Disgaea 5

[Weaver]

Disgaea 5 came out a few days ago, and I want to know what everyone thinks of it! I haven't really got the chance to sink my teeth into it (that'll be this weekend) but I've cleared Chapter 1.

So far I think the game is mechanically accomplished - the most so in the series thus far. The revenge system is really cool, I like that there is now resistances to each weapon type as well as it means there's a lot more picking who should tackle what target.

In terms of story I obviously haven't got very far - I'm not in love with the cast thus far. Mainly I feel Killia is way too serious a character. I've never seen the series deliver us such a straight man and I feel he's just way, way too cliche. That said, I've enjoyed the other two characters I've met so far.

Let's talk shop, Escapist!

 

[Hades]

I'm a bit worried about the game. Wasn't it sort off implied the series would be killed off if this one didn't sell enough copies?

 

[Weaver]

I'm a bit worried about the game. Wasn't it sort off implied the series would be killed off if this one didn't sell enough copies?

Apparently it was a mistranslation
http://nisamerica.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&p=836344&sid=b9afed169d38c80641d1b01dc2cd3dd9#p836347

Relevant text

"This comment was simply self-deprecating humor and in no way did it mean or imply that Nippon Ichi Software as a company is going bankrupt or is in financial difficulties. I was merely trying to use humor in order to get the point across that we are committed to selling 150,000 copies of Disgaea 5.?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

My problem with the Disgaea games - a nitpick, really - is this: you start with 2 or 3 mains, right? Laharl, Etna and Flonne in the first game, Adell and Rosalind in the second, and so on. And while you're early in the game you probably name and create a few more characters to spruce up your party of 10: a warrior, a healer, a fighter, a rogue, etc. So the main characters and your secondary batch of originals level up together. But throughout the game new story related characters join you along the way, and they're always so underleveled that you barely even bother using them. Except they continously show up in cutscenes as if they're just as important as your starter characters, or the characters you personally created (and don't even appear in cutscenes). So there's a weird segregation going on: characters you create and use for most of the game go unsung by the narrative, while characters that are plot-relevant show up way too late to the party to be of any use yet steal the spotlight from the guys you actually use.

Not that I care all that much but I wish NIS managed to work around this disparity, somehow get to integrate the characters you create into the cutscenes, even if they're just background dressing and are assigned token dialogue.

 

[Weaver]

My problem with the Disgaea games - a nitpick, really - is this: you start with 2 or 3 mains, right? Laharl, Etna and Flonne in the first game, Adell and Rosalind in the second, and so on. And while you're early in the game you probably name and create a few more characters to spruce up your party of 10: a warrior, a healer, a fighter, a rogue, etc. So the main characters and your secondary batch of originals level up together. But throughout the game new story related characters join you along the way, and they're always so underleveled that you barely even bother using them. Except they continously show up in cutscenes as if they're just as important as your starter characters, or the characters you personally created (and don't even appear in cutscenes). So there's a weird segregation going on: characters you create and use for most of the game go unsung by the narrative, while characters that are plot-relevant show up way too late to the party to be of any use yet steal the spotlight from the guys you actually use.

Not that I care all that much but I wish NIS managed to work around this disparity, somehow get to integrate the characters you create into the cutscenes, even if they're just background dressing and are assigned token dialogue.

Huh, I've always found the opposite. I pretty much always replace my healer with whatever story healer comes in and so on.
The only thing I never do is replace my thief with Asagi cause I find her consistently awful.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I've actually got a pet theory on why Killia is so "Too cool for school", but I'm going to spoiler it just in case I'm right:

Spoiler

Killia is Laharl. At some point, Flonne dies, either the bad end from the first game or some point later, and Laharl does the whole "wanders off into the wilderness thing" until he decides, rightly or wrongly, Void Dark is to blame. Explains his relatively severe tragic backstory and his aversion to shirts.

 

[Truth Cake]

Huh, I've always found the opposite. I pretty much always replace my healer with whatever story healer comes in and so on.
The only thing I never do is replace my thief with Asagi cause I find her consistently awful.

