Where has this RPG been all my life? Actually, it has been sitting in a drawer mostly unplayed outside of a few halfhearted attempts every few years since about 8th or 9th grade. I got stuck on the item world and couldn't figure out geo blocks, which made the game unfun. I also never realized that you could move those specialists around and combine them in near perpetuity so it felt like a lot of effort for nothing. But that is far from the truth and once I gave the game a real chance, as I have recently, it is absurdly addictive and fun.

It took X hours to make my goals, which include finishing the storyline and the Cave of Ordeals. Some day I might start a new game, probably on the DS, and finish up to that Baal boss I've heard so much about but for now I don't really care. It's enough that I unlocked Recruits, Angels, and Majin. Were they worth it? I'd say so, and it's nice to have variety. Next time I play, I'd like exclusively level Laharl and an army of Rogues.


My filler units before I realized how good rogues are

I'll go class by class. Warriors? They're okay but have poor movement. I never used them except for unlocks (the male looks cooler; I always associated him with a guy in band named David but he better resembles my friend Michael). The Brawler is pretty cool but a glass cannon so I didn't use him much (he always made me think of my old friend Geoffrey). The female version sucks. Knights? Really bad and somehow have poor defense which makes no sense, and they're ugly tomboys with short hair. Archers? Pretty bad but not terrible to level if you feed one stats while leveling to 100 for Angel; useless outside of that. The female mages are cute but I still prefer Skulls because they are funny and I named mine after a friend, Daniel G.


I actually got 3600 or so once but didn't snap a photo

Clerics were shit until I realized I could tutor the Star spell to her and then she tore ass but I still retired her, preferring the Skull who I taught healing. Scouts are incredible and probably my favorite class due to high damage, lots of move/jump, and Geo Change. I was disappointed by Recruits because they are slow as molasses so I didn't bother. Ninjas look cool and dodge but I didn't make one til the end; instead I had a Ronin named after a departed friend of mine named Jacqui who I gave Spears. She was pretty good and came in handy often. It wasn't until late in the game I realized the potential of the Rogue, not for fighting but for generally everything. Stealing is super easy and throwing is indispensable. Leveling one for the Majin was a nightmare though, and you can get a 50% steal rate with anyone else but then you wouldn't hear them go "Shazam"! Lastly, monsters sure look cool but I never tried them. Maybe I'll do a monster-only run some day, as well as a story character-only run too.


I was kinda done with the game once I unlocked majin

Overall, I'd rate this game extremely high and would recommend it as a must play for any RPG fans, especially if your IQ is over 80 (unlike mine). I don't know about the later games. I've had 2 for PS2 sitting around for years and might get around to it soon now that I understand the "formula". I'd place this possibly in my top 10 of all games, definitely the top 20, but some day I will have to re-evaluate my lists. I doubt the top 5-10 will get displaced but everything before that is up for grabs. Disgaea is truly remarkable and I'm glad I got around to playing it before I died.