Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance (PlayStation 4) Review

It was four years ago when Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten was released, so anticipation has been at a peak for its successor, Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance. Thankfully, it stays true to its roots, and anyone who has played any previous adventure will be familiar with its deep tactical gameplay and humorous Saturday morning shonen-styled storytelling.

This time round, players follow the Demon Killia who is on a crusade to hunt down and kill the Demon Emperor Void Dark because of a grudge held against him. In the meantime, Void Dark has claimed most of the Netherworlds and is hell-bent on enslaving it. Luckily, Killia finds a young female demon named Seraphina who herself holds a strong reason to kill of the Demon Emperor after her father tried to force her to enter a marriage of convenience with him to form an alliance, so she gladly takes in Killia as her servant in her personal army of prinnies to together take on this dark lord and his ever-growing army.

Throughout their search, Killia and Seraphina find more allies to fight with them, and all have one thing in common: being driven by vengeance. And thus an Alliance of Vengeance is forged, making the title Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance extremely fitting for the game.

Through their travels, the characters do eventually grow closer and closer to one another and, finally, in a heart-warming, true Saturday morning shonen-style, grow strong and genuine friendship between one another and find out that there is more to life than just retribution. This is a beautiful aspect of the story that creates great character growth in the best and clearest way possible. The duality between the hateful characters first encountered and the friendly bunch witnessed later on makes the character growing clear, and the variance of them helps keep them relatable.

The way to get there, though, is cliché-ridden, even for a story taking inspiration from shows such as Dragon Ball Z and Naruto. That sometimes makes taking the characters' internal hardships and growth seriously enough to let it affect emotions on a deeper level, which is sad, as the problems presented by the characters are genuine ones that could be easy to relate to due to the variety of personalities. Whilst one of the charming aspects of the Disgaea franchise is, without a doubt, its humour, it is important to respect the characters and leave the humour out during sensitive sections to avoid turning it into a shonen cliché, which is something that Disgaea 5 sometimes fails with. Too much comical relief might prevent emotional attachment to the characters.

Aside from that, the characters well developed during the game. If bypassing the fact that there is too much comical relief and that they can be a little over the top, they are still strongly relatable in both their issues and growth for their intended audience. It show signs of experience with the field when a writer can take a trait and draw it to absurdity, while still making the reasons behind it as clear as day and evolve characters past that absurd personality trait. However, once more, the high amount of comical relief runs the risk of ruining that immersion and the ability to relate.

Gameplay will make anyone who has ever played an earlier Disgaea title (or any other SRPG, for that matter) feel right at home. The grid battle system and the combat are just as they usually are in Disgaea: intelligent and over the top. The moves used have ridiculously fun visual effects; the more powerful, the more ridiculous is the norm here. However, while comical, moves are perfectly balanced, which is proven very well later on. Disgaea 5 is difficult enough, but it's still always balanced and fair; it is never overwhelming.

If it does become too difficult, there are fun and rewarding ways to grind out an advantage in the item world. This is one of the main features in Disgaea titles, and people familiar with the franchise know exactly what awaits here. In the item world the party fights against hordes of weaker enemies to level up an item in randomly-generated dungeon delves. However, the item power-up is mostly only the secondary reason to go here. The XP dropped by the easy-to-kill enemies make this an ideal place to grind, and after just an hour, ten levels across the team can easily have been obtained, making it the perfect location to come if caught in a hard place. Having a fun and rewarding grinding spot certainly helps inexperienced players through the finely-tuned combat levels, and helps prevent Disgaea 5 from ever feeling truly unfair and too difficult.

This is, ultimately, exactly the game fans have waited for, but nothing more. It has all the core components needed to deliver a fine Disgaea experience. However, the story is, thanks to too much comical relief, easily forgettable. While comedy is an important factor in Saturday morning shonen-inspired works, it should never overshadow and/or trivialise the hardships or growth of its characters. Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance delivers what is promised through the brand name, but that is perfectly enough to deliver a fine game!