Disgaea followers know the drill by now. Whenever a new mainline entry in the long-running tactical RPG collection breaks onto the scene, it’s only a matter of time before it gets a re-released version that bundles in the base sport’s DLC along with a suite of gameplay tweaks and additions. It’s collection custom at this level, as every single numbered Disgaea sport to date has acquired an expanded model (or even a couple) post-release. Now, with the Western release of Disgaea 7 Complete at hand, the newest title in Nippon Ichi Software’s zany crown jewel of a franchise is prepared to be part of its brethren in the Valhalla of unparalleled sport definitiveness.
D7C takes 2023’s Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless and repackages it with a plethora of brand-new additions, like a particular bonus marketing campaign episode and a new superboss to conquer. The title doesn’t lie — this is the final model of Disgaea 7 and it fully supersedes the authentic release as the best manner to expertise the sport.
For some present and potential followers, that alone is purpose enough to dive in on this release. That said, others — particularly those who already picked up the base sport on Switch or other platforms — may be questioning whether there’s enough worth added to justify double-dipping. Unfortunately, the reply as to whether to decide up this definitive version isn’t fairly so definitive itself.
Just as in the base sport, Disgaea 7 Complete centres upon the story of two unlikely leads. The ruthless demon warrior Fuji wanders the feudal Japan-inspired realm of Hinomoto, a land that has been plunged into a darkish period under the ruling shogunate. In a likelihood assembly, he encounters Pirilika, a bubbly, ultra-rich company elite and self-proclaimed Hinomoto otaku. Spurred to motion by the populace’s abandonment of bushidō (the Japanese time period for the samurai code of honour), Pirilika contracts Fuji as her bodyguard, and the two embark on a wacky quest all through the Netherworlds to collect the Founding Weapons and defeat the darkish forces in control of Hinomoto.
In Mitch’s authentic review of Disgaea 7, he described the sport as “the ultimate distillation of the Disgaea experience” and praised both its irreverent tone and its handling of the collection’ basic gameplay hook of coaching models up to ludicrous energy ranges and dealing eye-popping quantities of harm in turn-based tactical battles. Those observations all still ring true for this re-release, so give Mitch’s review a readthrough for a deeper dive into the sport’s core.
But the crux is this: There are very few ways RPGs out there that can even maintain a candle to the stage of flexibility, depth, and freedom that Disgaea 7 gives in its gameplay. At every flip, you’re inspired to experiment with and exploit the sport’s mechanics, all in service of building a crew that can totally destroy even the most absurdly tough challenges. Simply put, you get out what you put in, and the sport can be as simplistic and simple or as mind-bendingly complicated as you want.
Disgaea 7 Complete still has that same great core, but what truly units it aside from the base sport? Well, not much — during the core marketing campaign, at least. For anyone who did play the sport’s authentic release, those first 20 to 30 hours in which you progress through the major story are awfully acquainted. Aside from all of the DLC episodes and bonuses being out there from the get-go, the main marketing campaign here stays largely unchanged.
All of its brand-new gameplay additions are locked behind the post-game, and some require a not-insignificant time investment to access. Returning gamers hoping to retain their hard-earned save file progress from the base sport and skip proper to the new stuff are out of luck, too, as there’s no improve path out there between the two variations.
Not having any important brand-new content material to expertise until the post-game is a bummer, but once you finally attain those contemporary additions, they’re fairly neat. Perhaps the most substantial piece of new content material is the Nethertime Support Force episode. This mini-campaign, set after the major story, sees Fuji, Pirilika, and the relaxation of the crew crossing paths with characters from earlier Disgaea titles and participating in a couple of enjoyable and distinctive battle maps along the manner.
For followers of the larger collection, these crossover cameos serve as a great bit of fan service, though the lack of voice appearing for these sequences is disappointing. Clearing this episode also unlocks Asagi — a legacy character who many Disgaea lovers are no doubt acquainted with — as a playable unit, which is a good little bonus.
Aside from that, several unique post-game payments have been added to the Dark Assembly that offer some entertaining gameplay additions. The Freely Use Infernal Treasures! invoice, when unlocked and handed, permits any unit you have to equip one of the titular weapons and enter the powered-up Hell Mode during battle. Then, there’s the Take Me Beyond the Limits! invoice, which lifts the previously-held caps on unit stats and permits you to energy them up to an even larger degree of madness.
Offering yet more methods to tweak and strengthen your models is Disgaea’s bread and butter, and these sensible additions give any unit you’ve educated — whether it’s a story-relevant character or a customized character you scouted and constructed from the ground up — an equal shot at turning into your crew’s next big-hitter.
The ultimate addition of word is the inclusion of a new, ultra-difficult superboss in the kind of Rakshasa Baal. In preserving with superbosses from Disgaea historical past, this problem is supposed solely for those who are dedicated to spending hour after hour delving deep into the sport’s mechanics and raising models to a formidable degree.
While it’s cool to add yet another lofty goal for Disgaea devotees to clear, this last piece of content material hammers home a essential level about Disgaea 7 Complete: fairly much all of the new stuff added to this release solely appeals to pre-existing Disgaea gamers or people who intend to spend a ton (and I imply a ton) of time with the sport once the major marketing campaign has concluded. Even then, it’s not a revolutionary quantity of new content material, and franchise followers may have been hoping for a bit more to justify choosing up this re-release.
I’d also be remiss in not mentioning the odd nature of Disgaea 7 Complete’s Western release. Even though the sport launched in Japan in 2024 for the common ol’ Switch, this localisation is launching solely on the Switch 2 with no Switch 1 model in sight (at least, at the time of review).
It’s definitely good to play natively on Switch 2, on which efficiency is as easy as can be, but it’s unusual to eschew a localised Switch 1 model when the sport can demonstrably run just high quality on that {hardware}. This resolution also means that Disgaea 7 Complete can only be bought digitally or as a Game-Key Card, a transfer that is sure to ruffle the feathers of a quantity of would-be gamers.
Perhaps some substantial Switch 2 enhancements would have made this bizarre release strategy an simpler tablet to swallow, but there are none to communicate of. I would have very much appreciated integration with the Switch 2’s mouse controls for the map cursor in the hopes of assuaging how finicky maps can get with various elevations — my one main grievance with the moment-to-moment gameplay. Alas.
Conclusion
With how stellar a package deal the Vows of the Virtueless proved to be upon release, the expanded and feature-packed Disgaea 7 Complete should be a slam dunk of a advice to any tactical RPG fan — but re-releases are hardly ever that easy. For anyone who missed out on the authentic the first time around, this model is every bit as great and stands tall as the final, feature-complete iteration of the sport.
At the same time, there’s no denying that the handful of brand-new content material additions fall on the area of interest aspect and largely serve those who need to reside and breathe Disgaea 7 for their next hundred-plus hours of sport time. Even stalwart followers who beloved the base sport may need to think twice before dropping the price of admission on this up to date model and beginning from scratch for a couple of post-game goodies.