Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice - Where ditching class makes you an honor student

[The Liztress]

Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice - Where Ditching Class Makes You an Honor Student

Game: Disgaea 3
Developer: Nippon Ichi
Publisher: NIS America
Genre: Single-player Strategy RPG
ESRB: Teen
Console: PS3
Release Date: August 26, 2008

Ratings:
Gameplay- 8.5/10
Story- 8.5/10
Graphics- 8/10
Difficulty- 8/10
Music- 8.5/10
Replay Value- 9/10
Overall- 8.5/10

YouTube - Disgaea 3 US Opening

Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice was the series' first foray into PS3 territory. While many would have liked the game to have taken full advantage of the PS3's graphical power, the 2D characters are charming and do add to the game. Despite the graphics, NIS didn't slack on taking advantage of the rest of the PS3's capabilities.

The game follows Mao, the top honor student, whose father is the Overlord for the Netherworld Academy, and Mao's motley crew: Geoffery, the one-step-ahead-of-Mao butler; Almaz, a hero who plans on defeating the Overlord; Razberyl, the number-one delinquent of the academy and Mao's rival; Princess Sapphire, the princess who also comes to the netherworld to defeat the Overlord, and many others. After you complete the game, you get access to maps where you can take on characters from other NIS titles like Laharl from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Also, you can purchase more characters via the PSN such as Adell from Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories.

This iteration brings a few new formulas to the mix. You can now access the Class World, a place similar to the Item World except for the small fact that you use the Class World to enter your characters and build them up. Instead of visiting the Dark Assembly to pass bills (i.e., stronger/weaker enemies, ability to create new classes), you get to visit Homeroom. That's right, Mao and his party/classmates have their own little seats, which have a purpose to them, and a cycle of teachers who offer special bonuses to the front row of students. To increase your chances of pulling off a combo attack in battle, you place the students next to one who will do most of the hitting. For example, placing Almaz next to Mao in class will give a 20% greater probability that they will combo. On some stages, you will need to get to a place that appears to be unreachable. If you take advantage of the abilities to throw most objects (boxes, desks, explosive barrels, and other characters), create objects, and the Dual-Throw (best described as being able to toss anyone in the tower of characters that you form), nearly any place is possible to reach.

In contrast to previous Disgaea games in which monsters were only used for traversing huge stages (i.e., Mothmen) or for damage (i.e., the Prinnies, who explode on contact when thrown), with Disgaea 3, if the monster is in the same extracurricular club as a human, then you can magichange the monster into a weapon for that character to use. The only catch is that the monster can turn into the weapon the human is most skilled at (i.e., Mao and Almaz both do better with swords so a monster who turns into a sword would be the best choice).

The story follows Mao, son of the overlord and dean of Maritsu Academy, as he plans to overthrow his father. A fan of graphic novels, he realizes that "All the evidence shows that it is the hero who always defeats the Overlord!" So he sets out to become... a hero. This doesn't involve acts of love or kindness, nor does he do any good deeds. He gets the idea to steal a Hero's title when a conversation between him and Raspberyl is overheard by Almaz. Almaz, toting a Hero title, misunderstands the situation and steps in to be heroic because he thinks they are in trouble. Seeing that Almaz is a hero, Mao decides to experiment on him and steal his title. From there, Mao and his motley crew go from exchanging titles (as Almaz's "hero" title wasn't that great, it seems) to taking over the Academy and Netherworld. Over the course of the game you will meet some interesting characters who may or may not join Mao in his ambitions.

The graphics might not show off what the PS3 is capable of or even look to be the best that the PS2 could handle, but that doesn't mean that they are bad. In fact, I find them to be nice. To me, the graphics used help to make the game feel like a Disgaea game. There are no anime cutscenes or even 3D cutscenes. Each event that happens shows an anime profile of the character(s) involved and a backdrop. In battle, you can watch the characters pull off special attacks such as Mao's Blast Finger. The animations are stunning but after a while, you might get tired of seeing the same actions over and over again. That is where the option to turn off the animations during battles is a blessing. The menus' font can be toggled into two different sizes but for your eyes' sake, stick with the larger one.

