i remember when i first started the game, i just sat there for five minutes listening to the lobby theme and being like. yeah, this is gonna be one of those video game songs i hear 3-5 years down the line and just start crying. and i was right :)

a 4.5 star rating might be a little high for this game tbh, but i really love it. the beautiful spritework, over the top attack animations, and funky ass soundtrack makes this game feel super unique, and i really enjoyed unlocking new classes, customizing my units, and constantly finding new ways to grind faster or improve them.

completion of a game like this is daunting, but this game was meant to be 100%ed. the only other time i've felt such an immense satisfaction from completing a game was with disgaea 4 - but even though the platinum on this one was challenging, for the most part it's not bullshit. there's always something new to learn to speed up the process - reincarnation, grinding for evilities, optimizing your trips through the item world... sure, not everything in this game is a win (chara world sucks but than god its not really required) but just playing around with this game's mechanics and improving your units feels great.

the story is pretty bad and none of the main characters stuck with me other than usalia (you probably won't even end up using the others in your playthrough tbh). but if you're into these kinds of games you probably don't care about that stuff anyway. i think if you're looking to get into disgaea, this is a great place to start.

i can't remember the last time a game has made me laugh this hard. even without getting into anything else, the insane humor/dialogue and the voiceover that goes along with it is nothing short of stellar - even the concept of stages like milkman conspiracy and the meat circus is insane. like, what did they have to do to come up with any of this shit? god damn i cant believe i put this game off for six years

even though most stages are pretty straightforward and i didn't see much incentive in collecting everything in each stage, i think there was only one that i outright hated. puzzles were fun (if not a bit simple sometimes), and stuff like the napoleon level is super creative.

sure, it's not perfect. i really didn't like the combat, but that's probably more of an issue with me being a dumbass than the game itself. also the perspective on some of the platforming (jumping onto trapezes in particular) is a bit borked, but there was only one real point where i was like. ok fuck this.

also this is a personal gripe and i know nobody's gonna agree with me but. i'm not a fan of the artstyle at all, just cause i've personally never been a fan of stuff that looks gross on purpose. it's iconic, it's definitely unique, but i just didn't vibe with it. definitely adds to the overall aesthetic tough.

s'good game overall, been a while since i played a 3D platformer that was this fun. fuck that bunny though

disgaea is like. my ultimate junk food series. it's a strategy RPG where you often times employ literally zero strategy, its convoluted and unbalanced as fuck on purpose, and prides itself on saying "you literally need to no-life this fucking game to get anywhere, fuck you and die". and i STILL eat this shit up, cause disgaea is fire as hell!!!

i was hurting BAD after disgaea 6 came out, bro. that shit was horrible, and seeing the massive improvements they've made over that grease fire makes me very happy. it's not just a return to baseline, though - there's plenty of funny new shit like hell mode, jumbofication, item reincarnation, and more that i just loved. i wasn't able to sink my teeth into every big gimmick mechanic since i've only thus far finished the main story, but i'll have more than enough time to grind for evilities and shit on my way to the platinum.

honestly, i wasn't expecting to like the story as much as i did! like disgaea has always had insanely funny dialogue, long-running bits and hilarious characters, but the story has always been like. alright this is cool but once i hit the post game i don't give a shit anymore. it might be because after the shitfest of 6's story and the lame-o slog that was 5's story, my expectations were pretty low. but it was a good time! there was more character development than i was expecting (other than higan sometimes idk why she was there), and fuji is a fire ass protagonist. it's not High Art, but i was pretty invested in what it was laying down for me!

it's not perfect, but most of my complaints are kinda stupid. i still am not a huge fan of the 3D models (personally, i still can't get over how beautiful 5's spritework is so that's probably why), the attack animations still feel a bit boring sometimes, and i still kinda miss magichange? i think my biggest complaint is that there's no fire ass music in the hub world that i'm gonna jam out to for 200 hours. like even 6 had a good hub theme come the fuck on.

i anticipate my opinions will change once i get that plat, but unlike 6 i'm actually excited to get started on it. pray for me fellas

obligatory sorry before i even start the review lmao

gen 1 of pokemon has been fucking demolished by the passage of time, man. yes, it's a marvel that this game exists. the work that has gone into this thing running on less power than a toy from Dollar Tree is fucking unfathomable. it deserves its place in history.

but trying to play this game today is a fucking nightmare!! this game has absolutely zero quality of life. shitty bag system, physical/special shit is moronic, you can't fucking run?? it's impossible to put together a moveset that doesn't suck total dick... i could ramble on for ages about the problems this game has, though i admit the game's not at fault for them. it's just that trying to play a game like this today, after people have become so accustomed to what pokemon (and rpgs in general) is like in the modern era, is insane. there's a ridiculous amount of whiplash and time needed to adjust to everything feeling like utter shit.

it's not the worst pokemon game, but it is definitely the least fun. doing the mew glitch was hype though