The year was 2003. The Playstation 2 was the biggest seller in the world, Nintendo was going through it's toughest time yet, and the XBox was catching up to the PS2 with a plethora of games, including a little game called Halo. The PS2, however, was still reigning supreme, and as far as RPG's were concerned, it was home to some of the best games in the genre, including the latest Final Fantasies. On that year, a little gaming company called Nippon Ichi Software, or NIS, was releasing a new game that used 2D sprites. This game company was, until that year, known in Japan as the makers of a cutesy series of SRPG's called Marl Kingdom. Outside of Japan, they were nobodies. That all changed with the release of a little game called Disgaea: The Hour of Darkness, hereby referred to as Disgaea 1.
The story of Disgaea 1 is as follows. In the Netherworld, demons are ruled by an Overlord. The previous Overlord, Krichevskoy, has died, and now his son, Laharl, seeks to ascend to the throne. With his sarcastic vassal, Etna, Laharl embarks on a mission to eliminate all pretenders to the throne that, in his eyes, is rightfully his. His first move is to ransack the castle of Vyers, the "Dark Adonis", whom Laharl insultingly nicknames "Mid-Boss".
Laharl's capacity as an overlord is tested twice. There are two ordeals that test him: the first ordeal is him learning to let the Prinnies, the souls of sinners who inhabit penguin skins and do menial jobs in the Netherworld, atone for their sins and reincarnate. While he at first refuses, upon seeing the soul of his dead human mother among the Prinnies, he commands Death itself to lead the souls to the human world. During this ordeal, he has to also learn to respect Flonne.
The second time his capacity is tested is when he has to gather the zombies made by one of his subjects. Though he initially found the job beneath him, he is eventually goaded into helping the child reclaim his lost zombie pets. Little by little, Laharl's arrogance is chipped away.
The human world, however, under the guidance of Vulcanus, begins to prepare a surprise attack on the Netherworld. They send their Defender, Captain Gordon, his beautiful assistant Jennifer, and their robot buddy Thursday, on a mission to scout ahead the Netherworld. However, one crash landing, a wild misunderstanding, and a humiliating defeat for the Defender of Earth, and suddenly this trio become Laharl's latest vassals.
But the Earth Defense Force is not one to leave a job half done. Led by Kurtis the Cyborg and the leader of the EDF, Carter, the humans attack the Netherworld with their advanced machinery. But with the aid of his vassals, Laharl sends the humans back to Earth, defeated and humiliated, but not before learning of Vulcanus' involvement in this attack.
Enraged, Laharl leads an attack on Celestia! Confronting the villainous Vulcanus, Laharl learns of the Seraph's plot to assassinate the Overlord. After defeating Vulcanus, Laharl confronts the Seraph, Lamington. After a grueling battle, Vyers appears and reveals the truth: there was never a plot to kill the Overlord, it was all just a plan concocted by Vyers and Lamington to help Laharl become a kinder Overlord and usher in a new peace between the Netherworld and Celestia. Only Flonne, an angel with a heart of gold, could possibly help bridge the gap between demons and angels, and get a demon as angry as Laharl to accept love and kindness. And so, Laharl accepts a peace offering, ushering in a new era as the Overlord of the Netherworld.
Disgaea 1 was a Strategy RPG that did something few SRPG's ever do: tell a character focused story. The point of the game is to see Laharl develop as a character, going from an arrogant jerk to someone more kindhearted, more open, but still with a hint of arrogance. In spite of the game's rapid fire comedy style, with absurd dialogue. ridiculous situations, and nerd culture references, deep down the game gets rather philosophical, if subtly so.
The Strategy Role Playing Game genre had been, until then, a genre whose storytelling tended to set aside characters for plotlines that would make George R.R. Martin stand in awe. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre had not only codified the typical SRPG, they defined it. Disgaea was doing the exact opposite of what the typical SRPG did: while an SRPG would focus on an overarching plot, Disgaea focused on the wild meanderings of its characters as they learned life lessons. While a typical SRPG would be deathly serious all the time, Disgaea saved its seriousness for a scant few scenes, otherwise being silly at every given opportunity. Whereas the typical SRPG protagonist is a youth with a passion for justice who would go toe to toe against a world threatening evil with a crew of true companions by his side, Laharl is a bratty demon whose followers demean and insult him at any given turn, who take a while to actually start respecting him.
