Nippon Ichi's Project: D "Disgaea D2"

[Yggdrasil]

Disgaea D2 (Disgaea Dimension 2)

Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Date (JP): March 20, 2013

Disgaea D2 Teaser Trailer

PRE STORY

After the death of the overlord who boasted great powerful and charisma. In the Netherworld, an era of civil war has broken out over who will rule. The repeat battles end, an infamous warrior is driven away, and a young demon takes prominence.

The name of that demon is Laharl, the only son of the late demon king. Laharl is a wild and carefree demon who fights alongside eccentric angels and even humans. At long last, Laharl becomes the overlord.

Some years later, the arrogant demon king Laharl and his friends begin a new adventure. Wherever they precede, trouble and drama follow. Surprise and excitement, laughter and tears, the curtain rises on a fantastic spectacle!



Disgaea D2 » Screenshots, Illustrations, Artwork, etc (October 31, 2012) -- Source: Gematsu

famitsu.com:



【速報】日本一ソフトウェア、“Project：D”あらため『ディスガイア D2』を発表！　発売は2013年3月20日【追記あり】

gematsu.com:

"The identity of Nippon Ichi Software's Project: D was revealed to be Disgaea D2 during a Dengeki 20th anniversary stage event in Chiba.

Shogo Kozakai will serve as the game's producer. Its story is centered around characters Laharl, Etna, and Flonne. Because it's the series' 10th anniversary, they wanted to bring back Laharl, explained Kozakai, as he is its origin. Disgaea D2 is a sequel to Laharl's story. The "D" in the the title stands for "Dimension." But it can also mean "Destiny" or "Dramatic," according to the producer. Minori Chihara will sing the game's opening music."

Official Website: http://disgaea.jp/d2/

[Lard]

So....reboot or sequel to Disgaea 1?

[Kevadu]

Sequel, according to the Famitsu article.

[Dice]

So it's a sequel of the FIRST game without treading over the second title...yea??

I like the HD 2D graphics.

[Kevadu]

Well, they don't say exactly where it fits in the timeline, but it's a continuation of Laharl's story.

[Mickeymac92]

Cool. Maybe by the time it makes it over here I'll have actually beaten the first game.

[Yggdrasil]

Are this sprites from Disgaea 4?



Edit: Welp.

[Monsoon]

So, a direct sequel to one of my top ~20ish games of all time? Sure. I'm listening.

[ZeronHitaro]

Eh...not so interested? There's really not much of anywhere to take the characters or for them to do that other NIS games involving Overlords aren't haven't done, only 'bigger/better'.

Something better than Overlord? Zetta already did that.
Something so better than the Overlord it's literally top of the inter-dimensional food chain? Reyva already did that.
Conquer the human world? So many alternate paths have already done that.
Fight God? Valvatorez already did that.

The problem with trying to make a Disgaea sequel (and really even a Disgaea 5 at this rate) is they've already topped themselves so many times within their own fictional universe that there's literally no where to go without pulling something so deep from within their own abdomens that...well...you get the mental image.

Additionally it's not like there will be a character-story to be had either. Laharl's already developed to his maximum as Japan will allow. He's a tsundere who spent the whole first game learning to accept his dere side. Flonne's pretty much been undeveloped since day one and if later installations in the series hold up she's pretty much turned into the closest thing Disgaea can have to a Mary Sue (she always gets what she wants, everyone but the villain comes to love her, hell she's pretty much the Archangel now despite being a fallen angel). Etna already hit her character development cap too, which really wasn't so much development as much as exposition about her past to garner some sympathy.

Don't get that critique wrong, I love the first game but the way the writing style in Disgaea works they can't modify those archetypes any further without the characters ceasing to be 'what' they are and what the audience expects (and if there's anything Japan constantly does in their entertainment media it's milk a loved cow into evaporation with the mantra 'Keep things relatively the same'). Any issues the characters have to overcome personally will pretty much be superficial and irrelevant. More than likely they'll just be tag-alongs for some new character to work out their issues.

[mjrpgfan]

Disgaea 4 made me respect the franchise a bit more with the large amount of content and map editor. Hopefully they continue to improve the series.

[Klyde Chroma]

I gotta say, I was reeeal skeptical about this at first.... but with this news...

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/10/21/disgaea-dimension-2-picks-up-after-disgaea-1-limited-edition-announced/

I am a bit more enticed....


I really expected them to try some off the wall genre-hopping to some degree (yes I AM looking in your direction, Prinnies...)..... And to learn that it is in fact a DIRECT sequel and strategy game in the same spirit as the other primary titles in the Disgaea franchise, has got me completely stoked!

