Being a fan of the first series (523 hours and counting!!) and not wishing to wait until August I decided to risk ordering the Japanese Disgaea 2 from Yes-Asia (I also pre-ordered the American Disgaea 2 anyway. It was cheaper from them than buying from VG+).
The game arrived on Tuesday and I gave it a go. Not too much of a problem with the combat side of things. I also managed to find where most things could be done. Needless to say there are some language difficulties, but they have been pretty much resolved by my having been pointed to site where there was a good translation guide. HAving printed off the useful stuff I am not more able to enjoy the game. I did at least managed to get more expensive items available in the shops by bribing the bill through the Dark Assembly.
The game is an enhancement of the first one, with some extra bits thrown in to make life interesting. The combat is pretty much the same, working on the grid system. There are some new Geo symbols. Until I got the print-offs, the only one I managed to recognise was for EXP boost (potentially the most useful anyway).
At least there is an option to name new characters in English which makes life easier. Other than the main characters I was able to rename a couple of the characters I had at the start as well.
Up to 5 hours play so far and have now come up against a map that has strong enemies which is a bit of a problem though nothing that some more levelling on previous maps and better items would not solve.
Definetly going to get on this soon -
Have they put in any of the stuff like bases/buildings as they did in Phantom Brave? Wicked that it's still grid-system with Geo-Panels, I didnt enjoy the free movement variation of the system in Phantom Brave as much as Disgaea's.
I'm still on Final Fantasy XII - 140ish hours so far and nowhere near finished! The clan/mob hunt side-quest (bounty hunting bosses) is bigger and more engrossing than the main story! I only progress through the game to unlock more of these missions, the battle system is now absolute class. Like in Disgaea you can spend AGES just fighting and levelling up and it doesnt feel like a chore.
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I don't think there are any buildings but from what I have read there are at least tanks in there (I think).
At least the capacity of the Item Bag (now 24 items) and Warehouse (512 items) have been increased. There are apparently now over 200 clases of character to create though some may not be available on the first play through.
The guide I was pointed to was here, which has a fair amount of useful stuff about the game:
http://akurasu.net/wiki/index.php?title=Makai_Senki_Disgaea_2
Xbox Gamertag - RogsR34UK
SICK! - proper cant wait to play this!
I see there's a Game Over Geo panel - that's harsh! XD
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...523 hours...
I need to employ Bassman to play games for me, and maybe do a write up, that's incredible, thats 22 days solid!
It's that Cave of Ordeal III man!!
As soon as you hit that point - say goodbye to your social life. Repeating that stage thousands of times, resetting your character over and over for the initial stat boost then levelling him/her back up into the thousands - then repeating the whole process again and again with every character you've got before pwning the Item World!
Disgaea is life!
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Definitely. I transmigrated my level 5800 ish witch to level 1 for my 4th restart of the original game. She is now now well up on levels at least Level 2000 I think, giving out 2000K+ hits. I left my thief at level 5800 as it makes it more or less sure fire for getting items from the Item Gods. Popped a couple of Level 9999 monsters down homebase to boost my forces. I have or course got the highest level of monsters available from the Dark Assembly. You soon reach the Level 9999 ones in an item, though eventually I can only really use my Witch and Etna (more HP but not so devastating).
At least it only took at most 30 minutes to transmigrate and get a character back to Level 1000+.
It is so easy to go back to Disgaea and spend a good number of hours (only managed 4 or 5 this weekend just gone).
I wonder what changes have been made to the Cave of Ordeals in the new game.
Xbox Gamertag - RogsR34UK
That's incredible man!
I cant remember how much of my life I gave to Disgaea, once I got my Yoshitsuna Sword I was all over that Cave of Ordeals levelling and Transmigration game, it just took over completely! Because you get rewarded so much for the effort you put in it never becomes a chore.
