Disgaea 4 Complete+

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy-RPG

Players: 1 (with some online elements)

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Review:

Disgaea 4 Complete+ is the latest release of the fourth numbered game in the Disgaea series (which has also had a few spin-offs) of turn-based Strategy-RPGs. This version cleans up the graphics of the game (originally released for PlayStation 3), includes all content released for previous versions, and adds in a few time-saving quality of life improvements that were brought to the series in Disgaea 5, such as the “cheat shop”.

Before I go on with this review, I have a bit of a confession to make. I absolutely love the Disgaea series… but I haven’t played much of it. I played the hell out of the first game, and I long ago played Disgaea 2 long enough to review it (though I barely remember the details now), but beyond that, I haven’t touched the series, largely because whenever I want to play one of these games, I feel like I should really beat the first one before I move on to the others… and I’ve never beaten the first one. I mean, I could, but when the fun of these games is in grinding your characters and equipment to be as overpowered as possible, actually playing through the game’s campaign seems like a secondary thought.

So, having said that, I cannot personally compare this release of the game to the PS3 original or the Vita port. I cannot compare this game to Disgaea 5 Complete, the first game in the series to hit the Switch (followed by 1 and then… 4. Yeah, I don’t know why the odd order either). I can’t compare this game to Disgaea 3. The best I can do for comparison is compare this to the first game in the series, so forgive me if I missed things that were added between the first and fourth games.

In any case, Disgaea 4 shares a lot in common with the first Disgaea. Both have similar gameplay, that takes the Tactics-style Strategy-RPG formula, adds in a plethora of ways to enhance your characters and equipment, and packages it in a silly plot that’s clearly not meant to be taken too seriously.

This time around, players take the role of a sardine-addicted vampire with a history as a tyrant, who has more recently taken the undesirable role as trainer of Prinnies, the series’ “Dood!”-spouting penguin characters, in part due to his rigid adherence to his own personal honor code, and in part because he genuinely enjoys doing it.

The entire thing is pretty silly, and as far as the series’ comedic plots go, it’s pretty good, although the protagonist’s obsession with sardines can get a bit annoying at times. Oh, and those new to the series can relax – aside from a few cameos, a similar bestiary, and the same locale, this plot is completely separate from the other games in the series.

As for the game itself, much of the game follows in the footsteps of the original Disgaea, with tile-based isometric combat, various character classes, and a “geo panel” system that has magical objects manipulating battle conditions based on the color of the floor they’re resting on. However, this game has a lot of interesting changes, for better or worse.

The “Dark Assembly” where players lobbied, bribed, and dueled demonic politicians to get them to vote for beneficial rule changes has now been expanded to the Cam-Pain HQ, which includes a grid that players can assign their characters to in order to receive bonuses. There’s also more subtle changes to the menus and how geo panels work. One frustrating change is that characters can apparently no longer teach each other magic spells and techniques, requiring them to go through a more arduous and time-consuming process of leveling up in each class to do so.

I honestly found myself a bit frustrated with this game. For every one change to the formula that seemed promising, it seemed there were one or two others that were frustrating, or areas that hadn’t changed at all that I wish had been changed. In my review of Disgaea 1 Complete, I complained that the interface made it difficult to see in places, and while it is improved here, this is still a problem in places – Every time I visit the game’s medic, I have to click on the “claim prize” option because the difference in color when it’s available and not is too minute for me to tell the difference. Other menu icons and statistics are never really explained, and I still don’t really know what they do.

This is me, a guy who absolutely loves the first game in this series, saying there are elements of this game I just don’t understand, and that’s a pretty big problem. If I’m having trouble understanding them, I feel like someone completely new to the series will have an even tougher time.

Graphically, the game looks sharp, and I truly believe that this is the best the game ever looked. That said, this wasn’t a super-impressive PS3 game, and it doesn’t impress today, either. It gets the job done, I suppose, although the battle animations for any attacks other than the standard ones get to be so long-winded that you’ll soon be reaching for the menu option to turn them off just so the game doesn’t take forever to play. I mean, this is a game that you can literally drop a thousand hours into, but no doubt you won’t want to spend three-quarters of that time watching long-winded battle animations.

Despite my disappointment, Disgaea 4 is still a solid game, and this is without a doubt the best version of it. If you’re a series fan but never got another version of this game, this one is a no-brainer. However, if you did get a previous version, I’m not sure if this one’s enhancements will be worth your while. And if you’re new to the series, you may just be better off getting the remake of the first game on the Switch. There’s still plenty of deep gameplay to be found there, but it’s all a bit more… well, manageable.

tl;dr – Disgaea 4 Complete+ is an updated port of the PS3 strategy-RPG in the same style of Final Fantasy Tactics that includes improved graphics and all of the previous content released for the game. That said, even for a complex game series, this game can feel a bit overly-complicated, and the changes made to the series are a bit of a mixed bag. It’s still very good, but I just don’t feel the same excitement playing it as I did for the first game.

Grade: B

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