And yet Disgaea is no less deep than Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics. The game explores some heavy themes, as we will see now.
The major theme of the game is Love. The game paints Love as the one Good force, the one force capable of melting Laharl's icy heart. But I'm not talking about romantic love here, no. There are four loves: Philia (love between friends), Storge (love between family), Eros (romantic love) and Agape (unconditional love). Disgaea's main focus is on Philia, and how the love between friends helps redeem Laharl, helps him grow up to become the fine Overlord he wants to be. Likewise, there's Storge, best evidenced by how Kurtis becomes a villain over his grief for the loss of his family, and Laharl's love for his mother. There's a slight hint of Eros in Etna's story, particularly towards her loyalty to the old Overlord, King Krichevskoy, and how much of the way she treats Laharl is just her wanting him to become as good an Overlord as his dad was.
Another major theme is Good and Evil, and how it's your actions, not what you say you are, that determines your alignment. Though Laharl considers himself an evil Overlord, he is, at his worst, just a bratty kid that, with some guidance, can do the right thing. The reason for this, in turn, is due to the bottled up pain he feels at the loss of his mother and father. This, in spite of the fact that Laharl himself is a demon from the Netherworld. In contrast, Vulcanus is pure evil, in spite of the fact that he is an angel, a being normally associated with God, the ultimate force for Good.
A third theme, and this one is interesting to me because it is seldom done well, is Redemption. With few exceptions, each of the characters, both good and evil, does something so heinous they think they are beyond redemption. However, with a little time, they are forgiven and redeemed. This is the ONE theme in the story that is never treated as a joke. An example of Redemption can be found in the seventh chapter of the game: The prinnies are allowed to resurrect after having paid for their sins, but Laharl attempts to stop them due to his own selfish desires. However, after getting called out by his vassals, his mother (who was also a prinny) and even Death itself, Laharl relents, ashamed of what he had done, and his treatment of his vassals. This marks the major turning point for him, becoming the Overlord Etna knows he can be.
And now, I'd like to talk about the characters.
Prince Laharl of the Netherworld is our main hero. He's brash, he's arrogant, he's self centered, he's rude, he's immature, and he's an ass. The point of the game, however, is to see him grow out of those negative traits, which he does...mostly. He's still arrogant and immature at the end of the game, but he's kinder, he's more caring, he's less self centered, yet he's still an ass. But beneath all that is a little boy crying out for mommy, and a heart of gold.
Etna is Laharl's closest vassal, and she is a selfish girl. She's egotistical, she's bratty, she's sadistic, haughty, rude, narcissistic, and otherwise no better than Laharl. She was also deeply in love with Krichevskoy, and the theft of her memories of him propel her to betray Laharl in order to regain them. Still, she cares for Laharl like an older sister, she looks out for him, and in spite of everything, she wishes for Laharl to become as great an Overlord as Krichevskoy was. Beneath her snark is a loving heart.
Flonne is an airheaded angel from Celestia. She's downright ditzy, bubbly, nerdy, overly emotional, and wears her heart on her sleeve. She believes all beings are capable of love, even a demon as bratty and unkind as Laharl. However, she's also courageous and kind, quite likely the kindest character in video game history (or at least one of the kindest ever). She is THE all loving hero, always vouching for love and mercy, always trying to keep the peace, and always trying to steer Laharl towards the path of good. Beneath her air headedness lays the heart of a true hero.
CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH! He's one of Earth's finest heroes, a mighty man who fights evil wherever it shows its ugly face, rights wrongs, and always gets the ladies! Though blindly loyal to the EDF at first, Gordon is a man who strives to do good, to be good, to defend good, and to vanquish those that would harm the innocent! Sure, he might be smart as a rock, gullible, and easy to fool, but you can not deny that this man is a TRUE DEFENDER OF EARTH!
Captain Gordon's hyper competent sidekick, Jennifer. She's as smart and talented as she is sexy. Having earned her PhD at the age of ten, having gained black belts in several martial arts disciplines, Jennifer is content serving as second banana to a guy who most likely couldn't tie his shoelaces without a walkthrough. Still, she's content in her lot in life, and it was all her choice.
