A special thank you to NIS America for providing us with a review code! PhantomZ2 reincarnates into the Netherworld to experience Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny.
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is finally out, five years since the last Disgaea title, and while I imagined most things would stay the same in a lot of aspects, things are fairly different this time around – to the point that it feels slightly unrecognizable.
To say what Disgaea is in a general sense can be very simple: it’s a series where a unique cast of demons, and sometimes humans or angels, travel through the Netherworld to take on foes from the silliest demons to the most destructive Overlords. Describing it that way may come off as generic, but the description is also very deceitful. This JSRPG franchise has given me some of the most hilarious writing I’ve ever experienced, and it’s also filled with interesting and passionate characters who have influenced my life. While the setting is usually a netherworld filled with crime, scumbags, and decrepit environments, your protagonists fight to shine light, justice, and the righting of wrongs – even in Hell itself. The chaos and destruction you can whip out on foes with your characters sprawled out across the stage can go from tame to absolutely insane.
Even though every title is numbered, it is similar to Final Fantasy in the way every title focuses on a new set of characters and a new setting. And while this does mean that every title is meant to stand on its own, the aesthetic and key points have stayed the same or were built upon in a way that keeps it all unified in being recognizable as Disgaea. This and so much more is what Disgaea is to me, and that’s why I would like to apologize to NIS America & Nippon Ichi Software for taking so long with this review. The more I’ve tried to play through Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, the more I become stumped on how I feel and what I want to say specifically. My thoughts are incredibly mixed and I’m not sure if my feelings would change or get better, even if I were to continue playing.
Story
Like every Disgaea game, Disgaea 6 begins with a narration of the current state of the Netherworld. In this Netherworld, a new God of Destruction has emerged – the strongest ever known – who carries death and disaster wherever it goes. Everyone who has faced it has fallen under its might. However, no one knows that the God of Destruction has already been defeated.
Breaking into the Darkest Assembly and knocking out all of the Guards, we’re introduced to our main character and his unplayable companion: Zed, a red hooded zombie that is more than meets the eye, and Cerberus, a talking zombie pup that is incredibly smart. After taking out the guards, the two barge their way into the Darkest Assembly currently being held by the arrogant and self-important Overlord Ivar. As the conversation was on the strange lack of destruction caused by the God of Destruction recently, Zed reveals that it’s due to him having defeated it. With Ivar in disbelief at how a zombie could ever obtain the ability to do so, Zed begins his story…
Disgaea 6’s story primarily takes place through the recounting of events at this meeting. The first chapter features Zed and Cerebrus meeting a Prinny at a destroyed battlefield where demons have rioted against the God of Destruction’s unending mayhem. After witnessing Zed’s rudeness, disrespect, but amazing power, the Prinny begs to be his vassal, to Zed’s disapproval but Cerebrus’ encouragement. Shortly afterward, the God of Destruction finally appears and although we may win the battle in terms of gameplay, Zed abruptly protects his vassal from the God of Destruction’s attack – an attack so strong it deals over 900 Million damage, quickly killing Zed. With his dying breath, Zed vows to never give up, in the name of a young girl called Bieko.
However, this isn’t the end of Zed’s story and thus enters the gimmick of Disgaea 6: Super Reincarnation. Inflicted with the spell of Super Reincarnation and his own goal of destroying the God of Destruction, every time Zed dies – he is reincarnated into a new world. Unlike standard reincarnation, Super Reincarnation comes with the intent of bringing the person the best possible solution to their goal, and with every death, you will hopefully get closer. However, for Zed, this doesn’t just bring him back to life – this brings him to different worlds that will serve the purpose of giving him something that will aid in his journey to defeat the God of Destruction.
Each chapter starts by bringing you to a new world, with a new character to meet and join your party, like the rich fool King Misedor of the Human World and Melodia, a singing princess looking for her prince.
I wasn’t too happy with the cast. While Cerebrus describes Zed as not being as disrespectful or obsessed with proving his strength with words, Zed insults him, showing that he hasn’t changed that much. So while he might open up as the story moves forward, he never comes off as having changed as the story progresses – and there’s no indication that he will by the time the narrative gets to the present. It also doesn’t help that I’m not too big on his voice.
As for the other characters, they all have their quirks and specific traits that should make them feel fleshed out. Cerberus ends up being my favorite character as of right now because he’s a guide for the journey that suffers insults, winds up correct, and adds comedy to the situation. His voice is another point towards him. Contrary to this good character is Misedor, who quickly becomes a punching bag as he relies on money and attempts to solve everything with it, thus allowing everyone else to criticize how he makes everything worse and seems to not have much skill elsewhere. While this is meant to be a trait he’ll eventually overcome, it’s irritating to hear him go on about it so often, especially when his voice is annoying.
