191: Grinding to Infinity

[Daye.04]

Good article

I've never understood the appeal of grinding. Repeating the same action hundreds of times to make your level go up. But i guess some people like something to work at. I personally prefer a game with an end so I can look back afterwards and feel satisfied that i beat it. If i were to play a game with no end it would remove all sense of accomplishment and i would become incredibly unmotivated to play it.

It might be like the same way I feel about work. I think it feels good to just do something relaxing, Something you know what to do, and takes a lot of time. That way, you can do it, while drifting off in your own thoughts. Just like work, that way you can enjoy your own thoughts and get something out of it while you do it (level in games money in work =P). I'm not sure with other guys, but that's the way I look at it at least ..

 

[RagnorakTres]

Hooray! My (hmm...1st is...2nd...OK) third favorite game of all time is getting a nod! I like Disgaea mostly because it's funny though. Oh, and throwing Prinnies NEVER GETS OLD!!!! I have to say that my other two were Kingdom Hearts 2 and Riviera: The Promised Land. The first I like because of the storyline and epic worlds (you get to beat SEPHIROTH!!!!!!), and the second because of all the possible endings and the hilarity ensuing from making the wrong dialogue choice (EIN!!! What!?! What did I do?!?) and the character development and the weapon attacks and...this list goes on towards infinity.

Anyway, I haven't even beaten Disgaea yet (mostly because I don't own a console and have to play it at my friends house) and I know that it is one of those games that will never really end. So I will just beat the "storyline" and move on to Disgaea 2, which looks just as good, in my opinion.

 

[Somthing]

hmm if its like FF tactics i might have to get it because i freaking loved ff tactics. i had one on gameboy advance and one on psp

 

[irrelevantnugget]

hmm if its like FF tactics i might have to get it because i freaking loved ff tactics. i had one on gameboy advance and one on psp

It's better than War of the Lions, imo. It's ideal for just playing it a short while when you're on a train or something.

Only thing it lacks is a quicksave feature when you're in an item world (you NEED to clear 10 levels in a row (though there's shortcuts), unless you use another item to get out quickly)

Obtaining the true ending requires a few playthroughs, apparently, so longevity is here alright. I'm 25 hours in, and judging on the episodes count (14 in total, not counting Etna mode), I'm halfway through the first cycle.


Also, to the people who have the game as well: "THE PRISM RANGERSSSSSSSSSSSS"

 

[Dorian Cornelius Jasper]

The Shining Force series portrays the essence of the genre in its purest form. It is the great grandfather, the first, the one and only.

Fire Emblem predates Shining Force by 2 years and is generally acknowledged as the first example of a true Tactical-RPG. Langrisser, Master of Monsters, and Shining Force (all near contemporaries of FE1) are known as improvements on the original concept. Not one is considered to be the original T-RPG, nor is any of them considered the purest example of the genre.

 

[Vortigar]

Fire Emblem predates Shining Force by 2 years and is generally acknowledged as the first example of a true Tactical-RPG. Langrisser, Master of Monsters, and Shining Force (all near contemporaries of FE1) are known as improvements on the original concept. Not one is considered to be the original T-RPG, nor is any of them considered the purest example of the genre.

Youch! Consider me vanquished.

The pure remark was aimed at the fact that he (the article writer) didn't seem to consider Shining Force an SRPG at all. Which I think is more than a bit weird. Not that there was some general consensus on some kind of aspect.

Looking over this titles, I'd say all of them are 'pure' as they are completely no frills affair where the positioning of your units (the strategy aspect) is by far the most important determining factor.

It wasn't the first then, will adjust my notes for the future. Thanks for the history lesson.

 

[AvsJoe]

Soooo true. So beautifully and wonderfully true. I love tactical, turn-based strategies with a passion; I am truly an SRPG fanatic. And these games are the crown jewel of comedic SRPG's, which is why I love them so. I really wish that I had a PS2 right now, I would definitely restart the game (but I don't, alas).

 

[tetron]

I always found disgaea to be so fun and enjoyable. Even if I didn't want to grind up to total level 999999999 I still found the story and humor a refreshing change as opposed to the usual seriousness of most tactical RPGs. I don't like grinding that much so to me it was quite the grind to get the weapon skills for the best attacks.

 

[Marsell]

guess its just an aquired taste

 

[Ocelano]

In the review you say "why stop at 400 when you can level to 999", you do know that you can go into the thousands right?In fact Baal, the now traditional Nippon Ichi games final secret boss is level 4000.


anyways, iv'e been a huge Nippon Ichi game fan sence the first Disgea. But i'm confused as to why Disgaea 3 was on PS3. The graphics were easily last generation capable, in fact id say only slightly higher than the original PS capabilitys.

I thought that it may of been to allow for the extra download-able content like the extra raspberryl chapters disgaea 3's version of Etna mode and dark hero axel mode from the psp ports of the original 2 not to mention all the unlock-able characters such as good ol captain Gordon

thatsaid it may just be to keep it accessible for all those who traded in their ps2's for non backwards compatible ps3's

hmm if its like FF tactics i might have to get it because i freaking loved ff tactics. i had one on gameboy advance and one on psp

It's better than War of the Lions, imo. It's ideal for just playing it a short while when you're on a train or something.

Only thing it lacks is a quicksave feature when you're in an item world (you NEED to clear 10 levels in a row (though there's shortcuts), unless you use another item to get out quickly)

Obtaining the true ending requires a few playthroughs, apparently, so longevity is here alright. I'm 25 hours in, and judging on the episodes count (14 in total, not counting Etna mode), I'm halfway through the first cycle.


