A Modern Take On A Classic Franchise: A Disgaea 6 Complete Review

By Winfield

Player(s): 1
Platform(s): PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (via Steam)

Disgaea 6 Complete is the worldwide release of Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny that was originally released for the Nintendo Switch, and PS4 in Japan, back in January 2021. It is the sixth installment in the strategy RPG franchise developed by Nippon Ichi Software. Disgaea 6 Complete contains all previously released DLC content bundled with the game after the original release much like their previous Complete games. 

Every game in the franchise has been a brand new story that takes place in the Netherworld, so this time in this installment, the story follows a zombie named Zed who is on a quest to beat The God of Destruction that is wreaking havoc in his Netherworld. He has been unsuccessful so far, but every time that Zed is defeated, he is reborn and becomes slightly stronger each time. He meets various characters along the way as Zed tries to fight the God of Destruction throughout the story. 

I would say that the gameplay in Disgaea 6 Complete has come to be expected, with a grid-based battlefield used during combat where both sides take turns moving units and trying to wipe all of the other side's units in order to clear the map. A tradition from the franchise adds Geo Panels where effects can be added to the battlefield like ally boosts, or enemy boosts that can change how the player approaches the battle map to adjust their strategy. When not in combat, the gameplay takes place in a hub where all sorts of features are there to kit out the characters with equipment and skills. Being a more modern take on the franchise, a lot of the quality of life changes that they added to the game has made it easier on the player compared to the first game in the franchise years ago. They have the Cheat Shop which they added in recent entries where the player can either make it more difficult or easier on the gameplay. 

It can be overwhelming to look between the menus and compare stats of your characters and equipment. However, I believe that it is nice to see that they have improved how they display the information compared to the previous games. The beginning of the game tutorials help ease the player by introducing the gameplay features one at a time after each battle map and beginning chapters, which is nice.

What’s different for this game compared to its previous iterations is that finally, Nippon Ichi Software has transitioned the game to be full 3D sprites compared to 3D backgrounds and 2D sprites. It is a welcome change to the franchise as even though the 2D sprites had their charm, the character models were often blurry until they were HD 2D sprites starting with Disgaea 4. It seemed like it was the next step in the franchise to use 3D models. Even though it is split among the fanbase on which version of the sprites are better between 2D and 3D, I think that they look pretty good.

As is the tradition in the Disgaea franchise, the "Item World" is back to itch our addiction to level grinding. The Item World is a feature in the game where we can level up individual items by completing floors within the item. Even though the main storyline in the Disgaea games can be completed with minimal efforts to level grinding, the potential of having the maximum levels and maximum stats can be rewarding to just wipe the enemies in one attack. 

Talking about high stats, comparing it to previous titles in the series, Disgaea 6 Complete seems to make it very easy to level up to those stats. I fondly remember back when it was a challenge to grind to get to that level, but it seems really easy now. It’s just one of the quality of life changes that were made with this being the latest addition to the franchise. 

Overall, I enjoyed Disgaea 6 Complete as the newest addition to the franchise. If you’re a strategy RPG fan, there’s hundreds of hours of gameplay that can be enjoyed beyond the main storyline. Being the Complete release, it adds all of the released DLC to the game so the player can fight and add the previous main characters from the franchise into the player’s army. If after the DLCs, the Item World is limitless fun to hit the maximum level and maximum damage if you’re into level grinding. As I say with each new Disgaea game, it is the most accessible to enter the franchise as it keeps on adding quality of life changes that the previous games may not have had which is nice. Hope you enjoy the game!

For More Information On Disgaea 6 Complete:
https://www.nisamerica.com/disgaea/d6-complete/

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Story: A
Gameplay: B
Visuals: B 
Music / Sound: B
Value: B

Overall: B

Pros:
+ Story is good and funny
+ Hundreds of hours of gameplay
+ The battle maps are interesting especially when completing them in the Item World

Cons:
- If you’re not into level grinding
- Performance can be rough with the upgrade to 3D depending on the specs on your gaming machine

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A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.