Product Info

Platform

Switch, PlayStation 4

Publisher

NIS America, Inc.

Developer

Nippon Ichi Software

Series

Disgaea

Genre

Action, RPG, Strategy/Tactics

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

4.5 GB

Release Date (NA)

Oct 29, 2019

Purchase From

Amazon

Best Buy

GameStop

NIS America, Inc.

eShop

PSN Store

After the successful launch of Disgaea 5 and Disgaea 1 Complete on the Nintendo Switch, NIS America asked fans what the next Disgaea game ported over to the hybrid handheld console should be. Their answer was simple: Disgaea 4. Disgaea 4 originally launched on the PlayStation 3 in 2011. Three years later, the game was ported to the PlayStation Vita as Disgaea 4 Complete.

Disgaea 4 Complete included all downloadable content that was available for purchase on the PlayStation 3 version, as well as language options and more. Disgaea 4 Complete+ for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 includes everything from Disgaea 4 Complete but with additional tweaks, including a higher resolution (1080p), adjustable text speeds, and auto-saves before returning to the game’s home base. It also includes all the downloadable characters, so expect to see Laharal and company make their return.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

Once a fearsome and powerful tyrant, the vampire Valvatorez met a woman who could not be easily scared. Until he could inject fear into her heart, Valvatorez vowed to give up drinking blood. Unfortunately, the woman lost her life before he could fulfill his goal. Four hundred years later, Valvatorez is a Prinny instructor in Hades who has lost most of his power and continues to refrain from drinking blood. Prinnies are reincarnated creatures with sinful souls from the human world. As an instructor, Valvatorez teaches the Prinnies how to act and directs their roles in Hades.

Fenrich, Valvatorez’s loyal servant for hundred of years, remains by his side to this day. The two continue to work in Hades until orders from the corrupternment, the underworld government, request the extermination of the Prinnies. Angry, Valvatorez and Fenrich rebel against the government.

The story, centering on Valvatorez’s past and the corrupternment, may be predictable, but it’s entertaining from beginning to end. As you play, you’ll come across several humorous characters, from a sassy middle schooler to a monster who wishes to become the final boss. You’ll also soon find out that the once-powerful tyrant really loves sardines and expresses it in many different ways.

However, there’s something about Valvatorez that makes him a unique character. Many of the characters in the Disgaea series are demons. While Valvatorez is technically a demon, he’s classified more as a vampire. With our long history of Dracula and vampire stories, it’s easy to get attached to the blood-boycotting sardine-lover. (Additionally, his right-hand man is a werewolf, another creature from folklore that has a history with vampires.) Valvatorez’s desire to keep promises, no matter how ridiculous they are, makes him a heart-warming character and players will want to explore his past.

How you do in Disgaea 4 Complete+ will determine your ending. Too many character deaths can give you a different ending compared to not having a single comrade fall. If you plan on seeing all endings, expect to play the game many times over.

Bring Out Your Power

Outside the story, you won’t see as much humorous dialogue. The gameplay becomes more tactical, with the battlefield being a chessboard-like grid. If you have played the previous release, Disgaea 1 Complete, you’ll know the drill. In each battle, you are allowed a certain amount of characters on the field. If they all perish, it’s game over. Do not fret. If you lose your comrades in battle, they can simply be revived back in the game’s clinic, though it’ll cost you some cash.

When battling, you can create a chain of combos to do extra damage. This is done by simply setting up your units next to each other for some tag-team attacks. Keep in mind that placing two characters next to each for such an attack won’t always work. It all depends on how compatible both characters are. Fortunately, there are ways to increase compatibility.

One of them is setting up your characters in Cam-pain HQ. Cam-pain HQ is confusing at first, but it can be learned. In each area, you can assign a character to each square on the grid. Placing a character next to another one will increase their bond, resulting in a greater chance of performing powerful tag-team attacks. This isn’t the only thing Cam-pain HQ can do. You can call a senate hearing to vote on various topics, such as having higher grade weapons, donating money to your party, increasing enemy levels, etc. Like with any voting, you need a majority to pass it. If you fail, you can either try again or fight the attendees in office. Be warned: they are a much higher level than you when starting the game. How high? Try at least 100 levels.

While many RPGs cap at or under level 99, Disgaea takes it a different direction. All characters and enemies can go up to level 9999. Insane? Yes. But seeing the outrageous numbers of damage is pure joy.

The game’s storyline won’t help you get to that number. This is where the Item World comes in. The Item World lets you jump into a dimension that takes place inside an item, chosen from your inventory. Players will have to go through ten levels before having the opportunity to leave and increase the item’s stats. There’s a total of one hundred levels per item, and in each level, the enemy’s stats and levels increase.

This is a great way to level up your weapons and armor. Just be aware that the higher the item’s value, the stronger the opponents start off as. Choose your item carefully. If you are looking to increase your characters’ stats, the game has a new world for you to explore, the Chara World. Similar to the Item World, this option lets you increase your characters’ levels by completing each floor. Try not to get too carried away, or you’ll lose your progress if you get a game over.

Make Your Army

One of the best features of the game and in the Disgaea series is creating your own comrades. You can choose from humans and humanoid creatures to folklore creatures like dragons. Not all options are available at first, however. You’re required to at least level up your human vassals to unlock new classes such as ninjas and magic knights. As for monsters, you’ll need to battle against them before they’re unlocked. So no dragons until you defeat one.

Regardless of what vassal you create, you’ll have the option to start them off with low to high stats, depending how much mana you have to spend. The more mana you spend creating one, the more points you are given to increase certain stats to your liking. What’s more is that you can reincarnate them into a new class version or monster, though it makes them start at level 1. Yes, it can be a pain to start all over, but the reward of having a beefier character is worth it.

How does one score mana? That depends on how well your character does in battle. The more the character does and defeats enemies, the more mana is gained. Mana is an important asset to the game if you want to have a solid army of vassals. Additionally, mana is required to vote in the senate hearing.

Unlike previous Disgaea games, you have to spend mana to learn new techniques, instead of learning them automatically. Each weapon has its own set of skills, but learning them requires you to reach a certain usage amount before you can spend the mana to earn them. Once you have a new skill, you’ll also have to spend more mana to level it up. The game requires you to use all your characters in order to become powerful. Be prepared to sink countless hours into the game to achieve this, but the replay value of the game is high enough to make you want to come back for more.

Limited Free Range

Disgaea 4 doesn’t give you a lot of space to roam around. In fact, it’s quite limited. The home base’s only purpose is for you to go to the clinic, shops, or Cam-pain HQ, purchase skills, and find hidden treasures. The layout feels zoomed in and the option to zoom out isn’t available. Other Disgaea games feel more open to explore than this, which isn’t saying much.

The Final Snack

Disgaea 4 Complete+ has everything a tactical RPG fan wants, including a can of sardines. The humorous dialogue, enjoyable characters, and the sheer amount of content make the game difficult to put down. Plus, the port job to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was done remarkably well, so the game looks and runs great. In short, it’s an excellent game for on-the-go or at home and one of the best tactical RPGs today, dood!

Be sure to grab our Disgaea 4 Complete+ wallpaper as you enjoy a fun-filled, tactical RPG.

A review code was provided by NIS America for this review.