Product Info

Platform

Switch

Publisher

NIS America

Developer

Nippon Ichi Software

Series

Disgaea

Genre

RPG, Strategy/Tactics

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

6.3 GB

Release Date (NA)

Jun 29, 2021

Release Date (JP)

Jan 28, 2021

Purchase From

Amazon

Best Buy

GameStop

NIS America, Inc.

eShop

Official Store

The tactical role-playing game (RPG) series, Disgaea, debuted in early 2003 on the PlayStation 2. Since then, it has seen ports and a remake, all using 2D sprite models in 3D environments. Disgaea 6 takes the first jump of the franchise by introducing 3D models, making everything three-dimensional. Like the previous entries, Disgaea 6 also adds new features to enhance the game but keeps the over-the-top battles and humorous dialogue that make Disgaea, well, Disgaea. However, Disgaea 6 has a few flaws that hold it back from being the best of the series.

Back from the Dead, Over, and Over, and Over, and….

Meet Zed. He’s a zombie and he’s got a bone to pick with the God of Destruction, the most-powerful being that spontaneously destroys Netherworlds. The story isn’t anything breathtaking, but it does break the mold of revolving around an Overlord or a ruler of a netherworld. As to why a zombie has a grudge against this powerful being, you’ll have to play the game to find out.

In the face of absolute destruction, Zed has a unique ability called Super Reincarnation, a handy skill that revives him so he can fight another day. However, this power doesn’t scare Zed in the slightest. As he awakens in each new world, he encounters new comrades and foes in order to be stronger than the God of Destruction.

The tactical RPG series has a great track record of over-the-top characters and scripts and Disgaea 6 keeps it going. The cast features a zombie protagonist with a spoiled brat attitude, a zombie dog that speaks intelligently, a human king that tosses money around like nothing, a princess who lives in a fairytale-like story, and more. Each main character has their own unique personality that somehow melds together with each other. Moreover, this eclectic group does have one thing in common: defeat the God of Destruction.

Disgaea 6’s characters may not be as memorable as the first Disgaea’s Laharal and Etna. Still, one thing is certain: going through the game’s story is quite entertaining. It’s like watching a comedy show, and you won’t find many games like it.

Quality Control Needs Reincarnation

Disgaea 6 takes its first step going all 3D, making it the biggest change in the series. The classic 2D sprites go three-dimensional, but instead of keeping the models proportional, the models are now chibi (i.e., short, dwarf-like size, a popular style in Japanese media). Veterans of the series may be turned off by this choice, but they can get used to the new look as they play. The 2D illustrations used in dialogue remain unchanged, though, and are a relief to see.

The new look does add more weight to its graphics engine and does affect the game’s performance. Playing on the Nintendo Switch makes the case for the console starting to show its age. Nippon Ichi Software added an option to let players adjust the game’s quality via three modes: graphics, balanced, and performance.

Graphics lets players choose style over performance, which is a good option to see the details in the 3D models. Unfortunately, it takes a toll with choppy, painful-to-watch animations. Performance smooths out the game’s animations, but the 3D models deteriorate. After playing with each option, the balanced option feels like the best of both worlds, but it’s not perfect.

Outside those options, the game suffers slowdown when too many characters animate on the screen. This occurs mostly at the start of battle when the player enables the auto-battle mode. It’s not just the battlefield either. When leaving the stage selection and the game prompts a dialogue, there is noticeable lag when dialogue boxes come in. If that isn’t annoying enough, the game itself might just suddenly quit during battle. It happens mostly during the beginning of a battle when all the characters move in auto-battle. Hopefully, a patch will fix this soon, but do save often, even if the game has an auto-save feature.

With the game only available on the Nintendo Switch right now outside of Japan, would a release on the PlayStation 4 or 5 perform better? Regardless, this isn’t the only game where the Switch shows slowdown and performance issues. Hopefully, future patches can make the game perform better to show off its new design to the fullest.

Easier Grinding

The Disgaea series has always been known for not only its humorous dialogue but mainly its over-the-top battles. It was the game where players could go up to level 9,999. Disgaea 6 throws that out of the window. The max level is now 99,999,999 and players can deal up to 100 million damage. Veteran players may have an anxiety attack remembering how long the process was to get to 9,999. You had to rely on the Item World, a world you explore inside items to strengthen their stats. With the new max level, it makes leveling up comically ridiculous. By the end of the story mode, you can easily surpass level 2,000. Leveling up isn’t just based on one digit, it’s multiple digits and it’s funny at the same time.

