In the event you’re a longtime fan of Disgea, you’ve in all probability had the upcoming entry within the collection – Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless – in your radar for a while now. It’s a collection I’ve all the time been interested by, however my love for technique RPGs is considerably of a latest growth, and so I’m nonetheless reducing my tooth on the style as an entire. That’s precisely why I used to be desperate to get a style of this high-energy franchise at PAX West 2023, and whereas I solely received to pattern a small portion of the sport, I’m already serious about enjoying extra – if not a bit intimidated by the prospect of it.
The sheer scope of Disgaea 7, mechanically, is so giant it’s a bit unfathomable. There are over 40 completely different character courses to select from, excess of I really feel like I’d ever have the ability to discover deeply in a single playthrough. You may place and immediately management numerous occasion members on Disgaea 7’s grid-based maps at any time, excess of I’ve ever managed in different video games within the style. Pull up a menu – take your choose, actually – and also you’ll be confronted with an immense amout of statistics and character parameters that can take some actual effort to parse.
These are all probably nice issues, relying on the kind of participant you might be. Disgaea 7 isn’t a recreation that’s simple to demo within the crowded expo corridor of a spot like PAX. It’s a dense, systems-rich technique recreation that favors these with the persistence and time to be taught its guidelines and ways. After enjoying it for just a little beneath half an hour throughout the present, I do know I barely scratched the floor of what’s very more likely to be an extremely rewarding expertise for these keen and in a position to method the sport by itself phrases. On the identical time, as a newcomer, I very a lot was thrown immediately into the fireplace.
One factor I instantly grasped? Disgea 7 is a really foolish recreation, and doesn’t even remotely try to be critical or gritty. The protagonist, Fuji, was described by the PR rep I spoke with as “an enormous otaku”, and whereas I can confidently let you know I don’t know what’s happening within the recreation, being thrown in with none kind of tutorial or opening sequence, I can positively get behind the sport’s standout new fight characteristic, “Jumbification.” This, because the title implies, supersizes one in every of your characters and allows you to choose an fringe of the stage to put them at, the place they are going to loom over the battlefield at large proportions. By build up a Rage meter – of which there are a number of methods to take action, together with merely having allies take injury – you may enter this manner that not solely allows you to struggle large foes, but in addition deal particular assaults that closely influence actions on the bottom under.
There are lots of different variables to think about. You may put as many characters on the battlefield as you need, I used to be advised, spawning them from a portal after which arranging them to your liking. As is collection custom at this level, when allies get shut sufficient, you may launch them throughout the battlefield, extending the vary of your motion significantly. However assault patterns are extremely variable – some solely assault in straight traces, for instance, whereas others have broader areas of assault – so it actually pays off to be accustomed to these components getting into. You even have the selection of executing assaults one-at-a-time, or ready till the top of a flip to carry out all of your actions directly.
Your generic characters – ie, these 40+ courses I discussed earlier – can ultimately be “reincarnated”, primarily permitting gamers the liberty to respec their characters with components from one other class whereas retaining some key skills from their beginning class. Hardly a brand new mechanic for the style as an entire, however once more, it’s the scope of how this might probably be utilized in Disgaea 7 that impressed me probably the most.
Hell Mode provides one other wrinkle to battle; as a facet impact of constructing fury in battle, gamers can ultimately enter occasion members into this state the place they’ll unleash particular assaults that may wreck a foe, dealing absurd 10-digit injury numbers to opponents and maybe actually blasting them from the ambiance of the planet and into area. It’s suitably absurd, and appears to trace with the charmingly overzealous voice appearing that feels proper consistent with the humorousness the Disgaea collection is known for. It retains the colourful 3D-chibi stye of the final recreation, and doesn’t do a lot to differentiate itself visually in that regard, so I might se returning followers feeling a bit unenthused about that time, however as a newcomer I actually loved the entire cute-and-quirky anime fashion that the sport had happening.
Whereas it’s far too early for me to even start to unpack all the weather that make Disgaea 7 tick, the truth that I needed to play extra is an efficient signal for me personally – the depth of all of it is lots at first look, however as I performed I discovered myself changing into extra invested in wanting to search out interaction between the sport’s programs, and battle some large Prinnys, hopefully.
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is scheduled to launch on Change on October 3 within the US, October 6 in Europe, and October thirteenth in Australia and New Zealand.