Nintendo Was "Extremely Supportive" Of Nippon Ichi During Switch Development Of Disgaea 5

I'm currently making slow progress through Labyrinth of Refrain, a title of NIS's that originally launched on Vita and got ported to Switch. I honestly think NIS titles serve a market and a niche Nintendo themselves probably couldn't, and if this cooperation between the two companies leads to a long-term support of the Switch by the company, not to mention some new, original software for it, then it's absolutely a good thing for everybody involved.

I'm glad we got this version of Refrain in the west because, frankly, while I'd have played and loved it just the same on my Vita, there's really something to be said for the convenience of just docking the console when my eyes hurt and I need a larger screen - doing that with the Vita required a whole other piece of hardware and a painful "move the memory card and the game to the Vita TV and hope nothing breaks" process that took multiple minutes at the best of times.

If I'm wanting to try out this series, which would be the better entry-point, Disgaea 5 Complete or Disgaea 1 Complete?

@tudsworth

Yeah, with your last point I totally agree and hope all major console companies go the Switch route in the future. I haven't owned a PlayStation since the PS2 because I got into PC gaming and only continued purchasing Nintendo consoles because I'm such a huge fan of their first party titles. However if the PS5 ripped off the Switch and was a hybrid I'd totally buy one. I just don't have a reason to purchase a PlayStation/Xbox when they're trying so hard to be a PC. Consoles to me need a cool gimmick to set them apart, and my Nintendo bias aside, the Switch has the coolest gimmick of any console I've ever owned.

I actually got this not too long ago, kinda hard to go back and forth between this and other games...but it's fun.

@alpha5099 Every game in the series can be your first game.
Basically 5 has the most up to date mechanics, including the cheat menu (I don't believe 1 complete has it? correct me if I'm wrong).

The 1st one has a story and character everyone loves (which is helpful when you start a never ending game).

It's a trade off, I guess. Do you want the more advanced gameplay but might be too complex to start, or the original gameplay that might be easier to apprehend but without some of the quality of life additions of the later games?

@alpha5099 In addition to @neufel 's statement, I'd like to add I was a newbie as well when it launched on Switch (I have the Japanese edition of Disgaea 5 Complete), and it is a LOT to take in. Like, a LOT.

I needed to completely unanimously focus on Disgaea 5 for at least 30-40 hours without focusing on any other game to make sure all the knowledge actually stuck, because you've being thrust through a thousand game mechanics in a relatively short amount of time, as well as a funky story you're trying to follow.

Disgaea 1 Complete is a BIT simpler, but still has a lot going. In terms of content, I'd suggest Disgaea 5, but as far as starting out goes, Disgaea 1 is definitely my recommendation, as a few mechanics and types of content are missing (due to the game being older).

Do remember that Disgaea 1 and Disgaea 5 have a bit of a visual difference as well, due to D5 being current-gen and D1 originating on what, the ps2? xD

I'm really glad they're embracing the Switch so completely. Disgaea games are best on portable systems. Now I can play 3/4 Complete on Vita and 5/future games on the Switch.

I loved Disgaea 5! And that's why I picked up Disgaea 1 complete too. But I am having a harder time getting into 1. I could be mis-remembering but I swear healers gained exp for healing in 5. But in 1 they don't seem to. And further, it seems like you only get exp for getting the kill, attacking and injuring an enemy seems to net you nothing. It's making it really hard to progress. Also the mage I made is utterly worthless, doing basically nothing every battle and dying in to much weaker enemies.

Edit google tells me I am right. I guess I will have to wait for Disgaea 6 to get another fix of Disgaea, or just figure out how to play 1 without a viable healer or mage.

@neufel Hi I bought Disgaea 5 complete when it launched on Switch but as it was my first time playing Disgaea I did find it kinda overwhelming to the point I got a bit confused and stoped playing whitch I'm sad to admit, because I loved the humor of the crazy characters, maybe Ill give it another try when I have finnished with Diablo 3.

I hope they bring langrisser 1 and 2 to the west.

@Varubajia Disgaea 5 was also my first one and yeah it's really obscure, especially if you're accustomed to "normal" rpgs where you're expected to follow the story with just a few grinding spots.

I thought that gamefaqs and other "tips for beginners" are super useful. Don't be ashamed to do that.
Same for videos like those https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxffiYlx1DM
It's things like that, that teach you how bad you're supposed to break the rules of the games to just play it.