How DARE you!? It's people like you that are the reason that Asagi will remain the running joke that she is rather than be the amazing main character that she deserves! I mean just look at that sweet jacket, and she's already got a tragic edgy past that can match any of the Disgaea main characters!

Disgaea 6: Asagi Asagi Asagi It's Really Happening. I'll buy it.

I hope you can sense the massive sarcasm in the above paragraph, I wouldn't spell it out except this is the internet and it wouldn't be the first time I was super sarcastic and people thought I was being serious. I HAVE always had a soft spot for Asagi ever since I first saw her in Disgaea 3, though yeah... I also never really used any of the *actual* characters besides the first few in any Disgaea games in favor of the randoms that I've had since the beginning, and it only gets worse in the endgame because usually by then you have only 1 super overpowered character and anyone that joins you after that is utter trash compared to what you have to fight next.

I WISH I could be playing Disgaea 5 right now, but I don't have a TV in my dorm so playing console games is... a bit of a challenge. I knew I was going to be in this situation and as such I have totally avoided any information on Disgaea 5 other than pretty much just knowing its existence since the more I know of it I'm sure the more I want to play it... well, hope it's better than D2 at least.

 

[Weaver]

I've actually got a pet theory on why Killia is so "Too cool for school", but I'm going to spoiler it just in case I'm right:

Spoiler

Killia is Laharl. At some point, Flonne dies, either the bad end from the first game or some point later, and Laharl does the whole "wanders off into the wilderness thing" until he decides, rightly or wrongly, Void Dark is to blame. Explains his relatively severe tragic backstory and his aversion to shirts.

Interesting theory! I guess I'll find out when I beat it ^_^

Spoiler

I will admit the girl in his static flashback thing does look like Flonne

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

My problem with the Disgaea games - a nitpick, really - is this: you start with 2 or 3 mains, right? Laharl, Etna and Flonne in the first game, Adell and Rosalind in the second, and so on. And while you're early in the game you probably name and create a few more characters to spruce up your party of 10: a warrior, a healer, a fighter, a rogue, etc. So the main characters and your secondary batch of originals level up together. But throughout the game new story related characters join you along the way, and they're always so underleveled that you barely even bother using them. Except they continously show up in cutscenes as if they're just as important as your starter characters, or the characters you personally created (and don't even appear in cutscenes). So there's a weird segregation going on: characters you create and use for most of the game go unsung by the narrative, while characters that are plot-relevant show up way too late to the party to be of any use yet steal the spotlight from the guys you actually use.

Believe me when I say that I was definitely in the same train of thought when I had my first play through of Disgaea 2. I loved all of my created units and when new characters joined my party (Tink, Hanako, Taro, etc.), I would easily drop them to the bottom of my queue (except for Taro because his basic attack is VERY powerful). After playing through Disgaea 1 and 3, and understanding the unique Master-Student mechanic, I was able to not only make my Mains powerful, but I was able to incorporate most of the main cast in my party and go on to beating the game with them.

On another note, does Sir Killia seem like he's an amalgamation of the previous four Disgaea leads? He has a serious demeanor and lack of sentimental attachment like Laharl; he plays the straight man to many of the other character's antics and has a desire for battle like Adell; he's a self-proclaimed bada** like Mao; and he's overall design and hunger is remaniscent of Valvatorez. Was this intentional or might there have been some initial truth to 5 being the last game of the series?

 

[asdfen]

this thread is nice but doesnt talk at all about Disgaea 5.
My qustion is - Is the game any good in your opinion?
This maybe the first Disgaea game I may miss as I still see little reason to buy PS4 or will buy it in 10 years for peanuts but I still wana know about the game.

 

[cleric of the order]

I've actually got a pet theory on why Killia is so "Too cool for school", but I'm going to spoiler it just in case I'm right:

Spoiler

Killia is Laharl. At some point, Flonne dies, either the bad end from the first game or some point later, and Laharl does the whole "wanders off into the wilderness thing" until he decides, rightly or wrongly, Void Dark is to blame. Explains his relatively severe tragic backstory and his aversion to shirts.

that sucks if true.
Though that means there's a good chance he'll end up like Krichevskoy if that's the case.
A bit of loss would do him well.

