PSP killer app -- Disgaea

[Quinton]

No US release yet, but here's hoping it's in the works.  The game looks absolutely fantastic on the PSP.  Full of all the goodness of the original PS2 version, plus some bonus levels and whatnot, apparently.  Hopefully we'll see a nice port of this, but for the time being it's a good excuse to practice looking up Japanese words I don't know (most of them):





It looks less washed out on the PSP than in the screengrabs (at least when looking at them under Firefox on Linux).  I probably have the Gamma set incorrectly.  I expect to burn a ton of time on this, and FFT is sounding pretty nice too.  This is the first native PSP app since Lumines that I've been really excited about.

Some more screengrabs at http://frotz.net/disgaea_psp/ -- I have no idea about all the other weird features of CWCheat, but the screenshot and "enable usb mass storage without exiting the game" stuff totally rocks.

-Q

[Nija]

It would play better on the DS.

[schild]

It would play better on the DS.

That was a pointless troll. It would look like total shit on the DS.

[Yegolev]

But you could use the stylus.

Actually, that might not be very assy now that I think on it.  Also, if I wanted a pretty one, I'd just play it on the TV.

[Trippy]

But you could use the stylus.

Actually, that might not be very assy now that I think on it.  Also, if I wanted a pretty one, I'd just play it on the TV.

The stylus is overrated in these sorts of tactical games. I find myself mostly using the d-pad when playing things like AoE and AWDS on the DS.

[Yegolev]

Having not played a TBS on the DS, I'll just take your word for it.  Movement would likely be a pain, but when it comes to menus I do appreciate the stylus, and I remember Disgaea has a few menus.

[squirrel]

Never played (never owned a PS2 - i know, i know, i was a PC only gamer until recently) but I've heard great things. Since I have a PSP I expect I should be excited then?

[Moaner]

Never played (never owned a PS2 - i know, i know, i was a PC only gamer until recently) but I've heard great things. Since I have a PSP I expect I should be excited then?

Yes.  Disgaea 1 and 2 were my favorite games last generation.  I'm not sure if you have played Final Fantasy Tactics, but if so think FFT with plenty of Netack thrown into the mix.  Now toss in some tongue-in-cheek storyline and wacky characters and you have something resembling Disgaea. 

I have over 200 hours played in Disgaea 2 as of now.   

[^^remilia^^]

But you could use the stylus.

Also, if I wanted a pretty one, I'd just play it on the TV.

Same, and that's exactly what I do. Sure, the other people at the train stop look at me funny for carrying a television, PS2, and portable generator, but it looks *much* nicer that way than on my crappy PSP. At least if it were on DS it would be a quarter the resolution and use a control scheme completely different than the one that the game was originally designed for. That would totally rock. The original was pretty unplayable with just a control pad. I really missed that whole "repeatedly juggling stylus from mouth to hands to alternately interact with controls designed for control-pad use and controls designed for stylus use" experience that I'd come to love so much on various DS games.

Anyway, now that I'm done being stupid, on to the useful stoff.

This port does indeed rock. Everything is pretty much perfect. The music, something I consider very important to the original, is here untouched, and delightfully sinister as ever. The riotous VA work is all there, as a single UMD can easily handle the pithy needs. The large character portraits used in conversation appear to have been scanned back in from source, rather than merely scaled to fit the new screen. The in-engine character art used to display characters on the field appears to be completely untouched. The only noticable port artifact appears to be a mild blurring of the mini-portraits that show up when you cursor over something on the field. A very mild blurring. UI elements are either left alone, or have been hand-redone to fill the full screen. The new backdrops, for example, look like they were designed for a 16:9 screen, rather than merely extended. Very nice.

Of course, there's also the matter of gameplay. Gameplay, so far as I've seen, is exactly the same as the original. In fact, I feel that the gameplay benefits quite from one particular PSPism... auto-suspend. Auto-suspend makes those 100-floor item world hunts a bit less daunting in that I don't have to leave my console fully powered-on for days on end as I hack away one floor at a time. I can rock a few floors on the train in the morning commute, suspend, rock a few floors on the train in the evening commute, rinse, repeat. Very nice!


OMG best line evar.

Summary: As far as I'm concerned, the double punch of Disgaea:PSP and the various goodies made available by having hacked firmware (PS1/SFAMI/MD/GBA emu come to mind) totally made the Second Coming of PSP for me. Or the First Coming, as the case may be... poor thing.

[Quinton]

Also, if I wanted a pretty one, I'd just play it on the TV.

Same, and that's exactly what I do. Sure, the other people at the train stop look at me funny for carrying a television, PS2, and portable generator, but it looks *much* nicer that way than on my crappy PSP.

Except that in a way it looks nicer on PSP than PS2/PS3.  Nice crisp 480x272 LCD display with no interlacing/feathering artifacts.

I wish Disgaea looked this good on my TV.

-Q

[Yegolev]

I wish I could ride a train to work.  Well... maybe not.  I'm just not a handheld kinda guy, and my comments should always be taken as personal opinion unless otherwise noted.  The things I like about the DS have nothing to do with the screens or stylus, and my ownership of one is something of an anomaly.

[stray]

I wish I could ride a train to work.  Well... maybe not.  I'm just not a handheld kinda guy, and my comments should always be taken as personal opinion unless otherwise noted.  The things I like about the DS have nothing to do with the screens or stylus, and my ownership of one is something of an anomaly.

Same here.

Well...There are some titles I want to get, and that would win me over, but I haven't got around to it yet.

[^^remilia^^]

I wish I could ride a train to work.  Well... maybe not.  I'm just not a handheld kinda guy, and my comments should always be taken as personal opinion unless otherwise noted.  The things I like about the DS have nothing to do with the screens or stylus, and my ownership of one is something of an anomaly.

Riding a train to work is totally awesome. I totally don't miss having to drive... I basically get to do whatever it is I want to on the way to work, and that never includes cursing at traffic or dealing with crazy drivers. =D

I know portables aren't for everyone, though... they just happen to be incredibly convenient for people like me, who have very little freetime that they can spend at home playing games. =( Gotta get my gaming in somehow!

Except that in a way it looks nicer on PSP than PS2/PS3.  Nice crisp 480x272 LCD display with no interlacing/feathering artifacts.

I wish Disgaea looked this good on my TV.

Agreed... it's *incredibly* pretty on the nice little attached LCD with a pure digital datapath between the graphic hardware and the display device. =D