xav's 2023 media thread: Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention (2012)

(originally posted 7/26/23)

this one took some time, but i finally did it. funnily enough, i bought a psvita partially for the sake of playing D3 (other part was that i just wanted a new vita after my old one died years ago). and...was it worth it?

well, while i dont think this tops D2 for me (that game set a very high bar for me personally), i still had fun with the game. i thought the game would really try to phone it in with the jokes based on the earlier chapters, but it actually tries to tell a legitimate story about mao opening his heart after past scars. theres segments of this game where you literally dive into his heart and work through his problems.

i liked the cast a bit more than i expected to tbh. even mao himself, although he took some time for me to warm up to him

obviously raspberyl is my favorite but i also really loved almaz, sapphire, and mr champloo. the presentation during cutscenes was great- i loved the animated portraits (which is apparently a D4 thing so im excited to see those there!)

in terms of the gameplay itself, it was also good. there were a few mechanics that i kind of didnt use (magichange) and ones that i ignored outright (class world) but i didnt run into many problems

honestly my main issue with the gameplay itself has to do more with the maps

in D1 and 2 the geo panel stuff never felt all that gimmicky, which says a lot because D2 literally has a chapter made up of geo panel puzzles...but in D3, a lot of the maps felt like they kind of abused the geo block system with ridiculous effects that a lot of the time i had no choice but to tank them until i could get a unit to break the blocks, which would be on the opposite end of the map- or sometimes completely inaccessible. towards the end of the game this kind of design makes up a lot of the maps and its really a pain. i think i just kinda prefer when the fights themselves are just all out battles as opposed to needing to deal with some gimmick that gets in the way. in D1 and D2 i could put up with it just fine but in 3 its almost distracting

also the final boss this time around felt a little easier. he still took out a lot of my units, and i thought his changing affinities might be harder to deal with, but i kinda managed better than i did with D2’s final boss. then again i had a cracked star mage this time so idk

all that being said, its a good game. its still a fun SRPG, it still has that "disgaea brand humor" which ive come to enjoy (not without the occasional groan), the art and music is still great...i just enjoyed it!

also i know im missing out on things like raspberyl mode and the other 4 new story scenarios. idk when im gonna get to them, just like with etna mode and axel mode. im mainly playing these games for the main scenario and ill eventually loop back around and do the extra stories

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