A couple of years ago, Nippon Ichi and Nis America released thesixth iterationinto the beloved SRPG franchise, and it was met with a mixed reception. It was the first time the series went full 3D (outside of the story stills), and with it came a slew of issues that dragged it down. The first being that the number of recruitable teammates had been reduced significantly, and at least the initial release on the Nintendo Switch, the performance and graphics mode were horrendous. One looked like Vaseline was smeared over the screen, while the other ran at an unacceptable framerate. The latter was baffling considering it’s not like Disgaea was void of 3D objects in the past, but it was just the character models had been converted. Alas, the engine couldn’t handle it, at least until it was brought onto PlayStation where most of the technical issues were resolved. Still, after coming off the memorable and feature richDisgaea 5, this felt like a major downgrade that focused more on their new automated battle system that turned it into an unbalanced free-to-play mobile experience. Nippon Ichi is looking to fix most of the concerns with their latest entry, Vows of Virtueless. Featuring a larger roster, an eastern aesthetic and the reworking of how their auto-battle feature is used, Disgaea 7 has so much promise to be something special.
I suppose it’s only right to start things off with the more disappointing aspect of Disgaea 7: the story. It’s lackluster, to say the least. It takes around twenty-five hours before the it becomes even remotely interesting, and by then we were already checked out. It follows the HL loving Fuji as he comes across a rich little girl who needs his help. This unravels into a story about collecting special weapons and fighting against the shogunate across the realms. Even looking past the rather slow and irrelevant plot, the cast make Disgaea 6 look like the best assembly ever conceived. The charm that once was in Disgaea has been reduced to middling dialogue and scenarios. That’s not to say this is completely void of any humor or comical characters as there are a handful that standout, but the protagonist and most of the cast are so vanilla that you forget they’re even there. At the very least the aesthetic of Disgaea 7 is pleasing, with a stronger emphasis on an eastern tile set, but that’s the most appeal you may find from the story mode.
Part of all of this comes from the lack of in-game interactions. In past Disgaea titles, we’ve seen teammates interacting with one another in comical situations and character building exercises. Ever since the transition to 3D, these have been removed and instead each stage is just greeted with stills and a little bit of dialogue at the beginning and end. The removal of skits doesn’t help as it always helped compliment the cast, even though there was no excuse for them to be voiceless. Now there’s no longer any unique interactions between characters outside of going up to them in the netherworld and getting their insight on the current situation. At the core of it, the story and characters feel hollow, especially when you compare it to the far more affable casts of the past where their interactions were significantly more impactful and compelling.
Nippon Ichi has done a complete 180 on their automated battle system. This was a hot point of debate that we thought turned Disgaea 6 into feeling like a free-to-play mobile game that discouraged balance. From the start, Disgaea 7 is balanced substantially better than its predecessor, although there are some caveats. For example, HL isn’t too plentiful early on and the medical bills will quickly pileup, forcing the player to grind a bit to resurrect fellow teammates. Thankfully, once the player unlocks the iconic Item World, that changes fast. The removal of the auto-play function is a fantastic change as it rebalances the experience for the better and makes the end game more rewarding. This also ties into the return of the multiplayer functionality, which puts players up against one another asynchronously, for prizes such as HL, gear and fuel that allows players to actually utilize the newly revamped auto battle system in story stages. Outside of this, there’s a brand new mechanic called Jumbification. After certain parameters are met during combat, players are able to select a teammate and make them a full on kaiju outside of the bounds of the arena. This allows them to unleash a large punch to enemies on the field, or other jumbified opponents. We have mixed opinions on this feature only because it can quickly turn the tides of battle, going from a hard-fought battle into something that’s over in a flash. Even boss encounters were met with a swift end when this occurred, unless of course they went jumbo themselves. Outside of that, there are changes to the general Disgaea formula such as character creation being HL based instead of using Mana.
Closing Comments:
Disgaea 7 improves upon its predecessor by building a balanced and more complete roster than what we’ve become used to, but unfortunately it falls apart in other areas. The main issue comes down to the story and cast of characters. Almost everyone is forgettable in some way, with few appealing characteristics that make them unique. For example, one is a strong mentor to the protagonist who loves candy, and that’s virtually her entire personality with no meaningful advancement. Obviously there are character building scenarios in the later portion of the campaign, but we just completely forgot some of the cast were even along for the ride. This might have something to do with the lack of character interactions, with the removal of both skits and in-game scenes. Thankfully, what shines the brightest is the combat as it features a rewarding system where you have to work to use the reworked auto-battle system. There are some changes that are disappointing, but generally speaking, it remains a highly-strategic and engaging experience. In the end, Disgaea 7 is a remarkable SRPG with an unremarkable story that gives you little reason to move past Alliance of Vengeance.
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is the 2023 entry in Nippon Ichi’s tactical JRPG franchise. Once again set in the Netherworld, the story follows Fuji and Pirilika. Along with a single-player mode, Disgaea 7 also has PvP multiplayer.
