Before I wrote this review, I have never played a Disgaea game. I've heard of the series plenty, but I haven't played any of the installments.

Wait, I lied. I have played about 40 minutes of the original game on the DS but I stopped playing when I moved on to other games. Having this chance to play Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited, I decided to see if I can actually stick with this game.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is an updated port of the PlayStation 3 game, Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten. With that said, I haven't played Unforgotten so I don't know any of the differences firsthand, but I have read that Revisited contains all of the DLC that was previously released for the PS3 version and then some. Revisited is also portable, so that's always a plus. Anyway, Disgaea 4 is a tactical RPG filled with monsters, politics, jokes and lots and lots of fighting.

Valvatorez, a vampire and a Prinny instructor with a strict sense of honor and a love for sardines, is imprisoned in Hades with his loyal werewolf retainer, Fenrich. Promising a sardine for each Prinny upon graduation, Valvatorez is surprised when the underworld government (the “Corruptement”, as the game calls it) recalls all of the Prinnies for disposal due to the overpopulation of souls in Hades. Since Valvatorez always keeps his promises, he rebels against the Corruptement for the sake of a school of Prinnies. His actions attract the attention of various factions within the Corruptement and soon his goal extends from saving the Prinnies to taking over the underworld, both politically and by force.

Much of the game is set in a hub, where you'll buy items, weapons, armor and skills. From there, you can head off to battle where you'll play through new maps to advance the story or revisit older maps to grind for experience. The battlefields are set up in isometric grids where your forces combat enemy forces. Winning a map consists of defeating the enemy forces, and there's some extra goodies that can be claimed like treasure chests, although you'll have to pick those up first before defeating the last enemy on the map. There's many ways to attack the enemy, like tossing things (and Prinnies!) at them, forming a human tower and swinging it towards the enemy, and propping and destroying geo blocks, which can form a chain reaction that can change the landscape of the grid and damage the enemy. Speaking of geo blocks, each color triggers an effect depending on where you stand, like 50% more experience gained after defeating an enemy or less damage taken from certain elemental spells, that sort of thing. Monster units in your army can also be fused together into bigger monsters and monsters can also transform into weapons for your human units. Killing enemies earns you mana, which can be used to level up your special skills and can also be used to create new allies or introduce a new bill for legislation. There's a lot that can be done with in battle, and the more chains and combos you achieve, the more (and better) rewards you'll receive after battle.

Aside from the story battles, there's also the Item World, a randomized series of maps based on the item you've chosen where you can fight enemies for experience and power up your items at the same time. Item World alone can eat up scores of hours of your time. You can also build your political muscle by issuing bills at the Senate. Passing these bills into law, however, is going to require some influence and bribery, so becoming more powerful is key to gaining political influence, either through goodwill or intimidation.

Disgaea 4 is a huge game. There is so much content packed inside that tiny cartridge. It's really good if you're looking for a game that can be played for hours on end. However, if you're the type of person who likes to finish games to completion, then this is going to eat up a whole lot more of your time whether you like it or not. Early on, you'll find NPCs with ridiculously high level numbers. Unlike most RPGs, the level cap in Disgaea is 9999. While reaching that maximum cap isn't necessary (far from necessary, actually), that is an indicator of the scope of what Disgaea 4 has to offer. Disgaea 4 isn't for the impatient gamer but there is a lot to accomplish for gamers that do possess an insane amount of patience.

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited is a welcome addition to your Vita library. Whether you've played it before on the PS3 or if this is your first time playing it, there is a lot to do in Disgaea 4. The Vita's sleep mode function is a helpful feature for when you need to take a break for these longer playing sessions.

Hint: Don't be ashamed to access the Cheat Shop if you're having trouble progressing through the game. If life gets tough, just change the parameters to earn more experience, money or mana. Or if the game is too easy for you, you can make the game harder by decreasing these parameters and you can also beef up the strength of your enemies!

by ray n. (@themistern), with help by MB