Disgaea 5

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance (魔界戦記ディスガイア5, Makai Senki Disugaia 5) is a 2015 tactical role-playing video game developed and published by Nippon Ichi Software, and part of the Disgaea series. Initially released for PlayStation 4 in Japan on March 26, 2015,[2] and in North America on October 6, 2015,[3] a port for the Nintendo Switch was released in Japan on March 3, 2017 as a launch title for the system. This port was released in North America on May 23, 2017, and Europe and Australia on May 26, 2017; it was released in both territories under the title Disgaea 5 Complete, containing all DLC content from the original, but no new content.[4] This version of the game was released on PC through Steam on October 22, 2018, albeit without network compatibility. Additional English and French language settings are also available.

Disgaea 5
Developer(s)Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Takehisa Matsuda
Producer(s)Sohei Niikawa
Designer(s)Takehisa Matsuda
Ryo Sotokawa
Makoto Ito
Artist(s)Takehito Harada
Writer(s)Sohei Niikawa
Keiichi Inoue
Tatsuya Izumi
Composer(s)Tenpei Sato
SeriesDisgaea
Platform(s)PlayStation 4
Nintendo Switch
Microsoft Windows
ReleasePlayStation 4
  • JP: March 25, 2015
  • NA: October 6, 2015[1]
  • EU: October 16, 2015[1]
Nintendo Switch
  • JP: March 3, 2017
  • NA: May 23, 2017
  • PAL: May 26, 2017
Microsoft Windows
  • WW: October 22, 2018
Genre(s)Tactical role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

The central story of the game is centered on the idea of "revenge" and it takes a darker and more serious direction, much unlike the past games.[5] The demon emperor Void Dark devastates numerous Netherworlds after coming to power, with the help of an army of over one million soldiers known as The Lost. Following this, the Overlords of the Netherworlds under Void Dark's rule attempt to rise up and take revenge.[6]

Plot

Characters
  • Killia (キリア) - The protagonist of the game, and a wandering demon with a vendetta against Void Dark.[6] Voiced by: Ben Pronsky (English),[7] Mamoru Miyano (Japanese)
  • Seraphina (セラフィーヌ) - A sheltered princess and the Overlord of Gorgeous Underworld (絢爛魔界).[5] She truly believes that all men exist to kneel before her. She ran away from her home because her father arranged a marriage of convenience with Void Dark, who she now plans to assassinate.[6] Voiced by: Kira Buckland (English),[7] Sarah Emi Bridcutt (Japanese)
  • Usalia (ウサリア) - The heir of Toto Bunny (兎兎世界),[5] who dislikes fighting. She rides a giant yellow Prinny who fights alongside her during combat. Due to one of Void Dark's subordinates, she was cursed to constantly have to eat curry, the food she once hated, or she will turn into a beast. Now she actually likes curry. She has a very nice personality, which is unusual for a demon.[6] Voiced by: Christine Marie Cabanos (English),[7] Satomi Akesaka (Japanese)
  • Red Magnus (レッドマグナス)[8] The Overlord of Scorching Flame, where vicious demons reside. He is very wild and believes that strength is everything. He is trying to defeat Void Dark to become the strongest Overlord. His Netherworld has been on bad terms with Seraphina's Netherworld for a long time. He says "super" quite often. Voiced by: Kaiji Tang (English),[7] Takehito Koyasu (Japanese)
  • Christo (クリスト)[8] An Overlord who is affiliated with a certain giant Netherworld. He is a gifted tactician, and will do whatever it takes to attain victory. Killia's great magic potential caught his eye, and he views Killia as his best shot for assassinating Void Dark. Voiced by: Xander Mobus (English),[7] Junji Majima (Japanese)
  • Zeroken (ゼロッケン)[8] A young Overlord and self-proclaimed heir of the legendary Great Demon Fist, Goldion. He appears while Killia and the others are fighting the Lost and helps them, even though no one asked him to. He can be stubborn, but has a flexible mindset, changing his attitude depending on who he's interacting with. Voiced by: Kyle McCarley (English),[7] Tetsuya Kakihara (Japanese)

