Nippon Ichi (Disgaea, Makai Kingdom, etc.)

Hyperdimension Neptunia thread HERE.

To open: my apologies if there is an existing topic of this sort. The search option provided nothing, sooo.

As of the past five minutes, I have noted that this forum lacks a topic to discuss Disgaea; along with nothing to discuss Nippon Ichi (although my only experience of the company is the aforementioned Disgaea). And Disgaea certainly is a game with a lot to discuss. So!

I've been playing Disgaea 2 for the PS 2 recentely. I've ran into two early-ends (Mid-Boss and Axel, of course), so even though I've sunk twenty hours into the game, most of my team is only at Level 40 (except Adell, who's at Level... 79?). I've been levelgrinding at Dallos River (4-3, to be specific), but I managed to read through a Discworld book in the time I had to wait for the monsters to get to level 130-ish time and time again.

Is the Cave of Ordeals good for grinding at this game? I haven't got past the fist stage yet (but Adell should be able to tear the Archers up by now) xD

Anyhow, one may discuss Disgaea and it's sequels if they wish, or just Nippon Ichi in general. Or... y'know, whatever.

edited 30th Mar '13 11:56:40 AM by lu127

Cave of Ordeals 3 should comprise about 95% of your playtime if you're going for endgame stuff. So yes, it's good for grinding.

Nippon Ichi Games:Love the gameplay (except for a few things in Soul Nomad), love the dialogue, like the characters, the plots are excuses in most cases and I absolutely hate the grinding.

As a Personal Gaming Rule, I hate grinding.
HATE it.

There are but two expections to this rule for which I will suspend this rule: Dragon Quest and anything by Nippon Ichi.

The characters, the respective distinct art styles, the atmosphere, the humor, the sheer fun of these two series make the grinding bearable. I love them both and have played several of their games multiple times.
Twue Wuv. ~sigh~

I could never really get into the first two Disgaea games; the master/student system is just too fiddly. Disgaea 3 is well up there on my list of favorite games, though. That said, I still never played much of the postgame. I cleared Extra Map 1, but the level curve of those maps is just ridiculous, and I got sick of grinding Corpse Eaters for XP and mana before long.

Also, what's the deal with Disgaea Infinite? That's been released in the US, right? Is it worth trying to find a place to import it? I don't have much faith in NIS to release it elsewhere in any reasonable time frame, if ever.

Infinite is out in the US.

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could drink you under the table~

Hey, first time I've run into people around here who share my opinion on grinding.

Love the games, hate the grinding. I own Disgaea and Disgaea 2, but I can't seem to finish them because I'm at a point where I need to grind in both and I can't work up the enthusiasm for it.

I have finished Phantom Brave and La Pucelle, and I absolutely adored them.

Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.

What is Disgaea Infinite? Beyond a visual novel.

Anyhow, I'm not a giant fan of the grinding, but it's easy, I guess; it'd be easier if you could assign macros to video games (press A, wait five seconds, press A again etc.), butttt... *shrug*

Anyhow, I think the first place that you need to grind at in Disgaea 2 is... the last level of Chapter 7 ( Axel's battle at the Colosseum), since the setup pretty much means you need a decently strong group to not get picked off by the long-range units.

And the only place to grind before that is 4-3. Or you could throw it and just start a NG+... not that it does much for you.

edited 13th Jun '10 6:28:29 AM by AllanAokage

Well, it depends, I didn't mind (all that much) grinding for things such as Human World/Etna Mode (levels 150-250), but level 700 is just pushing it too far, not to speak the other lvl 1000+ subplots.

Well, for the LV 700 worlds, those can get a bit ridiculous without looking up specific places go grind (e.g. Cave of Ordeals 3 for Disgaea 1, where a decently-leveled swordsman [who has Winged Slayer], fist-fighter [with Big Bang], or anyone with a sufficiently strong spell [Lv7 or above, preferably a strong Star magic] can kill the 3x3 grid of monsters to gain a large amount of levels quickly), and it can get a little boring, I guess. *shrug*

It gets super-boring pretty fast.

Overall, I'd say the games are pretty, well, terrible. If it weren't for the amusing settings and characters I don't think they'd be worth playing. Every last bit of the game systems is designed with grinding in mind, which makes it a bit disheartening to play, even if you don't grind. Which is, indeed, possible to a certain extent if you only do the main plot.

all I know is that in Disgaea 2, a good monster + a beast master backing it up is absurd, especially after the beast master spends a few turns buffing it. That buff spell stacks! a few turns of the buff spell + the beast masters passive monster boosting aura = absurdly powerful monsters.

but who wants to wait a few turns?

XP granted for befriending a giant magical spider!

I've got Disgaea 3, but I've never really been able to get into it. It's not the grinding, I don't mind that at all. There's just something about it that keeps me away. Which is a shame, because I really want to play it more, I just can't bring myself to... Is that weird?

