Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless hails from one of those franchises that’s hard to describe to the uninitiated. On the surface, Disgaea is a strategy RPG series with anime aesthetics and visual novel exposition. As you dig into its underworld, genre conventions are slowly peeled away until you’re throwing allies across the battlefield, destroying and reviving your best units to increase their potential, racking up damage into the quadrillions, and blowing up penguin minions.
After the last entry, Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, it was beginning to feel like Nippon Ichi’s long-running series had been brought back from its slumber a few times too many. The ability to break the conventional damage caps present in most other RPGs was a selling point for the first entries, but Defiance of Destiny proved chasing numerical dopamine was not enough in itself.
Luckily, Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless returns the name to form with a tale of bushido, legendary weapons, and infernal conquest. (And yes, big numbers still go brrrr in the process.)
This time around, the protagonist is Fuji, a wandering swordsman in the land of Hinomoto, a collection of Netherworlds with a heavy feudal Japan vibe. A code of honour called Bushido once held Hinomoto together, but over time, its adherents have dwindled. Fuji’s rogueish life is turned upside down when he crosses paths with Pirilika, a rich kid who idealizes the tales of Bushido and wants to restore its practice by gathering the seven Founding Weapons and taking down the corrupt Shogunate.
“Two key additions shake up the mechanical formula in Disgaea 7: Hell Mode, and the new “Jumbification” mechanic.“
Narratively, Disgaea‘s formula has always been a particular blend of sensibilities—a heavy focus on antiheroes and parody that hides genuine heart beneath tropes and sarcasm—and Disgaea 7‘s cast nails that formula. Fuji and Pirilika have a good rapport, and the other misfits that join their unlikely band form an entertaining ensemble.
At first glance, Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless doesn’t strive to reinvent the wheel when it comes to combat. All the usual hallmarks are present, from basic strategy RPG staples to unique features like lifting and throwing units, Geo Panels that impose restrictions or boons, and bombastic special moves. Even if you’ve never played the previous games, acclimatizing to the basics should be easy for anyone who’s played the genre before.
Likewise, a host of familiar facilities await in Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless’s hub, the Nethership, to bolster your party members’ development. Fuji can barter with a host of demons to unlock new functions at the Dark Assembly, fine-tune statistics and “Evilities” (evil abilities, ba-dum-tish), recruit new generic allies, and so on. In this version, the functions are rolled out more gradually, which helps mitigate the sheer inundation of options. The Item World remains a massive time-sink
Two key additions shake up the mechanical formula in Disgaea 7, however: Hell Mode and “Jumbification.”
Hell Mode is tied to the Founding Weapons that Pirilika seeks. Certain party members can wield the power within these legendary arms after unlocking them in the story mode. For instance, once Fuji receives the legendary sword Kanzan Musashi from Pirilika, his Hell Gauge fills up gradually during battle. Once it’s full, he can enter Hell Mode to earn extra EXP and access devastating specials like Divine Kanzan, a massive attack that lowers the target’s defences. Ceefore, meanwhile, can hit a target at an infinite distance in a straight line from her.
This alone would have been a sufficient gimmick for one game, but Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless doubles down. Jumbification allows units to become kaiju-like titans that loom over the battlefield for up to three turns—not unlike Pokémon Sword & Shield‘s Dynamax. Anyone, from friend to foe, can tap into this potential once it’s unlocked, with up to four units jumbified at a time. In this state, characters can either attack a large area or other Jumbified enemies.
I was skeptical at first, especially with the circumstances of the stage where the feature is unlocked, but Jumbification had longer legs than I expected (no pun intended). Each unit has a distinct ability that affects the whole battlefield while that person remains Jumbified. A Godzilla-sized Prinny inflicts their bomb curse upon everyone, while the goofy Yeyasu gains more defence for each surviving ally on the battlefield.
I thought I wouldn’t use it unless mandated, but Disgaea 7 got these jumbo hooks in me. I found myself using the mechanic to smash Geo Symbols across the map or simply bash through protracted encounters. Likewise, the escalation when the computer drops an unexpected Jumbification on you helped spice up otherwise rote fights.
Last year, Disgaea 6 tempered my hopes early on when it burst through the fourth wall to blatantly advise me that I could grind a particular boss fight ad nauseum with the auto-battle feature. It was an example of the lazy Deadpool imitation that’s permeated so much media since Ryan Reynolds donned the mask and epitomized the mechanical malaise into which the series had lapsed.
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless breaks free of all this to present a more cohesive, genuine tale and a rich playground for both SRPG fans and min-maxers. There’s a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet of stat grinding beneath the story mode, and now the character customization is robust enough to incentivize the long haul for those who want to seek out its hardest challenges.
I had recommended Disgaea 6 to anyone who enjoyed the series, but now I can endorse Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless with more genuine optimism to broader audiences. It’s not going to win over anyone who dislikes kooky games with anime-inspired visuals, but its renewed blend of parody and pathos could be refreshing for genre veterans who have never dipped a toe into the series’ waters before.
