Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice

Those with top of the line set ups for their PS3 may get excited when they realise Disgaea 3 uses the highest graphical definition available!  This won't last!

Disgaea 3 is set in the Maritsu Evil Academy and you play Mao, son of the overlord.  Mao wants to be a hero and since comic books keep telling him heroes kill overlords, it looks like a little patricide is in order.

There's a definite 'them and us' feel to this game.  The Disgaea series of tactical RPG has a large fan base, and the game seems directed at 'them' rather then at anyone new.  Which means fans will be happy to find few changes to the basic engine and tactical gameplay. Anyone else wont care.

A familiar feel is always a good thing for drawing your gamers back.  There are many examples out there where solid gameplay has been sacrificed for a radical change, alienating players. And while Disgaea 3, keeps things real, it can't escape that churned out feel.  You have to admit it's a long game and hundreds of hours gameplay will give definite value for money, if you can be bothered.

Let's start with the platform Disgaea 3 is on though.  The initial game was released on the PS2 and then redone for the PSP and DS.  With the handhelds and the way the game plays this allowed for opportunities to fight a couple of battles whilst sitting on the bus going to school or work.  Without an overly complex plot this was an ideal filler.  The PS3 isn't portable though and given that the graphics and sound in the game haven't received any real update, things looks turgid and blocky and sounds cheap.

Add to this the problems with the games battle tactic engine.  The overly complex menu system at the heart of this game was seriously needing a revamp to bring it into line with Disgaea's peers.  It's not awful and is usable but when you're in the midst of calculating a multi-player attack against enemies you do find the constant to-and-fro of dipping in and out of multi-layered battle menus annoying. 

Other annoying things about combat are the fact, with an introduction of elevation on the levels, the cursor can jump from character to character like a jack rabbit causing the screen to jump itself.  This may seem like being overly damning but lets face facts when the battle system is the core of your gameplay beyond the storyline shouldn't it have been playtested to death to ensure it worked smoothly.  

There are positives to Disgaea though such as battle having a myriad of options for attack and the ability to combine characters in these actions. Characters are also massively customisable and can rank to such high levels that they reach the status of at the very least demi-gods.  The size needs to be mentioned again because if you get into the game you'll be hooked for ages.  Some unique points such as increasing weapon levels by fighting through dungeons within the weapon add to the fun too.

Disgaea 3 seems like a handheld conversion on the PS3.  If it were merely that, the review of the handheld would have no doubt been more sparkling.  The fact remains that it isn't and for all its good points for fans there's an absence of pretty much anything to entice new players.

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