(Image source: Disgaea.jp.)

I finally completed Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness.

I had expected to complete it earlier but the boss battles in the last few episodes of the game added a few hours to my campaign.

The frustration of those boss battles aside, I enjoyed the game immensely. This is the most fun I’ve had with a game this year and I would recommend the title without hesitation. I hope to put together a review within the next few days to explain why.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this thought: there are a lot of game elements in Disgaea that are left for the player to discover but I believe most players will never learn about them without guides and FAQs.

It is possible to beat the game without resorting to the crutches of cheats, guides and FAQs — I did so — but you may not get the most out of the game.

Final Stats

Time played: 62:53:55
Max damage 1534
Total damage 3215
Geo Combo 1020
Enemies killed 1889
Max Level 74
Reincarnation 0
Char creation rate 40%
Item rate 14%
Item world visits 26
Item world levels Stage 10
Item General killed

(Image source: Atlus.)

I’m closing in on the end of Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness‘s main storyline. I’m not just enjoying playing the game, I’m consuming it greedily. As I mentioned before, it’s been far too long a time since I’ve had a turn-based strategy game that hits all the right notes for me as this one does.

As I also mentioned previously, the game is not excessively difficult and in fact, is quite lenient in many respects. Character deaths in battles aren’t punished severely as a visit to the Netherworld Hospital will return a fallen character to full strength. There will, of course, be Hell to pay. (Hell being the currency of the Netherworld.)

On the other hand, a party wipeout will result in a Game Over screen. There’s one really tough fight which occurs early on at a point when your characters are fragile and lack offensive power — lose this one and you’ll get a credit sequence with a full song — but the game shouldn’t prove to be too frustrating.

At least until you get to Episode 11.
Continued…