What I've Been Playing Vol. 54

Disgaea 5 Complete (NSW)

Save all of the Netherworlds, dood!

 Disgaea 5 Complete is a tactical-RPG that comes to us from the folks at Nippon Ichi Software. Normally, I'm not into strategy or tactical RPGs, but Disgaea is the rare exception since I love its humor and gameplay. It follows a pack of rebels out for revenge against a common enemy who plans on enslaving all of the Netherworlds. The story packs the series' signature dark humor along with some serious moments to keep you hooked. The characters were a wild bunch with the likes of Killia, our edgy hero who shares a dark past; Red Magnus, a meathead with a habit of referencing The Rock's catch-praises; and Seraphina; a shallow and rich overlord whose after Killia's heart were all pretty great and that's just a few of them. I ended up liking the entire cast, even the megalomaniac villain Void Dark and the poor prinnies.

 Disgaea 5 has you battling enemies by selecting and placing your characters across the map. Each has their own class like a swordsman, fighter, healer, and gunner with various amounts of resistances and weaknesses, so you'll need to strategically place them in ways that makes use of their strengths. The game has loads of unique systems like passing bills at the assembly, diving into the item world to upgrade your weapon, adding perks to your gear, and interrogating enemies and force them to work for you-- all of which can offer meaningful gameplay changes. It might be overwhelming for newcomers, but you can easily experience the story without delving too much into them.

 It's a grind-heavy game as you'll be needing to constantly be levelling up to tackle both story bosses and optional side-content such as side-quests and extra tough maps. Disgaea is known for its infamous 9,999 level cap, so you're in for a long time if you plan on seeing all the game has to offer. Moreover, Disgaea 5 has some great level variety as each world had its unique theme and maps to navigate through. Some task you with getting around Geo Blocks, which decrease or increase every units stats when stepping on them like having -50% attack or the inability to use skills. Couple that with wacky terrains that'll have you splitting up your party to proceed and you'll be doing a lot of strategizing here.

The Complete edition includes all previously released DLC episodes where you get to play as past heroes and have them join your ranks. It took me just shy of 50 hours to beat the story with some solid levelling. Disgaea 5 looks fantastic thanks to its expressive 2D sprites and colorful art-style. However, the sprites and backgrounds do look low-res during close-ups. The voicework and soundtrack were both great as they truly immersed me into the narrative. The main hub theme was a standout as well. If you're looking for a meaty RPG to sink your time into, then definitely give Disgasa 5 a try.

Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate (PS5)

Two lands unite against a dangerous enemy.

 Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate is the crossover game between Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors games where the heroes of both come together to fight a demon army in a time-travelling adventure. It features the hack-and-slash gameplay where you control up to three characters as they fights hordes of enemies across a large selection of maps. "Musuo" attacks where each character pulls off a unique flashy attacks are here present and so is a large selection of 145 characters to play as. The likes include staples like Zhao Yun and Yukimura Sanada to Koei Tecmo's Ryu Hayabusa and Kasumi from Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive, respectively. 

 The gameplay, while pretty mindless, was addictive and fun, as you're always pulling flashy and satisfying combos. You also get to experiment with new characters, getting their stronger weapons, and levelling them up to take on harder enemies. Levels task you with various objectives like escorting, defending, or advancing though enemy forces, though things can get repetitive after a while. Moreover, it's easy to lose sight of enemy targets that you'll occasionally need to orient the camera to keep track of them, an issue a lock-on feature would've solved.

 Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate looks good given that its over a decade old and also runs at a solid 60fps, which keeps the action going amidst the chaos. The audio is fully in Japanese, thus you'll be reading dialogue while slashing enemies at the same time. The music was good, packing lots of rock tracks, though it's the briefing track that stood out for me. All in all, the game was a blast as I was looking for some mindless action and it got interested in checking out more of the series.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (PS5)

Reclaim your heart.

 Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is an RPG from Capcom in which you are an "Arisen", who must journey the land to slay the dragon that attacked your village and stole your heart... literally! It's a western-styled RPG where you create your character, select a class, and freely explore the open-world at your leisure. What sets Dragon's Dogma apart are "Pawns", which are companions that you can create and employ to aid you in your travels. They can also classes and been issued commands to give you a real good boost in combat. Speaking of that, it was solid as melee and magic attacks felt satisfying to pull and levelling up rarely felt like a chore. 

 The world of Gransys is a large one as you'll be walking from one point to the other, killing monsters and taking on quests-- the likes of which include escorting NPCs, killing a number of goblins, or collecting a bunch of items. There's lots to do aside from the main story and it's always cool uncovering a hidden cavern to explore with some tough monsters to fight. Given the heavy exploration you'll be doing, it's where the game falls flat when it comes to traversal. In short, it's a pain as there's no streamlined fast travel system where you select the places you've been to and off you go. What's here are limited amounts of teleporting crystals that you can place near major locations and still need to boringly walk to them. 

 The game holds up well for a 2012 game as the character models look decent, but the world and creature design are much more impressive. The voicework was great with some fantastic performances. It's the soundtrack that's a highlight as it brings many tense and neat tracks that compliment the fantasy world. Dragon's Dogma was a great time that I'm happy that I finally got around to playing. Now I'm looking forward to checking the sequel too.