Additionally it's not like there will be a character-story to be had either. Laharl's already developed to his maximum as Japan will allow. He's a tsundere who spent the whole first game learning to accept his dere side. Flonne's pretty much been undeveloped since day one and if later installations in the series hold up she's pretty much turned into the closest thing Disgaea can have to a Mary Sue (she always gets what she wants, everyone but the villain comes to love her, hell she's pretty much the Archangel now despite being a fallen angel). Etna already hit her character development cap too, which really wasn't so much development as much as exposition about her past to garner some sympathy.

Don't get that critique wrong, I love the first game but the way the writing style in Disgaea works they can't modify those archetypes any further without the characters ceasing to be 'what' they are and what the audience expects (and if there's anything Japan constantly does in their entertainment media it's milk a loved cow into evaporation with the mantra 'Keep things relatively the same'). Any issues the characters have to overcome personally will pretty much be superficial and irrelevant. More than likely they'll just be tag-alongs for some new character to work out their issues.

As big of a fan as I am.... I have to completely agree with that...

I don't however think that negates the possibility of an entertaining script and narrative. One look back at how many stellar RPG's lacked any relevant character development in regard to the MC's proves, while helpful, it isn't the end-all of an engrossing tale. In Disgaea's case its the humor, ass-nine plot and character interactions that really drive the stories entertainment home..... That can really be accomplished without Laharl "growing" in any sense....

Now given the trend of the writing within the titles that followed Disgaea 1 do I really believe they are gonna pull that off....? Well that is a different question entirely...... I am still skeptical in that regard....

The long and the short of it.... this has enough potential to excite me.

[ZeronHitaro]

Oh don't get me wrong; I'm not expecting any grand Greek operatic journey from a Disgaea game. I just bring up the whole character development angle because I honestly can't tell where you would even begin to lay a basic framework for a Disgaea sequel.

As I said before there's not much of any 'Sorcerer bad, go kill' plot they could do that wouldn't look old hat to past games due to the escalation they've had with each threat. Unless they make up a new level of evil there's not really any titles you could spend the game fetching either (really I think you literally can't create anything higher than Devourlord anymore; the only thing 'higher' would be an entity literally capable of having powers that extend outside the game world, a literal impossibility). Maybe you could get away with ye olden 'there's a mysical trinket somewhere/we just lost a mystical trinket; go find it'. But that's already been done in Prinny 2 of all games.

I'm simply trying to give NIS credit here in assuming they just won't recycle an old framework but I think they quite possibly have hit the limit for how many basic plots you can use in as broad a manner as they do without writing something a bit more 'serious'.

That's why I considered a 'character development' centric story; basically all slice-of-life-y only with Netherworld shenanigans ahoy. Problem is none of their main cast is really suited for such a plot since they have no where to go, again without doing something more 'serious'.

I'm sure NIS can crank out dialog and scenarios that'll definitely be amusing for a read-through or two. But without any rails to guide it...eh. That's what I'm wary about. I'm not sure Disgaea can handle just being 'random parody references for giggles' like Neptunia; which barely maintained itself with its paper-thin plotting.

[Annubis]

Unless they make up a new level of evil there's not really any titles you could spend the game fetching either (really I think you literally can't create anything higher than Devourlord anymore; the only thing 'higher' would be an entity literally capable of having powers that extend outside the game world, a literal impossibility).

The Void.
It has no name.
It has no title.
It just kills you.
Disgaea D2, coming in 2013!

...

Kidding aside, I loved Soul Nomad because it was a 'shorter' Disgaea. I just don't have the time for a real Disgaea game =|
So that's likely to be another pass like every other Disgaea game.

[Mickeymac92]

Disgaea actually isn't that long, I got through more than half of the first game in about 25 hours, and it'd be faster if you're more strategic and spend less time grinding. In fact, I don't think you have to grind very much if you just play through every level 2 or 3 times (most of the stages aren't very long, IIRC) and don't make zillions of characters (you can only use up to, like, 12 at a time at the max, anyways. At least that's the most I've seen).

[Klyde Chroma]

...

Kidding aside, I loved Soul Nomad because it was a 'shorter' Disgaea. I just don't have the time for a real Disgaea game =|
So that's likely to be another pass like every other Disgaea game.

The beauty of Disgaea to me is that when you have the time (as I once did with Disgaea 1-3) you can easily pour 100's of hours in.... but if you don't (such as when 4 came out and I was busy with backlogs in regard to gaming, and life in general....) you can hammer out the main scenario in 40-60 hours, without much need to grind at all....... Get stuck and still want to continue the story at mach speed? Reincarnate a powerhouse mage or two and trump the story battles with ease....

.... I will say this though.... forget about picking up where you left off, in regard to post game extras, without a major headache... I had an urge to throw Disgaea 4 in the other night (it is so appropriate for this time of year) and trying to figure out where I left off this time last year with developing characters and weapons and whatnot was waaaay too daunting.... when I realized it was New Game+ or bust for me, Breath of Fire 3 got popped back in quick...