Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is one of the strangest games I've played. Not just for this blog but in general. The game puts on a face that everything is a joke, but there are some deep, deep issues it tries to tackle. Laharl is a demon king, but he lacks both the looks to prove it and the means to show it. He's the son of a well respected king, and his vassals show him absolutely none of that same respect. And yet, he doesn't seem to mind. Hell, Etna tries to kill him, and he's totally okay with that. If this were a serious piece of edgy entertainment, Laharl would be a bulky killing machine who invades Earth. Instead, he's some preteen looking dude who doesn't wear a shirt or pants and is afraid of boobs. And that's just Laharl! Every character has their moments of hilarity but can show their serious face when they need to. DOOD!
But let's get on to what has become my M.O. What sucks?
Arguably, nothing. Disgaea isn't a perfect game, as there are a number of things in mechanics that I didn't enjoy, but there were no outright terrible things.
The biggest thing I didn't like, though, was how the shops worked. Mid and late game, they had a lot of options, and I don't like when games throw stuff at you every dungeon. It was one of the worst things about Ys VII. I just bought this expensive sword for Adol, only for it to be worse than the next weapon twenty minutes later. In Disgaea, every new tier of items adds several new things. I never bought the lesser of the new ones. The argument could be made the poison bow, and others of its ilk, is better than the stronger one, but I'm not one to bother with status effects. I want to see bigger numbers! But, sometimes, it's because they're just worse. Why waste money on a cheaper item if you're going to replace it next chapter regardless? And to add to my shopping disdain, there's too much randomness here. Prices vary, as well as stats, and it often doesn't make sense. The gun Gordon had equipped when he joined had better Hit than any other gun until the final battle, despite it being several chapters old. At one point, Tryton had an axe that I didn't replace for three chapters because the attack stat was better than the rest. Maybe I'm a capitalist at heart, but I want upgrades when I go shopping. Armor is even worse, and I have no idea how that works. How do I compare a heavy armor icon to a cape?
I felt like the story was rushed a bit. In the end, it's clear that Laharl has a thing for Flonne, but does he ever show it? I can agree with Flonne that he's changed from the brat we met in chapter one, but when did he become willing to sacrifice himself for Flonne? Pacing like this is always an issue for me in games. Too slow, and I get bored. Too fast, and I feel like I missed an important plot point. I'd have one more chapter where something bad happens on that shopping trip, and Laharl has to save Flonne from an evil Avon Lady. It would also add a mummy mob to the game because it fits the game's shtick. Get it? Mummies and pyramid schemes. I'm great, admit it!
I have some smaller nitpicks, like why is "Enemy Within" only played once? Why do Maderas and Hoggmeister lose plot relevancy? Didn't Flonne destroy Thursday? Otherwise, though, great game. That being said, QoL animation speed-up would be amazing!
So what does the game do that makes it great>
It's a great game because the combat is solid. I still prefer the turn-based style of Final Fantasy Tactics, but the way the whole presentation works here is excellent. Keeping that scene where we summoned Geb in mind, it probably adds to the story. If you want massive numbers, you need to chain several attacks together. The game even rewards you for doing so when it offers the end of battle spoils. Those spoils range from more exp, hl, items, and weapons and armor. And the good stuff doesn't come until the high levels where you can find rare and legendary stuff. The power of love and friendship means you do more damage and get better items! It just makes sense. The no rewards for the Prinny baseball game will haunt me forever.
It's a great game because it has great characters. This ties into the humor of the game, as well. Everyone is an amusing parody of something. Laharl and Etna are supposed to be demons that only kinda act like it. Flonne is an angel who, while acts like it, is a bit of a ditz. Her narrating her way through her stealth mission when we first met her is a fun scene. Gordon is the great hero who's probably just a movie star. Jennifer is one of the biggest anti-tropes in entertainment. So is she dumb? But she made a robot at age five? It's hamfisted, sure, but what else would you expect from Disgaea? The way they fit into their archetype that ends up totally off is a fun and novel experience. If you're into the parody stuff, it's probably been done a lot, especially lately. But I always thought Disgaea was an early adapter of such nonsense.
