The Good, The Bad, and The Pixelated: Disgaea 3 Reviewed


                                  Cuddley-cute, Anime Characters in a Japanese Game. Whodathunk?

Although the story of any strategy role playing game (SRPG) is as important as its statistical foundation, all too often this isn’t the case. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift’s focus on teen angst was a step backward for many fans of the series. Luckily, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice avoids the archetypal trappings of the genre- so much that, players may initially be put off by its carnivalesque, topsy-turvy world.

The game tells the story of young Mao, an honor student at the ‘Evil Academy’, where students learn to be bad. After reading a comic book where a young hero overthrows the malevolent antagonist; Mao comes to the conclusion that the hero always wins. Naturally, he sets off to obtain the power of the hero, by defeating the reigning Overlord, who happens to be his dad. Confused yet? In Disgaea 3’s inverted world being nice to others, going to class, and performing community service projects are examples of rebellious behavior, and Mao’s preparation for becoming a champion. Once this oedipal conflict is resolved, characters from previous Disgaea games make an appearance in a decidedly fun addendum.


                                                 Independence, the Achilles


of far too many RPG characters.

At first, Absence of Justice’s tactical combat is also off-putting; players must move, melee, and also execute a team’s battle plans. Characters can ‘team attack’- meaning four characters in proximity to one another can perform a synergistic attack for additional damage.  Learning what characters work well together is half the fun- Disgaea is clearly about micro-managing. Those bored by the minutia of slight statistical advantages may be bored by the games complexity. Others, like us, will revel in it.

Disgaea’s palette is a mixed bag of charm, beauty, and underwhelming simplicity. While the game has lush character portraits, on the battlefield your avatars look like last-gen holdovers; and are often crudely animated. When displayed on sharply rendered backgrounds, the game has a decidedly disjointed, unfinished aesthetic. Luckily, the English voice-overs are full of personality and variety. For purists, the original Japanese voices are included.


              We can’t label this screenshot ‘massive damage’, when later attacks take off a tens of thousands in HP.

Where Disgaea 3 strikes its path away from previous entries of the franchise is its focus on puzzles- rooms now contain stacked, color blocks. Once players throw a block of a particular color onto a group of similarly colored objects, they disappear, damaging nearby enemies in the process.  It’s an interesting diversion that adds to the diversity of gameplay. As the sole instance of a SRPG on the Playstation 3, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice is a must-own for Sony owners who crave some number-crunching mayhem.

Final Grade: A-

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

30 comments

  1. Thanks for the review. Dead-on with what I have read about the game.

  2. Just stumbled on your review. Excellent job.

  3. Love this series. I wish i had a PS3 to play this one. One day.

  4. Looks gr8. Also, don’t have the PS3.

  5. I gotta admit, the game looks fine to me from the screenshots.

  6. I like the whole evil is good, good is evil thing. Sounds different enough for a rental.

  7. I missed the whole DNC because of this game, and don’t regret a thing.

  8. I trust you guys after your praise for Order Up! Not my usual game type, but sounds interesting.

  9. I wonder how China feels about an evil character named ‘Mao’?

  10. Not a fan of these games.

  11. Nice review.

  12. I like the look of it.

  13. How big is the install in any? Load times?

  14. Great title and another wonderful review. this sites slowly working its way to the top.

  15. Great captions, as usual.

  16. Just don’t play the game on a standard TV, you can’t see the text too well.

  17. How hard does the puzzling get? I hate being stumped, and reaching a point you cant pass.

  18. Looks like a fun game, never heard of the series.

  19. I will pick this up if it ever goes on sale.

  20. I picked this one up today. Last one at Gamestop. They pimped the strategy guide on me too.

  21. You’ll definatly need the strategy guide to get everything out of the game.

    Someplace had it on sale for $14.99 this week. I’ll post If I remember.

  22. The series writing is so good; it puts all other SRPG and RPGs to shame.

  23. Why doesn’t NIS spend some dough on the graphics. The 2D characters in this game are shameful.

  24. Bravo for a great review.

  25. Are they vampires or demons?

  26. carnivalesque? jeez, you guys.

  27. Looks very interesting. Since I’m a fantasy baseball stat freak, this could be the game I’m looking for.

  28. I should really check out some of the older Disgaea titles for the PS2…

  29. Oh my god! I loved Disgaea so much, I can’t wait till I get it. I’m going to try go get to 999 in the shortest amount of days.