The Disgaea Universe

First there was Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, where you guided the demon prince Laharl and company, through stages filled with quirky monsters and other demons, in order for him to take his rightful place on the throne after his father's death. Get ready to immerse in a whole new "Netherworld", together with Etna, his... trusted servant, a huge array of extras (it does feel like a movie, since each stage is referred to as a Chapter with greatly scripted fun dialogues) and an angel hell-bent on stopping our hero! All these, plus more than 40 hours of gameplay, made Makai Senki Disgaea, as is its original Japanese title, a huge success in the East. Interesting enough, the game did sell pretty good in the US market as well, and in 2004 found its way to Europe. That's when I grabbed myself a copy, since I wanted to know what all this hype was for. The magical world of Disgaea won me over and soon I was obsessed with creating a whole army of demon subordinates of every class imaginable, in order to help my Laharl in his quest. The battle and character creation system take a bit of time getting used to, mainly due to their originality, but this strategy-RPG is sure worth your time!

Such a success wouldn't be without its own spawn of spin-off titles. Thus, Nippon Ichi, the developers of the original, continued their trend in original strategy game-making, with Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom. Although I have the first, it's gathering dust... Don't blame me! I haven't found the time to play yet another engaging game such as Disgaea.

Me being an anime freak that I am, I was in a whole new world of excitement when I found out Makai Senki Disgaea the anime is almost ready for the Japanese audience! Spanning across 12 episodes, it's based entirely on the first game as the bonus DVD released a few days ago indicates. First episode is stated to air April 5th on Chiba TV (info from anidb.net). Of course it was soon to happen, since all big gaming franchises are turned to anime and vice-versa, even more so when they look, sound and feel like one throughout gameplay!

But that's not all! Fans of Disgaea rejoice! Disgaea 2, now out in Japan, is making its way to the states in August! Unfortunately, there is not a European release date yet. The surprise is that the main characters of the original game, will be taking supporting roles, giving the lead to Adel, a 17 year old boy from the world of Valdime. This world of his has been cursed by the Demon Lord Zenon and all its people turned to demons! The mysteriously single unaffected, Adel, growing more in strenght each day, sets out to revenge his family turning to demons, banish this curse off his land and defeat the Demon Lord. Not without help, as Rosalind, Zenon's own daughter, mistakenly summoned by Adel's mother, will accompany him in this new adventure. Expect more of the awesome gameplay and humor, as well as newly introduced characters and innovations. More info on the game in the official website (in japanese)! Oh yes! Of course expect the return of the zombie-penguins! Prinny team, GO!

Don't forget!

The original Disgaea game is out round the world since 2004!
Makai Senki Disgaea anime starts in April! So tune in anime fans!
Disgaea 2 out August 2006 in the US. Out in Japan NOW!