Help me find a portable Disgaea

May 25, 2006 1:40 PM

What's a Disgaea-like game for the GBA/Nintendo DS?

I enjoy almost all the Nippon Ichi games on PS2 and currently my favorite is Disgaea. Is there a game like Disgaea but for the GBA or DS?

Things I like about Disgaea and would love to see in a game:
- complete control over a character's stats and equipment
- anime inspiried character designs
- silly story-telling

I know there are a couple of strategy-rpgs out there for GBA, but I haven't really found one that I like as much as Disgaea. So far, I've played and not really liked:

- Advance Wars: too little control over your character/commander's stats
- Fire Emblem: It seemed like Advance Wars, but with people.

The only game I've played that comes close is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and I did like that, but after beating it, I don't feel the urge to play it again.

posted by nakedsushi to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

Maybe Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis (also from Atlus)? It's been recommended to me on multiple occasions in the same breath as FFTA and it seems similar enough to Disgaea.
posted by aparrish at 2:19 PM on May 25, 2006

Just a note, I played partway through Knight of Lodis and it didn't feel anything like Disgaea (granted, I didn't actually play the latter, but I was sitting in the background while my fiancée played it for something like a hundred+ hours, so I got a good idea ;)).

Not being a huge tactics fan, I haven't heard of any others besides the ones you've mentioned, sorry.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 2:44 PM on May 25, 2006

There's been a lot of desire for a Disgaea-like game lately, but nobody has come close. N1's Makai Kingdom was quite similar, as you might know.

Trouble is for you, Nintendo is steering the DS towards a whole new style of gaming. Now, if you want a game that's legendary for control over stats, try River City Ransom. It's not a strategy game, it's a brawler. Still, it has the rest you like about Disgaea, and most RPG/strategy gamers I know have loved both the NES and GBA versions.

I'd personally suggest Shining Force, although there's pretty minimal control over stats/equipment, using a decent sized character roster for variation in that case.

If you're willing to go beyond GBA/DS, get Generations of Chaos for PSP. It's a Nippon Ichi game, and for all my love for them, those guys are horribly formulaic about their strategy RPGs.

It's not what you asked for precisely, but I doubt there's anything that fits that criteria. Hopefully something I mentioned will suffice.
posted by Saydur at 3:01 PM on May 25, 2006

If you liked FFTA okay, you'll probably like knights of lodis. I like knights of lodis better actually, but ymmv.
posted by juv3nal at 4:06 PM on May 25, 2006

Perhaps you might enjoy Final Fantasy I&II (one cartridge) or Golden Sun? Golden Sun (RPG with 4 heroes like FF1 fighting alongside each other) is pretty much the entire reason I bought the GBA. I had downloaded the ROM and liked it so much I bought it. Golden Sun has lots of class changes that you can transform each person into, even as soon as multiple times between battles by assigning these weird beastie kinds of powerups. Also has really dramatic attacks -- good stuff overall, I'd say, and lots of puzzle-solving.
posted by vanoakenfold at 1:13 AM on May 26, 2006

Thanks for th advice guys. I got Tactics Ogre but haven't started playing it yet, but hopefully I'll enjoy it like I did FFTA.

vanoakenfold, I've played FFI and Golden Sun 2 and liked both, but they're turn based RPGs, so not exactly what I want to play when I need my strategy RPG fix, but thanks anyway. You just reminded me I have to go back and finish FFII.
posted by nakedsushi at 10:07 AM on May 26, 2006