Disgaea D2 first impressions

[scorptatious]

So I bought Disgaea D2 today, and so far, I'm having a blast.

The game has veered away from Disgaea 3 and 4's system of learning abilities and such and brought back Disgaea 1 and 2's mentor and weapon mastery, with a few added tweaks.

For example: The mentor/pupil system has been changed so that the PUPIL is the one learning spells and abilities from the mentor. And you can simply assign him/her to whoever you want instead of having to make sure they're created by a specific character.

Evilties have made a comeback, but this time, the innate evilties are assigned according to a character's personality, so when you create a character, the evilty you get is dependent on which personality you choose. However, you can change the evilty whenever you want, so you can switch up each character's evilty to suit your team's needs.

There's also a new likeability system, which makes it so that the more two characters like each other, the more likely they can do stuff such as one of them can protecting the other from damage, which is really good for tanking and protecting my weaker units.

Magichange has been replaced with mounting, which is essentially the same except it seems like you can stay on the mount indefinitely and the mount takes the damage for the person riding it.

There's quite a few other features, but I won't get into them right now.

As for the story and characters, I've only just beaten the first chapter, and so far I'm liking it. Laharl and crew are the main cast again and they're still as funny and charming as ever. (I will admit, to me it felt like Laharl's VA sounded a bit off at first, but it seems like as the game's first couple of hours went on, she started to settle back into the role)

Also, the game's first boss:

Spoiler

A gargoyle with a Russian (I think) accent. BADASS.

So yeah, really enjoying the game so far. To those who have also picked up the game, what do you guys think of it so far? And if I got anything wrong, go ahead and correct me.

 

[Roxas1359]

It came out already! D:
Why is it that October is the month at which I will have no money? I mean I've got Wind Waker U, Pokemon Y, Sonic Lost World, and now I've gotta get this game.

 

[BQE]

It is times like these that I'm disappointed I turned in my 360/PS3 for the bonus store credit. I'm hoping they release it on Vita or on Gaikai, I'd really like to play it.

I'm hoping the game sees success.

 

[scorptatious]

It is times like these that I'm disappointed I turned in my 360/PS4 for the bonus store credit. I'm hoping they release it on Vita or on Gaikai, I'd really like to play it.

I'm hoping the game sees success.

Well considering that Disgaea 4 is coming out to the Vita soon, (assuming it isn't out yet) chances are, that this game is going to be on the Vita sometime in the future as well.

 

[aelreth]

Thanks, I'm waiting for my copy to be shipped by dog-sled.

 

[Tanis]

I still haven't beaten D4.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

For someone new to the series could I just jump into this one or do I need to play the earlier games in the series to understand the story?

 

[scorptatious]

For someone new to the series could I just jump into this one or do I need to play the earlier games in the series to understand the story?

This game is a direct sequel to the first game in the series. So I would recommend playing that one first.

The rest of the games don't have much to do with either games, so if you like you can skip those.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

For someone new to the series could I just jump into this one or do I need to play the earlier games in the series to understand the story?

This game is a direct sequel to the first game in the series. So I would recommend playing that one first.

The rest of the games don't have much to do with either games, so if you like you can skip those.

Alright cool, thanks.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Was thinking of getting this game and probably will at some point as I had a blast with Disgaea 1 , 3 and 4 (never played 2).

I loved the cast of 1 most of all with 4 close behind but I feel 4 was the better game with a story that didnt burn itself out like 1 did however in many ways I feel Disgaea gets better with every game so I cant wait to try this one out although I probably still wont get to the land of carnage as I usually get bored after about 80 or 90 hours.

It seems like Disgaea is Nippon Ichis safe IP now which I dont mind and they certainly know their audience none of this watered down crap and trying to make it more accessible it knows what it is budgets accordingly and does well or at least I would assume since they keep making them and 4 seemed to get them out of financial trouble, maybe other publishers could learn from this like Capcom.

I am also still waiting on the Witch and the hundred knights is that coming to Europe or America?

Havent seen any reviews complaining about the graphics this time but its still early days or maybe they have realised Disgaea is not really about graphics.

 

[scorptatious]

Was thinking of getting this game and probably will at some point as I had a blast with Disgaea 1 , 3 and 4 (never played 2).

I loved the cast of 1 most of all with 4 close behind but I feel 4 was the better game with a story that didnt burn itself out like 1 did however in many ways I feel Disgaea gets better with every game so I cant wait to try this one out although I probably still wont get to the land of carnage as I usually get bored after about 80 or 90 hours.

It seems like Disgaea is Nippon Ichis safe IP now which I dont mind and they certainly know their audience none of this watered down crap and trying to make it more accessible it knows what it is budgets accordingly and does well or at least I would assume since they keep making them and 4 seemed to get them out of financial trouble, maybe other publishers could learn from this like Capcom.

