Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
Score: 95% ESRB: Teen Publisher: NIS America Developer: Nippon Ichi Media: UMD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Strategy/ RPG
Graphics & Sound: Disgaea: Hour of Darkness hit the PS2 a couple of years ago and helped to revitalize the then failing Strategy RPG genre. It began with a odd-package, which featured what could only be described as a heavy metal version of Precious Moments and continued with one of the deepest, and longest-lasting experiences offered on the system. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness brings the same charisma and depth of experience to the PSP, while offering a brand new multiplayer mode and a new Etna-centric campaign. Afternoon of Darkness' low-res, 2D sprites aren't something that will really make one take notice, though the artwork manages to carry with it enough style and substance to make you forget you're not looking at the pinnacle of graphical prowess. Character designs are the stars of the show, especially given the game's theme. Even though the game takes place in hell, the characters have more of a "Disney-scary" element to them, which is fun to see. Battlefields are a mix of good and bad. Mission-based levels are laid out really well, whereas the randomly generated levels found in the Item World can make it difficult to see who you're attacking or where troops are. It's not perfect, but it works. The haunting orchestral melodies really help set the game's mood. Voice acting is also very well done and, when combined with the snappy dialogue, makes the story just as interesting as the gameplay.
Gameplay: Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness' insides are just as quirky as its packaging. You take the role of Laharl, a young demon prince who has just awoken from a two-year nap to discover that his father is dead and the Netherworld is in chaos. This initially sets him out on a quest to regain his place as king of the Netherworld, but along the way, he'll have to deal with obstacles such as a labor dispute, an empty-headed angel, a backstabbing servant and other unique challenges. New to the PSP version is an alternate campaign featuring the above-mentioned backstabbing servant, Etna. In this version of the story, Etna accidentally kills Laharl while trying to wake him up. At first, she decides to try and cover everything up by dressing one of her Prinny servants as the dead prince, though she eventually decides to make a run from the Netherworld's top spot. For the most part, the game plays almost like your standard tactical RPG. You start off with a small army, mostly made up of the main characters and Prinnies. The board layout is standard, but the gameplay is actually rather unique. You begin a battle with none of your characters on the field, only a blue portal. You click on the portal to see your army and summon members into battle. At any time during the battle (unless under special circumstances), you can bring a soldier back into the portal and deploy new ones. Some battles have limited the number of characters allowed on the field at one time, adding to the game's strategic element. Army creation is very well done and is very deep. When you want to make a new soldier, you have to go to the Dark Assembly, which serves as the Senate for the Netherworld. You can then petition to make a new soldier out of the available classes. You can choose to make humanoid classes (fighter, cleric, mage, etc.) or Monster classes (ghoul, ghost, demon, dragon, etc.). Once you select the type of soldier you want to make, you have to spend Mana (which you get from defeating enemies) to create their "Competency Level," which determines any bonuses or stats of the class. These range from "Good-for-nothing" to "Expert." If you want to make the really competent soldiers, you have to get permission from the Dark Assembly. Depending on who is requesting the soldier (anyone in your army can), the new soldier will become their apprentice, which helps determine stats, abilities and other things. As things progress, you can eventually learn to combine classes opening up a mind-boggling 150 classes/combos for use in the game. Politics is a big part of raising your army, gaining money, weapons. In addition to providing you with troops, the Dark Assembly also deals with giving you extra money, building new classes and getting better weapons. Each petition has a set "Pass" number, which determines how many "Yes" or "No" votes you need. You can bribe senators to vote for you, or you can use force and challenge them to a fight. Both have downsides. If you bribe someone and they don't like it, you won't get the votes and you'll be out money. If you challenge someone with force, you could not only die, but if you defeat them, they'll come back in the next vote and really not like you. Characters gain skill levels based on what weapons their stats better suit them for. However, you can have a swordsman use guns, but he'll gain skill levels slower than if he was using a sword. All weapons also have stats (duh!), but they can be progressed in a very interesting way. In the castle, there's a portal called "Item World" that allows you to enter an unequipped weapon. This opens up a multi-tiered battle. As you progress through levels, you can find "Coaches," who will submit to you once you defeat them. This will then grant special stats/powers to the weapon. Afternoon of Darkness also offers a Ad Hoc multiplayer which I unfortunately wasn't able to test out.
Difficulty: To put it bluntly, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness isn't a game you can just pick up and play without reading the instructions. Not that the game is overly complicated, it's just a very mental. Much like chess, you'll have to plan out strategies and counter strategies two or three moves in advance. Most of this insane difficulty level can be traced to the game's experience system. Tactical RPGs usually grant EXP to a character when they perform a non-movement action. Cast a spell, attack, use an item -- you gain EXP for all of it. Afternoon of Darkness instead chooses to shun this idea and only grant EXP for killing enemies. This leads to an imbalance between classes since your combat-oriented classes are more prone to gain levels faster than non-Combat classes -- at least early on in the game. This also sets up an awkward flow in the game's battle dynamic since you not only have to plan the best way to defeat enemies, but also how to get EXP for non-combat class troops. Afternoon of Darkness is also a very unforgiving game in terms of saving and restarts. Death is literally around every corner in the game. Not only will you have to restart the game if you die in a battle, but also if you're unsuccessful in either the Item World or even the promotion exam.
Game Mechanics: All orders are given via a turn-based menu. After moving your character, you can choose to attack, use special attacks or items. After giving orders, you select "Execute" on the menu and all the attacks are used. This is where things get interesting. If certain characters are standing next to each other, or in a certain formation, they have a chance of executing a two-four-person combo attack. Combos only count against the person whose turn it is -- so if you set up things just right, you could give some characters multiple attacks. Controlling your troops is very easy to do, thanks to an easy-to-understand menu system, but it's not perfect. The analog stick is a little slippery at times, which can lead to some problems if you're not thinking about what's happening on the field, making it advisable to use the D-pad instead. Another interesting option you are given is the Lift/Throw command. When standing next to an enemy (or ally), you can choose to Lift that character and then throw him. You can use this to throw enemies into each other, overcome obstacles on the field (rivers, valleys, etc.) or get hurt characters out of harm's way. Depending on whom you're throwing where, certain side effects will take place -- with varying effects. For example, throwing one of the demon penguins causes him to explode for lots of damage. Or, if you throw an enemy at another enemy, they will combine and make a stronger enemy. Some battlefields are also affected by elemental field conditions, which are blue/red/green transparencies on the field. Each field has a crystal on them that has some kind of affect on the color square they're sitting on. Example, one crystal may be on a green area and give plus-50 percent EXP. What this means is that whenever you're on a green area and kill a monster, you gain 50 percent more EXP. There are also crystals that only help enemies or reduce your stats. You can also use the Lift/Throw option to pick the crystal up and move it to a different color area. On top of this, you can also destroy the crystal, which does damage to everything standing on that color square and changes the area color. There are even ways to set up a "Color Chain" that destroys the panels in sequence, which ends up netting you lots of bonus points -- adding a puzzle element to the game. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness presents a bit of a quandary for those who have already played the game. While multiplayer makes a repurchase enticing, the new campaign, barring divine intervention, needs to be unlocked by completing the main campaign first. However, this is a personal choice for the select few who caught the game the first time around. If you missed your opportunity of the PS2, make sure to snag a copy this time around.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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