strategy-type games. But that video and your enthusiasm has made me take a closer look. I don't know if I'm going to understand what is going on - at all! - but I am intrigued.

Even better, the demo is also available in the UK eShop right now and so I will give it a go .

I also read a rumour that said your progress in the demo would carry over to the retail release. Probably not between regions though so go with the UK demo.

jawafour wrote:

Super Dragon 64 wrote:...The video below does a great job of explaining what Disgaea is in general, specifically Disgaea 5, and how nearly anyone who likes SRPGs is likely to enjoy it...

Pattybean wrote:Love love love love this game..

Okay... I had no idea what Disgaea is and I'm not sure if I'm really into strategy-type games. But that video and your enthusiasm has made me take a closer look. I don't know if I'm going to understand what is going on - at all! - but I am intrigued.

Even better, the demo is also available in the UK eShop right now and so I will give it a go .

This is probably the best Disgaea to dip in to if you haven't played any other as the systems are far more refined and user friendly. And the story is stand alone.

although I did hear they changed crit curry to something less useful. Booo. Mind you it was nigh on game breaking I suppose.

jawafour wrote:

Super Dragon 64 wrote:...The video below does a great job of explaining what Disgaea is in general, specifically Disgaea 5, and how nearly anyone who likes SRPGs is likely to enjoy it...

Pattybean wrote:Love love love love this game..

Okay... I had no idea what Disgaea is and I'm not sure if I'm really into strategy-type games. But that video and your enthusiasm has made me take a closer look. I don't know if I'm going to understand what is going on - at all! - but I am intrigued.

Even better, the demo is also available in the UK eShop right now and so I will give it a go .

It really isn't a strategy game in the traditional sense of the world, the actually moving units around and fighting is (for me) the least interesting part of Disgaea. It's all about the numbers and the levelling and that oh so glorious grinding. My finger is hovering above the buy button for a Switch, I've got a PS4 but Disgaea has always been a handheld game for me and I just couldn't see myself playing it on PS4.

The advice I'd give to any first-time Disgaea players is that you need to be prepared for just how much there is to it. It is an incomprehensibly huge mess of interconnected systems. Simply following the story will only give you the surface details, and it will scale in difficulty much faster than your characters do if you don't dig in deeper. You'll be left with a fairly average SRPG with a cringey story. It's when you explore what you can do that it reveals to you what Disgaea is all about. There's a ton of people at your base that all serve a different function. Simply getting to understand how they work will take a great deal of time each, so brace yourself before you start digging in to a new facet of the game. There's far more to everything than it first appears, and you'll find that you can lose 10 hours to that new menu item you just wanted to take a look at.

Wow... the thread has exploded! Really interesting stuff, guys, and I have the impression that this is a deep, deep game.

I've downloaded the demo and started it up. The Switch does a great job of displaying the information; I usually get frustrated when tiny on-screen text is used but this, albeit complex, is clear enough. The presentation is great.

My main concern is that the game may be just too tough for me. It doesn't seem like there is going to be much hand-holding! But... I like what I've seen so far and it feels engaging. I will play more of the demo to see how I get on with it.

Super Dragon 64 wrote:Ok, dood

I feel sad that I only got that because of memes.

Looking forward to the 26th, everything I've heard people say about this series - along the lines of Jiggles' post above - has sounded great to me. I'm excited

Also, I love dumb slice-of-life anime so the story actually sounds excellent to me. I don't see how [not really a spoiler, was in review in the OP, but just in case] "there's a chapter where all the characters fight over a curry" could be anything less than brilliant.

Karl wrote:Also, I love dumb slice-of-life anime so the story actually sounds excellent to me. I don't see how [not really a spoiler, was in review in the OP, but just in case] "there's a chapter where all the characters fight over a curry" could be anything less than brilliant.

Red Magnus only being able to talk by shouting gets real annoying real fast. Particularly because the guy doesn't have the voice for it, so he always sounds raw and strained.

If he was some comedy side character that'd be bearable, but he's one of the main characters, and is therefore all over all the cutscenes. It's exhausting.

I'm extremely interested in this but also a little scared.

Do we have any news on when the UK demo will be available?

It's on the eShop now.

jawafour wrote:Even better, the demo is also available in the UK eShop right now and so I will give it a go .

Couldn't find it on the actual eShop on the Switch but started the download from the website and it was added to the home screen instantly

I've played an hour of the demo and it's good fun! There is a lot to take in but you can progress at your own pace. The production values are great; the game looks swell on the Switch screen.

This thread has got me into a game that I probably wouldn't have looked twice at .

Is the voice actor for Prinny the same as Teddy from Persona 4? Sounds very familiar.

Persona 4 had different voice actors for Teddie in the original and Golden, but neither voices the prinnies.

So what, Maf, now you suddenly entertain the idea of playing SRPGs?

Oh he voiced Teddie in the anime, that's where I recognise him from.

Awww yes it's possible to save and continue in retail.

Pattybean wrote:Awww yes it's possible to save and continue in retail.

That's cool... and pretty tempting .

I've completed the first four missions (battles?) and, although I suspect that I've only learnt a tiny subset of the available instructions in the game, my brain is already full .