Disgaea 3 Absence of Detention Review

The SJRPG genre is good in portraying a storyline that revolves around the concept of betrayal and bloodshed. Final Fantasy Tactics and its reboot for the PlayStation Portable, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, navigated players into the geometric world of Ivalice. War corrupted the nation’s regents, plunging warriors into a silly game fueled by motives, audacity, vengeance, and power thirst.

Tactics Ogre pushed the genre even further by rewarding and punishing players with consequences that effected allegiances. The game made me cringe, shout out in frustration during one situation that I could not save a maiden surrounded by heavily-armored brutes. Valkyria Chronicles digs deeper into the SJRPG formula by advancing players into an industrial atmosphere that is again motivated by the principles of war and needless sacrifice. The game’s humor is overshadowed by the game’s melodramatic tone of filming the deaths of comrades and their dreams vanishing in the heavy smokes of the blood-soaked battlefield.

Disgaea 3 Absence of Detention and its main character, Mao, laughs at the sentimentality (empathy in the Netherworld is considered an act of delinquency) of friendship and sacrifice. Nippon Ichi Software’s iconic SJRPG franchise focuses on the pathetic ambitions of demons. Laharl wanted to become the strongest Overlord. Rozalin wanted her pampered life back at the hands of his father, Overlord Zenon. Mao wants to crush the Dean of Netherworld Academy, his own father, because the latter accidentally stepped on Mao’s portable game consoles, the SlayStation Portable.

The motivation behind Mao’s desire to murder his own father is highlighted by his contradicting goal of becoming a Hero. His unbelievably high E.Q. (Evil Quotient) gave him the answers to the secret to his father’s defeat – the Hero should embrace emotions like love to triumph against adversities. This is how the game begins and after a rough start of rejecting the companionship of his allies, Mao found the resolve the correct the mistakes he had committed against his own father.

This PS Vita exclusive was originally released for the PlayStation 3 in 2008 as Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice. This time, players journey through the corridors of Evil Academy as Mao, and frequently appearing in the cut scenes are his companions: delinquent Raspberyl, Hero Almaz von Almadine Adamant, Princess Sapphire Rhodonite, and Home-Economics Teacher Champloo. The objective of the game is to solve what is really interfering with Mao’s heart and his embattled history between his father.

It’s a straightforward call. Players can choose to complete the main quest without exploring the game’s rich reservoir of side activities. Visit the Item World and power-up weapons, armors, and accessories to maximum level. That’ll probably take a hundred hours or so. Reach level 9,999 and steamroll past powerful side bosses including Baal the Tyrant. That’s another hundred hours. Unlock characters including Marona from Phantom Brave, Prier from La Pucelle Tactics, and the dysfunctional trio of Laharl, Etna, and Flonne of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.

Disgaea 3 Absence of Detention for the PS Vita enjoys additional content invisible in the Absence of Justice. Rutile and Stella Grossular appears as new playable characters. Since this is just a reboot, players may want to accommodate themselves with the following content exclusive for the PS Vita version:

- Unlock powerful Tera-level elemental and non-elemental magic spells.
– High-definition character portraits.
– DLC from Disgaea 3 Absence of Detention have been added.
– Companions have Special Unique attacks.
– Control Options that use the Touch Screen and Rear Touch Pad.
– Players can unlock Rank 41 weapons which include the Stardust Sword and Ancient Spear.

Disgaea 3 Absence of Detentions is an enjoyable re-hash that visits Mao’s ineptitude to accept that he’s not like the other Evils roaming around the Netherworld.