However, characters don’t feel as fleshed out because of how fast the story goes through their introductory chapters. Unlike other Disgaea titles, Disgaea 6 rushes from one place to the next to grab the next party member. While this does show how impending doom can come at an instant, it also means we don’t get enough one-on-one time to feel the general traits of the characters aside from one main quirk. However, I do think that two later characters, Piyori and Majolene, are introduced with situations and internal conflict that make them immediately interesting to follow.
Gameplay
Recalling back to a general explanation of Disgaea from my previous reviews, Disgaea is a JSRPG – Japanese Strategic Role Playing Game. The player will be pit against a set of enemies as they play through each level on the stage. You can move each unit a set amount of spaces, throw one another to reach isolated enemies or treasures, attack your enemies with basic attacks and specials (you can also do it to your own units), and use items. However, you must be cautious in your strategy. Be aware of the different effects on the stage caused by Geo Effects, which can give you stat boosts and bonuses but your opponents as well.
Although the bare bone mechanics of the Disgaea series are present, other features that have been a staple of the series for years have been changed or removed. While team attacks are still present by getting a boost of power when standing next to your allies, the visual flair of seeing your allies wail on your opponents with you is gone. Carrying your allies on one another’s back to unleash deadly Tower Attacks is no longer here. The difference between Humanoid & Monster units has mostly been discarded, as Monster units can now equip regular weapons that Humans can and can also lift and throw Humanoid units. Instead of characters and units being able to learn skills based upon the weapons they used, allowing for a lot of variety on one unit, skills are now all uniquely tied to class. This bars the ease of variety that previous installments had. Also, some long-standing classes like Nekomatas and Skulls are no longer present.
A new feature added to Disgaea 6 is the ability to Auto-Battle, to let the gameplay itself for you. While I can understand how someone would find this useful when it comes to grinding repeatedly on stages you already know you can clear, I feel like such a feature takes away the amount of ownership and empowerment the player gets from. If someone wants to play that way, that’s their choice, but the ability to turn it off completely would be nice. Since the feature is mapped onto the Start button, a button that many other games use for pausing, I found myself instinctively hitting it multiple times and needing to cancel all of the actions it made. Continuing with the idea of things being automatically done, I’m not a fan of being automatically healed once I return to my base. If I wanted a self-imposed challenge (aside from using the Cheat Shop), I’d like to do so.
Unfortunately, my biggest problem with Disgaea 6 comes with its main feature: Super Reincarnation. Originally, Reincarnation was a feature that allowed the player to restart their character from Level 1 with increased base stats and bonuses that were based upon how much Mana you had. Super Reincarnation also returns the character to level 1, but it’s based on something called Karma. The more you level up, the more Karma you gain, but you can also obtain achievements on each character called D-Merits. By doing different things and reaching different milestones with each unit, that unit will receive D-Merits that grant them even more Karma. When you’re ready to Reincarnate, that Karma can be used for even more stat boosts and bonuses such as increased throwing range, the ability to counter more, increased movement speed, and much more.
While this sounds great on paper, the reason for such a mechanic comes from the decision to increase the level cap from 9,999 to 99,999,999. In order for a character to have any sense in reaching such a high-level cap, the amount of EXP given out has greatly changed – so much that the first battle you ever do can get you from Level 1 to Level 40. How could a Level 1 character face up against opponents who are in the hundreds? Well, the base stats of characters have also been greatly changed – starting in the ten-thousands.
While the experience and power gained are a result of the work the player puts in, it also feels artificial. The act of defeating strong enemies with my allies and grinding in previous Disgaea games led to seeing my team’s level and the damage they dish out grow higher and higher. With Disgaea 6 starting us from such a point where we’re incredibly strong and the amount of EXP we gain allows us to grow so fast, nothing truly feels earned. The entire time I was playing, I felt like I was being given gifts instead of earning rewards – I had to think about whether I was having fun or not.
Presentation & Final Thoughts
While the change to 3D does give Disgaea 6 a distinct look that could keep the series fresh, it doesn’t always animate well when it comes to specials. I do prefer the 2D sprites of the previous titles, but perhaps they switched to 3D because it would also be easier to animate and reuse the base model for most characters. Speaking of animation, I was surprised to see that there wasn’t an animated intro to the game – which has been a series staple since Disgaea 2.
The performance of the game on Nintendo Switch is somewhat disappointing. While you can switch between three different modes for your preference between picture quality and framerate, the balanced option is the best as the other two resulted in my eyes hurting.
I can’t be very positive about the music, as only the new Prism Ranger track has stood out to me. It’s one more aspect of the game I’ve found to be negative.
Even though it might seem clear that I really don’t like Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, that isn’t fully the case. The experience so far has been disappointing and confusing, to the point that I grew demotivated after sessions that only reached an hour. With where I’m at, it’s hard to recommend someone to purchase and play the game. However, I’m of the mindset that personal experiences are the most important way to interact with something. So even though my perspective has been negative, it’s worth it for you to experience it for yourself. Don’t treat my review as the only statement you need on Disgaea 6.