(Because of time constraints, I have to cut this blog entry short and discuss the rest of the characters another time. Please tune in to Part 2 when I also discuss the game mechanics of Disgaea 1)
Disgaea 1 did something unusual in video games: it told a story about friendship, camaraderie, love, and redemption in an almost irreverent manner. Sarcasm, absurdity, and pop culture references sandwich several scenes of emotional vulnerability, of hurt, and of love. In the sixth chapter, you're fighting hundreds of demons to become Overlord. In the seventh, you're fighting to stop the souls of sinners from getting the redemption they earned. And in chapter 8, you're fighting a zombie with a horse wiener. This odd narrative style gives Disgaea its own flavor, its own, unique identity.
Disgaea 1 is a perfect mix of comedy and drama, creating a timeless tale of love, redemption, ambition, and good vs evil. NIS managed to go from a mediocre gaming company that made cutesy RPG's to the company to watch out for. The success of Disgaea 1 changed NIS for the better, giving them not only an identifiable franchise, but also a style that has become uniquely theirs. After Disgaea 1, NIS would start developing many other SRPG's, including the timeless classic Phantom Brave. But, like Final Fantasy before it, a franchise was inevitable. How would NIS satisfy demands for a sequel? Stay tuned, because next Saturday we look at the next entry in the series, Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories!
Image taken from the game's Wikipedia page.
Spoilers Abound!!!
Spoilers Abound!!!
The story of Disgaea 1 is as follows. In the Netherworld, demons are ruled by an Overlord. The previous Overlord, Krichevskoy, has died, and now his son, Laharl, seeks to ascend to the throne. With his sarcastic vassal, Etna, Laharl embarks on a mission to eliminate all pretenders to the throne that, in his eyes, is rightfully his. His first move is to ransack the castle of Vyers, the "Dark Adonis", whom Laharl insultingly nicknames "Mid-Boss".
Unbeknownst to Laharl, the Seraph of Celestia, land of angels, have assigned an angel trainee to assassinate the Overlord. This little angel, Flonne, takes to her mission with an incomparable gusto, Sadly, she's too incompetent to do the job right, and she accidentally gives away her entire plan out to Etna, with zero prodding from the sarcastic and catty vassal. Outraged, Laharl confronts the angel trainee and bests her in combat. Upon seeing how little Laharl cares for the death of his father, Flonne joins forces with him to see if demons are truly incapable of love and compassion.
Angered at the fact that he has to actually PAY his servants, Laharl concocts a plan to steal from the richest demon in the Netherworld: Hoggmeiser. He attacks the rich demon's castle, intending to kill the pig demon himself and steal everything. Sickened by this display of cruelty, Flonne begs Laharl to spare Hoggmeiser. Upon seeing the son of Hoggmeiser shield his father, Laharl yields to Flonne's request, as well as also leave some of Hoggmeiser's wealth for him. Also Hoggmeiser joins Laharl, but he disappears from the plot immediately.
Flonne, however, is under the watchful eye of the Archangel, Vulcanus. Considering her affiliation to demons as treason, Vulcanus plots the death of Flonne by stealing a medallion she needs to survive in the Netherworld. Flonne begs Laharl to help her find it, and with the promise of a juicy reward, he relents. Though Mid-Boss finds the medallion first, Laharl fights the narcissistic demon, getting back the medallion, which informs him that his heart is wicked. As for his reward? Flonne's gratitude. Laharl is not pleased.
A vampire named Maderas, however, conspires to do away with Laharl and become Overlord himself. To this end, he blackmails Etna with the memories he stole from her. However, Laharl, with the help of his vassals, defeats Maderas in what is, at least in the English version, the BEST DAMN BATTLE OF THE GAME!!! (so far). Since Laharl forgives Etna for her treason (in his own way) he earns Etna's respect and loyalty (well, as much loyalty as a demon like Etna can muster. She makes it clear she intends to overthrow Laharl. He makes it clear he welcomes the challenge.) Maderas joins too, and then promptly disappears from the plot.
Growing tired of the constant challenges and attempts against his life, Laharl decides to simply challenge every demon in the Netherworld to attack him head on and try to take away his right to the throne. Having defeated thousands of demons, the souls of sinners in penguin costumes (more on this later), a parody of the Super Senti/Power Rangers, Mid-Boss AGAIN, and a fire demon from another dimension, Laharl secures his right to the throne.
