‘Disgaea 6: Defiance Of Destiny’ Reviewed: Familiarity Of The Past With New Features And Compelling Story
by Gary Catig
Disgaea is a long running video game series that first began on the PlayStation 2 almost twenty years ago. Though it might not have the same name recognition as Super Mario, Halo, or Final Fantasy, it does have its own passionate fanbase. The latest installment, Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, was recently released providing a fun tactical turn-based RPG that caters to diehards and newbies alike.
The story centers around a young zombie named Zed. A God of Destruction is making his way through the different parts of the Netherworld and demolishing them one by one. Zed takes it upon himself to stand in its way and by using his power of Super Reincarnation, he hopes to defeat this dangerous threat. Along his journey he meets up with a colorful cast of characters that aid him in taking down the God of Destruction.
The gameplay is very similar to its predecessors providing a level of familiarity while also being simple enough that Disgaea rookies can easily pick up. There are some tweaks that improve the experience and make navigating the combat map and battle less frustrating. For example, the monster classes can now equip the regular assortment of weapons including swords, spears and the like. More importantly, monsters can also throw other characters and items so they are no longer handicapped on that front. But don’t worry, as usual, Prinnies are still explosive. The ability to redo your moves before executing is also a nice touch, even throwing can get a do-over. The Dark Assembly and Item World are also still present.
Disgaea 6 really embraces Zed’s zombie traits by emphasizing the Super Reincarnation aspect which is very similar to the reincarnation/transmutation feature of the past. It allows everything to be bigger helping players achieve higher levels and stats. Combined with the new Juice Bar and D-Merits system, your party will never have been stronger. The Juice Bar gives you the option to increase certain traits such as mana, weapon skill and class mastery. It helps reduce a lot of the grind aspect in any RPG. The D-Merits is a sort of achievement awards system that also helps boost individual members.
The story is pretty compelling and you witness the growth of Zed on his journey while learning about his tragic past that motivates him on his quest to vanquish the God of Destruction. It also highlights the other unique characters that join the party giving them more depth and their subplots still play into Zed’s overall narrative. There is also the characteristic humor that pokes fun at itself and the overall genre and it can be amusingly meta at times.
The graphics aren’t that much of an upgrade from Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance. It might be a little bit cleaner with more detailed backgrounds on the maps but it isn’t a noticeable difference. This is the first in the series to use 3D character models. It’s cool initially to play with the camera angels to fully see the change but it doesn’t really add anything to the game.
Another gripe is that sometimes bigger doesn’t mean better. The ability to increase all the statistics of your characters give it an inflated sense and it’s difficult to get a real grasp of where your party stands as you progress through the stages. It can be awe-inspiring seeing how many digits are in the amount of damage you do in a combo attack but when the enemies’ level up at the same rate, it doesn’t have quite the same impact.
An area where Disgaea 6 doesn’t go bigger is the number of character classes you can select from. There are only a little over twenty generic classes to choose from and despite there being some interesting new additions, it’s still a little underwhelming and disappointing to see the reduced options. Sure, DLC can add more characters but that’s extra to the basic game.
Though there are areas that could have been improved upon, Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny gives fans a sense of familiarity and comfort while still adding something new to keep it fresh. There is an engaging storyline with characters you invest in. The latest installment shows why the series is still a go to title for tactical turn-based RPGs.
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is out now on Nintendo Switch.
