This week sees the Switch launch of Disgaea 5, which won’t be the first Disgaea game on a Nintendo device, but will be the first in almost a decade. The former Sony exclusive has jumped ship to Nintendo for its “handheld version”, since Sony’s support for the PS Vita dried up years ago. Yet given the dual purpose nature of the Switch, Disgaea 5 and Disgaea as a series feels more at home here, dood.
Disgaea is a series that’s been around for a while, an absolute tactical-strategy juggernaut that’s made its bones on unique gameplay, a vast array of characters, and an absolutely wicked sense of humor. The fifth numbered sequel (Sixth game if you count D2) in the series delivers on all of that, with two snarky morally ambiguous heroes taking on the threat of a massive army poised to take over the Netherworlds and rule the afterlife entire. But while you can certainly expect all the usual hallmarks of Disgaea— Fourth wall breaks, snarky heroes, wacky humor, talking penguins— the game introduces some interesting new systems and classes while still giving you all the power to take the fight to the Netherworlds and conquer the lands of the dead in the name of revenge.
Sony needs to get on the phone with NIS asap and get them to release D5 complete on PS4. I passed on it because NIS is now putting more and more content behind paywalls. Guess I'll have to buy a Switch to get the best version. Be nice to have it on Playstation where it began. Oh well.
WTMG's Leo Faria: "While still being a great strategy RPG, the PC version of Disgaea 5 Complete lacks features otherwise present on its Switch and PS4 versions."
Kinglink says "Disgaea is a long-running series of SRPG from Nippon Ichi that started on the PlayStation 2 and have had relatively constant releases. While it remained the PlayStation family of consoles for a long time, a couple of years ago Nippon Ichi ported the original game to the PC, along with the sequel the next year. This year, however, Nippon Ichi suddenly ported Disgaea 5 to the PC along with all it’s DLC, fresh for fans to check out. So is this the latest and greatest, or did they just skip a few games? Let’s find out."
This sounds promising and good signs for the hybrid design. Personally I'm loving my Switch, such a great console already and the true successor to the Snes.