Have you seen any of the anime yet at all man - it's class!
http://a.scarywater.net/kyuuketsuki/
6 Episodes out so far - the sequence of events is a bit changed round from the game's story but everyone is in it!
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I've not seen it.
I always seemed to favour the magic classes and my witch has all the offensive and healing magic that I need. Etna also has some of the magic and healing abilities.
I must try the pupils standing next to their mentor in Disgaea 2 to increase their range of spells (I assume that it still works). Some healing on my good witch would be rather useful as for some reason her Ice Spells had no effect on enemies with -50% for ice on the last map I tried. Too much to do in the game... too little time (as was true of the first game).
I never did get to see all the endings in the first game. Another good reason to continue with it.
Xbox Gamertag - RogsR34UK
With your data on the first game (no doubt you have the Space/Time Engine too) you'll be able to see all the endings in an evening!
It's hysterical ripping up the main game after you've caned it for levelling, just Teleport behind the objective for the stage - whack! - Next stage! XD
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Yes, the Super Robo Suit is great for getting to any square on the map.
I've never tried to see how quickly I can finish the game.
I remember the first time I played with that level where there are all the monsters that you stand no chance of beating and your people from the castle come to help. It was great on the second go being able to wipe them out without a problem (I did some serious levelling after that level)
Xbox Gamertag - RogsR34UK
magical swords?witches?robo suits, obviously the game designers were on acid when they created this title.
That's why Japanese games are so imaginative - all we get down these sides is Skunk and Crack!
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There are apparently more types of Geo Symbol. In fact on one map the Geo Symbol area increased in size every turn until it covered the whole map, at which time I attacked the symbol to clear the map and get a good bonus. Another interesting Geo Symbol idea was on one map the symbols moved around (a small creature carried them to a different square each turn. In fact they attacked one of the enemy characters once!!
I have a feeling that the range of magic characters are increased as my Level 16 (or so) Witch can reach a fair proportion of the map without moving.
The Item World looks different to say the least from the one item I visited anyway and apparently you have shops in there as well! Also you get pirates coming into the Item World sometimes. In the early stages it is best to exit then as they are very strong compared to your own characters. The one that appeared yesterday had over 1200 HP compared to my Witch with around 190. Good for experience points later on I suspect.
Xbox Gamertag - RogsR34UK
An update.
I have now finished the game 3 times, although twice was caused by beating some "old friends".
The main game is shorter than the original though there are plenty of extras.
I have unlocked Black Sun World and the Cave of Ordeal. I have yet to successfully collect the Map Pieces to unlock further maps.
I made my first successful trip into the Item World last night though it was frustrating that I could not return to the village (home base) for 23 levels!!!
I have two Level 1000 Witches. The more powerful of the two is beyond Level 1500 and has over 1000 stored levels. Using the item I levelled she has over 60K intelligence which does produce some decent hits. I now need to upgrade her other items. With maximum strength enemies it was a little nervewracking on one level of the Item (the level 20 stage) when I was within a few thousand HP of losing her due to a number of hits and a "friendly" dragon who did 50K+ damage. To have lost here would have made continuing difficult as I lost the other level 1000 Witch a little earlier. I survived and healed fully (Level 4 healing restored over 70K of her 90K HP) and kept my distance of the dragon and cleared the stage.
I had to go to one of the shop levels on a few occasions as they were nearer the start portal. I did managed to buy a couple of decent items once (one costing 98 Million HL). With Maximum enemy strength I get stupid money from the levels (over 4 Billion HL in the "bank" now).
Over 120 hours play now!
Xbox Gamertag - RogsR34UK
I've just started this man - absolutely loving it so far! It's wicked going back in from the start with the knowledge gained from playing the first game, there's NO messing about this time!
A couple things tho; what is the equivalent of Statistician and Armsmaster now please man? Also do you know any links to Japanese pages with a list of Residents?
That news report cracks me up! - The moment (about 1.5 seconds) of silence they gave when Axel got beat by Adell was so harsh! XD
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