Nippon Ichi Software has been home to several acclaimed franchises, most of which have been big in Japan and a mere few making it overseas to the West. Luckily, every entry of the Disgaea series has come one way or another for the USA to enjoy on the modicum of Playstation consoles, from the PS2 to the Vita and now to PS5. The most recent entry, Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, has gotten the Complete treatment including every DLC. Is the full package worth playing now?

The first thing you might notice about the above screenshot is the ludicrous number values, as protagonist Zed’s level reads 99,999,999, with 15 quintillion health points. This is downright bonkers, but on-brand for Disgaea. It is a tongue-in-cheek franchise that has made gamers laugh for decades.

Imagine my laughing fit when I watched a counter get countered by a counter, by another counter, with another counter for good measure. Plus, an early-game enemy’s misery as he kept getting resurrected only to be “farmed for XP” by Zed was great for more laughs. Far and foremost, Disgaea 6 Complete will have players in stitches with its absurdity.

As far as the gameplay goes, it’s a party-based, grid-based tactical RPG where the tutorial takes several, several hours to acquaint new players. Don’t let that put you off if you’re new like me, though – Disgaea 6 Complete does a fantastic job of teaching by showing. There are so many systems going on at any given time that it would be overwhelming without an explanation, but everything is taught in detail so you can succeed in your quest to vanquish the God of Destruction.

If you check below, you’ll notice that I put the same thing into a pro and a con: the game has an auto-play function for its battles. This is great if you want to get through a grind quickly or can’t be bothered to watch the same animations/hear the same annoying sounds over and over again. However, it removes the challenge of strategically moving and attacking in a certain pattern, and auto-play never uses your consumables or healing abilities even when your party desperately needs it. It’s a double-edged sword that I recommend using only if you can stop at key points to heal/reassess if needed.

When you’re not battling baddies, you can do so much to prepare yourself for the next fight. Levelling up is a necessity, and you can boost your abilities at the skill shop. You can also undergo quests to earn mana, which you can use to increase levels at the juice bar, and so on and so forth. You can arguably spend a lot more time fine-tuning your team at your base than you will actually fighting, which is a strategy lovers dream. I loved having full control of the outcome and found this gameplay loop both relaxing and rewarding.

Disgaea 6 Complete may not be for those who don’t have the patience to learn it or engage with the deep story, but everyone with an open mind should move Disgaea 6 Complete to the front of their backlog. I’m usually not one for turn-based affairs, but the flexibility and wide options for success had me massively enthralled in Disgaea 6 Complete. This comes highly recommended for those who are both longtime fans, or those looking for a beefy, long title to sink their time and brains into.

A PlayStation 5 Review Copy of Disgaea 6 Complete was provided by NIS America for this review.

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Disgaea 6 Complete

59.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Beefy Disgaea Fanservice
• Game can Play Itself (Skip Unintuitive Controls)
• Tons of Content/Playtime

Cons

• Annoying, Repetitive Sounds
• Game can Play Itself (No Challenge)