You Probably Overlooked it the First Time
The original Disgaea: Hour of Darkness got a bad rap. Releasing in 2003, the game trailed some truly impressive RPGs, like Xenosaga, Dark Cloud 2, dot-hack, and Arc the Lad, resulting in it not getting the attention from players it deserved. IGN even voted for the game to receive the company’s “Best Game No One Played” award. But it’s no surprise Disgaea passed so many gamers by. Although it released on the PS2, its visuals are more reminiscent of what was seen on Sony’s original console. The game also stepped away from the heroic RPG protagonist’s journey (a very popular trope at the time) to deliver a game where the player embodied the “villain.”
All that being said, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is a phenomenal game. It spawned what is perhaps Nippon Ichi Software’s best franchise to date, and inspired the dark twisted humor players would come to enjoy in the publisher’s later franchises, like Danganronpa. The most recent addition to the Disgaea franchise, 2017’s Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance, launched to positive reviews. This Disgaea remake offers fans the perfect opportunity to play through the classic that started it all if they missed out 15 years ago. Hopefully, players don’t pass this game up a second time.
Twisted Humor
Disgaea is at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the original game perfectly embodies the goofiness that the franchise has become known for. As stated before, the heroic protagonist’s story is turned on its head right out of the gate. Players control Laharl, an arrogant demonic prince who becomes physically ill at the sight of beauty or the sound of optimistic words. On his quest to reclaim his father’s throne he allies with a sarcastic devil, a naïve angel trainee-turned-assassin, a dim-witted knight, and a slew of other colorful characters.
The banter between these characters sells Disgaea: Hour of Darkness on its own, and the game never stops throwing its “heroes” into ever more hilarious hijinks. Some of the more clever instances of wordplay are lost in the English translation of the game, but that does little to diminish the clever wise cracks and colorful mirth that Hour of Darkness is able to pull off.
Deep Combat System
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness has a deep (and really challenging) combat system. A tactical turn-based RPG, players determine where their characters move and how they attack. Positioning is a pretty big deal and the whole thing plays out like one incredibly complex game of chess. Additional mechanics, like humanoid characters being able to throw teammates or enemies around the battlefield, add a level of strategy as well.
This type of combat has remained pretty consistent across all of the Disgaea games with each iteration making minor tweaks to the overall formula. Disgaea 5’s combat system, being the most recent, is arguably the best, and it would be cool to see some of its mechanics added to the original system in the remake. A display of resistance and affiliation statistics when units are on the battlefield would be especially helpful, and the new combat classes (dark knights, maids, and fairies) would help spice up a 15 year old game. That being said, Hour of Darkness’ combat is still good enough to stand on its own. Like stated before, each Disgaea game has only made minor tweaks to the original formula. What players got in Disgaea 5 was pretty much what players got back in 2003. Whether or not Nippon Ichi Software maintains Hour of Darkness’ combat or implements mechanics from its sequels, players will still have to be smart and quick-to-act.
Clever Planning Phase
When not in combat, players are planning for the next fight. Disgaea has always featured some pretty unique and fun challenges to engage in and complete in the quiet hours of the game. For example, merchants work as the player’s characters do. As the player’s characters trade with merchants, the merchants will level up and become better merchants. They grow with experience, becoming better at their craft and more shrewd at doing business as the game goes on.
A fan favorite side activity, the Dark Assembly is responsible for accepting or rejecting the player’s proposals for weapons, plans, and allies. The player has to actively work to convince the shadowy senate to vote their way. Whether that means persuasion, bribery, or a good old-fashioned beat down, the player has to get the Dark Assembly on their side if they want things to start going their way throughout the rest of the game. Of course, bribery might lead to a selfish senator and definitely will lead to empty pockets. And a fight might make a senator even more opposed to the player on the next proposal.
Not many games feature such complex systems for the player to enjoy when they’re not exploring or fighting, and none have done something as clever as the Dark Assembly. Making an even more nuanced Dark Assembly in a remake could be a game changer for the RPG genre.
Just So Much Loot to Collect
Before games like Borderlands came along, Disgaea was pretty high on the list of games with an incredible loot system. A majority of the loot in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is weapons and other items. However, a much more valuable commodity exists in the Disgaea franchise: the game’s characters.
During combat, it’s possible to capture and befriend the monsters that Laharl and friends encounter. These new allies can join the party and fight in future skirmishes. Certain characters can pair with one another to perform even more powerful attacks as well, so finding and capturing every one of them is a necessity.
Between the characters and all the items that the characters can use, there are hundreds of possible party combinations that the player can create. It’s an addictive, never-ending process that satisfies the cravings of collectors and provides hours of replayability for completionists. In most games, such a task would be a grind. But Disgaea keeps the player entertained with promises of new conversations and instances of humor with every new ally they recruit.
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