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| Pollyanna 1956th Post
 
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
   
    
    
    
    
|  "Re(1):Curse of Disgaea 2" , posted Sun 13 Aug 09:08:
The game is very very close to the original in terms of system, so if you were a fan of Disgaea because of its gameplay, I doubt you'll find anything to complain about in Disgaea 2.
In terms of the story...well, let me "discredit" myself by saying that I thought the first game had a tremendous amount of potential, and was very charming at the start, but degraded into boring melodrama nonsense that drove a simple theme into your head as if you couldn't understand it instantly by yourself. (not as bad as Phantom Brave, but still...)
So, by the end of Disgaea, I hated all the characters (that I loved so much only hours before). This sentiment is obviously going to influence my opinion of the sequel.
That being said, the story in Disgaea 2 is idiotic. The characters are one-dimensional and pursue singular ideals to the point of saying the same damn lines over and over again. Much like (some) other Nippon-1 games, the charming setup and art style is ruined by stale, repetitive, almost insulting writing that not only prevents me from relating to the characters, but liking them at all.
In terms of visuals and the system, it keeps what the first game did right. Similarly, the setting is clever and interesting, but unfortunately, this time, it's stale from the get-go, rather than starting fresh and degrading into something less interesting. I would only recommend this game to people who have no radar for half-assed storytelling or who are hungry for more Disgaea. Not really "new", just "more". I assume that's what hardcore Disgaea fans wanted anyway, so my opinion here may be irrelevant.
I also didn't get all the way through the game, and it may just explode into awesomeness in the end. I'd trust Zepy's opinion on this one more than mine.
Also, the soundtrack isn't up to par, but I'm glad that it doesn't look like absolute trash on a high resolution TV.
Evenor edit: Since I might be the only one who's played those games, I'll give a rundown later (I HAVE to get some work done now). Though I guess I already have, huh?
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Sun 13 Aug 09:09] |
| Variable Savior 385th Post
Silver Customer
| "Re(2):Curse of Disgaea 2" , posted Sun 13 Aug 15:35
quote:
In terms of the story...well, let me "discredit" myself by saying that I thought the first game had a tremendous amount of potential, and was very charming at the start, but degraded into boring melodrama nonsense that drove a simple theme into your head as if you couldn't understand it instantly by yourself. (not as bad as Phantom Brave, but still...)
So, by the end of Disgaea, I hated all the characters (that I loved so much only hours before). This sentiment is obviously going to influence my opinion of the sequel.
That being said, the story in Disgaea 2 is idiotic. The characters are one-dimensional and pursue singular ideals to the point of saying the same damn lines over and over again. Much like (some) other Nippon-1 games, the charming setup and art style is ruined by stale, repetitive, almost insulting writing that not only prevents me from relating to the characters, but liking them at all.
So the story in D2 is worse than that of the original?? I wasn't overly impressed with Disgaea's actual story but I did like the humor worked into the writing. I actually laughed out loud several times - rare for me in a game. There's probably no way to equate the humor of the Japanese original to the domestic translation but I hope they at least match that found in Disgaea.
quote:
(somewhat related: not trying to steal this thread) ....
Not at all, fine sir. I actually have an interest in both those titles so your question is quite welcome.
Blood marks heaven's path
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| Pollyanna 1956th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(3):Curse of Disgaea 2" , posted Sun 13 Aug 16:16
I guess I would say the plot is Disgaea 2 is worse. It's definitely less entertaining. The dialogue starts getting stale and melodramatic a lot earlier, and there's fewer laughs all around. I might have chuckled a few times, but I rolled my eyes many times more.
Okeyyyy
Devil Summoner
It's hard for me to recommend this game, mostly due to the battle system. It's sluggish. It's BORING. It's not fast enough for an action RPG and it's not deep enough for a normal one. You can slash (SLOWLY), do a spin attack (SLOOOW), shoot elemental-based bullets (which you have to buy, but hit weaknesses like in SMT3) or do combo attacks with your equipped demon.
You capture demons in combat when they're weak (no negotiation) and combine them like in any other Megaten game. The cool thing is, they have "skills" or rather "actions" that apply to the town/overhead map. Different situations/people call for different demon "actions". Some are necessary to progress, and others are just for fun.
Also, you can temporarily release your demon to go places that Raidou can't. In this case, you can also use them in battle. This sounds like it would be fun, given the wide variety of demons, but all of them are sluggish and not fun to play with.
I feel like the game has a lot of "width", but not a lot of "depth". Like, it's a very wide, very shallow lake. Lots of little things to do, not very satisfying.
The setting, characters, music and story are all quite enjoyable, though. Well...in a Megaten kind of way. If SMT3 turned you off, then it's probably not your thing. It's challenging, and it feels like a "real" Megaten game, but I think that makes the relatively shallow battle system even more insulting.
I guess if you're into the series and the game LOOKS appealing to you, go for it. It's not bad in the least, but I expect better from R&D.
Rule of Rose
This is perhaps the worst game I've ever played in many ways. There's a lot of running around to solve "puzzles" that ware no more complicated that the "bring this here" sort of thing you often see in survival horror games. The "battle system", if you can even call it that, is horrendously clunky, though I suppose that's to be expected when the main character is a little girl.
On the other hand, the presentation is wonderful. The cinemas are kinda artsy, intense and creepy. The music is really top-notch, too...lots of violins.
