Normally during the Christmas break I have the opportunity to catch up with some much-needed gaming on titles that I had not given too much time too. However this year, only one game kept me completely hooked over the festive season, it wasn’t Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Uncharted, heck, it’s not even on a next gen console. It was on the PSP of all things and the game is Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness. Weird and unpronounceable title aside, this game is truly addictive and a must have purchase for all of you out there looking for something new to try on your PSP. 

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness is an update of the original PS2 version with a few new improvements and characters added on. The story starts off with the main character Laharl, being woken up by one of his loyal helpers, Etna after a 2-year nap. He is annoyed at this as it was only supposed to be for a few days, and during this time of slumber, other evil doers have taken control of his realm, Laharl is not happy with this so with a few remaining comrades, he goes to reclaim his land.

Disgaea is at its most basic, a turn based fighting game, in each realm you need to move each character under your control and defeat all of the evil on the map. Taking Disgaea at its most basic however does not do this title any justice. The game is split into two main parts, Laharl’s castle, where you prepare for the battles, and the Netherworld, where you go out and take back your kingdom, a piece at a time. The castle enables you to recover your team, purchase new items to take to battle, practice and also locate new allies to assist you in battle.

The main battle areas starts with a small text based scene between the characters, exchanging words and winding each other up, basically trash talking like in American wrestling. Once the level starts up you are able to move around the map and twist the screen left and right to see around obstacles to find all of the enemies. The area is divided by grids, making navigation easy. When you are ready to begin you can move each of your playable characters on to the play area. After you have moved them you are then able to decide what action they can carry out, this can be attack, defend or use and item.

Characters have different skills available to them, the basic close range attack, team up moves and later in the game you are able to get more weapons to equip with like handguns for ranged attacks and other character specific items. Though easy on the first few arenas, the difficulty increases very quickly, tactics become indispensable on the later levels as the enemies are a lot more powerful, and also you will learn that powering up by playing previous levels and a lot more team combos are the way to get through some of the tougher battles. In most arenas some of the grids are replaced with Geo-Panels, these are area specific powerups that can aid you if you stand in a certain area; however, this also works for the enemies.

Characters are well represented in a cartoon like manner, they each have a cute side to them but this all changes in battle, little penguins will pull out huge knifes and stab up the enemy, over sized swords are swung about and over the top combos are performed.

This title has a unique look to it and will not appeal to everyone as its not an fmv heavy RPG like final fantasy, however this title has more in relation to the excellent Advance Wars, which is not a bad thing. This title is perfect for the PSP as battles can be short and has the perfect pick and play appeal, as well as a seriously long session.