Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is the first of many tactical RPGs, along the same vein as Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation or Shining Force from the classic Sega Genesis days. As is typical of tactical RPGs, the game is a bountiful mix of battles co-mingled with event cutscenes, broken up into separate episodes for each major plot point. Battles involve your party -- led by the Prince of the Netherworld, Laharl -- taking on a group of enemies over a grid-like plain; although you don't see the gridlines themselves, the playing area is broken up into squares (of varied heights as well) that characters are positioned upon. As you move next to an enemy, you can attack it either through physical attacks or special moves (magic-based or otherwise, and typically unique to each being). Both sides duke it out in turn-based fashion until one party reigns victorious. And, of course, the more you fight, the more experience you gain to improve your skills (and the more money you earn). It sounds normal, and it is.

So what exactly differentiates Disgaea from the rest of the pack? That is, why choose Disgaea over all other games of its type? Multiple reasons, my friend. There is far more depth to Disgaea than I have let on; occasionally, that depth actually can be overwhelming to the novice player (though one particular character notes that you can get through the game with minimal knowledge). The first new element is team attacks; if you have other party members standing beside or behind your attacking character, you have a chance of performing a team attack with them for additional damage. Before each move, you are even shown the percentage chance of being able to perform said attack, so you'll be able to make an apt prediction of what will happen. It's nice to have two or three members brawling simultaneously, but having four at a time rock the enemy can lead to wild mayhem and some serious mega-damage! Another inclusion is the concept of Geo Panels, one that may or may not work to your benefit. Maps (placed to battle) are often covered with many coloured panels -- the reason that these panels exist is not explicitly explained -- and oftentimes you'll also find that Geo Symbols have been graciously placed on a coloured panel as well, resulting in similarly-shaded panels to gain the abilities of that symbol. For example, perhaps you might get "ATK +50%", meaning all attacks from anyone standing on that panel will be 50% stronger. Conversely, "Enemy Boost x3" will make the enemy thrice as powerful, while leaving you puny and insufficient by comparison. The only way to save yourself in such an instance is to attack that Geo Symbol and destroy it, or at least lift it and throw it elsewhere. It's a very useful move, as is throwing teammates...

But Disgaea's complexity doesn't stop at the numerous storyline scenarios encountered by the ambitious Prince Laharl & Co.; there are definitely interesting things to do outside of the primary battlefields. One nice thing to do (naturally) is upgrade your armor, weaponry, and accessories, courtesy of the two shops directly in the Netherworld Castle foyer (basically your hub between all other worlds), run as part of Rosen Queen Co. (which was also the name of NIS America's real-life online store for a while). The more you buy, the higher your customer rating will be! Of course, it sure takes a while to raise money, or so I found. Unfortunately, the armor and weaponry available won't improve unless you make it happen... politically!

Fruit of the Loom has cornered the market on heavy briefs.

Thus spoke the Dark Assembly. This is the basic equivalent of the United States Congress, and their votes are the only means of improving your situation. You'll have to gain the approval of the Dark Assembly and present proposals to them. (Don't worry, you don't have to draft them yourself.) Proposals may include making more expensive items available at the Rosen Queen shop or increasing your number of counterattacks, just to name a few. Passing promotional exams (by successfully surviving battles of increasing difficulty with only one character at play), you can unlock more lofty proposal goals. Any character can address the Assembly. Of course, some senators will not be in favour of your request (there's always a Grumpy Gus among the crowd), and so you can deal with this a couple of ways. You can either bribe those senators with trinkets from your inventory to help sway their decision, or you can pitch the proposal and hope the cards fall in your favour. If your proposal is rejected, you can always take matters into your own hands and persuade the naysayers by force. You can also visit this area to create additional characters for your party using varied amounts of Mana as the price. The more you're willing the spend, the better the character you'll develop.

The Item World is another strange point of interest. Unlike any other game I have played... period... you can basically "enter" any item you have to help improve its stats and overall desirability. "Wait, what, how? Huh?" I heard you ask that. Well, I'm not exactly sure how you get INTO an item, but stranger things have happened. Once inside, you can fight your way through up to 100 randomly generated levels; the completion of each level improves the overall rating and stats of that item. Defeating specific characters, called Specialists, helps to make the process a bit faster. Frustratingly, the dungeons here to be some of the most disjointed creations in the game, and I occasionally found myself unable to finish them. Luckily, you can escape anytime using the aptly named "Mr. Gency's Exit". Who is Mr. Gency? ...some guy, I guess.

All of these elements together create a different experience than what I'm used to from my RPGs. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the game is chock-full of bizarre (and occasionally overtly sexual) humour that would likely turn a few heads. Aside from all the characters being quirky, the whole game reeks of Japanese wackiness. You frequently encounter an effeminate, self-declared "Dark Adonis" who aims to destroy you and claim the throne as the Overlord. One mission involves finding the source of a foe who has leaked an embarrassing photo of Laharl; though never seen, some are quick to point out that they didn't realize he was "into that sort of thing." You oversee a team of Prinnies, penguin-like creatures with peg-legs who end most sentences with the word "dood" and are actually the embodiment of unforgiven souls who must work hard until they are cleansed for past sins. And, of course, it's also the only game that I've ever played that featured a "horse wiener". Yeah. It's just that strange, and this is just a dip of the pinky into the goulash that is Disgaea.

For graphical nuts, Disgaea may be ultimately disappointing. It's a sprite-based endeavour, though the actual battlefields can be rotated in 90° iterations in full 3D. The sprites are quite detailed, and there are plenty of unique battle animations to keep your eyes occupied. The cutscenes are basically still portraits of characters speaking while text appears below (not unexpected of Nippon Ichi Software games, even to this day). Personally, I don't mind sprites; I was raised on the NES, so it's still a blessing just to see something that looks exactly like what it's supposed to! On the plus side, the scenes are more often than not fully voice acted. The main character is voiced by the same woman who also provided the voice for Rita Repulsa from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers! Zordon would approve! As for the music, it's actually cheerful, considering you spend so much time in demon country.