Disgaea 5

Every time a Disgaea comes out i get excited... which is a little odd.

For ages my favorite one has been the first... and the game is barely any different then it was when it was on PS2.
Still every time i get giddy and look forward to funtimes with a new protagonist.

if i list which ones i liked the most it would be

4. Disgaea 2
3. Disgaea 3
2. Disgaea 4
1. Disgaea 1

Currently i haven't played much of Disgaea D2 (for whatever reason i'm finding it hard to get into... but that is a ramble for another time) so it's not on the list yet.

So where does Disgaea 5 land? i'm not 100% sure myself... it either ties for first or just narrowly beats it.

But to discuss why i like it so much i have to spoil the normal ending (and i guess good ending) for disgaea 1.

So if you just want a straight recommendation, it doesn't do much different from the previous games but it is the longest one and the story is really well done.

ok... from here on, spoiler time (for disgaea 1, i'll try not to spoil this)

I've told this story before but oh well, it works.

Back when i was 13 i was playing Dungeons and Dragons for the first time, we were waiting for one of the party members who was a little late and when he got there he mentioned he had found a copy of a game and just had to buy it and thats why he was like.

I had just recently bought my PS2, i only had a handful of games but the game he pulled out looked so interesting. It was Disgaea.
Too bad there was a catch. it was already out of print and a bit of a limited release.
So getting my hands on it wouldn't be easy. still i looked forward to the day i would own it and in the mean time got La Pucelle Tactics since that had just recently come out.

i still haven't beaten that game... i need to restart the whole thing... *cry*

anyways putting that aside.

Shortly after i did manage to find it in the store but in the time it took for me to go home, get my money and get back it had sold.
About a year later i did mangae to buy it and i played through and without knowing i accidently killed a party member which put me on route for the normal ending.

NOW... SERIOUS SPOILER TIME
Last chance.

Ok.
So at the end of Disgaea you go through Celestia and make it to the Seraph and he turns one of my best characters.... into a flower.
I just stared blankly at the screen... this is the SECOND time i picked the ONE character who would be useless in the final fight (or in La Pucell Tactics most of the game) in a NIS game.
I was so mad
I wanted that Seraph dead.
then he kicked my ass.
... so then i trained up my Ninja and they pretty much soloed the fight cause... Ninjas were a little Over powered in the original game.

At the end of the fight Seraph is face down in a pool of his own pixelated blood.
And Laharl looks at the flower and realizes all rage, all this hatred, killing the thing one who made his life hell.. it didn't actually accomplish anything.
The character is still a flower.
No amount of blooshed will change that.
Instead he decides to sacrifice himself in order to give her back life since thats the only thing that will facilitate a miracle.

I Sobbed, it was just such a powerful character moment (plus i cry easily). it showed how much Laharl grew over the course of the game.
and it was only the NORMAL ending.
the GOOD ending must be great.

...
Yeah about that... same thing but instead at the end of the fight no blood.
Laharl gets ready to sacrifice himself but Seraph jumps up and is all "hey just kidding, just a big test, he changes the character back but slightly different then before and everyone is happy"
it's a good ending... but i preferred the overall sadder ending.

NOW we can finally talk about Disgaea 5.

Killia at the start of the game is like Laharl at the end of 1.
He has lost the one he loves and has to deal with the reality that no amount of anger, hatred or revenge will bring her back... he just wants to stop others from suffering like he has.
The second i realized we would be extrapolating on my fav plot point from the first game i was all smiles.

Killia is probably the most toned down of all the Disgaea protagoists... his biggest gimmick is his love of eating. Personally... i'm kind of glad... The more gimmicky the character the less i liked them (hence why disgaea 2 is so low... still a good game but easily the weakest).

The sprites look lovely... the extra detail that the PS4 allows is well used..... but honestly... other then length and detail the game could beon ps2 no problem... it's still the same game (i'm ok with that but if the game never endeared you before... this probably wont change anything)

I do plan on doing some post game stuff... also only 6 endings? depending on criteria i could probably accomplish that... granted i just looked it up and it's like... 5 bad ends and a normal end.
make sense considering this game is a [spoiler]
but yeah we'll see... it's technically the only ps4 game i own (for now)

HOWEVER
Trails of Cold Steel Arrived on my doorstep this morning... so there goes the rest of my week.
what do you mean christmas is in a few days,,, and i'm in charge of 90% of the baking.
... but cold steel *whimper*

Well yeah... i loved this game... one day i'll decide if if like is as much or more then disgaea one.. but i do whole heartily recommend it*

*if you like Disgaea or Nippon Ichi Software games.

ok... getting close to the end of the year, almost time for year end top tens (may be more or less then ten for certain categories)