"It's the week before fall semester starts. I really shouldn’t be doing this. I have work after all, so it’s not like I’ll be playing today. Hmmm…it’s hard to decide; Disgaea has only been out a few days and already it’s selling out at EB. Why am I doing this?! Two days ago Soul Calibur 2 and F-Zero GX were mine, so why another game? Why now?"

It’s one of those games that comes and goes with the wind; if you’re there when it passes by, it’s best to snatch it while you can - otherwise, it’s gone for good. About a week and more battles than I can count, Disgaea proves something. It’s one of those few, rare games that you have a gut-feeling about, that you just know will be good. You also know that it’s too fringe to be easy to find, so if you call your local shop and find out they have one copy left, you better believe you’ll be buying it.

Coming home later that night, and after putting a few battles in, I could say it was a good game. The fights felt faster than anything before; the polar-opposite aesthetic of cute characters as demons and other assorted evils is perfect; the music and animation are top-notch. Yet after a few fights I felt there was something missing - as if the game was good, but not on the level that would place it as a benchmark in strategy RPGs. It was a premature presumption, because all the makings of a bona-fide classic were sitting right under my nose. All I had to do was play more, and begin to experiment…

Disgaea contains all the elements of popular strategy RPGs. Players control units along battlefields arranged in squares, some units moving more squares per turn than others. There’s a limit to the amount of units you can have out at once, and each has their own unique set of stats, attacks, and specials/magic. What starts to separate things from the usual strategy RPG is the inclusion of team attacks. Get more than one character huddled over an enemy, and watch as dizzying feats of strength, acrobatics, and battle zaniness take place. Teaming up takes more than just setting it up on the field though - some characters are more likely to cooperate with certain teammates over others; what weapons the initiating attacker have also play a part. Now things are getting deep.

Then for getting to those hard-to-reach areas, throwing allies and enemies becomes an option. It takes from a unit’s action to do so, but opens up for some rather interesting tactics - throw characters to out of reach areas, throw as a shortcut over terrain, or even throw enemies into enemies! It leaves you with one less opponent on the field, but left with one that is leveled up (substantially, depending on whom you throw into whom). Then things get really interesting; throw an enemy into the base panel (where all your inactive characters reside), and watch as a battle of monster vs. benchwarmers ensues. Given that your team is strong enough, it becomes easy to subdue monsters. Much better than trying to create your own through the senate…

Senate, you say? We’ll get to that in a sec, since there’s still more to see on the fields.

For instance, this is the first strategic console game I’ve played that allows you to take back just about any move made. Position a character for an offensive, only to find out he/she would be better suited in another spot? Go ahead and hit that circle button - they’ll be back at where they started! Even if you figure this out after moving the rest of your squad, you can always take it back. Same goes for moves; this is especially helpful if you see an opportunity for a team attack or larger damage. Instead of smacking your head and saying, “why didn’t I think of this earlier,” you can cancel the attack, and set things to get the best damage possible. The only exception to the rule is when a character has moved and planned an attack; no do-overs then.

The most unique aspect of Disgaea’s battles is introduced early on - Geo Symbols. Geo Symbols are like the tile modifiers in Atlus’ ill-fated Hoshigami, but only more interesting and malleable. Some fights have these colored pyramid-shaped gems lying about, complete with colored tiles that, when a Symbol is placed, affects all tiles of that color. To demonstrate; say you find a +10% Exp Symbol on a red tile. This means all red tiles in the field will give you a bonus 10% experience for enemies defeated on them. Think that Symbol would be better on another color? Pick it up and throw it! Same goes for Geo Symbols that are harmful - they affect the field the same, and can be manipulated the same. You could even throw adverse gems onto plain tiles, making the effect null and void. Although…you could always destroy them, which leads into a fun aspect of puzzle-like gem and color matching. Destroy a blue Symbol on red tiles, and the red tiles turn blue - that’s the easiest way of putting it. The more you get into the game, the more you’ll see opportunities to exploit Geo Symbol benefits, and chain one Symbol’s destruction into an all out combination of tile changes. Think of it as Final Fantasy Tactics meets Super Puzzle Fighter and you’re halfway there.

There’s additional touches that set battle apart, such as mentoring (more on that in a sec), or learning special attacks the longer a character uses a weapon. With so much going on and so many tucks and tweaks to the standard formula, you’d think Disgaea would be a slow and deliberate strategy game. Instead, it’s one of the fastest around, with massive battles being polished off in ten minutes or so. Sure, you can take your time and be methodical as well, but with the ability to play so quickly, and for the fact that all the elements naturally flow into each other, Disgaea gains instant recognition for these things alone.

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