I also finally started Disgaea 3 in earnest today. I’ve been hesitant to start PS3 games since I still don’t have a proper TV for it, but in this case the graphics are only on par with a PS2 anyway…

It’s much like the first two games, except now it’s in an (evil) school setting, though things are still roughly analogous. Instead of the senate, you have homeroom, etc. The plot involves Mao, the main character, trying to do well at school instead of slacking off like demons are supposed to so that he can gain the power of a hero and defeat his father the Overlord, because that’s what he saw in a comic book. Or something. The plot doesn’t really matter here; it’s just an excuse to set up the series of battles.

I did the tutorials in case there was anything new, and there are a few things: you can now lift and throw things like crates on the battlefield, and there are geoblocks instead of geoprisms, though the behaviour is similar so far. There’s also a new ‘magichange’ ability which turns ally monsters into weapons that humans can use, so monsters might actually be useful this time. (Well, they were before, but mainly for exploiting the leveling system…)

Skills are a bit different in that they’re bought and improved with mana points rather than gained through leveling, and you can also buy ‘evility’ abilities that provide various effects. There’s a classroom where you can adjust the seating plan, and where you put your allies affects the chances of team attacks and (apparently) the ability to learn skills from each other. There are also clubs where you can put your allies into different groups, giving them some more bonuses (kind of like the old mentor system, but less hierarchical).

Back in the missions, I captured a hero (though he wasn’t much of one), stole his title, and made him my slave. Mao then revealed that he’s out to defeat his father because…he smashed Mao’s video game that he had a 4 million hour save file on.