Laharl's capacity as an overlord is tested twice. There are two ordeals that test him: the first ordeal is him learning to let the Prinnies, the souls of sinners who inhabit penguin skins and do menial jobs in the Netherworld, atone for their sins and reincarnate. While he at first refuses, upon seeing the soul of his dead human mother among the Prinnies, he commands Death itself to lead the souls to the human world. During this ordeal, he has to also learn to respect Flonne.
The second time his capacity is tested is when he has to gather the zombies made by one of his subjects. Though he initially found the job beneath him, he is eventually goaded into helping the child reclaim his lost zombie pets. Little by little, Laharl's arrogance is chipped away.
The human world, however, under the guidance of Vulcanus, begins to prepare a surprise attack on the Netherworld. They send their Defender, Captain Gordon, his beautiful assistant Jennifer, and their robot buddy Thursday, on a mission to scout ahead the Netherworld. However, one crash landing, a wild misunderstanding, and a humiliating defeat for the Defender of Earth, and suddenly this trio become Laharl's latest vassals.
But the Earth Defense Force is not one to leave a job half done. Led by Kurtis the Cyborg and the leader of the EDF, Carter, the humans attack the Netherworld with their advanced machinery. But with the aid of his vassals, Laharl sends the humans back to Earth, defeated and humiliated, but not before learning of Vulcanus' involvement in this attack.
Enraged, Laharl leads an attack on Celestia! Confronting the villainous Vulcanus, Laharl learns of the Seraph's plot to assassinate the Overlord. After defeating Vulcanus, Laharl confronts the Seraph, Lamington. After a grueling battle, Vyers appears and reveals the truth: there was never a plot to kill the Overlord, it was all just a plan concocted by Vyers and Lamington to help Laharl become a kinder Overlord and usher in a new peace between the Netherworld and Celestia. Only Flonne, an angel with a heart of gold, could possibly help bridge the gap between demons and angels, and get a demon as angry as Laharl to accept love and kindness. And so, Laharl accepts a peace offering, ushering in a new era as the Overlord of the Netherworld.
Disgaea 1 was a Strategy RPG that did something few SRPG's ever do: tell a character focused story. The point of the game is to see Laharl develop as a character, going from an arrogant jerk to someone more kindhearted, more open, but still with a hint of arrogance. In spite of the game's rapid fire comedy style, with absurd dialogue. ridiculous situations, and nerd culture references, deep down the game gets rather philosophical, if subtly so.
The Strategy Role Playing Game genre had been, until then, a genre whose storytelling tended to set aside characters for plotlines that would make George R.R. Martin stand in awe. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre had not only codified the typical SRPG, they defined it. Disgaea was doing the exact opposite of what the typical SRPG did: while an SRPG would focus on an overarching plot, Disgaea focused on the wild meanderings of its characters as they learned life lessons. While a typical SRPG would be deathly serious all the time, Disgaea saved its seriousness for a scant few scenes, otherwise being silly at every given opportunity. Whereas the typical SRPG protagonist is a youth with a passion for justice who would go toe to toe against a world threatening evil with a crew of true companions by his side, Laharl is a bratty demon whose followers demean and insult him at any given turn, who take a while to actually start respecting him.
And yet Disgaea is no less deep than Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics. The game explores some heavy themes, as we will see now.
The major theme of the game is Love. The game paints Love as the one Good force, the one force capable of melting Laharl's icy heart. But I'm not talking about romantic love here, no. There are four loves: Philia (love between friends), Storge (love between family), Eros (romantic love) and Agape (unconditional love). Disgaea's main focus is on Philia, and how the love between friends helps redeem Laharl, helps him grow up to become the fine Overlord he wants to be. Likewise, there's Storge, best evidenced by how Kurtis becomes a villain over his grief for the loss of his family, and Laharl's love for his mother. There's a slight hint of Eros in Etna's story, particularly towards her loyalty to the old Overlord, King Krichevskoy, and how much of the way she treats Laharl is just her wanting him to become as good an Overlord as his dad was.
Another major theme is Good and Evil, and how it's your actions, not what you say you are, that determines your alignment. Though Laharl considers himself an evil Overlord, he is, at his worst, just a bratty kid that, with some guidance, can do the right thing. The reason for this, in turn, is due to the bottled up pain he feels at the loss of his mother and father. This, in spite of the fact that Laharl himself is a demon from the Netherworld. In contrast, Vulcanus is pure evil, in spite of the fact that he is an angel, a being normally associated with God, the ultimate force for Good.
