Disgaea followers know the drill by now. Each time a brand new mainline entry within the long-running tactical RPG collection breaks onto the scene, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than it will get a re-released version that bundles within the base sport’s DLC together with a set of gameplay tweaks and additions. It’s collection custom at this level, as each single numbered Disgaea sport up to now has acquired an expanded model (or perhaps a couple) post-release. Now, with the Western launch of Disgaea 7 Full at hand, the newest title in Nippon Ichi Software program’s zany crown jewel of a franchise is able to be part of its brethren within the Valhalla of unparalleled sport definitiveness.
D7C takes 2023’s Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless and repackages it with a plethora of brand-new additions, like a particular bonus marketing campaign episode and a brand new superboss to beat. The title doesn’t lie — that is the last word model of Disgaea 7 and it utterly supersedes the unique launch as the perfect approach to expertise the sport.
For some present and potential followers, that alone is purpose sufficient to dive in on this launch. That stated, others — particularly those that already picked up the bottom sport on Swap or different platforms — could also be questioning whether or not there’s sufficient worth added to justify double-dipping. Sadly, the reply as as to whether to choose up this definitive version isn’t fairly so definitive itself.
Simply as within the base sport, Disgaea 7 Full centres upon the story of two unlikely leads. The ruthless demon warrior Fuji wanders the feudal Japan-inspired realm of Hinomoto, a land that has been plunged right into a darkish period underneath the ruling shogunate. In an opportunity assembly, he encounters Pirilika, a bubbly, ultra-rich company elite and self-proclaimed Hinomoto otaku. Spurred to motion by the populace’s abandonment of bushidō (the Japanese time period for the samurai code of honour), Pirilika contracts Fuji as her bodyguard, and the 2 embark on a wacky quest all through the Netherworlds to assemble the Founding Weapons and defeat the darkish forces in charge of Hinomoto.
In Mitch’s unique assessment of Disgaea 7, he described the sport as “the last word distillation of the Disgaea expertise” and praised each its irreverent tone and its dealing with of the collection’ traditional gameplay hook of coaching items as much as ludicrous energy ranges and dealing eye-popping quantities of harm in turn-based tactical battles. These observations all nonetheless ring true for this re-release, so give Mitch’s assessment a readthrough for a deeper dive into the sport’s core.
However the crux is that this: There are only a few techniques RPGs on the market that may even maintain a candle to the extent of flexibility, depth, and freedom that Disgaea 7 presents in its gameplay. At each flip, you’re inspired to experiment with and exploit the sport’s mechanics, all in service of constructing a workforce that may totally destroy even probably the most absurdly troublesome challenges. Merely put, you get out what you place in, and the sport might be as simplistic and easy or as mind-bendingly advanced as you favor.
Disgaea 7 Full nonetheless has that very same nice core, however what truly units it aside from the bottom sport? Effectively, not a lot — in the course of the core marketing campaign, not less than. For anybody who did play the sport’s unique launch, these first 20 to 30 hours through which you progress by means of the primary story are awfully acquainted. Apart from all the DLC episodes and bonuses being accessible from the get-go, the first marketing campaign right here stays largely unchanged.
All of its brand-new gameplay additions are locked behind the post-game, and a few require a not-insignificant time funding to entry. Returning gamers hoping to retain their hard-earned save file progress from the bottom sport and skip proper to the brand new stuff are out of luck, too, as there’s no improve path accessible between the 2 variations.
Not having any vital brand-new content material to expertise till the post-game is a bummer, however when you lastly attain these recent additions, they’re fairly neat. Maybe probably the most substantial piece of recent content material is the Nethertime Help Power episode. This mini-campaign, set after the primary story, sees Fuji, Pirilika, and the remainder of the crew crossing paths with characters from earlier Disgaea titles and fascinating in a few enjoyable and distinctive battle maps alongside the best way.
For followers of the larger collection, these crossover cameos function an awesome little bit of fan service, although the shortage of voice performing for these sequences is disappointing. Clearing this episode additionally unlocks Asagi — a legacy character who many Disgaea lovers are little question acquainted with — as a playable unit, which is a pleasant little bonus.
Apart from that, a number of unique post-game payments have been added to the Darkish Meeting that supply some entertaining gameplay additions. The Freely Use Infernal Treasures! invoice, when unlocked and handed, permits any unit you must equip one of many titular weapons and enter the powered-up Hell Mode throughout battle. Then, there’s the Take Me Past the Limits! invoice, which lifts the previously-held caps on unit stats and lets you energy them as much as a fair larger diploma of madness.
Providing but extra methods to tweak and strengthen your items is Disgaea’s bread and butter, and these sensible additions give any unit you’ve skilled — whether or not it’s a story-relevant character or a customized character you scouted and constructed from the bottom up — an equal shot at turning into your workforce’s subsequent big-hitter.
The ultimate addition of observe is the inclusion of a brand new, ultra-difficult superboss within the type of Rakshasa Baal. In step with superbosses from Disgaea historical past, this problem is meant solely for individuals who are dedicated to spending hour after hour delving deep into the sport’s mechanics and elevating items to a formidable diploma.
Whereas it’s cool so as to add one more lofty goal for Disgaea devotees to clear, this final piece of content material hammers house an important level about Disgaea 7 Full: just about all the new stuff added to this launch completely appeals to pre-existing Disgaea gamers or individuals who intend to spend a ton (and I imply a ton) of time with the sport as soon as the primary marketing campaign has concluded. Even then, it’s not a revolutionary quantity of recent content material, and franchise followers could have been hoping for a bit extra to justify choosing up this re-release.
I’d even be remiss in not mentioning the odd nature of Disgaea 7 Full’s Western launch. Despite the fact that the sport launched in Japan in 2024 for the common ol’ Swap, this localisation is launching completely on the Swap 2 with no Swap 1 model in sight (not less than, on the time of assessment).
It’s definitely good to play natively on Swap 2, on which efficiency is as clean as might be, but it surely’s unusual to eschew a localised Swap 1 model when the sport can demonstrably run simply fantastic on that {hardware}. This determination additionally signifies that Disgaea 7 Full can solely be bought digitally or as a Sport-Key Card, a transfer that’s certain to ruffle the feathers of quite a few would-be gamers.
Maybe some substantial Swap 2 enhancements would have made this bizarre launch technique a better capsule to swallow, however there are none to talk of. I might have very a lot appreciated integration with the Swap 2’s mouse controls for the map cursor within the hopes of assuaging how finicky maps can get with various elevations — my one main grievance with the moment-to-moment gameplay. Alas.
Conclusion
With how stellar a bundle the Vows of the Virtueless proved to be upon launch, the expanded and feature-packed Disgaea 7 Full must be a slam dunk of a advice to any tactical RPG fan — however re-releases are hardly ever that easy. For anybody who missed out on the unique the primary time round, this model is each bit as nice and stands tall as the last word, feature-complete iteration of the sport.
On the identical time, there’s no denying that the handful of brand-new content material additions fall on the area of interest facet and largely serve those that wish to reside and breathe Disgaea 7 for his or her subsequent hundred-plus hours of sport time. Even stalwart followers who cherished the bottom sport could wish to suppose twice earlier than dropping the value of admission on this up to date model and ranging from scratch for a few post-game goodies.