I am also still waiting on the Witch and the hundred knights is that coming to Europe or America?

Havent seen any reviews complaining about the graphics this time but its still early days or maybe they have realised Disgaea is not really about graphics.

Pretty much agree with you. The developers do seem to play it safe with the Disgaea games, but they at least add and tweak enough features so they don't feel exactly the same. And of course, I'm glad they didn't try to go after a completely different audience with this one.

Also, I never really got against the knock against the series's graphics. I guess if you're looking at the very first game today, it has noticeably aged in comparison to later titles. Plus, I remember one person saying that if you were to remove the voice acting, the first game could have been on the PS1, which I can see as reasonable. Other than that though, the games were never meant to be graphical power houses.

As for Witch and the Hundred Knights, by the looks of this:

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/08/31/the-witch-and-the-hundred-knight-marches-to-western-ps3s-in-2014/

Should be coming to both places in 2014. Not really sure what it's about, but I'll keep an eye on it.

 

[Weaver]

I'm a little disappointed they went back to D1's weapon mastery system. I like mounting, but I think I liked magichange more.

I've also only played the tutorial and while you're in battle and do something like move one character next to another they pause the game an do a little skit. It's weird, is that just a one time thing? Or does that just persist throughout most of the game?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

For someone new to the series could I just jump into this one or do I need to play the earlier games in the series to understand the story?

The second game features one of the main characters from the first game, as well as a couple of cameos. But the continuity thing is mostly played for inside laughs, the second game has a narrative of its own that doesn't need knowledge of the first game to fully experience it and enjoy it. Having said that, if you get the chance at playing the first game first, I'd go for it.

 

[TehCookie]

Curse you NIS! Disgaea 1 is the only one I haven't beat so I must play that before D2. Still got it and hoping to blast through Disgaea 1 this weekend so I can start on this because from what I've seen from other sites it looks great. Or maybe that's the HD sprites and characters talking in battle, and I play it for the dialogue/characters/story/atmosphere.

 

[Weaver]

Also, does anyone know how the reincarnation system works in D2?

 

[scorptatious]

I'm a little disappointed they went back to D1's weapon mastery system. I like mounting, but I think I liked magichange more.

I've also only played the tutorial and while you're in battle and do something like move one character next to another they pause the game an do a little skit. It's weird, is that just a one time thing? Or does that just persist throughout most of the game?

That's a thing that happens through the game yes. I think it's a bit of a nice touch, and so far, it doesn't happen often enough to the point where it became annoying for me. It also happens when fighting bosses.

As for the weapon mastery system, I do agree it feels a bit weird going back into it after playing 3 and 4. I was kinda used to just buying skills for my characters.

As for the reincarnation thing, by the looks of things, it seems to work exactly like how it did in previous games. Then there's the promotion system which seems to make it so that you can bring your generics up to their next tier without having to reincarnate them.

Another cool thing I found is that you can actually change who you control in the base. For about 10 mana, you can switch to any of the other characters, including your generics. Also, your generics can appear anywhere in the base and you can talk to them.

 

[Ryotknife]

Back to the weapon mastery system? Thank baby raptor Jesus. How skills were handled in 3 and 4...well I just hated it. Mostly because none of my main characters get to unlock any skills beyond the 3 or 4 standard ones without dumping hundreds of hours of grinding into them (and hoping I get lucky in the Chara World)

 

[teqrevisited]

Waiting for my LE to arrive from the states. The tracking page says it arrived in the UK yesterday though so I should have it either tomorrow or monday.

I can't wait much longer really. I do know there have been a few bad bugs, especially on the digital versions, so hopefully I can avoid those as well as I've managed to successfully avoid spoilers or really any temptation to look up information about it other than I know about the mounted units and, obviousy, the cast.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

For someone new to the series could I just jump into this one or do I need to play the earlier games in the series to understand the story?

The second game features one of the main characters from the first game, as well as a couple of cameos. But the continuity thing is mostly played for inside laughs, the second game has a narrative of its own that doesn't need knowledge of the first game to fully experience it and enjoy it. Having said that, if you get the chance at playing the first game first, I'd go for it.

Alright cool. I'll track down a PSP copy of the first game.

 

[scorptatious]

For someone new to the series could I just jump into this one or do I need to play the earlier games in the series to understand the story?

The second game features one of the main characters from the first game, as well as a couple of cameos. But the continuity thing is mostly played for inside laughs, the second game has a narrative of its own that doesn't need knowledge of the first game to fully experience it and enjoy it. Having said that, if you get the chance at playing the first game first, I'd go for it.

Alright cool. I'll track down a PSP copy of the first game.

Good choice. That's the best version of the game from what I've seen.