Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness

Nov 1, 2007

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with tactical RPGs of amazing caliber lately, PSP owners? That's a shame, because Atlus isn't cutting you a break with Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness. A portable and enhanced version of one of the best, deepest tactical RPGs ever released, Afternoon of Darkness is just one more reason you'll never get around to reading on your commute.

All Demons Must Go!

Disgaea is a re-release of the classic PS2 tactical RPG where you play the role of Laharl. Recently awakened by your not-quite-loyal demon underling Etna, you control Laharl as he embarks on his quest to take over the Netherworld. His father, King Krichevskoy, has died. Since then, things in the Netherworld have gone a bit to hell as Krichevskoy's heir, Laharl, has been sleeping… for two years.

Etna is one of the first controllable companions in the game. As an introduction to both her and the game's sense of humor, she's attempting to wake her rightful Lord. She's doing so by firing every variety of horrifically potent weapon she can get her hands on at his face, leading to the PSP version's best extra: Etna mode. It's a lovely "what if" story where Etna actually kills Laharl while trying to "wake" him, and a much meatier addition than many re-releases get.

The game runs a meager fifty or sixty hours if you don't really get into it, but can easily soar into the hundreds if you decide to explore item worlds, challenge the peaks of the game's difficulty, or really dig into the Dark Assembly gameplay. "Item worlds" are entire 100 level randomly-generated dungeon crawls hidden in the game's items which let you level up the items themselves. The levels are divided into 10 sets of 10 levels each, requiring that you fight past a boss at the end of each set of 10 before you either leave the item or dive further in for greater reward. Beating the bosses enhances the items, but you can also find and defeat Specialists inside items. These monsters enhance items yet further, if you can find and beat them.

The Dark Assembly is the Netherworld's Congress, so it's full of crooked Senators. Each Senator you can sway will demand a bribe from the various items you can earn in the game, but if you can't assemble a majority there is another option. This is the Netherworld, so you can always just beat the Senators who won't vote your way into submission (though that will lead to difficulties in getting their vote in the future). You can unlock characters, change the rules of the game, or assemble other secrets and treats by breaking down the doors of the Netherworld Congress, making it time well-spent to explore.

The gameplay itself, supplemented by some merely okay ad hoc multiplayer, incorporates ideas into otherwise traditional SRPG turn-based gameplay that place Afternoon of Darkness on a pedestal all its own. Whether you're throwing your allies into the perfect position for combat, setting up intricate combos, or using the geo panel system, Disgaea is like no other SRPG out there.

We're All Green Here

Geo panels are the most ingenious mix-up of the game's demanding tactical system. Geo panels are colored squares in the game grid; geo symbols are throwable and destructible items on the game grid. If you put a geo symbol on a geo panel, all the geo panels of that color gain some quality granted by the geo symbol, whether that's a bonus to damage or a damage-over-time poison-like effect.

But if you destroy a geo symbol on a different-colored geo panel, it changes every geo panel on the screen to that color and destroys any geo symbols that are hit, causing a chain reaction. Some geo symbols are just "clear," resetting geo panels to regular game grid squares and rewarding the player with a blast of energy at your foes if you manage to clear the whole game grid. It's essentially an entire puzzle game laid over and interweaving seamlessly with the tactical gameplay. What other developers might have released as an "innovative grid-based puzzler!" Nippon Ichi has simply included as one more layer of depth in an already rich battle experience.

If you want to beat some of the truly ridiculously powerful optional enemies in the game, you'll have to spend plenty of time leveling up. There is an argument that the game's demanding difficulty and sheer hour requirement is a mark against it, but that's ultimately false. Tactical RPGs demand tactical ability, just as shooters demand some eye-hand coordination.

Exploring every inch of this Afternoon, from its multiple endings to its various extra stages, would take quite a few hours, but its more than feasible to bust through it in a few dozen hours without relentless grinding. If you want the whole experience, this could well be the only game you'll play for months. That's not a mark against a game; that's a "thank you" to the consumer from the developer.

If you don't want to do all that, you'll still be in for a treat. Part of what distinguishes Disgaea from more run-of-the-mill SRPGs is its wicked sense of humor, which makes just unveiling the story a treat. Wait until you hear Laharl rename the early boss, the demon Vyers, in one of the best examples of the game's wit. The PSP is seeing a real renaissance this year, and SRPG fans are reaping the benefits. Although Afternoon of Darkness does nothing to correct the often-irritating camera of the original game, it's an incredible and incredibly rewarding game that's been nothing but improved for its time on the PSP. Turn it on, take over the Netherworld, and enjoy playing the hell out of your PSP.