Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited Dood!

Do you have a taste for sardines?  Are you itching to battle corrupt politics? Do you love grinding? Want to pick up monsters & use them as a weapon? Then fire up your PlayStation Vita and grab a copy of Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited.  Oh, by the way– those soulless Prinnies are back too.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is the PlayStation Vita version of Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten (originally released for PlayStation 3 in 2011) but with some extra added goodies.  Developed by Nippon Ichi Software,   Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is a tactical role-playing game and is the latest entry in the Disgaea series.  Disgaea 4 tells the story of a vampire named Valvatorez, the former tyrant of the Netherworld, leading his party against the president of the Netherworld. Of course nothing goes according to plan.

Even though Valvatorez is a demon, that doesn’t mean he plays by demon rules.  The current state of the Netherworld is corrupt, with the government not far from it.  Along Valvatorez’s journey he is accompanied by several crazy, off-the-wall characters while he builds an army to challenge the president.  Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is broken up into chapters with plot twists and more sardine references than you will ever want to hear.  Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited story does not follow any of the previous titles and is easy for newcomers of the series to jump right in.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is a tactical game with role-playing elements.  The game may look simple on its face, but there is a very complex system waiting to be explored.  Not only do you have to worry about your team during the fights but the battlefield itself is alive.  Geo-Panels are blocks placed on the map that will either buff you or hinder you progression.  These blocks can be lifted, moved or destroyed, either rewarding you or ruining your day.  For being a strategy game, Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited will no doubt keep your brain working.

Along with leveling your team, you are presented with the option of leveling the team’s gear.  This requires you to dive into your equipment and level it via the “Item World”.  The Item World not only lets you level your item, but allows you to find “Innocents” along your travels and capture them to further power your team.  The Disgaea series is known for being and promoted as a “Grindfest”; Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited  doesn’t shy away from this at all.  With a max character level of 9999 you will be spending some time grinding this out.  Oh, and a heads up — you can reincarnate a character back to level 1 to adjust some stats and gain new traits while leveling up again. Dood!

Gameplay- wise, Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited plays phenomenal and feels right at home on the PlayStation Vita.  I have played all the Disgaeas to date and being able to take the game on the go with me has made grinding even more accessible.  NIS even added touch-screen controls that can be turned on (off by default by the option menu if you are feeling adventurous).  Graphics look identical to the PS3 version of the game and I experience no technical hiccups while playing.   Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is a very good game to have on the go.

So whats new in Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited for the PlayStation Vita?  This is the ultimate version of Disgaea 4, as all the DLC is now automatically in the game.  The Cheat Shop from Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness is included, featuring the ability to change multiple aspects of the game such as enemy level, amount of HL (in game currency) earned, weapon leveling and other goodies.  A new tier of spells, job specific techniques, as well as other gameplay enhancements.  New characters, as well as cameo appearances by characters from previous Disgaea games.  Also from Disgaea D2, Disgaea 4 includes Character Promotion’s, the Innocent Warehouse, bribing the Dark Senate with HL.  The addition of The Cheat Shop and other enhancements from Disgaea D2 are a welcome enhancement.  By adding The Cheat Shop , the game doesn’t become any easier; instead they allow you to skip over some of the grinds and let you customize the maps to how you want to play.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited isn’t for everyone.  It’s a tough game and not very forgiving.  If you get a game over, it’s game over and back to the start of the game you go.  The game will let you continue with all of your stats and gear, but you should still save often!  Once you’ve completed the main campaign, the post-game opens up and there isn’t really any direction of what you are supposed to do.  If you’ve played previous versions of the game, then this will be no problem; if you’re new to the series be ready to go hunting for some guides on where to start.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is a must have if you’re into strategy RPG’s.  The amount of content and complexity is enough to keep you entertained for months.  The amount of time you invest into your characters will be well worth it when your crushing enemies for over 1 million damage.  I’ve always been a fan of the series and love it that I have another to play on the go with my PlayStation Vita.  Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited hits shelves on August 12, 2014 for $39.99 and will be available by digital download off the PSN.

“Prinny Rule Number 1! You must always include the word Dood in every line you say!”

The Verdict: 8.0 out of 10.0

This game is great!  There is so much content packed into this title its a steal.  I feel strategy RPG’s are great to take on the go because you can start and stop them as you please.  The story is catchy and humorous (love that Disgaea humor) and hits close to home at times.  The gameplay is great and you always feel as you’re making progress even if you do start over you are more powerful than before and its not a big deal.  This title feels right at home on the PlayStation Vita.  The enhancements NIS brought over from DIsgaea D2 are a welcome addition as well.

For more information about what the score means, check out our official review scale.

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Patrick Garrity is a Jersey native who loves video games and enjoys the industry.  He loves rum and wants to be a pirate one day.  Follow him on Twitter.