Story

Disgaea 5 takes place in a universe with many Netherworlds, each of which is ruled by an Overlord who has a unique Overload ability, which can also be used in battle as a special attack. Prior to the story's events, Tyrant Overlord Killidia was a bloodthirsty demon who grew up in and became the Overlord of the ruthless Netherworld Cryo Blood. One day, he fought Goldion, a martial arts master who created the Ultimate Demon Technique fighting style. After Goldion defeated Killidia, he decided to make him his pupil, changing his name to Killia. Killia then fell in love with Goldion's daughter Liezerota, slowly becoming a kinder person as a result. Lieze's brother Void, who has the power to steal Overloads, became jealous of Killia's family bonds, and believed he should be the heir to the Ultimate Demon Technique. However, he did not realize that Goldion selected Killia because Void's impure heart would prevent him from learning the Final Skill.

Unable to master the Final Skill due to the inner conflict with his current and former self, Killia fled Goldion, but Lieze followed him. In an ensuing battle between Killia and Void, Lieze was presumed killed protecting Killia, though she was really just put in stasis with Void's power. Void stole Killia's Overload and changed his name to Void Dark, forming an army - the Lost - to find a means of reviving Lieze.

Killia, now having lost his full powers, joins up with the Overlord Seraphina to fight the Lost. Using Seraphina's base, they ally with several other Overlords to form the Rebel Army and rescue numerous Netherworlds from The Lost. In the process, they encounter Void Dark's second in command, Demon General Bloodis. They later realize that Bloodis is actually Goldion, but brainwashed. Killia and Zeroken attempt to use the Final Skill to purge the evil from Bloodis, and unknowingly succeed, but Goldion keeps this a secret in order to protect them from Void Dark.

Void Dark sends magical spears to many Netherworlds to absorb their energy, and the rebel army destroys them one by one. While doing so, the members of the group come across their respective homeworlds and overcome the obstacles in their hearts to gain or enhance their overloads. Killia overcomes his fear of becoming his past self and accepts it in full, becoming able to use the Final Skill on his own.

The rebel army finally attacks Void Dark's base. There, Goldion sacrifices his life in battle to teach Killia the technique's secret Ultimate Skill, revealing the truth. The group finally encounters Void, who is defeated with said skill, but not before reviving Lieze. She goes berserk due to the uncontrolled amount of dark power inside her, but Killia saves her by combining the Ultimate Skill with the Overloads of his friends. With The Lost defeated, the Netherworlds begin rebuilding and the group disperses. Killia and Lieze live peacefully in the fringes of the Netherworlds, and after the game's credits, the Rebel Army meets again to deal with new threats, with Lieze joining them.

Gameplay
Battle interface screenshot

The game involves the player traveling across different Netherworlds in an attempt to bring the Overlords and heirs of each different world to join forces together to fight against Void Dark.[6] The game features new systems not seen within prior titles in the Disgaea series. In addition, the number of characters displayable on-screen has increased to 100, compared to 10 characters on the earlier PlayStation 3 titles.[9]

New features include the display of resistance and affiliation statistics when units on the battlefield are highlighted, and a revenge system that is triggered when party members are fallen. The game also introduced a new type of special attack known as Maougis.[6] Certain characters are able to pair up in specific duos to unleash special moves known as fusion skills. New playable character classes include dark knights with melee weapons, maids with guns, and fairies with support magic, while the soldier, magician, priest, priestess and archer classes from earlier titles returned.[8][10]

Development

On September 1, 2014, the game was announced at the Tokyo Game Show.[11] A trial version of the game was made available via download code included within the September 25, 2014 issue of Dengeki PlayStation.[5]

The Nintendo Switch port, Disgaea 5 Complete, was officially announced during the Nintendo Switch presentation on January 13, 2017. The game was published in Japan by Nippon Ichi Software while NIS America would handle publishing duties in North America and Europe. A limited edition was also announced which included a collector's box, two-disc soundtracks, hard cover art book and several other items.[12] Nippon Ichi Software president Sohei Niikawa stated that the development team initially considered a multi-platform release including the PlayStation 3, however decided to create a game which could only be done on the PS4 platform.[9]