My stand on the game is that if it was a movie, it would probably be one of my favorites ever, but as a game, it fails miserably. So I guess I can say "it's as awesome as it looks" (maybe even better), but you have to suffer for it.
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| Pollyanna 1957th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(5):Curse of Disgaea 2" , posted Sun 13 Aug 19:48
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So which one is more worthwhile: Makai Kingdom or Disgaea 2? Thanks in advance.
It depends. Makai/Phantom Kingdom is my favorite Nippon-1 game. I think it has the most fun system to play around with, and the story is mostly funny and enjoyable. When it gets sappy at the end, it's still tolerable and after you win it, you can get right back into the game a second time without feeling like you've hit a leveling-up brick wall. The downside is, it looks ugly, the soundtrack is mediocre (excluding a select few brilliant songs) and many people might be turned off by its non grid-based maps. Altogether, I think the game came together quite well and made for an extremely fun experience.
However, most people like Disgaea much MUCH more than Phantom Kingdom and would like Disgaea 2 more as well. Disgaea 2 is roughly as good as the original. There are a few things that are better and a few things that are worse, but altogether, if you loved the first game and want a comparable experience, you'll probably like (maybe love) Disgaea 2. If you want something new, or even improved, then Disgaea 2 might come as a disappointment.
I mean, that's all it comes down to. If you really loved Disgaea and feel like you could play it again, then I can't see why you wouldn't love Disgaea 2, unless you're REALLY stuck up on the story.
I'm really not trying to talk people out of Disgaea 2. It's not a bad game, it just has lame writing and no innovation.
C'monnnnn Zepy! Give us a second opinion!
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| Zepy 1272th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(6):Curse of Disgaea 2" , posted Sun 13 Aug 20:51
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C'monnnnn Zepy! Give us a second opinion!
But you always manage to say everything there is to say about a game! I've got nothing left to say!
Aaaanyway, I loved Disgaea, probably as much as Makai Kingdom.
Basically, what Pollyanna said about Disgaea 2 being just "more of Disgaea" is correct. The game doesn't offer any big changes from Disgaea, it's basically the same game with some enchancements.
I DID like the ura-stages of the storyline battles though, they were filled with lots of great set ups and high difficulty stuff that can't always be beaten with brute force.
The game has lots of interesting characters, all ruined by the bad writing as usual. Gozaru was kinda cool though. But yeah, dumb story.
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Still worth it for fighting Zeta in book form + ZETA BEAM
And the anime ending by ufotable, which does not suck like the tv anime
End of Spoiler
So yeah, fun game if you liked Disgaea. The end-game material is pretty huge compared to previous games though, too many things too do, I just gave up after doing half of the stuff.
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| Pollyanna 1961th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(3):Curse of Disgaea 2" , posted Fri 18 Aug 16:48
quote:
As not to derail the subject, I guess I'm getting at asking if Disgaea 2 will still have appeal to one who has increasingly disliked Nipponichi's efforts.
Another noteworthy title hitting US shores I want to ask about is Valkyrie Profile's long-anticipated followup. That's about a month away.
It depends on how much you liked Disgaea. If you think that Nippon-1 games are less and less charming because they aren't like Disgaea and can suffer a hit to the plot for slightly better gameplay, then I think it will still be appealing.
Generally speaking, though...if you're growing disenchanted with Nippon-1 titles, Disgaea 2 is probably the last thing you want to play.
Valkyrie Profile 2
This game...uhm...hmmm. Well, it has a beautiful soundtrack and one of the best, most enjoyable battle systems I've ever seen. I described it in detail a while back, so I'm not going to bother with that. I'll just say that if you liked the first game's system, this improves and expands on it in many good ways.
There's one big problem with the two best elements, though (battle and soundtrack). There's only one (main) battle theme and you spend well over half the game in battle. THIS IS A HUGE OVERSIGHT!!!
Also, the plot goes from very boring (searching for something) to completely ridiculous. It shamefully references the first game to death, then rewrites its reality. It doesn't have any of the class and style the first game had (excluding the soundtrack), but insists on making itself as much of a direct sequel as possible. The battles and dungeons are fantastic (in the spirit of the original), but as a fan of the first game, I still feel violated by the silly/boring plot.
There's also a huge issue with incorporating the new systems. There's a point in the game where you get 5 archer einferia in a row, then go at least 5 more before you get a great sword user. WHO NEEDS THAT MANY ARCHERS!?!?
There's another extended period where you can't get a good staff with ougi enabled (which is very important). The "item creation" system is also severely flawed. You get "enemy parts" when you hit certain areas on them (such as a tail) until it breaks off. Different items can be made at a shop after you sell certain parts (in a certain number). It's quite easy to get all of the parts for the equipment early in the game, but later in the game, even if you spend hours making sure you break every part on every monster, you're unlikely to get enough items for even ONE new piece of equipment.
Oh, and the renders stink. Their costumes look great, but their faces make them look laaaaaame! There are some characters I liked before that look shamefully poor...or at the very least, don't do their designs justice.
Hmmm...what else? Oh! I don't like the voice acting. It's too "anime" and not understated or believable enough. That might be the character's problem, though. Maybe the English dub will be...erm...better?
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