Though you still need to grind, Disgaea 6 adds a few extra features to make the process easier. Auto-battles, first introduced in Disgaea 1 Complete’s mobile version, was carried over to Disgaea 6, and it’s a welcome feature.

You can also skip cutscenes and fast-forward the battle speed using the Switch’s ZL and ZR buttons. It helps a lot because every non-normal attack is animated. All previous Disgaea games animated almost all attacks on the board, the exception being unique, powerful attacks. This made Disgaea’s over-the-top battles wildy ridiculous and comical. Now, every special attack makes a cut to an animation sequence. It gets tiring very quickly and breaks the battle flow constantly.

With these new options introduced in Disgaea 6, it makes battles easier and reduces the time spent grinding. That’s not all: Disgaea 6 also introduces auto-repeat battles. When a battle ends, the battle repeats. It’s a great option to utilize to level up your characters and earn status boosts.

Regarding healing and reviving characters after each battle, Disgaea 6 strips that part out. The game’s hospital bed is now just gathering reward items based on damage you took or made, revived, etc. Moreover, after each battle, your characters’ health regenerates back to 100%. It feels like a cheat since in many other RPGs, players had to pay to heal and revive characters. Still, it’s one less thing to worry about. It’ll be interesting to see if this feature sticks around in future Disgaea games.

So Much to Do. What is a Zombie Supposed to Do?

Aside from adding new auto modes for battling, the Disgaea series continues to add new features to its game. If you’ve played the previous entries, you’ll recognize some such as the Dark Assembly, where players negotiate with senators to pass bills (e.g., better equipment in the store). It’s also the place to go to super reincarnate, create characters, change colors, names, etc.

Super reincarnate resets the character’s level to 1 but with boosted stats. With the way leveling works with its easier grinding system, take advantage of it. The Cheat Shop lets you modify the game. For example, you may want more experience points for leveling up than money or increased mana (points to help learn skills, increase stats).

Quests is a new feature that is essential for learning new skills, unlocking character classes such as ninjas, and retrieving money and items. Before, you simply played until you were told that something was unlocked. This makes keeping track of them much easier. Then there’s the Juice Bar, not to be confused with an alcohol beverage bar. This features the option to mix extracts gained from battles and quests into drinks to give you a status boost.

One of the biggest additions to the game is Demonic Intelligence (DI). DI lets the player specifically tell what the character does against what enemies based on a grid layout, like a blueprint. Think of Gambits in Final Fantasy XII. For example, move your character forward to a nearby enemy and use a special skill. When you have something created, save it and set it to your character. The game has pre-made actions already available such as healing first and attacking treasures first. It’s a neat feature, but you’ll have to play with it for a bit to get the hang of the setup.

There’s so much to take in, especially if you are new to the Disgaea series. Disgaea 6 gives players multiple ways to level up and boost the status of your team. The game tries to feed you piece by piece after each battle, but the process continues over halfway through the game’s story. It’s almost too much, really, but it also kind of fits, oddly enough.

What Was New is Old Again

Disgaea 6 brought in many new features but also removed past features. Monsters once had their own weaponry but now share the same humanoid weapons. The ability for monsters to transform into weapons for humanoids now longer exists in Digaea 6. Tower Attacks, a formation where players can lift a character and then that character with another one and attack enemies, nowhere found in the new installment. Additionally, the weapon, armor, and item shops are now combined into one. Disgaea 6 simplifies the game but refines it at the same time.

Humanoid and monster classes are also altered but that’s nothing new as every Disgaea game makes a change in character classes. Evil Eye, Pincer Shell, Mecha Girl, and Psychic are added to the game, each with unique abilities. Mecha Girl is one of the best added features as she makes a great fighter for the front lines.

While it’s a shame some classic features left the game, Disgaea 6 ‘s refinements continue to make the Disgaea series entertaining.

The Last Reincarnation

Disgaea 6 is the best in the series when it comes to its new gameplay features such as easier grinding and quests, as well as its comical script. However, the performance issues on the Nintendo Switch starts to show its age hold it back from becoming the best overall. Still, don’t let that stop you from owning this over-the-top RPG. Your Nintendo Switch library will get a serious punch to the throat!

A Nintendo Switch code provided for this review and gameplay footage. Available now on the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo Switch.