Ever since playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance in my youth, I have come to love the tactical JRPG genre as a whole. FFTA was soon followed by Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on the PlayStation Portable, which in turn led me to jump into the world of Fire Emblem with the 3DS title Fire Emblem: Awakening. (The latter is still one of my top 5 favorite games of all time.) However, aside from the Final Fantasy Tactics games and the Fire Emblem franchise, my exposure to other tactical JRPGs was limited. Even though I’ve been relatively late to the tactical JRPG party, I’m continuing to discover an increasing variety of these games: Shining Force, Suikoden, and Advance Wars are all on my to-do list, as is finishing Triangle Strategy.
There’s one thing I’ve observed about all the tactical JRPGs that I’ve seen so far. Despite being sprinkled with moments of typically delightful levity in the JRPG tradition, tactical JRPGs have largely followed a certain model of storytelling. Stories of geopolitical conflict, internecine intrigue, and unseen nefarious forces combine with characters’ deeply personal stakes to create (hopefully) deeply engaging narratives. Nippon Ichi Software has taken a very different tack with their Disgaea franchise, however. Bombastic, outlandish characters and various anime tropes are everywhere and that creates a truly unique aesthetic. After playing through the first few introductory scenarios, it’s absolutely clear that Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless has taken that formula and amped it up to 11.
Disgaea 7 takes place in the Netherworlds. One of these is called Hinomoto, which served as a paragon of honorable samurai culture in a world otherwise devoid of virtue. However, Hinomoto inexorably fell into decline, and hardly a shred of honor remains in it or its inhabitants. It’s now a ruthless land, the same as any other in the Netherworlds: survival of the fittest.
We are immediately introduced to one of our two central protagonists: Fuji, an itinerant demon swordsman who is unfailingly jaded and irreverent on his quest to pay off one hell of a debt (pun intended). He’s willing to go anywhere, fight anyone, and take anything they have in order to settle his financial affairs. It’s through him that we get the first rudimentary explanation of the tactical combat system, which will be described a bit later.
Soon afterward, we meet our other main character: Pirilika, an unfailingly naive and enthusiastic otaku (the game itself describes her this way) who is obsessed with the Hinomoto samurai culture. She is also ridiculously wealthy, so naturally she crosses paths with Fuji right after setting foot in Hinomoto itself.
At this point, we receive a proper chance to learn the mechanics of Disgaea 7’s tactical combat. At first glance, it appears to be much the same as any other tactical JRPG. Battles occur on a three-dimensional grid using different types of terrain upon which you place your characters/units and take turns engaging the enemy. Character roles are very familiar to those who have played games in the genre before: physical/magic attackers, healers, etc. But upon closer inspection, it’s clear that this combat system contains differences large and small (some of which remain inaccessible, given that we’re only at the very beginning of the game).
For starters, character deployment takes place from the Base Panel, a central “home base” space on the map where you can deploy your units and form your strategy for the upcoming battle. While the game starts you out with 5 characters to use, eventually you can deploy up to 10 units, which is considerably more than in other tactical RPGs (i.e. Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem games). The variety of units you can deploy will enable a multitude of combos to defeat your enemies. I’m not to that point yet, but the prospect of experimenting with all kinds of strategies and attacks is definitely a fascinating one!
I’ve never played through a Disgaea game before, but the early signs are all very encouraging. I get the feeling that Disgaea 7 will prove to be a much-needed change of pace in a genre with games that are (mostly) serious in tone, and simply a great tactical RPG experience as a whole!
Special thanks to NIS America for sending us a copy of Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless.
JRPG fiend turned Twitch streamer, Mystraker (Myst for short) turned his childhood love for role-playing fantasy adventures into the driving passion of his life! You can find him on Twitch, usually waist-deep in a sprawling epic tale with more than a few anime tropes thrown in. His love for RPGs even inspired him to earn a degree in religious studies, so you can also expect some deeper thought on his favorite games as well as an appreciation for references to real-world cultures and connections.