Mmhm, I had not considered using Beastmasters. But I do have quite a few monsters (A Black Dog, a third-tier Baciel, a third-tier White Dragon, a fourth-tier Prinny... and I intend to get a Wood Golem. And I'm not counting story-line characters), so I guess I could give Adell a Beastmaster student, unless there's someone who'd like the Extra Gain boost more... mmhm, mmhm.

-edit- I've also considering getting Disgaea 3, I'd just have to play it on my brother's PS 3. Which would make any grinding done quite awkward... and there's the matter of price... hmmm.

edited 13th Jun '10 7:30:32 AM by AllanAokage

Given the aforementioned high esteem in which I hold it, I'm kind of biased, but I'd recommend Disgaea 3 to anyone with access to a Sony PLAYSTATION 3 Computer Entertainment System and an interest in tactical RPGs, even if only for the main game, which you can get almost all of the way through without any level grinding.

(A couple of the endgame maps are really nasty, so a few hours in the Item World are almost unavoidable, barring superhuman luck and/or prodigious tactical skills.)

I tried Disgaea 3, but I found it had taken silliness and lampshade hanging up to such ridiculous levels that the awesomeness had inverted into narm, and not of the charm variety, and I just didn't like it anymore.

or something like that. I just couldn't get into it. the characters bugged me.

@ Allan Aokage: you won't regret it! and may I recommend a kit-kat monster as well? They make superb single target fighters!

edited 13th Jun '10 9:02:00 AM by Blissey1

XP granted for befriending a giant magical spider!

@Super Dimensionman; Hmmm. Amazon.co.uk lists it as £16, which is well within my budget. Using that as a baseline, I can approximate that it would be £20 or so for me to get it, say, tomorrow. Hum, hum, hum. I'd need to get permission from the owner of the PS 3 (of course), as well as finish Disgaea 2 first... is it worth getting it, even though I heard the European version doesn't get any DLC? Why didn't they just include it in the game to begin with, aaargh. Oh, right.

@Blissey 1; Ah-ha, I have a tolerance for shenanigans. And the characters sound quite fun... in theory, based on what I've heard. And as for adding a Nekotama, hmm-hmm. I'd considered it, but I'm not sure if I need another single target fighter. I'll keep a memo to make a pupil for my Beast Tamer when I've got her to third tier... when I get to 4-3 again, though. Damn Mid-Boss and his NG+ shenanigans. I still haven't finished the actual game yet, as I've mentioned x.x

Playing Disgaea Infinite right now. So far, I've played through the main story of Disgaea, Disgaea 2, and Prinny Can I Really Be The Hero. Haven't done any of the extras. I've not played Disgaea 3, and I'm not sure I'm all that interested.

I'm also working on Soul Nomad, but I have so many other things to play I haven't played it in a bit.

@Allan: To sum Disgaea Infinite up, you play as a Prinny who's trying to prevent his wages from getting cut by possessing and influencing the cast of Disgaea 1 and 3 to stop the events that led up to it from happening.

For my part, I liked most of the changes to Disgaea 3 EXCEPT the Class World. I thought I'd love it, but it becomes a colossal drag around the time you have twenty characters. Also, it's probably the reason that transmigration doubles in cost every time you do it now, which kinda sucks with the huge profusion of classes and the limited spaces in the classroom.

Also, I was kind of offended by the Vato Brothers, but that's neither here nor there.

Ah majins in disgaea one who needs any other class. also I have found that Cave of ordeals 3 in etna mode gives more xp then demonhall mirror normal mode (maxed levels of course). lastly level 9999 surt found in the seals on etna mode? they make excellent tanks

Apocalypse: Dirge Of Swans.

By the way does anyone know when Prinny 2 is going to be realesed in the US?

GOH! JII! RAH!

They are considered to be the strongest class, almost without exception (I think only the strongest mages hold a candle, and that is in the spells department only). They got nerfed for the other two games, wherein unlocking them is made easier; such is life, ah-ha.

I'll be starting Cycle 2 tonight on Disgaea 2, I think. Kingdom Hearts can wait for a bit, ah-ha. Ah-ha.

I think they eventually got around to localizing most of it. My PS3 doesn't have Internet access, so I can't confirm either way.

I'm interested in hearing how Disgaea Infinite is. As a fan of the story of the first game (not so much the gameplay) I'd be willing to pick it up if it keeps the strong writing and voicework.

Oh, is that so? In that case, roughly how much would the DLC be? Since if it costs more then ~£3, there's no real point in getting it =/

Also: I unlocked the "Pick a fight with an Overlord!" bill in Disgaea 2 (Cycle 3). Aaaaaargh Lv1100 Laharl O_o Might have to unlock Co O 4 just to get that high! Or, at least, to get Adell that high so he can use the Cell Phones (since those, iirc, work on the average level of the characters on the map). Although, it might be a bit beyond me, since I haven't even got past the main game yet. Hrmmm. If his chapter stays open when I reach Chapter 2, I might try again after I get some levels in for Adell, since even Co O 2 is posing problems for me.

edited 14th Jun '10 7:43:40 AM by AllanAokage