Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories

Developer(s) Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher(s) JP Nippon Ichi Software
NA NIS America
PAL Koei
EU NIS Europe (PSP)
AUS NIS America (PSP)
NA SCEA (PSN)
Composer(s) Tenpei Sato
Series Disgaea
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
Release date(s) PlayStation 2
JP February 23, 2006
NA August 29, 2006
EU November 3, 2006
AUS November 23, 2006
NA January 22, 2013 (PSN)
PlayStation Portable
Genre(s) Tactical role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player
Distribution DVD-ROM, UMD, download

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories (魔界戦記ディスガイア2 Makai Senki Disugaia Tsū, lit. "Netherworld Battle Chronicle: Disgaea 2") is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software for the PlayStation 2 video game console. Disgaea 2 is the sequel to 2003's Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and was released for the PlayStation 2. It is also the predecessor to Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice for the PlayStation 3.

Unlike Nippon Ichi's previous games, Disgaea 2 is on DVD-ROM and has an animated opening movie.

It was re-released for the PlayStation Portable as Disgaea 2 Portable (魔界戦記ディスガイア 2 PORTABLE Makai Senki Disugaia 2 Pōtaburu) in Japan and as Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days in North America and Europe.

Gameplay

Disgaea 2 is divided into 13 chapters. Each chapter begins with cut scenes to explain Adell's next mission. Players then take control of Adell in his hometown of Holt. The town serves as a gateway to story maps, side quests, the dark council, and the item world. At the beginning of each chapter, a new area is unlocked. Each area consists of multiple maps which must be beaten to advance to the next chapter. Talking to the gatekeeper of Holt will give players the option of exploring the new area or repeating any maps that have been beaten. Many maps also have cut scenes. Scenes at the beginning and end of each chapter cannot be skipped.

The gameplay in Disgaea 2 builds directly upon that of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness; players control a party of characters to do battle on a 3D isometric grid map.

The Item World game mode returns from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Players can select any item in the party's inventory and enter it. The levels within are randomly generated, and the difficulty of enemies depends on the item's rarity or power. There are two ways to descend through the Item World: by defeating all enemies on a given level, or by using exit portals located somewhere on each level. Special enemies, called Guardians, can be freed by defeating them, imparting certain benefits to the item, such as increased attack or defense values. Once they are freed, they can be moved between items freely. The further a player descends through a given item's Item World, the higher the stat bonuses it will receive.

The land of carnage was added to Disgaea 2 which is another home hub with all the missions that have been completed, but enemies levels are the original times twenty and plus two hundred. This place can be obtained by collecting 16 pirate maps from the different pirates of the item world.

Plot

Story

Fifteen years ago, a powerful Overlord by the name of Zenon appeared in Veldime and cursed its human population. Since then, all its inhabitants have become demons and are to remain that way if the curse was not broken. However, a young man named Adell was the only human unaffected by the curse. Wanting to save his family and return them back to their true form, Adell decides to seek out Overlord Zenon and defeat him. Adell's mother tries to summon Zenon and fails, but instead summons Rozalin, Zenon's daughter. They later go on a quest to find Zenon and return Rozalin to him, and then defeat him so that the curse would be lifted, making his family and the rest of the world human again.

Characters

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings85.65%[4]
Metacritic84/100[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comC+[6]
GameSpot8.2/10[7]
GameSpy[8]
GamesRadar8/10[9]
IGN8.5/10[10]
Awards
PublicationAward
IGNBest PS2 Strategy Game of 2006[11]

Disgaea 2 has received generally favorable reviews, obtaining an aggregate score of 84 on Metacritic. It received a mention in Gaming Target's selection of '52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2006' [12] and won "IGN's Best of 2006" prize of "Best PS2 Strategy Game".[11]

Re-releases

The official website for Disgaea 2 Portable opened on December 29, 2008.[13] It was released in Japan on March 26, 2009.[1] NIS America announced that they were publishing the PlayStation Portable version under the name Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days. It was released in the United States on September 8, 2009.[2]

The re-release features bonus material over the original, including an expanded playable character line-up(including three of the main cast from the sequel Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice; Mao, Raspberyl and Mr. Champloo), an 'Axel Mode' storyline, more creatable monsters and more powerful versions of existing spells. Features from Disgaea 3 are also introduced, including an enhanced Magichange system, Pass & Toss and Level Spheres in the Item World.

Keeping with the tradition of Disgaea PlayStation Portable re-releases, Music Shops and Data Shops are available, giving the ability to purchase in-game music to play during forays into Item World. Additional content, such as the ability to create female Ronins, is unlocked by having a Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness save file on the same memory stick as the Dark Hero Days save file, as well as downloadable content. The DLC includes; Pram from Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome; Marona and Ash from Phantom Brave; Dark Eclair from La Pucelle: Tactics; Almaz and Sapphire from Disgaea 3; Gig from Soul Nomad & the World Eaters; Pleinair, a recurring character who's the mascot of character designer Takehito Harada; Miabel from a future title called "Princess Antiphona's Hymn: Angel's Score OP"; and a Humanoid version of Disgaea 2's Hanako from 10 years the future, known as "Demon Lord Hanako". Gig, Miabel, and Dark Eclair are only available in Japan due to coding errors by the translation staff.

The North American versions of the DLC, which include Sapphire Rhodondite and Pleinair from Disgaea 3, was released on November 25, 2010 on the PlayStation Network for free due to complaints. The complaints were due to players receiving error messages while saving their game data. The error was caused by players saving their games without purchasing the content. NIS Software received complaints, and has made the game's first DLC pack free as an apology.

A PlayStation 2 Classic Edition of Disgaea 2 was released for U.S. PSN on January 22, 2013.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://news.dengeki.com/elem/000/000/131/131262/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://rosenqueen.com/product.php?productid=16268&cat=22&page=1
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.koei.co.uk/news/?id=28561
  4. ↑ http://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/930240-disgaea-2-cursed-memories/index.html
  5. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/disgaea2cursedmemories
  6. ↑ http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3153304&p=2&sec=REVIEWS
  7. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/disgaea2/review.html
  8. ↑ http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/disgaea-2/729206p1.html
  9. ↑ http://www.gamesradar.com/ps2/disgaea-2/review/disgaea-2-cursed-memories/a-20060830115642366025/g-2006022411324322024
  10. ↑ http://ps2.ign.com/articles/729/729197p1.html
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "IGN.com presents The Best of 2006". Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  12. ↑ "52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2006: Part 1". Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  13. ↑ "魔界戦記 ディスガイア2 PSP". Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  14. ↑ Rain (January 12, 2013). "NISA Prinny Bomb 292".

External links