Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories [PS2]

The summer of 2003 brought us Disgaea, a tactical RPG of epic proportions. It was so good, in fact, that each subsequent entry in the genre has been compared to it, and is deemed inferior. Its sequel, Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, does its best to match the original's depth of gameplay and charmingly hilarious storyline. Being on par with Disgaea has been something no other title in the genre has been able to do. Is its own sequel up to the task?

Holt Village was a normal town, for all intents and purposes, until one fateful day when a wicked curse overtook its residents and turned them all into demons and monsters. Not only have they become hideous to look at, their memories and morals are disappearing. For some reason, only Adell has been spared this transformation, and is the sole remaining human. Why isn't he affected? His demon-born younger brother puts it best: "Because he's the main character?" When trying to summon the Overlord who caused this travesty, Adell's family instead ends up with Overlord Zenon's bratty daughter, Rozalin. She becomes unwillingly bonded to Adell as they both seek out her father -- each for their own different reasons, of course.

Disgaea 2 shares the same flow as the original. Start off in your hub world, where you can buy items, talk to denizens (whose banter changes with each chapter), and prepare to brawl. Pick a territory to be warped to, and fight through a tactical battle -- usually with a witty story-building cutscene before and/or after. Then zip back home and do it all over again.

It sounds simple, but each of these aspects is padded with depth. The hub, for example, is a flurry of activity. Merchants have brand new merchandise every time you talk to them -- thanks in large part to the fact that each item has unique stats. Items even have randomly generated Item World dungeons inside them, too, which can be visited to boost their attributes. The Dark Assembly is a place to propose game-changing bills (bump the value of items sold, lower monster AI, etc.) and create more troops to join your cause. Toss in a few bribes to have the senators seeing things your way.