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Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless will be released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, and on PC (Steam), on October 3, 2023.
If there are two things I hope you take away from my hands-on impressions of the Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless demo, it is 1) this is a GORGEOUS game, for I could not stop looking at the beautiful graphics and 2) the strategic combat is incredibly deep, and Nippon Ichi Software has accomplished the impossible goal of making the new Jumbification feature anything but an automatic combat ‘win.’
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless takes place in Hinomoto, where many of the demon inhabitants once followed the code of bushido, despite it being in conflict with their demonic natures. All of that changes when Demmodore Opener and his Netherarmy arrive, and the demonic inhabitants are now forced to follow the Hinomoto Code of Destruction instead. This game follows two unlikely allies, Fuji and Pirilika, as they go on a journey for redemption.
I know I mentioned this at the top, but in my short demo of a couple different parts of Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless, the thought that kept going through my mind was “wow, this is a beautiful game.” The world colors are extremely vibrant, and they pop off of the screen in a way that I am still thinking about even now. Even the character designs themselves are striking and unique. It would have been really easy to make Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless a more ‘drab’ game in line with the plot point of busido going away, but I am thankful that Nippon Ichi Software decided to keep this game a truly colorful one.
Video taken from a developmental build of Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless may not represent the final product.
The strategic combat itself is incredibly deep. At first, it appears to be fairly standard strategic fare: you spawn in characters, you move them around, you attack enemies and heal allies on a grid system. The genius of the combat system, and where the replayability comes in, is three-fold: 1) the sheer number of available classes that are fun to play, 2) the throwing mechanic, and 3) the reward chests for completing combat objectives.
There are 45 different classes to play as in Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless, and I got to try out a good portion of them. The first thing that struck me was first how easy it was to adapt to using the different classes, and how well they work together to build up an ad hoc battle plan that kept changing even when I lost certain characters (like Prinny!) in combat or due to accidental self-sabotage (again, Prinny). Even though I played the demo for around a half hour, I found myself seamlessly picking up the different combat options as I advanced upon and attacked the enemies scattered around the battle arena. This is a game that is meant to be understood by people who are new to the SRPG genre, and I really think Nippon Ichi Software succeeded in that goal. The complexity, and the replayability depth, comes from figuring out how to make these different classes work together. For example, I utilized one of the new classes to throw up a box blocking item to funnel enemies towards where my melee heavy classes were waiting to wipe them out. If you can think of a strategy, then chances are, you can probably find the class or classes to help pull it off.
The second aspect is the throwing mechanic. Different classes have different movement amounts on the grid, and sometimes you’ll have this perfect battle plan in mind that you can’t execute because someone cannot move far enough fast enough. Enter: throwing. You can move one fighter to another fighter’s spot, hop up on their shoulders, and then be thrown to an even greater distance than you could ordinarily get to. While I was playing, my mind was constantly working on if I could stage characters on spots purely to throw slower-moving characters even further to help get them into battle faster. This is a deceptively-simple mechanic with massive ramifications for combat.
Video taken from a developmental build of Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless may not represent the final product.
Finally, there are the reward chests for completing certain objectives like finishing the battle in a certain number of turns, taking only a limited amount of damage, etc. As I was trying to play as much of the Disgaea 7 demo as possible, I didn’t fool around with trying to achieve these chests. However, the idea of them stuck in the back of my head and I could easily see myself replaying the battles over and over again to try to clear those objectives and get them. Replayability is an important factor in video games, as almost no one wants to have a one-and-done experience but to have a reason to keep diving back into this virtual world over and over again.
The last element that I want to address is Jumbification. When I first Jumbified Prinny (as one does) and later Fuji, I was expecting it to be an overwhelming force that just obliterates all other enemies on the battlefield without recourse. Instead, what I found was that it just adds another layer of complexity to combat. You really have to figure out a way to fit in the Jumbification with your other characters who are fighting, and do so in a way that they compliment each other. I will be honest: I failed horribly at that on my first go during the second half of the demo. I picked Prinny because I love Prinny, not because of any strategic value…and I failed horribly. I had a bit more success with Fuji, though I still lost there too. As is with everything else in Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless, the Jumbification character models are absolutely beautiful to look at, and I was impressed with how Nippon Ichi Software managed to scale up the character models and still keep them looking great.
Overall, Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless, just from the demo I played, is a gorgeous game that presents an easily accessible gameplay combat scheme that can be surprisingly deep if you want it. I am looking forward to seeing how the final game turns out when it is released later this year for North America!
Are you excited for Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless? Who do you want to Jumbify?
Let us know in the comments below!