And that nonsense is everywhere. A small list of things off the top of my head I liked:
Item Descriptions. All items have something about them at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes it's straightforward, but often, they flavor the item perfectly. One of my favorites, Lionheart, says, "Why is this a weapon?" It's a heart, so why is it a weapon? The Bloodlust Sword says it prefers Type O Blood. [insert shrug emoji]
The Prinny Squad, especially their introduction. The way the dance rather than listen to Etna got a giggle out of me, not to mention all the times Etna built them up in her upcoming chapter skits.
The next chapter skits from Etna that poorly gave a glimpse of what's to come are memorable. Her adding to the parody of the game with her accents and over-the-top narration adds so much. And the ones that differ from the usual approach fit perfectly, and make sure they don't get stale.
There are a handful of scenes where characters don't mingle words. When they tell Vulcanus that he looks evil because he looks evil was great. Him not believing it sold it.
Anything involving Mid-boss and his machismo being hurt. I love that no one called him Vyers for the rest of the game. Even when we fought him, he was Mid-boss.
It shows up a bit too often, but Gordon has far too large an ego. He's the space hero everyone loves but is he? I want to know more about Earth culture. Is he Superman or the exact opposite of Max Payne? He's over the top, yet ineffectual, but totally lovable!
The great evil, Kurtis, being transformed into an ugly colored Prinny.
Lastly, is this the only game with a horse wiener in it?
Now, sometimes it doesn't work. When the team was trying to save Jennifer, for example. The three kept thinking about her metallic form with drill boobs, and it kinda annoyed me. Sometimes keep the serious bits serious. A lot of the stuff with Volcanus at the end straddled the line too. I don't want to go back from forth from laughing to dealing with tension, and towards the end, Disgaea does that often.
Which is a shame because when the serious bits hit, they hit hard. Etna's entire backstory is really tragic and relatable. We've all felt alone at some point in our lives or lost a pet. Many of us have looked up to people who protected us. And then when all of that gets taken from her, twice. I can feel sympathy towards that. Laharl's feelings towards losing his mother at a young age are heavy. It's not something I've experienced, but it's something that can be easily imagined and understood. Anyone who's taken a Psychology Course knows about defense mechanisms. I love the oddly agnostic understanding of Flonne. She probably became my favorite character, despite being terrible, late game because of it. I've been in a religion and found god, only to later have doubts and leave. But I still have feelings towards things I can't fully comprehend. I want to ask questions to my supposed heavenly father. I'm nowhere near the blind faith our angel in trainee has, but maybe she could be an example to active believers? There is one more thing that needs to be discussed, but I'll get to that at the end.
The last thing that's great is just how much is here! I barely did anything in the Dark Assembly or Item World. I made a handful of characters and used them for the entire game. I only Transmigrated two of them, but it's supposed to be a big part of the game. I didn't venture into the "post-game" content to fight Ba'al or have a rematch with Carter. I didn't make any monster classes or varied my lineup. I did the bare minimum of gameplay in Disgaea, and I had so much fun. Imagine how much putting in dozens of hours could alter my view and enjoyment of the game. There's plenty of bang for your buck here, and remakes add in even more!
But I'm going to ruin the feel good vibe of this piece by getting serious one more time. In the game, Disgaea touches on a lot of real world issues. They discuss it in a way that went over my head as a kid and just barely landed as an adult: racism. There is an intense dislike of other races. It doesn't matter which way the line goes, but how demons feel about angels and vice versa isn't productive. And no one pays much mind to the humans. But there isn't ever a good reason why, which is by design. The three haven't interacted in centuries, it seems. The only feelings each other has are based on basic stereotypes that have little to no evidence for. One of the best lines was before the final battle. Flonne says that angels call demons evil because that just what they think. Later on, Lamington tells Vulcanus something along those lines and turns him into a flower. Vulcanus never bothered to learn anything about the demons or the humans. He calls both of them names that aren't fitting. Flonne, the only person who's ever bothered to get to know any other race, used to think the same thing. Until she spent time around her supposed enemies. This is touched upon a bit early in the game with Laharl's mother but comes home in the final chapter. This whole thing is something that humans, in the here and now, should be doing. There is so much hate in the world because no one wants to know their supposed enemy. I'm not really the person to talk in-depth about racism in America, let alone other countries, so I'll just end this here. Not with a dood, but with a Flonne quote:
"Without seeking proof, you have allowed your judgement to be colored by prejudice. Isn't the evil that you speak of inside your own heart?"
Whether you are angel, demon, or human, seek proof.
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