This little game known as Disgaea 2 can be compared to the highly popular Final Fantasy Tactics series. The difference? Well... Let's imagine Final Fantasy Tactics is a lime (wait.. what?), I said imagine. You got that in mind? Good. If that's what Final Fantasy Tactics is like, then Disgaea 2 is a lime injected with steroids and a tinge of Nitrous oxide (laughing gas). This isn't to underappreciate what Final Fantasy Tactics have brought into the Strategic Role Playing games (S-RPG) genre though. This is simply a review to revel in what the Disgaea franchise was able to achieve even WITH Final Fantasy Tactics in the same genre.
(Adell)
The plot? Pretty much the same as the plot from the PS2 game Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories since Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days is actually a port from the PS2 game mentioned above. Our main character Adell is the only human left in their world (which is in an alternate netherworld from the original Disgaea by the way) and believes that the only way to lift the curse is to defeat Overlord Zenon. Adell's family helps him summon Overlord Zenon by using their own life energy (gee, thanks mom) but for reasons unknown (well, at least until you finish the story ), you summoned Zenon's daughter Rozalin instead.
And because of the summoning ritual, Rozalin is stuck with Adell until his mission is over. Will this unlikely team even have a chance to reach Overlord Zenon? Regarding the plot, do know that there are a lot of different endings that you can get depending on the way you play the characters (I was personally disturbed by the Japanese voiced Worst Ending of this game... You can always go look for it in Youtube or something... )
(Rozalin)
Now I feel you need to know this simple fact about Disgaea 2. It doesn't actually require you to try and level up as much as you can, it only gives you the option to do it if you want to. The final boss, without powerleveling, is only around level 300 and considering that the maximum level a single character can reach is level 9999, that's saying something. Oh and I forgot to mention that you can level up every single equipment in Disgaea 2. All you have to do is to enter the item world, go to the next floor, item levels up per floor you go through up to floor 100. The item world consists of randomized floors with the number of floors depending on the rarity of the item. The combat system is a complex one. It requires practice for you to be able to use (and abuse) the combat system to your advantage.
One of the many shoutouts in Disgaea 2: The Prism Rangers!
Oh yeah, just like Final Fantasy Tactics, you can choose to have monster characters along with humanoid characters, but then Disgaea differentiates itself yet again with Magichange. what is Magichange you ask? This new feature taken from Disgaea 3 allows monster characters you control to change into weapons for your humanoid characters to use. Not only that, but the humanoid characters gain new attacks from the Magichanged weapons. An example would be this one:
Magichange Prep
Magichange done
Have I already mentioned the references in some of the attacks?
Magichange skill: Dragon Flash
Looked familiar? If not, kindly direct your attention below
Hehe, a shout out to DBZ from Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days. Pretty clever if you ask me.
Now for those who think Magichange is awesome enough, you ain't seen nothing yet. Ladies and Gentlemen, Magichange 2! A secret ability of Magichange that can only be unlocked by going to a secret room (that only gives you a small chance, considering how many different kinds of rooms there are) in the item world. What does Magichange 2 do then? Think of a skill your monster character uses. After Magichange 2, you now get the skill as your own (With a turn limit though). Awesome ain't it?
Magichange 2!
For even more hardcore gamers (yes, there's more!) There is also a place called "Land of Carnage" which gives enemies a +2100% plus 200 level boost. Yeah, that much. For those who want to level up like crazy this is a perfect place to be. But just like Magichange 2 above, there are things in the item world that you need to do to unlock the "Land of Carnage" (things that are better explained in gamefaqs or something).
Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days is a game that combines quirky dialogue, a so-so plot and awesome gameplay. I have no question about its replayability. You want proof? How about around 191 hours worth of Disgaea 2 DHD? Here's a screenshot of my savefile:
TL;DR? Scores are below
Story | The story’s not bad, although I think it fell short. This is not saying that I enjoyed the game though. I didn’t spend more than 191 hours of my life playing Disgaea 2: DHD because of the story anyway. | 8 |
Gameplay | This. This is what got me addicted to it. Lots of things to collect. Lots of levels left until level 9999. This made me spend that amount of time playing this game. ‘Nuff said, perfect 10. | 10 |
Sound | When playing Disgaea 2: DHD, the sounds can become repetitive and boring. But it does have a nice beat to it. Problem is, 190~ hours hearing the music over and over kind of gets to you at some point | 8 |
Replayability | I wouldn’t have played this game for that long if it didn’t have an awesome replayability factor. Plus, maxing out your character’s levels is a challenge in itself. Two thumbs up | 10 |
Overall | I like this game, I still have it on my PSP and I still play it. I don’t plan on hoping for a Disgaea 3 port anytime soon. But if it does, I’ll be sure to play that too. Interestingly, even though this is merely a re-release of a previous PS2 game, it can hold its own with its new features and new unlockable characters. Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days = awesome | 90% |
If you haven't played this game yet, you should. Comparing it to the Final Fantasy Tactics port for PSP, I will have to give Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days the win here. Its over the top fight scenes (like when you punch an enemy so hard it creates a black hole?) and diverse cast of characters help Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days. With 39 generic humanoid and monster characters (with six tiers each... so 39x6= 234 generic characters) and 27 unique characters (including the DLC characters), you can't go wrong in choosing this game. Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days are still available for purchase so if you don't have this game yet, buy now! I'll be leaving you with the trailer for Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days before it got released, enjoy! :)
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