Format: PS Vita
Release Date: 8/12/14
Publisher: NIS
Developer: NIS
Price: $39.99
ESRB Rating: T
The Disgaea games are strategy RPGs that never truly takes themselves seriously, and that is what makes each game unique and a joy to play. Disgaea games always have a charm about them and Disgaea 4 is no different. With Disgaea 4 being ported to the PlayStation Vita with all of the downloadable content and receiving a new name - "A Promise Revisited" - Disgaea 4 is another great entry in the strategy RPG series.
Presentation: Disgaea 4 looks great on the Vita. The main characters look detailed and their outfits are very distinct despite being small on the screen. The environments are bright and colorful. Each chapter has a unique setting. My favorite part of Disgaea 4 is the unique animations that occur when using skills during battles. It seems like the developers had a lot of fun designing the animations because each skill, whether the player or the enemy uses it, is a joy to watch. Sometimes I went to the Item World solely to see the animations. Complimenting the visuals is a nice soundtrack that features serious tracks, to up-beat tracks. They help set the tone throughout the story and I didn't grow tired of the tracks.
Story: Disgaea 4 revolves around former tyrant vampire Valvatorez and his werewolf servant, Fenrich, whom wish to overthrow the current president of the Netherworld. Valvatorez has regressed from being a feared tyrant to a mere Prinny instructor, which reasons are revealed as the player progresses further in the story. The story overall is enjoyable, primarily because of the hilarious writing and strong characters. Just when you think the story is taking a serious tone, the writing immediately switches to a comedic tone, which is fine because Disgaea titles should never be too serious. This game has taught me more about sardines than I thought was possible. In the beginning of the story, I lost a crucial battle and the game actually ended and I had to begin the game at the first chapter again. This was a surprise to me. Luckily my gear and levels were still intact. My biggest issue with Disgaea 4 stems from the latter part of the story. Without spoiling anything, the last few chapters became tedious for me. "Final episode" was the title for a number of chapters towards the end of the game and I got really annoyed by this. I was expecting the chapter I was playing to be the ending, but the story dictated otherwise. They do tell you when the final chapter is truly the end, though I would have preferred a definitive final chapter without the game leading me on.
Gameplay and features: The Disgaea series is known for its unique, strategic combat and the addicting, endless Item World. Each item the player can own has its own world, full of randomly generated levels. Progressing in these worlds will cause the item to level up, increasing its respective stats. This feature can lead to potentially hundreds of hours of level grinding - something the Disgaea series is famous for. Every tenth level in the Item World features an elite monster, sort of like a sub boss within the Item World. Disgaea also has Geo Blocks and Geo Panels, which are special blocks with effects that can either benefit or hurt your party, along with the enemies. Effects like invincible, reverse damage and deathblow can force the player to think more strategically on how to handle each battle. Destroying Geo Blocks on certain panels can cancel out effects or place the effects on different panels. Players on Geo Panels can receive damage when the color of the Geo Panel they are standing on is changed. Destroying all of the panels and having a clean battlefield will improve the bonus at the end of the battle and will cause a flash to occur, which will damage the enemies. The strategy RPG series also has numerous different job classes, ranging from mages to warriors to demons such as Prinnies and dragons. The characters can equip different weapons and can learn skills that relate to the weapon they use.
Verdict: Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited on the PlayStation Vita is a great entry in the Disgaea series and a great stand alone strategy RPG. The game has great visuals, a good story with memorable characters and hundreds of hours in the Item World alone. Whether you like RPGs, anime or endless level grinding, Disgaea 4 is worth owning.
8/10 +Great story with strong characters +Countless hours of level grinding +Great visuals -An annoying number of "Final Chapters"