Disgaea 6 is the first new game in the Disgaea series since Disgaea 5 launched on the PS4 in 2015. Fans of the series have not been totally left high and dry as there have been some ports and remasters since. As great as some of these games have been there's nothing like a new mainline entry to really revitalize the franchise.
New titles can often invite new players into the fold if received well enough. NIS has seemingly done their best to simplify Disgaea 6 and make it easier for newcomers to engage with. Not every change worked for this new game on Switch but there are still plenty of things worth praising about it.
10 Best: Auto-Battle
Auto-battling, as a feature in RPGs, has existed for decades now. One of the more recent examples hit the Switch earlier in 2021, Bravely Default 2. Disgaea 6 has an auto-battle system as well which is more rare for strategy RPGs although it certainly is not by the first. The AI is mostly good which means that battles that used to take upwards of thirty minutes can now be efficiently completed in a few minutes.Â
9 Worst: The Game Plays Itself
The auto-battling feature is good, but it is one in many elements that streamline the game too much. Disgaea 6 can play itself with a combo method using auto-battle and auto-repeat.
This mechanic makes the AI play the same stage over and over again until the player manually stops it or the party dies. On one hand this a great way to level up while doing something else. However, using this method can make the game far too easy which brings to mind Disgaea 6’s larger balancing problem.Â
8 Best: Group Experience
In most strategy RPGs, or RPGs as a whole, characters earn individual experience. For example, in Final Fantasy Tactics a character will not gain experience unless they act and they gain the most if an enemy is slain by their hand. This is mostly how past Disgaea games operated but that has changed for the better with this new installment. As long as a character was deployed, they will earn experience, making it much simpler to level characters equally.Â
7 Worst: The Overpowered Numbers
The Disgaea games have always been an over the top RPG series. Power levels and damage numbers were comical, but every game started out normally as any other RPG would. A level one character would have stats in the tens or hundreds at best. Characters in this game start out with an absurd number making it hard to tell what exactly is a good stat. Is having 50,000 HP good or is that the equivalent of 50 HP? There is an inflation effect with the numbers to seemingly have them appear more epic but it makes them more confusing instead.Â
6 Best: Level VarietyÂ
Every chapter in Disgaea 6 brings Zed and company to a new world. These over-arching worlds dish out a good variety on their own from a TV world of the future to an academy full of witches. The individual levels are all unique, plus the Item World randomly generates stages. This variety far exceeds other strategy RPGs that tend to reuse maps such as Final Fantasy Tactics.Â
5 Worst: Repeating The Same Boss
Something in Disgaea 6 that needed more variety are the bosses. Most chapters end with Zed and company facing off against the God of Destruction. These boss battles are rarely any different from the ones previous to it. On top of that the story following the cycle of repeating the process via resurrection is not that unique and can get old fast.
4 Best: The Humor
Along with the over the top numbers, the Disgaea series has prided itself on being a whacky RPG. From the monsters to the story to the world in general, this is not a series to be taken seriously. While the overarching story may not be as strong as other entries in the series, Disgaea 6 definitely has some strong writing with its jokes. One of the more memorable characters responsible for some priceless humor is Marjoly, who accidentally changes herself into a cute magical girl.Â
3 Worst: The Quest System
Most quests in Disgaea 6 fall in line with traditional RPG fetch quests. Defeat this type of enemy five times or gather this item to turn in. There is nothing unique about them which is one thing. The other issue is that there are far too many. Once the quest shop unlocks players can tackle what seems like a hundred quests. This is a case of quantity over quality.Â
2 Best: The Art
The Disgaea series has always been a looker ever since its very first title on the PS2. Other games changed with times by going from sprites to polygonal figures.
NIS decided to keep the characters as sprites which made everything pop more. This has now changed with Disgaea 6 but it actually looks pretty good in the transition. The overall art helps make the game stand out thanks to its vibrant use of colors.Â
1 Worst: Performance Boosters
The Switch Pro was rumored to be revealed at E3 2021 but it wasn’t. The games that were announced make it seem as though the console in fact is in the works, as these titles seemingly won’t run well on a standard Switch. Disgaea 6 is one example. There are options that appear in the menu to favor a graphics mode which makes the game look better.Â
Performance mode makes the frame rate and load time better. Balance is an in-between of the two. None of these selections are ideal. It’s apparent that a Switch Pro could take better advantage of these options but as of right now the overall performance on the current Switch is not the best. The good news is that Disgaea 6 wasn't buggy at launch, unlike some titles. Â