Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless

Sometimes the strongest gaming move is graceful surrender. I bought this game in March last year. Played it for 10 glorious minutes. Closed it. Did not look at it again until this week, when, in a fit of misplaced optimism, I dedicated 2 entire hours of my finite mortal life to completing Chapter 1. That's the review. That's the whole arc. Look, I'm not here to call this game garbage. Plenty of people clearly adore it, and that's beautiful for them. They probably also enjoy spreadsheets, color-coded materials, and reading appliance manuals for fun. No shade, genuinely. This game is built for people whose idea of "winding down after work" involves a notepad, a flowchart, and an unhealthy relationship with the word optimal. I am not that person. This game is grindy. This game is difficult. This game is, fundamentally, a sandbox, which is gamer-speak for "we built a very cool toolbox, you go figure out what to do with it, preferably with 10 browser tabs open to a wiki and a cheat-code mindset locked and loaded." It rewards players who show up with a build in mind and the patience to break the systems before the systems break them. I want to lie down. I want a plot. I…

[h1] ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) [/h1] Disgaea 7 really feels like one of those entries that mostly exists for people who were already fans of the series rather than something strong enough to stand on its own. If you already love Disgaea’s signature gameplay loop there’s still some enjoyment to be found here. But taken purely as a game on its own merits, it feels surprisingly weak compared to the stronger titles in the franchise. The shift from the classic 2D style to 3D was especially disappointing for me. A lot of the visual charm and personality that made earlier entries feel so distinct just doesn’t hit the same here. On top of that, the story and cast are… fine, I guess, but nothing really reaches the charisma or memorability of icons like Laharl, Valvatorez, or Killia. Overall, I’d only really recommend Disgaea 7 if you’re already a dedicated fan who knows exactly what you’re here for. If you’re new to the series or looking for a standout strategy RPG, there are much better starting points.

Sadly, compared to the other entries in the series, there isn't enough soul in this game to make it worth playing. The story was too full of conveniences, sudden changes of heart at the end of the chapters despite not fleshing out the character's relations and story within a reasonable time frame to make the player care for what's happening. I found myself completely unattached to any of the characters, although I do like the designs of them. The lack of animations during the visual novel events, most of the previous entries would have small attention to details (Nearly ALL of the characters having some small animation like blinking, slight movement. Disgaea 4: Valvatorez swishing his cape around, Disgaea 5: Killua changing from a casual to a fighting pose etc.) As for the combat, there's the obvious switch from 2D to 3D during the gameplay which has many people divided about the changes, and while I can appreciate the ambition to make that change... It sadly does feel like it cheapens the overall product. Disgaea is known for it's over the top attacks and crazy abilities, but I felt like all of the abilities I used lacked... polish? For example, the first gun ability you get i…

Good Disgaea game. TMHO a bit less than D6

Better than 6.

Very good