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Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (魔界戦記 ディスガイア; Makai Senki Disgaea, lit. Netherworld Battle Chronicle: Disgaea) is a fantasy video game for the PlayStation 2, developed by Nippon Ichi Software and released in the U.S. by ATLUS on August 2003 and by Koei in Europe on May 2004. The game follows the adventures of Laharl, a demon prince in the netherworld.
Disgaea is a tactical role-playing game with an isometric view (overhead at an angle), similar to the more widely known Final Fantasy Tactics. In September 2003, the GameFly rental service reported that Disgaea was one of its top ten rentals for the week. Disgaea is known for its combination of comedy, over the top gameplay, and unique features; the game is filled with gags and parodies. Additionally, the game's audio in the U.S. release is available both in English and Japanese.
The artwork and feel of the game draws heavily from Japanese animation, to the extent that a review in EGM said that it feels like Disgaea was made "by poison-tongued anime nerds hopped up on goofballs". While generally receiving good reviews in EGM and other magazines, Disgaea's graphics are often considered below par for the PlayStation 2, due to its heavy use of sprites. The makers of Disgaea have responded that characters represented by 3D models in other games are often limited by a "set pattern of motions", and they were able to make the characters of Disgaea more expressive with sprites.
Gameplay features Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow. - Lift/Throw: This feature allows units to pick up enemies or allies and throw them great distances. Monster Units cannot use this ability. Rogues and Gordon are the best throwers in the game.
- Cycles: This feature allows the player to start the game again once it is beaten, maintaining the characters' statistics and item inventory. This is similar to the "New Game+" feature found in some Square Enix games.
- High Level-Cap: A determined player can reach a character level of 9999. However, level is not the sole determinant of a character's strength or ability.
- Multiple Endings: Depending on how you play six different endings can be unlocked, greatly adding to the game's replay value.
- Dark Senate: Various non-player characters may vote on proposals to aid Laharl's party, including proposals to unlock various special maps required for some of the various endings or secret characters.
- Item World: When you go into an item, you go into an Item World, an area with randomly generated levels, often covered with Geo Panels and Geo Symbols. Catching a Monster in here is good, because not only are monsters rarely (if ever) catchable unmerged at level 9,999 outside of it, they often have spells, such as Tera Star or Omega Heal. You can also find Monsters called Specialists, which, when captured, raise the stats of the item you're in. If you capture a Gladiator, your attack will increase slightly, while if you capture a Statistician, you get more EXP per kill. This is a good place to get items and HL, and also the only way to get a Yoshitsuna and a Hyperdrive. Every ten levels, you run into an Item Boss - 10, 20, 40, 50, 70 and 80 have Item General, 30, 60 and 90 have Item King, and 100 has Item God (who you get the Yoshitsuna from). There are only three items, however, you can find an Item God2 in - Yoshitsuna, Super Robo Suit and Hyperdrive (all flashing blue).
- Monster capture: In this game, instead of making monsters, you should always capture a monster, because it's either easier or they have better spells and equipment. It's not easy, mind you - one monster can take out your team if you're not careful. You not only have to lower their HP, but you should lower their SP as well - they have a thing I'd like to call an SP Burst - and a good way to remedy this is to get a lot of Good-For-Nothing Prinnies to take the SP. You have to throw the Monster into the Base Panel. Note that bosses and Humanoids cannot be captured under any circumstances.
- Audio: The game's storyline audio and music in the U.S. release is available both in English and Japanese. The song "The Invasion From Within" by Tsunami Bomb was licenced for the English audio track by ATLUS due to its organ opening and fast pace.
- Up to ten playable characters can placed on the map at a time.
- Comedy
- Hell: The name of the game's form of currency is Hell, abbreviated HL, if you want to buy something; you've "got hell to pay".
- Next Episode Previews: Episodes of the game are separated by humorous previews, parodying such previews at the end of Anime series episodes. Most of these have voice-overs by Etna and do not actually reflect the plot of the next episode.
- Prinnies: Prinnies are penguin-like creatures that explode when thrown. They work in both Celestia and the Netherworld. More information on their origins is revealed as the game progresses.
- Captain Gordon is intended as a satire of American comic book characters.
