Recently I had a chance to spend some time playing with the US build of Disgaea 2. Instead of Laharl the game has a new protagonist, Adell who wants to restore his family’s humanity after Overlord Zenon turn his entire village into demons. His mother tries to summon Overlord Zenon, but instead they get his stuck up princess daughter Rozalin. The summoning creates a blood pact between the two and the only way it can be extinguished is if the two of them track down Overlord Zenon.
While you might not recognize some of the main characters, Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories retains the spirit of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Most of the game is spent in combat. Whether you’re progressing through the story, leveling up your new Green Skull or entering the item world to strengthen a weapon you are going to be in battle. In traditional strategy RPG style Disgaea 2 has a grid field where space is the only thing between your party and a parade of Prinnys. With all of the different classes, combo attacks, team attacks, tower attacks, monsters Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories is an incredibly deep game. Positioning is even more important because of the new geo effect system. Some battlefields have colored squares, which can be activated by a pyramid shaped geo symbol. If a geo symbol is placed on one of the colored squares all of the squares of the same color gain a geo effect. Some effects might help the party by adding in extra experience, increasing attack and if you’re really lucky you can find squares that give those that stand on it invincibility. Although not all squares can benefit the player, some reduce the amount of distance you can move and others boost your enemies attack.
Besides combat tweaks the game has new additions to the Dark Assembly, which is the place to change the rules of the game. If you want stronger weapons at the store, weaker monsters or a new character class you will have to plead a case to a senate comprised of demons. Each bill has a certain chance to pass, but now you can influence various senate members to change their way of voting. Bribe senators who are against you (indicated by being tinted red) by giving them rare items. If a senator is truly against you can make them fall asleep to remove them from the vote. Mastering the Dark Assembly is tricky in the beginning since you won’t have the resources to make heavy bribes or special items to make opposing demons drunk.
So how does the game stack up in English? See for yourself in the videos below. Also check out our import coverage of Disgaea 2 and check back for more coverage on Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories later this summer.
Read on for a second video that shows a battle sequence.
