Take up your sword (or puppy paw stick) in the latest demonic adventure from NIS. Was Disgaea 7 worth it?
Full disclosure: We received a review code for the Nintendo Switch version of this game. Rest assured that this will not affect the quality or candor of our review.
Table of Contents
Background
I went into this one with a little hesitation. I always check the options before starting a new game and I saw “performance” and “graphics” settings. Disgaea 6 wasn’t great by any stretch. Would Disgaea 7 be more of the same?
As it turns out, I was immediately pleased to see that the game was actually intelligible. Stats have been dialed back down to reasonable levels (e.g. about 10-15 at level one). The Juice Bar returns, and the post-battle results don’t rely on a bonus meter that’s impossible to actually fill. The English dub is also serviceable. Overall, Disgaea 7 is a step in the right direction for the franchise after the stumble that was 6.
Addressing this now: the gimmicks in this game are Hell Mode and Jumbification. The former is kind of a waste since it doesn’t work on generics, which are often my main units. The latter is essentially Gigantamax, and it’s a silly spin on the tactical combat.
What does Disgaea 7 do well?
Realistically, this is the same Disgaea formula. The gameplay of D6 was good, and this just continues to build on the mechanics. Implementations like the cheat shop and juice bar make it easier than ever to crank out overpowered characters.
What could Disgaea 7 do better?
The plot and characters are just ok. It’s not bad, and they aren’t really annoying, but I struggle to even remember all the characters a few days after playing the game.
Demonic Intelligence (DI) was scaled back. I didn’t really use it in Disgaea 6 (felt disingenuous to not actually play the game I was reviewing), but this is more barebones. NIS is walking a tightrope here: the game formula is inherently grindy, but people don’t have time to grind, so they implemented autobattling in 6 just to walk some of it back in 7. As always, the grind isn’t necessary just to beat the regular story, but people who liked the system in 6 will probably have issues with the lesser demonic intelligence of 7.
Was Disgaea 7 fun?
I had a decent time romping through Hinomoto. I just did the campaign, so I didn’t get too far into the character min-maxing.
Is Disgaea 7 good value?
There’s always a lot of content in these games, especially if you’re into the postgame challenges.
I’m not sold on the DLC, though. For one thing, there’s way too much of it: costumes, a season pass, etc. Unfortunately, some users reported that some of the DLC characters have evilities that make the grind smoother. Fans may want to wait for a DLC sale.
Who is this game for?
This is for the true blue Disgaea fans, even the ones who were spooked by previous NIS games. Yes, I mean Disgaea 6 and all the messy ports.
Was Disgaea 7 worth it?
This really was a triumphant return for this infernal long-running series. I’m glad to see that they’ve course corrected. This is a pretty good entry point for the series if you haven’t gotten into Disgaea, but to be fair, there are a lot of mechanics at play that can be daunting.
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