Summary Final Fantasy ... ON ACID

Pros: The characters in Disgea were hilarious (almost all of em have SERIOUS issues). The geopanels are awesome (you can get weaker characters to panels to make them invincible or drop insanely powerful opponents onto damage panels to help take them down). Team attacks - great way to mow down anyone or anything stupid enough to oppose you. The abilty to create and name your own characters and use them in addition to the "core" characters was brilliant (the three core characters I use the most are Laharl, Etna, and Flonne - the other characters I use are characters I created myself). Let's not forget the Dark Assembly bribe 'em or beat them up to get what you want.
Cons: The Japanese voice track was nowhere near as good as it could have been (I refer to the quality of the audio - not the performances). It sounds like it was placed in the game as an afterthought. Also, in the item world several specialists have managed to escape me because they were out of range (and my mage has some insane range on her). The other problem was after you "pursuade by force" enough times, the proxies come in. If you can't bribe them and you fight and kill them you can't get healed (Lilly), leave the castle (Moira), buy Items (Robert and Jeanne) or enter the item world (Suzu) unless you save and reset, which brings them back to life.

Reviewer's Comments

In this age of graphics diven games that turn out to be lemons, it was awesome to play a game with plain graphics and excellent gameplay. I have logged over 450 hours playing this game. I have never, EVER, played a game that is anywhere near as addictive as Disgaea. I would read through the strategy guide while not playing (at work) and make plans for my next session through the game. It pulls you in like that. If you are a diehard RPG fan - THIS is a must have for your library. If you are not a diehard RPG fan - this game will MAKE you one. Just pack a lunch, you'll be at it for a while.