Well, I’ve kinda been itching to get back into Disgaea a little bit, but I’ve never played the original. (I have D2, but that’s all.) With it out on the DS, that seems like a good choice, but they also have the PS2 version out on Greatest Hits.
I guess my dilemma here is which one should I get? 
PS2 version looks and sounds better.
DS has portability and extra bonuses.
I’ve been looking around, but I decided I’ll ask here for everyone’s opinion.
Any suggestions?
I’ll give you my opinion, but keep in mind that I found Disgaea to be thoroughly disappointing and mediocre through and through.
Disgaea is NOT a game about the main story, it’s about spending your time fucking around with the additional stuff. The additional stuff, however, is all about level up to unimaginably high levels so that you can hit the optional bosses hard enough to win. If that’s your shtick, then I’m sure whatever’s available on the DS will whet your appetite.
On the other hand, I personally found the most enjoyable things about Disgaea to be the graphics and music, and most importantly, the voice acting. A lot of the characters would be painfully boring without it, and the humor is what kept me going through til the end. …Or more specifically, it kept me hanging by a thread until a certain group of characters were introduced about 3/4 of the way through, which kept me going to the end. 
So, it’s up to you. Most people who are fans of the games are the people who like shutting themselves in for hours upon hours grinding so they can do the super crazy side quests. Personally, I think what made Disgaea work (and the only thing that keeps most NIS games from being complete trash) is their style. PS2 = Style, DS = crazy sidequests that most common fans will love. Take your pick.
I loved Disgaea’s story, characters, and voice acting, and absolutely hated the gameplay. It’s almost the exact same dichotomy I had with the Lunar games, in fact.
I’m surprised you hated the Lunar games. They are very classical RPGs with non random encounters and its not that difficult. Of course I am talking about Lunar SSSC and EBC for PSX.
I liked Disgaea for the same reasons as SG. The strategy to the game is on the light side. Its not about strategy but about powerleveling and grinding to get ahead.
Normal battles weren’t difficult, but boss battles were impossible without grinding. The battles weren’t random, but in some ways they were worse - there’s practically no way to avoid fighting every single battle between you and the exit, and there were just a few too many of them in every room. I found the battle system rather boring as well.
I stopped playing Grandia halfway through for largely the same reason. I’d much rather have random battles then a slew of unavoidable enemies between you and the exit.
Erm, the boss battles are grind proof in the PSX versions because the boss’ stats depend on Alex’ level. There is a formula. Really.
I played Disgaea for Vyers, who was the unsung hero of the game.
To hell with Etna, I want a Mid-Boss mode. THEN I’ll buy the game again. I still got the PS2 version, so portable or no I ain’t getting the DS one.
That’s true, but the boss’s stats don’t go up in perfect proportion; it does always get SLIGHTLY easier. There’s also the possibility of learning new spells or abilities.
That being said, the only boss I ever had to grind to beat in any of the Lunar games (Including the terrible on on the DS) was the final boss of SSSC, and it wasn’t that much, like maybe a level or two.
Then I guess I just suck then. >:(
I’m starting to lean towards the DS version right now. Kinda been borrowing it for a bit and toying around with that. It also has Prinny Commentary on it, and I gotta say, it’s pretty damn hilarious. (A Prinny comments on the story scenes…priceless.)
As for all the level grinding and such, I just like that stuff. Dunno why, but I’m a sucker for it. There usually isn’t much strategy except in certain situations. (I’m thinking of Disgaea 2 and some its Dark World/LoC Stages…shit gets bad quickly if you have no idea what to do.)
Maybe sometime after I finish up Disgaea, I might start up on Lunar. Kinda been looking at it on and off, but hadn’t decided on when to mess with it yet.
If FFT is my favorite RPG of all time and I love grinding does that mean I’ll like this series?
I was just talking to a friend about trying out these games and he said FFT is trash compared to Disgaea. I’m intrigued -.~
They’re totally different games. If you like the political edge of FFT , you won’t like Disgaea. Disgaea, story wise is completely different. Its light hearted and humorous, not dark and serious. The tactics involved are also completely different. As I said before, Disgaea is really not about tactics. Disgaea is about maxing out items and characters, not about proper timing, skill use and placement. If you’re looking for a way to sink 100-200 hours into something , by all means, go for it.
I suppose I’ll check it out
But yeah the story is one thing I really really like about Tactics, but I like developing new characters the most.
Disgaea DS have a better gameplay, and a double screen…
Anyone tried Disgaea 3?
You don’t really need to, if that’s what drives you either. If it’s challenge you’re looking for, it’s actually much easier, imo, to beat the game using only one person as opposed to several people. The reason is because you only get experience for KILLING an enemy, not individual actions. This makes it a chore to level up some classes. I found it much easier to just use one character, because it wasn’t long before they weren’t taking enough damage to be in danger of dying, and could one-shot everything.
Granted, there are a few fights where you’re screwed if you don’t use the max number of people, but not because you need them for fighting; you can actually pick up and throw characters in Disgaea, and there will be a few times where you’ll need to have all ten of your guys pick up and throw each other across the map all in one shot.
Also, I’m just talking about the main game again, so who knows - it’s probably totally different if you do the side stuff. In any case, I think Disgaea doesn’t compare to FFT at all.
Not really, no. Having extra attackers obviously helps, but you mostly end up using them as fodder so Laharl can survive more than a single round against Baal.