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Good: Solid strategy RPG gameplay, great sense of humor, lots of depth, hundreds of hours of play

Bad: Somewhat dated graphics, doesn't change a lot from the first Disgaea

Beware: Exploding penguins

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories is about as nerdy as games get. It's a strategy role-playing game with anime-style graphics, a Japanese pop soundtrack, and exploding penguins. Yes, you read that right. Exploding penguins. You really can't get much nerdier than this. That said, Disgaea 2 is a deep, entertaining game that could easily keep you occupied for hundreds of hours.

The game follows in the footsteps of the 2003 original, which followed in the footsteps of other SRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics. Thankfully, the series has always proved more than just a rip-off of those aforementioned games, thanks in large part to its irreverent sense of humor. From the game's storyline to the characters to the dialogue, nothing about Disgaea is serious.

The story itself is centered on a teenager named Adell, who is somehow the last human left in a world where everyone else has been turned into demons. In order to save his family and friends, he sets out to defeat the evil Overlord Zenon, the one responsible for this worldwide epidemic. Making matters worse is the fact that he is stuck traveling with the Overlord's estranged daughter Rozalin, after unwittingly summoning her in place of her father. Throw in a perpetually horny, talking French frog, a burnt out television star seeking to reclaim his glory, and a whole slew of exploding penguins, and you only begin to have a general idea of what kind of world with which you're dealing.

Even beyond the game's hilarious nature, there lies a very solid SRPG. For the most part, Disgaea 2 plays almost exactly like its predecessor, which played similarly to the aforementioned Final Fantasy Tactics. For those who haven't played any of those titles before, the main focus of Disgaea 2 is on strategic turn-based battles that take place on tile-based maps. Players deploy their team of up to 10 characters and clear out all of the enemies through attacks, spells, and other special abilites. While all of this is standard fare for strategy-RPG veterans, Disgaea is just different enough to set itself apart.

First of all, the Disgaea games do away with initiative-based turns, and instead run off a straight turn-based system. In other words, you get to move and attack with all of your characters, then the computer does the same, and so on. The way this is handled really helps speed up the battles compared to other SRPGs.

Another interesting factor in combat is the combo system. By positioning characters on adjacent tiles, they have a chance of teaming up for a combo attack. These feature some creative animations and result in more damage than regular attacks. This system does bring up an interesting exploit in the game engine though. Since you can always move a character back to their original position unless you have them perform an action, it is possible to keep positioning characters for combo attacks and then undoing their move after the attack is executed. This tactic feels somewhat cheap, but its inclusion was likely intentional.

One of the most predominant elements in battle is the game's grid system. Several maps feature flashing, colored panels, called "GeoPanels". By moving crystals called "GeoSymbols" onto these tiles, they lend special bonuses and penalties to units located on like-colored panels. These effects run the gamut from experience bonuses to enemy defensive boosts. Relocating these crystals to maximize your own teams' benefits adds a whole extra layer of strategy to battles.

Another unique feature is the ability for characters to pick up and throw one another. This results in a number of interesting pseudo-puzzles and lends an element of strategy in moving your units across the battlefield quickly. You can also pick up and move the GeoSymbols in order to eliminate enemy bonuses, and to gain your own.

As you continue to battle, your characters will gain experience and level up. Each character has a unique job class that they level up in, and as they do, they gain new abilities unique to their chosen job. The game's large variety of jobs includes fantasy standards such as fighters, healers, and archers, and also more unique classes like gunslingers and sinners. Additionally, monsters can be recruited to the player's party, adding further options for putting together a good team. Like most SRPGs, putting together a well-balanced squad is one of the most important strategic aspects, and Disgaea 2 has no shortage of options in that area.

Another one of the more interesting gameplay features is what's called the Item World. Players can select an item in their inventory and enter into a series of battles located within the item itself. By completing levels, players increase the power of the item as well as unlock numerous additional treasures. It sounds like a bizarre concept, but within the weird world of Disgaea it somehow works.

Even outside of battle, Disgaea has a number of intriguing features. One of the most important aspects of the game lies in the Dark Assembly, which is basically Disgaea's twisted version of a senate. In between fights, players can attempt to pass legislation at the Assembly by spending Mana that their characters accrue during battle. Typical legislation includes unlocking new character classes, increasing and decreasing enemy levels, and upping shops' inventories, among others. Once a piece of legislation is selected, players have to attempt to sway the opinions of individual senators by offering them bribes and in some cases, fighting them. All told, the Dark Assembly is a very strategic and wholly unique aspect to the game.

A new feature to Disgaea 2 is the Dark Court system. This rewards players for performing "felonies" such as killing enemies, leveling too much, and performing too much damage. The "punishments" for these crimes include lower prices at store, rare and valuable items, and higher influence at the Dark Assembly. In this game, it truly pays to be evil. It's a strange and twisted addition, but it somehow makes perfect sense in Disgaea's strange and twisted world.

In case you couldn't already tell, Disgaea 2 is a huge game, with a large variety of things to do. The back of the box boasts 100+ hours of gameplay, and honestly, that's an underestimate. With multiple endings, tons of secrets, and a whole wealth of things to level up, it's easy to see how this game could keep SRPG fans enthralled for hundreds of hours. As far as replay goes, you really couldn't ask for more.

Perhaps the game's biggest drawback is its graphics, which look largely recycled from the first Disgaea. The game's maps are colorful, but not groundbreaking by any means. The characters are all rendered in simplistic 2-D, but their artistic design makes up for their technological limitations. It also would have been nice to see more full-motion cutscenes, but the anime-style ones that are there look good.

As far as sound goes, the game fares a lot better. The music is light and playful Japanese pop, perfectly capturing the overall mood of the story. Sound effects are fine and vary a lot from attack to attack. Perhaps the sound's strongest department is the voice acting. For the most part, the actors do a perfect job of capturing the characters, accents and all. Since most of the dialogue is comedic in nature, the delivery is extremely important, and in these regards, the actors nail it perfectly.

Much like the first game, Disgaea 2 is destined for cult classic status. Its goofy nature and SRPG-heavy gameplay isn't for everyone, but for those looking for something a little deeper to keep them occupied for the next few months, look no further.

Graphics: 7.5

Sound: 8.5

First Play: 9.0

Replay Value: 9.5

Gameplay: 9.0

Overall: 8.9