A third theme, and this one is interesting to me because it is seldom done well, is Redemption. With few exceptions, each of the characters, both good and evil, does something so heinous they think they are beyond redemption. However, with a little time, they are forgiven and redeemed. This is the ONE theme in the story that is never treated as a joke. An example of Redemption can be found in the seventh chapter of the game: The prinnies are allowed to resurrect after having paid for their sins, but Laharl attempts to stop them due to his own selfish desires. However, after getting called out by his vassals, his mother (who was also a prinny) and even Death itself, Laharl relents, ashamed of what he had done, and his treatment of his vassals. This marks the major turning point for him, becoming the Overlord Etna knows he can be.
And now, I'd like to talk about the characters.
Prince Laharl of the Netherworld is our main hero. He's brash, he's arrogant, he's self centered, he's rude, he's immature, and he's an ass. The point of the game, however, is to see him grow out of those negative traits, which he does...mostly. He's still arrogant and immature at the end of the game, but he's kinder, he's more caring, he's less self centered, yet he's still an ass. But beneath all that is a little boy crying out for mommy, and a heart of gold. Etna is Laharl's closest vassal, and she is a selfish girl. She's egotistical, she's bratty, she's sadistic, haughty, rude, narcissistic, and otherwise no better than Laharl. She was also deeply in love with Krichevskoy, and the theft of her memories of him propel her to betray Laharl in order to regain them. Still, she cares for Laharl like an older sister, she looks out for him, and in spite of everything, she wishes for Laharl to become as great an Overlord as Krichevskoy was. Beneath her snark is a loving heart. Flonne is an airheaded angel from Celestia. She's downright ditzy, bubbly, nerdy, overly emotional, and wears her heart on her sleeve. She believes all beings are capable of love, even a demon as bratty and unkind as Laharl. However, she's also courageous and kind, quite likely the kindest character in video game history (or at least one of the kindest ever). She is THE all loving hero, always vouching for love and mercy, always trying to keep the peace, and always trying to steer Laharl towards the path of good. Beneath her air headedness lays the heart of a true hero. CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH! He's one of Earth's finest heroes, a mighty man who fights evil wherever it shows its ugly face, rights wrongs, and always gets the ladies! Though blindly loyal to the EDF at first, Gordon is a man who strives to do good, to be good, to defend good, and to vanquish those that would harm the innocent! Sure, he might be smart as a rock, gullible, and easy to fool, but you can not deny that this man is a TRUE DEFENDER OF EARTH! Captain Gordon's hyper competent sidekick, Jennifer. She's as smart and talented as she is sexy. Having earned her PhD at the age of ten, having gained black belts in several martial arts disciplines, Jennifer is content serving as second banana to a guy who most likely couldn't tie his shoelaces without a walkthrough. Still, she's content in her lot in life, and it was all her choice.(Because of time constraints, I have to cut this blog entry short and discuss the rest of the characters another time. Please tune in to Part 2 when I also discuss the game mechanics of Disgaea 1)
Disgaea 1 did something unusual in video games: it told a story about friendship, camaraderie, love, and redemption in an almost irreverent manner. Sarcasm, absurdity, and pop culture references sandwich several scenes of emotional vulnerability, of hurt, and of love. In the sixth chapter, you're fighting hundreds of demons to become Overlord. In the seventh, you're fighting to stop the souls of sinners from getting the redemption they earned. And in chapter 8, you're fighting a zombie with a horse wiener. This odd narrative style gives Disgaea its own flavor, its own, unique identity.
Disgaea 1 is a perfect mix of comedy and drama, creating a timeless tale of love, redemption, ambition, and good vs evil. NIS managed to go from a mediocre gaming company that made cutesy RPG's to the company to watch out for. The success of Disgaea 1 changed NIS for the better, giving them not only an identifiable franchise, but also a style that has become uniquely theirs. After Disgaea 1, NIS would start developing many other SRPG's, including the timeless classic Phantom Brave. But, like Final Fantasy before it, a franchise was inevitable. How would NIS satisfy demands for a sequel? Stay tuned, because next Saturday we look at the next entry in the series, Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories!
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