Disgaea has always stood out in strategic RPGs because of the pure sight of things. Stupid characters, stupid tactics, and insane damage counts: it’s a franchise that has always taken things to the next level. Disgaea 6: Done, we’re happy to say, you can continue that trend, and somehow even ratchet things further.
First released as Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny for PS4 and Nintendo Switch, Disgaea 6 Complete bundles all subsequent DLC, primarily consisting of item packs and missions, to unlock the protagonist of the previous game in the series. I can do it.
The story is not the focus of Disgaea. Instead, it acts as a means to guide you from one battle encounter to the next. However, setting the narrative here is very useful. You play as Zed. Zombies are trying to take revenge on the almost Almighty, known as the God of Destruction, for a violation that they hardly remember. The God of Destruction is now wasting money on the underworld, the layer of beings inhabited by the devil, and Zedd wants to be strong enough to try to stop it.
Zedd has died thousands and even millions of times in that attempt, so the word “try” is valid here, but he always returns as a zombie. He is initially helped by this effort only by the corrupt, zombied pug, Cerberus, rather than the three hellhounds you might imagine. Cerberus is always cheerful and acts as a straight dog for the more outrageous characters who join you along the way, like Misedor, the super-rich king of mankind, and Melodia, the obsessive princess who loves love ideas.
There’s a pretty steep learning curve, but Disgaea 6 does a great job of not overwhelming the player. Each new twist and concept is gradually introduced, and each level gradually builds up complexity. Similarly, between encounters, Cerberus often clarifies things and describes new features in Pocket Dimension that act as a hub world when things come online.
As your journey progresses, you’ll visit different worlds of stages before the final battle with the boss. Each world usually joins you and introduces new characters who tell short stories. It’s not a breakthrough, but it’s often interesting and usually satisfying.
As a strategic RPG, Disgaea 6 is almost pure white, offering insane depth and virtually unlimited reproducibility. As some of you may not know, the main campaign of the Disgaea series is just a warm-up of the infamous endgame and item world content black holes.
Item World is a system where you can enter any item in the game, such as potions and swords, fight a series of encounters, and raise the overall level. The item will then be leveled up and the sadistic cycle will continue as you can tackle the more difficult item world levels.
A new feature in Disgaea 6 is the Martial Dimension, a ridiculous place for completionists to brag about clearing. Consisting of a series of cruel and difficult combat trials, the first trial has level 3,000 enemies and the final feature has level 66,660,000 enemies. For comparison, I defeated the main campaign at around level 8,000. You may be wondering, but with Disgaea 6, the level cap has been raised to 99,999,999.
It is the grind that can split in Disgaea. This game is all about grind. It actively demands that you grind, and it provides you with the tools to do so. You can automate battles, speed up, and set the stage to repeat. In addition, it’s a good idea to reincarnate your character and reset it to level 1 in exchange for an increase in basic stats.
There are many requests for menus, and considerable micromanagement is required to maintain a larger roster of characters with optimal equipment. Sure, this has been a problem since the first game in the series, but it would have been nice if this aspect had been automated to some extent.
Sure, that doesn’t apply to everyone, but for a particular victim (really like you), it’s an intoxicating loop that somehow doesn’t get old, or at least doesn’t happen right away. You can literally automate the level, leave the console on, and roll in the level as needed.
In addition to the Item World, Disgaea 6 includes classics from other series, such as assemblies that can operate any kind of system, and a dedicated cheat shop that can be used to interrupt the game in any way. The devilish game set in hell actively encourages cheating, which is pretty cool.
When it comes to combat mechanics, Disgaea takes things to another level. There are dozens of unlocking jobs, and all the classics with similar titles have their own skills, strengths and weaknesses. On the battlefield, characters can lift and throw each other to gain position advantage, and when attacking each other, a counterattack can be a counterattack. It’s pretty wild.
Maps often have geopanels, which are mechanisms that affect specific tiles on the battlefield. This can be anything from buffs to direct damage to teleporting. The cool part is to affect both you and your enemies. Preliminarily researching geopanels, uncovering potential dangers and maximizing possible benefits is a satisfying part of every encounter.
Disgaea 6 breaks away from the standard 2D art style of the series. This proves to be a division among longtime fans. I think the new 3D style looks great, but it’s different than before.
The place where Disgaea 6 is included in the series is mainly in the eyes of the viewer. It’s like FINAL FANTASY in that the first thing you played was probably your favorite. I think Disgaea1Complete will continue to be the best title in the series. Still, Disgaea 6 Complete would be second in the opinion of this humble author, thanks to its likable character cast and numerous quality of life improvements.
