You Probably Overlooked it the First Time
The original Disgaea: Hour of Darkness got a bad rap. Releasing in 2003, the game trailed some truly impressive RPGs, like Xenosaga, Dark Cloud 2, dot-hack, and Arc the Lad, resulting in it not getting the attention from players it deserved. IGN even voted for the game to receive the company’s “Best Game No One Played” award. But it’s no surprise Disgaea passed so many gamers by. Although it released on the PS2, its visuals are more reminiscent of what was seen on Sony’s original console. The game also stepped away from the heroic RPG protagonist’s journey (a very popular trope at the time) to deliver a game where the player embodied the “villain.”
All that being said, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is a phenomenal game. It spawned what is perhaps Nippon Ichi Software’s best franchise to date, and inspired the dark twisted humor players would come to enjoy in the publisher’s later franchises, like Danganronpa. The most recent addition to the Disgaea franchise, 2017’s Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance, launched to positive reviews. This Disgaea remake offers fans the perfect opportunity to play through the classic that started it all if they missed out 15 years ago. Hopefully, players don’t pass this game up a second time.
