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Games of the Decade #21/Blog a Day #10

Hello gamers™, how are you?

There are all types of gamers in the world and they play all sorts of video games. Some choose to dedicate their time in one genre of games, while others choose to play as many types of games as possible. However even those who play many different games tend to overlook some games because they have never played a game from a genre they aren't familiar simply because the game looks intimidating to them. Sometimes the barrier of entry for some games is too high. For this one particular game we are going to revisit 2014 and this game is known as Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited.

                                      The music in this game is really cool, dood ♥

If there has ever been a list of strange games I've ever played, then Disgaea 4 will most likely be on that list. Lets revisit this backstory: I was always aware of the games, but I have never actually tried them. It wasn't till 2017 that a good friend of mine finally gave me the push I needed to finally try one of them. I was told at how good it was and was really excited to try it out. I'm always excited to try out new games but was also curious as well because it was a genre I had no experience in. But there's a first time for everything I suppose. Was the game any good? Let's find out!

The game starts off with our main character, Valvatorez who is a former tyrant but now works as a Prinny Instructor in the Netherworld. One day he learns that the Corruptement (think of it as the Netherworld's version of the government), which plans to eradicate all the Prinnies so he and his loyal servant Fenrich go throughout the Netherworld to put a stop to that. Along the way he meets others who have different motivations but have the same goal of meeting with government and the Netherworld President. But what Valatorez and his entourage find out along the way is much more worse than they could possibly imagine. And sardines. If it doesn't sound as exciting or weird to you, trust me, it gets weird. Really weird.

Gameplay in D4 is pretty straightforward. The game is a turn-based strategy game and I suppose this is where it might turn people off but the game is really easy to understand as the game gives you tutorials early in the game telling you how the gameplay works. Once in battle you ca do various things like move your character to picking up a ally and tossing them ahead a few more spaces.This is really useful because your thrown character might be able to reach their destination faster this way. You can also pick up a number of characters like a tower, think of it like in the Mario and Luigi games where you can pick each other up. You can perform special team attacks or reach things that are out of reach.

 

                                                 Lord Valzy loves his sardines, dood.

Some monster allies have the ability to fuse with another monster ally to become a more bigger monster with increased stats. Some can even transform into weapons and yes, even giant monsters can turn into a weapon too and also yes, the weapons are bigger too. During fights whe an enemy attacks you, you can perform a counterattack, but the enemy also has a chance to folow up with a counter-counterattack and you can follow up with a counter-counter-counterattack. It is as absurd as it sounds but I always find this really funny when it happens. A number of characters have their own special attacks that they learn as they level up and they are really incredible.

In the game you have a hub known as Hades and here is where you will be spending your time between story missions and the like. You can do all sorts of things here from buying weapons and equipment for your team to provisions like healing items. More shops and areas in Hades unlock as you progress through the story. One of my favorites is the Dark Senate. In the Dark Senate you can try to pass certain bills by having Senate members vote on various things. One thing you can do to pass the bill to vote in your favor is to bribe senators. Or you can fight them and take them out. Just like politics in real life.

Music in the game is really good. The music in the game really captures the mood of what's going on. For instance if something funny is happening, or something dramatic. Music is really good at setting the mood for many of the things that go in the game.

"But Captain N, where can I try this game?" Well my hypothetical reader, you are in luck. This game has been rereleased a number of times. Disgaea 4 was originally a PS3 game which then got ported to the PS Vita a few years later, which is the version I played on my PSTV. It's why it has the name 'Revisited' in the title. It's not the only Vita game that will be on this list. Yes the game is compatible with the PSTV too. If you have a Vita or a PSTV, you can get it there.

 

                                                        Yeah pretty much, dood.

Also the game was rereleased on the PS4 and Switch as Disgaea 4 Complete+. They did add a number of new things too it too. The question is, which version is right for you? If you don't have a Vita/PSTV, I'd say go for either PS4 or Switch. Thing is it depends if you care for trophies on PS4 vs. the portability of the Switch. With a game like this, I would say portaility plays a huge factor as it is why it was ported to the Vita years ago. They knew how long this game would be. But it depends on what your personal preference is.

The game has online too but I haven't tried it myself but there are a numer of things you can do online like make your own pirate ship to invade the custom worlds of other players. And you can even have ship battles with other players too. You can even make your own battle maps to upload as well. There's also a number of other things I didn't talk about as I feel it is better to try them out for yourself.

Final Thoughts: Disgaea 4 is definitely one of the more stranger games I have ever played but I say that in a good way. It's such a fun game and it really doesn't demand too much from you in order to get into the game. It's easy to figure out but it's even more satisfying to master once you have gotten a grasp of the gameplay. It's such an addicting game too, I was always excited to see what turn the story would take every time I cleared a level and wanted to know more once a chapter ended on a cliffhanger.

 

                                                           All is for our Lord, dood.

I love how serious the plot is, it's political and if there is one thing I hate is politics in real life. But it never takes itself too seriously with all the nonsense and hilarity going on and it made me interested in the politics of the Netherworld. But that is thanks to the characters of the game and the game really did a good job of making me care for them and what was hapening to their world. If you are looking for a new game or something that will last you for a long time, I highly recommend getting this. And trust me, you will be playing this game for a very long time. The main story is long enough but it has tons and tons and tons of content here that will keep you busy for months or years.

I had no proper experience with the series outside of being aware and its trademark artstyle, prior to playing this game. It wasn't due to being intimidated or anything of the like, I suppose it is that I just never knew where to start and I never got that push to try out one of the games. But what I got out of Disgaea 4 is a really amazing game that I put a lot of hours into. Sometimes the best games are the ones you have never played or heard of which is why I feel it is great to try something new every once in a while. You never know, you just might find a new favorite game.

And that is it for revisiting this one. Next post is tomorrow, I promise you that, dood.

 

*All images in this post except the first one were taken by me and my copy of Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited on PSTV*