Today I went to Umeda with some friends to Yodobashi-camera, an enormous depaato (Japanese department store) . I was naturally browsing the video game section when I stumbled onto something I had not expected to see for a while: Makai Senki, Disgaea 3. I was tempted to purchase a PS3 and the cheapest television I could find, just to get a chance to play it. But alas, I do not have that kind of money. The actual Japanese release date is not until tomorrow (February 24, 2008) but it was released a day early and available at a cheaper price. I studied the case thoroughly, and made some brief discoveries that I felt I would share with the hungry populace:

The main character is Mao, as I am sure most people know. It appears that he is younger than most protagonists in previous Disgaea titles (as in 1578 years old). Also, a portion of the game is spent in a school environment, in which the player is able to interact with created characters and NPCs as well. To my current (limited) understanding, this school environment is where the player is able to unlock new game features, similar to the dark congress in the previous titles.

Since the game is on a PS3 disc, I was eager to try and tell why such a massive amount of space (Blu-Ray Disc) was needed for a game that is void of the third dimension. It appears the game will feature more fully animated cut scenes. The animated intro to Disgaea 2 was pretty enough, but the quality could have been better. From what I saw, the animation in the third installment appears to have been kicked up a notch.

In addition to Mao, there are a slew of other main (presumably) playable characters. Razuberiru appears to be the game’s female co-main character, and Arumaasu, who I can only assume is the main characters rival similar to the role of Axel in Disgaea 2. Again, these are only assumptions based on character design and previous patterns in NIS games.

To the relief of myself at least, it appears many job classes have been retained from previous NIS games, not only Disgaea titles. This includes:

• Saber Kitty (woot)
• Samurai (male AND female, woot)
• Archer (with the addition of a Male Archer)
• Gunner (a Female Gunner is introduced in this one too)

…As well as a bunch of new classes I am not entirely sure of. And I have not even seen the monster classes yet.

I plan on purchasing the guide once it comes out here, and spending some quality time translating it for my loyal readers. In the meantime I’ll keep my eyes open for any new information.

Roy atlus, disgaea, japan, nis, ps3 1 comments