Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Publisher: Atlus Software
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: Teen
Platform(s): Playstation 2

Score: 10

Review by: Tim Harris

               Here's a game that tells you to go to hell. It's "Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Ok, the game doesn't really tell you to go to hell. But it does take place there. Apparently king Krichevskoy, king of the netherworld or hell has died. How you ask. By choking on a pretzel. I guess all the great ones that way. Shortly after his death, his son Laharl wakes up from a two year hibernation and finds that every demon and his uncle is out to steal the thrown. Laharl is awaken by his vassal Etna, who, for some odd reason is pointing a shotgun at his head.

Not stopping to worry about this the two and their small army set off to regain Laharl's throne. The game is a turnbased strategy RPG. But unlike "Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced" it doesn't have as many rules and regulations. Basically what I'm trying to say is, you can cheat. Can't make close enough to attack that enemy? Have a buddy pick you up and hurl you there. But word of warning, don't throw the demonic penguin, because they explode. But exploding demonic penguins isn't what make this game unique. What's really cool is the double up attack system. If you attack with a buddy behind, you or next to you, there's a good chance you both will attack the same enemy, meaning that one character can attack more than once. But if you have a party member on each sides and behind you, all four will attack at once pulling off a devastating quadruple attack. Even having four characters attack at once isn't as wild as some of the special attacks. These are some of the most over the top attacks I have ever seen .

Anime stills that remind will remind you of a manga will pass for cutscenes. I've got to say that this is some of the best voice acting I've ever seen. The voices fit the characters like a charm. And there's no weird translation problems. The characters are wacky and add to the humor. While the main character is an evil demon bent on pain and suffering, one of his party members is an angel who love everything and doesn't want to harm anyone. (Except for his dad who she wanted to kill.) Now on to disgaea's only flaw, the graphics. While the sound and gameplay is excellent, the graphics look horribly dated. I'm talking 1997. But who cares when you got a great game filled with angel assassins and exploding demonic penguins. That's why I'm happy to give "Disgaea: Hour of Darkness" a perfect 10!