Fans of the old comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” may remember a pastime made up by the duo that they called, of course, Calvinball. This “sport” was an unrecognizable mash-up of volleyball, croquet, badminton, capture the flag, water balloon fights and slam poetry, and had a scoring system that allowed for such tallies as “Q to 12.” The secret to Calvinball’s complexity is that the little boy and his tiger companion made up new rules every time they played. The secret to “Disgaea 3’s” complexity, on the other hand, is that it’s just really darn complex.
“Disgaea 3” is what’s known as a tactical role-playing game, and as such has you moving human “pieces” across a grid just like you would move chess pieces across a game board. That’s where the similarities with chess end. The “Disgaea” series has none of the elegance of the game of geniuses, though it may take a genius to remember all its rules.
| ‘Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention’ |
| » System: Vita » Price: $39.99 |
| » Rating: 4 out of 5 stars |
For instance, in “Disgaea,” attacking an enemy piece doesn’t immediately knock it out, but does damage against that piece’s total health. The exact amount of damage you deal is determined by the attacking character’s stats, the stats of his weapon, which direction he’s facing, the color of the square he’s standing on, which allies he’s standing adjacent to, the enemy character’s stats, the stats of the enemy’s armor, which direction the enemy is facing, the color of the square the enemy is standing on, and too many others to list here.
But wait, there’s more. When your characters aren’t on the battlefield, they’re in a classroom — yes, a classroom — and how they fare in fights depends on your seating assignments, what clubs you place different characters in, and the politics of student government. Among other things.
What at first feels overwhelming and arbitrary suddenly, about 10 hours into the (lengthy) game, coalesces into a fathomable system, one that forces you to think differently than any other tactical RPG series on the market, from “Fire Emblem” to “Final Fantasy Tactics.”
The game’s graphics are a bit overpixelated, and the game could stand to your hand a lot more in the beginning, but if you have anybody in your life who enjoys micromanagement, there’s hardly a more engrossing game out there.