Cast of characters Main article: Disgaea characters | Name | Class | Information | | Laharl | | | | Flonne | | | | Etna | Vassal | Etna is driven throughout the game by a deep loyalty to the late King Krichevskoy. | | Captain Gordon | Defender of Earth | Obsessed with his position as a hero and Defender of Earth, Gordon is often the target of many of the game's jokes. | | Jennifer | Assistant (to Gordon) | Accompanies Gordon on his adventures as Defender of Earth with her robot Thursday. Gordon mentions at one point that she has a Ph.D. in every subject. | | Thursday | Super-Robot | Built by Jennifer when she was only five, Thursday is described as a multi-purpose super-robot. | | Kurtis | Rival | Had 70% of his body destroyed by an explosion caused by anti-space development terrorists, and also lost his wife and daughter to the explosion. He treats Gordon like a rival, until he realizes he's just a fool. | |
Supporting Characters | Name | Class | Information | | Vyers (Mid-Boss/The Dark Adonis) | Sassy Demon | (Fill in the blank) | | Lamington | Seraph | (Fill in the blank) | | Vulcanus | Arch Angel | (Fill in the blank) | | General Carter | General | General Carter is the leader of Earth, and he sent Captain Gordon, Jennifer and Thursday to kill the Overlord, King Krichevskoy. Eventually, after Gordon loses and is forced to be Laharl's vassal, the EDF (Earth Defense Forces) come to the Netherworld, and Gordon learns that he was actually sent so that they could secure a route to the Netherworld. Carter sends Kurtis over to the Netherworld, and eventually, he comes there on the Space Battleship Gargantua. He is working with Arch Angel Vulcanus to kill the Demons and takeover the Netherworld, but eventually, he escapes after being defeated, only to have Mid-Boss appear to give him one final message. | | Big Sis Prinny | Prinny | Big Sis Prinny appears sometimes through some Episodes, and eventually comes into the main plot in the Resurrection Episode, when Laharl attempts to stop the Prinnies from atoning for their sins at the Red Moon, so he doesn't lose his Vassals. Eventually, when he runs into Death, he learns that Big Sis Prinny is actually his mother, and she became a Prinny because she gave her life to save him, and that is a grave sin. | | Maderas | Vampire | Maderas is a Vampire that first appears in Episode V, and he blackmails Laharl with an embarrassing photo, and threatens to show it to everyone in the Netherworld if he doesn't accept his challenge. He was kicked out of the Netherworld by King Krichevskoy, for stealing his favorite snack, Black Pretzels. All through Episode V, Maderas takes advantage of Laharl's two biggest weaknesses - optimism and women with sexy bodies. Maderas also was controlling Etna, and holding her memory if she doesn't kill the Prince. She ends up only putting him to sleep for two years, and he continued to use her, but Etna eventually double-crossed him, and along with Laharl, Flonne and Mid-Boss (who helped Laharl overcome his weaknesses), they defeated Maderas, and Maderas joined the party. | | Hoggmeiser | Brute | Hoggmeiser is a Demon who lived very well off in Dinero Palace, until Laharl needs money, so he decides to go steal it from the richest guy around. He gets through Dinero Palace and defeats Hoggmeiser. He's about to put him out of his misery, until Hoggmeiser's Son rushes out and gets in the way. Flonne convinces him to not kill him, and Laharl lets the father and son keep some of the money. Hoggmeiser then joins the party. |
Plot After defeating the demon Vyers, who refers to himself as the "Dark Adonis" and is renamed "Mid-Boss" by Laharl, he meets the Angel Trainee Flonne, who has been sent by the Seraph of Celestia to assassinate the late king. Shocked by Laharl's lack of remorse at his father's death, Flonne joins Laharl's party to determine if demons are capable of feeling love.
After Laharl is the undisputed Overlord of the Netherworld, he meets a group of humans from Earth, including the "Defender of Earth" Gordon, his assistant Jennifer, and the robot Thursday. Gordon has been led to believe that his mission is to assassinate Laharl due to an impending attack on Earth by the Netherworld, but he is actually securing a path for a large invasion of the Netherworld by the humans, who have been tricked by the Archangel Vulcanus.
Paparazzi photo In chapter V of the game, Flonne and Etna discover a photograph of Laharl in an embarrassing situation. Laharl refers to this as a "paparazzi shot", however, it is never explicitly revealed what Laharl was doing in the photo in the game. There are many theories, including the two popular ones - the first being that he was doing something sexual, and the second being that he was doing something nice. The back of the photograph contained a threat stating that copies of it would be distributed if Laharl did not accept a challenge to fight for the overlordship; thus Laharl was blackmailed. One of the demons in Laharl's castle, upon learning about the photo, says "I didn't know you were into that sort of thing ♥".
See also
References - Bettenhausen, Shane (Oct. 1, 2003). Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=2006315&did=2). Electronic Gaming Monthly.
- GameFly, Inc. (Sept. 29, 2003). GameFly offers a weekly 'Top Ten' list of its most popular video games (http://www.gamefly.com/press/pr_20030929.asp?pg=4&prn=8). Press Release.
- Lindquist, Tim (2003). Disgaea: Hour of Darkness – The Official Strategy Guide – Special PDF Free Edition (http://doublejumpbooks.com/disgaea/). DoubleJump Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0974170003.
- Maragos, Nich (Sept. 1, 2003). Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3108004). Official U.S. Playstation Magazine.
- PlayStation.com Staff (April 23, 2004). Disgaea's Creators Explain It All (http://uk.playstation.com/features/featureStory.jhtml?storyId=105472_en_GB_FEAT). Retrieved Feb. 2, 2005.
- Strippin Heat. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness – Game Info (http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/data/589678.html). GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com). Retrieved Jan. 26, 2005.
External links - Official ATLUS Disgaea Site (http://www.atlus.com/dis/) features some Macromedia Flash animation.
- Official Koei Disgaea Site (http://www.tacticalrpg.com/disgaea/about.php)
- Disgaea (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380520/) at the Internet Movie Database; includes english voice actors.
- Tsunami Bomb (http://www.tsunamibomb.com/)
- Interlaced - Disgaea: Hour of Darkness review (http://www.interlaced.cc/reviews/ps2/disgaea/)
- Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (http://www.games-online.ca/r/index.php/mod/article/id/25) review
- HolyLancer9's Stats (http://www.freewebs.com/holylancerexe)
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