I feel obliged to try making a game review. Unable to tell if I will fail epicly or not. Anyway, if you are looking for the blogpost that is based on the story of my life, look one post down. Consists of info about Thursday and Friday.
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DISGAEA 3
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I bought this game knowing damn well what it was. What it would be, what the gameplay is like, and what the battles would be like (Attack Combos, Geo panels, throwing). There were some things I didnt expect though. Even though this is an SRPG, the story isn't compelling like, say, Final Fantasy games (not counting 12, I hated that story). Instead, it's supposed to be humorous and funny, which can keep you coming back for more anyway.
P.S. This is biased review much.
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STORY - 8/10
Well, I expected a fully stupid funny story. From what I remember of past Disgaea games, they consisted of basically - a joke storyline that makes no sense and is centered around jokes and the like. I never really remembered anything too serious. But D3 surprised me, Mao's story actually has some sad parts to it. Even though it has a fair share of it's own jokes, the purpose of the story is mostly centered around Mao's past - something unique to this game, as far as I remember. And the sad parts always come unexpectedly, and pretty much always got me by surprise when I expected stupid jokes coming my way.
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GAMEPLAY - 9/10
Gameplay is the same as the other Disgaea games. Battles are played out on a grid system and you have a base panel where you can spawn out your team of unique or generic characters. You fight with either normal attacks or special techniques/spells. Techniques don't have to be melee range and even sword users or spear users have ranged techniques - which is what you'll be using for most of the battles. Spells are devastating AoE skills that can facerape an entire team, with one downfall. You can't combo them. Now with other spells, if 2 characters are in close 'intimacy' with each other and if you're a lucky bugger, if both of them use a technique on one monster then they may combo. E.G. If your Mao uses Impaler Drop and Almaz uses Blade Rush both on one prinny, there is a chance to perform 'Impaler Rush' or 'Blade Drop', which will consist of both characters performing their attack in quick succession dealing extra damage. An important element because it'll get you past most battles if you combo well.
Another thing is Geopanels. These are special gridsquares that have special effects imprinted on them thanks to any Geoblocks standing on a specific geopanel. For example, if a geoblock with the -50% defence effect were sitting on a blue geo panel, all the blue geo panels in the map would have the -50% defence effect, resulting in whatever character standing on the blue geo panel to have -50% defence. It's pretty useful if you position them to your advantage.
And then theres lifting + throwing. Humanoids can pick each other up and throw them, ranges depending on the type of character. Like, a fighter can throw further than a mage. Also another important element which you will use often during the course of the game if you want to get through harder levels easier. You can also pick up enemies and toss them if you happen to find it to your advantage.
All the battle elements lead to fun fights, which comprise 80% of the entire game so if you don't like the battles, you're pretty much screwed for this game.
Other gameplay elements are the army building, in which you are able to create generic characters to fight for you, whom you can name and choose the weapon they use and etcetera. D3 also uses a mana system, where you get mana from killing monsters, and you can spend on getting skills or leveling skills up, or 'proposing bills' such as Stronger Enemies which will make all the enemies you face become stronger than they would normally be.
And the fact that you can level up to 9999, get your stats to 90million and your hp to 999million or so, makes the game super mega worth it if you're a crazy bastard.
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SOUND: 7.5/10
It has it's quirky music, as well as the sad music which really sets the atmosphere. The music is varied and the battle effects make battles a lot more bearable, especially for the frustrating ones. Anyway, voiceovers are good and are available in both Japanese and English, so you can choose if you want to listen to english squeaky Mao or the more mature sounding Japanese Mao. Which is still stupid anyway.
Not much to say here, I never really payed attention to it. Though I do plan on downloading the OST for the few sad songs - they are really creepy. :D
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GRAPHICS: 8/10
Even though the entire game is in 2D, I find that to be it's own unique style. Even for a system like the PS3 where the graphics should be godly, you'll find that the 2D style will appeal to most people, even if you were expecting something FF13-esque. Spells are detailed and fun to watch, even after the millionth time, so yeah.
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Overall verdict: 9/10
The game, in my opinion, is a must buy for SRPG fans, and if you are just starting out, you can just rent it first. That is, if you can find a place that lets you rent PS3 games - I'm not so sure if there is one in Singapore. High replayability, fun graphics and good storyline makes this game a must-buy. Even Thomas liked it, like yeah.
...wow I suck at reviewing xD
