Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
2006
- role-playing (rpg)
- strategy
- tactical
- action
- fantasy
- comedy
- single player
The story
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories is a tactical role-playing game and the sequel to Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. It was re-released for the PlayStation Portable as Disgaea 2 Portable in Japan and as Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days in North America and Europe. Fifteen years ago, a powerful Overlord by the name of Zenon appeared in Veldime and cursed its human population. Since then, all its inhabitants have become demons and are to remain that way if the curse was not broken. However, a young man named Adell was the only human unaffected by the curse. Wanting to save his family and return them back to their true form, Adell decides to seek out Overlord Zenon and defeat him. The gameplay in Disgaea 2 builds directly upon that of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness; players control a party of characters to do battle on a 3D isometric grid map.
What it’s like
Bright, cartoonish sprites on crowded isometric grids, saturated with pastel demon-world colour and bursting with exaggerated anime flourishes: spell effects that flare in neon bursts, comic stat numbers popping above every hit, and a relentlessly upbeat soundtrack of rock-tinged themes and chirpy synth cues. The vibe is goofy, bustling and warm, with a sly self-aware humour that undercuts any darkness, and it suits long evenings of tinkering with a party, a comfort replay, or a stretch of playing in short bursts. Its pace is deliberately slow and methodical: turn-based battles that can be fiddled with endlessly, with a lot of grinding and team-building in between story beats. The emotional register stays light even when the story turns grim, following a determined young man who refuses to give up on his transformed family. Violence is cartoonish and bloodless, with exploding enemies and jokey death animations rather than gore, though there is some suggestive humour and mild crude jokes. It is aimed at strategy fans who enjoy deep customisation, obsessive min-maxing and gleefully ridiculous anime-style fantasy.
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