Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice (PS3)

The grind is good and the grind is never-ending.
9/19/2008 6:44 PM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Those of you hoping for a true next-generation Disgaea game from Nippon Ichi Software, keep dreaming. The truth is that Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice should not be on the PlayStation 3 at all, and -- save some seamless level loading -- does not take advantage of the PS3's powerful architecture in any meaningful way.

Yet, even without a next-generation veneer, Disgaea 3 stays true to the series and provides a serious overhaul of some of its key elements. The game continues the tradition of being a ridiculous grind-fest where the level cap is 9,999 and the end goal is creating the ultimate character capable of doing in excess of 1 million points of damage. Most of us will never know that joy, but it will not be from a lack of trying.

Disgaea 3, for all its changes, still adheres religiously to the tenet established in the first game: The grind is good and the grind is never-ending -- like a man looking at a painting of a man looking at a painting of a man to infinity.

While there certainly is an endgame to Disgaea 3, there is also a post-game and a ridiculously difficult post-game endgame starring the most powerful foozle in all the netherworlds. For those that love to grind, making it to this second endgame and beating it is the most satisfying experience you'll encounter in the entire game. Along the way, you will unlock characters from previous Disgaea games, encounter the most challenging scenarios available, and face the most powerful monsters the game can throw at you. It is difficult, time consuming and overwhelming at times, but it speaks to the nature of the franchise.

Disgaea 3 and all the other games in the series are like massively-multiplayer online games that are offline. They require a ridiculous amount of dedication, an understanding of the game's underlying system and the desire to create the most powerful characters and weapons possible. An average playthrough that focuses on completing the main storyline and avoids the post-game might take you 40 hours, while dealing with all the wonderful post-game content could take you in excess of 300 or more hours to complete.

In addition to the familiarity of the Item World (which allows you to level up an item by going into it and kicking the shit out of its residents), Disgaea 3 introduces a similar venue for leveling up characters called the Class World. While there is a fair share of story-driven content to be enjoyed in Disgaea 3, the lion's share of your time will be spent these randomly generated levels that occur inside objects and people and are peppered with rainbow-colored panels.

Item World remains mostly unmolested in Disgaea 3, but added gameplay elements and events spice things up a bit. New specialist events give you more types of specialist to create, and a new object called a Level Sphere provides a quick and dirty means of leveling the item you are in. By far the most exciting change is the ability to reverse pirate an item. After you encounter and defeat pirates in the Item World, you will be able to partake in one-off , turn-limited missions that allow you to steal treasure, subdue additional residents, and gain additional level spheres to beef up items. Reverse pirating is novel because it takes a concept added in Disgaea 2 and gives you the ability to take part in it. It is always a plus when an event turns into an additional activity.