Is this game difficult to play? Not really, unless you up the ante by passing the "Stronger Enemies" bills. Most stages are straight forward and you will see how to beat it. There are also some stages that will involve some thinking on your part via Geoblocks and combos. If you only follow the storyline stages, you could probably clear through it without having to grind levels. If you're one who wants a challenge, you can unlock the bonus stages, known as House of Ordeals. Now these stages aren't to be taken lightly if your level is low. You will put in a lot of hours if you want to make your party as strong as possible and that will mean diving into the Item World and Class World. Both are a collection of randomly generated stages, the number ranging from 10 (Class World only) to 100 (Legendary Item Worlds only). And depending on the rank of the item, the enemies can range from level 1 up to 9999.

The musical score is upbeat and the songs fit the moods really well. You have an eclectic mix of guitar riffs, orchestral symphonies, and quirky tunes. The music can be repetitive and you can always mute it. You can normally feel the sense of seriousness when the piano's melody begins and you find yourself looking within Mao's heart. You also feel playfulness when the quirky tunes play as you bribe your Student Council members into passing a bill for you. The voice actors did a superb job and when you hear them perform their lines, you can picture what that character's personality is. Each character's voice actor is fitting to how I'd imagine them to sound like. Vic Mignogna is brilliant as Mao, Laura Bailey is perfect for the badass delinquent Raspberyl, and Johnny Yong Bosch rounds out the Disgaea 3's trio with Almaz's voice. The other characters are fantastically done as well and even the generic characters have some personality through their battle cries.

The replay value for Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice will vary slightly depending on what you want out of this game. There is much to be done and many hours to complete it in. It offers some post-game bonuses like extra characters you can use. And if you love to level grind, you can do so many times over. You not only get the option to level someone to 9999 but you can reincarnate them and do the process over again. Now, if you know the right stages to go to, leveling isn't as bad as it appears, but it is definitely worth it to see Mao, or any character, do trillions worth of damage on an enemy. When you do decide to start over, you can do so from your post game save file and will keep your levels, Hell (money), and created characters. All those you gained from the story line will be gone until you get them back. But they keep their levels and equipment, too.

Overall, I recommend this game to any Strategy RPG or Disgaea fan. If you haven't tried the PS2 games or the ports for the handheld, and you own a PS3 but want a experience worth the time it will consume, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice just might be the perfect excuse for not doing your homework. There are a few cons to this game such as the outdated feel of the character sprites and some groan-worthy dialogue moments ( "Boom!" might be cute the first few times but after an hundred or so, it can get old).

Do I think that this game's leading trio beats Disgaea: Hour of Darkness's or Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories's leading trios? Yes and no. While I find it hard to believe that anyone could give Laharl or Adell a run for their money as great main characters, I do think that Mao has the potential to. And the most of the rest of the cast are memorable but there are a few that could have shined a little more. The story is wacky and you do get a few good twists and fourth wall breakage so if you want something different storywise, this will be worth the 50+ hours you'll put in.

To see more images courtesy of IGN.com, click here: Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice Gallery

[DarkStar]

Great review, Liztress! I've also read some that the game graphics were not good enough for the PS3 console. The game was never about graphics anyway and more about the gameplay / title. >.<

[The Liztress]

Yep, I've read that too. I think the graphics add to the charm of the game. But some people will pass up the chance to play a great game if they don't play this due to the PS2 graphics. And that's a shame really.

[skygear75]

I'm fine with the graphics, I sometimes prefer 2D anime look to 3D. Great review Liz .

[The Liztress]

Thank you Sky. I think for the most part, graphics play too much of a role in making or breaking a game. I won't deny that some games need to look great in order to be enjoyed but they still shouldn't overshadow the other important factors like gameplay, story, and difficulty. I'm a sucker for a good story.

[rrquinta]

I agree. I also have a soft spot for the more retro look, lol .