The game is produced by Sohei Niikawa, with the character designs by Takehito Harada and music composed by Tenpei Sato.[6]

Release

The PC release of Disgaea 5 by NIS America faced lengthy delays. While initially scheduled to release in April 2018, it was delayed until the summer, and ultimately to October 2018 due to an unspecified "issue", despite the game's demo - accidentally containing the full game - having already been released and quickly pulled from Steam. Despite the supposed issue, the unlocked demo was later distributed on piracy sites, allowing the entire title to be played illicitly.[13] The unclear reasons for the delay, as well as the removal of all network features, including the Strategy Assembly and Netherworld Edit Shop, again due to unspecified "irreconcilable platform differences", resulted in the release being called a "months-long debacle" by Kotaku.[13]

Reception

The game sold 22,725 physical retail copies within its first week of release in Japan.[27] The game has received largely positive reviews, with an aggregate score of 80/100 on Metacritic for its original PS4 version.[3]

By January 5, 2018, the Nintendo Switch version has sold more than 200,000 copies worldwide.[28] By April 2018, the Nintendo Switch version has sold nearly 200,000 copies in the west alone.[29]

References
  1. 2014-12-16, Disgaea 5 coming west in fall 2015, Gematsu
  2. "Disgaea 5 Will Be Released On March 26th, 2015 In Japan". Siliconera. 2014-09-19. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  3. "Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  5. 2014-09-02, Disgaea 5 will be the series’ biggest entry yet, Gematsu
  6. 2014-09-03, Disgaea 5′s story premise detailed, Gematsu
  7. "Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance (2015) Cast". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 19 January 2020. A green check mark indicates that the role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of the title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  8. 2014-11-20, Two new characters, Fusion Skills, more introduced for Disgaea 5, Gematsu
  9. 2014-09-02, Disgaea 5 Will Have The Most Volume Of Any Game In The Series, Siliconera
  10. 2014-11-20, 「魔界戦記ディスガイア5」，メインキャラクターのみが使用できる「合体技」や，オリジナルユニットを作成できる「スカウト屋」などに関する新情報が公開, 4gamer
  11. 2014-09-01, PS4 getting Disgaea 5, Earth Defense Force, Ys, Gundam and Senran Kagura, Destructoid
  12. Osborn, Alex (2017-01-12). "Disgaea 5 Complete Announced for Nintendo Switch". IGN. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  13. "Disgaea 5's Release On PC Has Been A Months-Long Debacle". Kotaku. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  14. "Disgaea 5 Complete for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  15. Carter, Chris (September 22, 2015). "Review: Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance". Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  16. Gifford, Kevin. "Japan Review Check: Luigi's Mansion, Castlevania, Disgaea". Polygon. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  17. Tack, Daniel (September 22, 2015). "Exploding Penguins And Tactical Decisions". Game Informer. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  18. Haught, Jeb (October 2, 2015). "Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  19. "Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance Review". GameSpot. October 6, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  20. "Disgaea 5 - Alliance of Vengeance Review". GamesTM. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  21. GameTrailers Disgaea 5 on PS4 Review on YouTube
  22. "Review: Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance". IGN. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  23. Sainsbury, Matt (June 10, 2015). "Review: Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance (Sony PlayStation 4)". Digitallydownloaded.net. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  24. "Disgaea 5: Alliance Of Vengeance review – no joke". Metro (UK). Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  25. "Disgaea 5 Alliance of Vengeance PS4 Review". US Gamer. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  26. "Review: Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance". hardcoregamer.com. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  27. "Media Create Sales: 3/23/15 – 3/29/15". Gematsu. April 1, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  28. "Disgaea 5 Complete sells 200,000 copies on Switch, Nippon Ichi targeting the system for new IPs and sequels". Nintendo Everything. 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  29. "NISA – deal with Nintendo for SNK Heroines, Switch outselling PS4 versions, Disgaea 5 near 200k in the west". Nintendo Everything. 2018-04-08. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
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