 

[The Eupho Guy_v1legacy]

this thread is nice but doesnt talk at all about Disgaea 5.
My qustion is - Is the game any good in your opinion?
This maybe the first Disgaea game I may miss as I still see little reason to buy PS4 or will buy it in 10 years for peanuts but I still wana know about the game.

I'd like to know too. I'm looking at getting a PS4 in the somewhat near future and I'd like to know if its worth a look.

 

[Tony2077]

i know I'm having fun with the game and the improvements are nice

 

[Weaver]

this thread is nice but doesnt talk at all about Disgaea 5.
My qustion is - Is the game any good in your opinion?
This maybe the first Disgaea game I may miss as I still see little reason to buy PS4 or will buy it in 10 years for peanuts but I still wana know about the game.

I've almost beat the story at this point. It's the best Disgaea they've made form a mechanical standpoint - at least in my opinion.
However, I don't really like the story.

So if you only care about the story it's not that good (though it's hardly awful). If the post game is what you want then it's great.

I will say though that they've essentially removed the ability to blast through the item world by just building a runner and going to the exit gate. The level of your item is no longer tied to what floor you reach, but "level+1" appears at the top and bottom of the bonus gauge. However, if you jump to the gate the level+1 at the bottom of the bonus gauge is destroyed.

Though the Chara World is way better. It's almost like a mario party style board game. I hated the CW in Disgaea 4 so I'm really happy for those improvements.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I bought it even though I don't have a PS4 yet...[small]I want a 1TB version of the PS4 and I was worried all D5 copies would sell out by November.[/small]

I'm very excited to play it!

 

[asdfen]

thank you feed back!

 

[Weaver]

Hope I'm not too late, short review:

The good: Probably the best mechanicly game so far, a Disgaea game, the supporting cast is great.

The bad: That's gonna be long... Both the main lead and villain are the worst in the series, Killia is way too "generic RPG hero" and we expected more of Disgaea so far, he's a combiabation of Valv and Adell, but doesn't have the badassness and likablility of the first or the love relationship of the latter. Void dark is just uninteresting and also "generic RPG villain" who sits on his throne nearly the entire game and the only reason he does something is because story breaker powers (which still doesn't make sense how he got so strong). But it all comes down to, both are boring. There's also the question how none of the Disgaea-verse cast stops anyone of them though you can justify it with it

Spoiler

being a prequel

The overload system is nice but isn't really good for generic characters, it makes boss fights more interesting though.
The char world is just plain horrible, the idea is good but when you want to grind a character it's annoying as fuck.
Extremely short post game and leading to that....

The annoying: DLC and season pass, the game is pretty long as it is (clocked around 40 hours to finish though I might left the PS4 running), but there's very little post game (which is a shame since that's the best thing about Disgaea) and worse, almost no extra characters, even not the main trio! (though it might be linked to the spoiler above), it's a big shame and I hope Nippon Ichi will dial it down in the next games.

Also more spin offs will be nice, they kinda stopped with the PS3, having Soul Nomad 2 will be awesome.

I largely agree, though I'm still in post game.

I really disliked Killia and Void Dark. They were the least interesting thing in the whole story, and it's a shame we had to focus so much on them instead of the other, more enjoyable side characters. I like Usalia's, Christo's, and Red Magnus's story.

The other problem with Killia's story is just how bloody predictable it is. I did kind of like the "kung-fu" master thing going on with Gildeon, just cause I haven't seen a good, cheesy martial arts movie in awhile. But it even does that whole "ooohhh I'm so in pain, suppressing a dark force within me!".

I was legitimately gobsmacked they actually went with that plot point. I was seriously expecting the story to make light of it - this *is* Disgaea after all. But to my sadness, it never did. The story was way, way, way, way too serious for a Disgaea game and I really hope they don't go this tone again, providing another Disgaea game even happens.

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

Question: Disgaea D2 had this really annoying crash bug related to fire spells that would destroy my leveling runthroughs of item world and crush my willingness to keep playing. Does this game have anything like that?