@neufel Thanks for the link I'll check it out

I recently discovered Disgaea 5, while looking back at Switch physical games for something to play, and played the demo. At first I though it's not for me, but the demo and a few you tube reviews seems to have me hooked. Then Disgaea 1 was released and I am considering if I should start with Disgaea 1. Reviews are mixed about this.

I hope they bring more of their games over, Disgaea in particular. Just please, put them in a month where nothing else is going on. Despite what some of the doomsayers were telling everyone, the last few months felt more packed than they needed to be. Granted, I keep spreading out to more genres and niches as I get older, but still.

Waiting to clear some of my holiday single player backlog before I pick up Disgaea 1. Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4, Starlink: Secret Starfox game, Diablo 3, and Dark Souls are enough for now. Lol

@alpha5099 I can't speak for one, but 5 tells its own story. There are references to the original in lore and stuff, but as far as I've gotten I've not been playing characters from the first game or continuing plot threads from previous entries. It seems pretty happy to do its own thing.

@alpha5099 I played both, disgaea 1 on the DS and the 5 on my switch. The story from 1 is from my perspective more interesting than the 5. But the 5 has a longer one and you can do more things in 5 than 1. On top the one has multiple endings, most of them are quite nice (if i remeber well there are 8).

I've 500 hours played on D1 on my DS and now around 230h on D5 so no matter which one you buy, if you like RPGs and love to do everything (like leveling up to maximum, getting all weapons etc) you are good to go with both

@FTPinkRabbit yeah one don't have to play D1-4 to understand the story of D5 since it plays in another Netherworld

seriously a portable console that comes with 2 controllers is so convenient, been doing local multiplayer meet ups

I bought this, but it's on my backlog still lol.

I really wish I didn't suck at Disgaea! Cool series....I'm just no good at it

I've bought every release from NIS America. They are easily one of my favorite third party publishers on Switch. Their 2019 list of games looks great. RPG Maker MV, The Caligula Effect, The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince, The Princess Guide, Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists, etc.

@NEStalgia I mean, if you can play Fire Emblem or Advance Wars, you should at least be able to clear the story missions in Disgaea games. There's a ton of complexity, but most of it's optional.

@Ralizah I suck at Fire Emblem, too Something about the gameplay doesn't work with my brain for whatever reason. With Disgaea I'm fine up until Geos come up. Once they enter, I lose all ability to do anything.

@NEStalgia Everyone is that way with something. I can't grok Puyo Puyo or team sports games (to the point where I find playing even Blitzball in FFX to be an impossible task).

@Ralizah LOL, well I share those limitations as well. I mean I get Puyo. If you gave me like 10 hours or so I could solve the puzzle. But don't ask me to do it quickly. I'll just panic and drop Puyos everywhere.

Blitzball is just broken. It has nothing to do with sports games

@NEStalgia I can play Puyo Puyo at a basic level. I beat the story mode in Puyo Puyo Tetris, after all. With that said, the moment I go up against someone who REALLY knows their Puyo Puyo game, I crack. I have a hard time setting up chains larger than three or four at a time, and I only achieved that after dozens of hours of practice.

Thankfully, I'm pretty good at Tetris.

|sf>Between Disgaea 5 or 1, I think starting with 5 is a good idea. Each character in 5 can equip 2 weapons, whereas they only equip one weapon at a time in 1.

Also as I've been playing 1, the enemies seem harder to beat in part because 5 came with the option to use powerful DLC copies of old Disgaea characters in your party. More importantly the difficulty in 1 appears to ramp up more quickly in the game when compared to 5, requiring more grinding in order to stay alive.

Don't get me wrong--they're both fantastic games with lovable characters and an addictive combat engine, but 5 was easier for me to play than 1. (That being said, I'm not going to give up on 1, but my progress in the game is a slower pace.)

@alpha5099 I see you've gotten a ton of responses already but I figured I'd throw my 2 cents in anyways;

Disgaea 5 is the better game, no contest. Better mechanics, better cast of characters, and a better story that is still plenty humorous and crazy but also memorable due to how relevant it is for anyone. We can all relate to stories about personal growth and the danger of being solely driven by revenge/hate.

Disgaea 5 is also a prequel to the rest of the series.

There are so many great NISA games coming to Switch, it feels like there's 2-3 in a month. There's still so much to do in Disgaea 5, how can I ever keep up with their output?