Also, to the people who have the game as well: "THE PRISM RANGERSSSSSSSSSSSS"

TRRRRAAAAAANNNNSSSSSSFFFFOOOOOORRRR.. BANG BANG Blue yellow NOOOOOOO!

Hooray! My (hmm...1st is...2nd...OK) third favorite game of all time is getting a nod! I like Disgaea mostly because it's funny though. Oh, and throwing Prinnies NEVER GETS OLD!!!! I have to say that my other two were Kingdom Hearts 2 and Riviera: The Promised Land. The first I like because of the storyline and epic worlds (you get to beat SEPHIROTH!!!!!!), and the second because of all the possible endings and the hilarity ensuing from making the wrong dialogue choice (EIN!!! What!?! What did I do?!?) and the character development and the weapon attacks and...this list goes on towards infinity.

Anyway, I haven't even beaten Disgaea yet (mostly because I don't own a console and have to play it at my friends house) and I know that it is one of those games that will never really end. So I will just beat the "storyline" and move on to Disgaea 2, which looks just as good, in my opinion.

Humph well you may of been able to beat sephiroth that little s.o.b. always kicked my ass in both 1 and 2

snip

snipity

snip snip .

I actually play Disgaea for the story. That's why I felt weird reading the article . Because its a wonderfully quirky universe to me, the grinding came as a secondary feature.

Agreed the delightfully shameless dialogue also drew me in, but how is it so bad to have a game based solely around the thing that all other games are about but try to deny?

Ok maybe not fps's but any game with any kind of levelling system is going to, in the wrong hands turn, turn into a case of grind away so I can get stronger/buy better items/advance in plot extremely overpoweredly, MMORPGS are infamous for this even the ones that claim they don't do. This game just does in the open what all the others do in the closet (insert gay joke here) with varying degree's of success. an if yo only pla through to the level 100 ish main plot boss so hat you still ejoyed it and if you smased in the teeth of the lvl 4000 hidden boss with your lvl 10k supersquad you wil still find the sae enjoyment if for slghtly diffeent reasons

 

[theultimateend]

Agreed the delightfully shameless dialogue also drew me in, but how is it so bad to have a game based solely around the thing that all other games are about but try to deny?

Ok maybe not fps's but any game with any kind of levelling system is going to, in the wrong hands turn, turn into a case of grind away so I can get stronger/buy better items/advance in plot extremely overpoweredly, MMORPGS are infamous for this even the ones that claim they don't do. This game just does in the open what all the others do in the closet (insert gay joke here) with varying degree's of success. an if yo only pla through to the level 100 ish main plot boss so hat you still ejoyed it and if you smased in the teeth of the lvl 4000 hidden boss with your lvl 10k supersquad you wil still find the sae enjoyment if for slghtly diffeent reasons

Disgaea not only made grinding fun but they actively developed tricky methods players could use to streamline the grinding process.

There are dozens of functions and items that were added for no other reason than they are astoundingly fun and gamebreaking.

I liked this decision and it keeps me returning to their games. If they ever do vanish it'll be an unfortunate day for me since they are one of the few companies left that really makes games that interest me even in the slightest (not a huge deal since it has got me reading more now that most companies release (Warning Personal opinion Alert) complete shit).

 

[Terramax]

I disagree that Disgaea demands you to be fanatical. I think the genius is that it gives you a choice. As much as I adored the game a first time through, it was a long time before I picked up my PS2 pad and played through it a second time.

I'd say with unexpected success of Disgaea that all of Nippon Ichi's game since have been about devotion and fanatical dedication, which is the reason why I disliked all of their games I played after (Makai Kingdoms, Phantom Brave and Disgaea 2). The locations looked more bland and, worst of all, the stories were terrible. These games only excelled in their battle systems, but that wasn't enough for me, neither was it for a number of others.

 

[oranger]

Well,the maximum level is 9999, with the maximum meta level being something like 40 000 or some other ridiculous number (its not 99 999, as some think...you're limited by the reincarnation point carryover and aptitude percentage boost caps).
And its awesome. The primary draw to disgaea is that there is more than one game to play using the same engine and storyline.

 

[ThePurpleStuff]

I never got into any other tactics games, in fact I hate tactics, but the Disgaea series is the only series I enjoyed and I've played almost all of them except ones on psp. Disgaea 4 is the only one of the series I played all the way through the story without using a save or gameshark, though I did use in game exploits that weren't patched yet. Yes I hate the grinding and I do anything to shave time off doing it, but it makes the game even more enjoyable to me and I don't feel bad about doing it knowing the other more time consuming, luck based options.

 

[Ninedeus]

For me disgaea doesn't demand ones fanatiscism, it earns it. They suck you in with their quirky characters and dialogues that completely breaks the fourth wall and leaves a gaping hole throughout the entire game. The game also has a lot of other quirky features, example being able to make changes in game like enemy levels from the senate and if they choose to vote against it, you can always use more medieval ways of persuasion, and if you ever lose the vote to remain the main character, then its game over. Then the gameplay takes over.

 

[Weaver]

I love Disgaea! 4 is really good IMO, it's a refinement of the series.
There is something that I find relaxing about the pointlessness of it. If I get home I might just grind an item world for an hour to wind down.

It also helps the humor is really good