Disgaea followers know the drill by now. Each time a brand new mainline entry within the long-running tactical RPG sequence 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 recreation’s DLC together with a collection of gameplay tweaks and additions. It’s sequence custom at this level, as each single numbered Disgaea recreation to this point has acquired an expanded model (or perhaps a couple) post-release. Now, with the Western launch of Disgaea 7 Full at hand, the most recent 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 recreation 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 overcome. The title doesn’t lie — that is the final word model of Disgaea 7 and it fully supersedes the unique launch as the perfect technique to expertise the sport.
For some present and potential followers, that alone is motive sufficient to dive in on this launch. That stated, others — particularly those that already picked up the bottom recreation on Change 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 recreation, 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 beneath 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 collect the Founding Weapons and defeat the darkish forces in command of Hinomoto.
In Mitch’s unique evaluate of Disgaea 7, he described the sport as “the final word distillation of the Disgaea expertise” and praised each its irreverent tone and its dealing with of the sequence’ basic gameplay hook of coaching models as much as ludicrous energy ranges and dealing eye-popping quantities of injury in turn-based tactical battles. These observations all nonetheless ring true for this re-release, so give Mitch’s evaluate a readthrough for a deeper dive into the sport’s core.
However the crux is that this: There are only a few ways 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 completely destroy even essentially the most absurdly tough challenges. Merely put, you get out what you set 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 other than the bottom recreation? Effectively, not a lot — throughout the core marketing campaign, at the very least. For anybody who did play the sport’s unique launch, these first 20 to 30 hours through which you progress by the primary story are awfully acquainted. Except for all the DLC episodes and bonuses being obtainable 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 recreation and skip proper to the brand new stuff are out of luck, too, as there’s no improve path obtainable 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 essentially the most substantial piece of latest content material is the Nethertime Help Pressure 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 interesting in a few enjoyable and distinctive battle maps alongside the best way.
For followers of the higher sequence, these crossover cameos function an ideal little bit of fan service, although the dearth of voice performing for these sequences is disappointing. Clearing this episode additionally unlocks Asagi — a legacy character who many Disgaea fanatics are little doubt acquainted with — as a playable unit, which is a pleasant little bonus.
Except for 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 it’s a must to 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 an excellent higher diploma of madness.
Providing but extra methods to tweak and strengthen your models 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 word is the inclusion of a brand new, ultra-difficult superboss within the type of Rakshasa Baal. In line 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 models to a formidable diploma.
Whereas it’s cool so as to add yet one more lofty goal for Disgaea devotees to clear, this final piece of content material hammers residence a vital 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 latest content material, and franchise followers could have been hoping for a bit extra to justify selecting up this re-release.
I’d even be remiss in not mentioning the odd nature of Disgaea 7 Full’s Western launch. Though the sport launched in Japan in 2024 for the common ol’ Change, this localisation is launching completely on the Change 2 with no Change 1 model in sight (at the very least, on the time of evaluate).
It’s definitely good to play natively on Change 2, on which efficiency is as clean as might be, nevertheless it’s unusual to eschew a localised Change 1 model when the sport can demonstrably run simply effective 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 a variety of would-be gamers.
Maybe some substantial Change 2 enhancements would have made this bizarre launch technique a better tablet to swallow, however there are none to talk of. I might have very a lot appreciated integration with the Change 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 needs to be a slam dunk of a suggestion 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 final word, feature-complete iteration of the sport.
On the similar time, there’s no denying that the handful of brand-new content material additions fall on the area of interest facet and principally serve those that need to dwell and breathe Disgaea 7 for his or her subsequent hundred-plus hours of recreation time. Even stalwart followers who liked the bottom recreation could need to assume twice earlier than dropping the value of admission on this up to date model and ranging from scratch for a few post-game goodies.
