Review

Disgaea DS (DS)

By Will Herring
September 23, 2008 22:30 PM PST
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Since its initial release in 2003, Disgaea has been well received by fans and critics alike thanks to its quirky sense of humor and engaging turn-based battles.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The satirical strategy RPG makes its debut on Nintendo's dual screen handheld with the aptly named Disgaea DS but not without a few sacrifices.

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Disgaea DS is pretty much a straightforward port of the PSP's Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness with a few bonuses thrown in for DS owners. Disgaea works very well on Nintendo's handheld, with the top display providing an invaluable grid-based field map during battles as well as seamlessly integrated stylus controls via the touch screen. The stylus controls are a great asset when navigating the battlefields and ordering your troops, but admittedly can be a tad unresponsive at times; it get especially wonky when you're trying to maneuver your Prinnies by wildly double-tapping where you want them to go.

Amazingly, almost all of the voice acting from the PSP version has been kept in tact, albeit with a slight reduction in sound quality. Also, it goes without saying that Disgaea has some of the most beautiful sprite-based graphics on the DS. The only real place that Disgaea took a hit was in its backgrounds, where the lower resolution is definitely evident. Even with its minor limitations, Disgaea DS remains a great time for fans of turn-based strategy. If you haven't picked up a copy of Disgaea previously, be sure to give the DS version a try.