A question for hardcore Disgaea fans

[sirhansirhan]

Okay, I own the PS2 Disgaea, the PSP Disgaea, and am planning on buying the upcoming DS Disgaea. These are all the same game, more or less.

My PS2 Disgaea file is the biggest/best, but I have far from done everything to do in the game. My characters are pretty huge, but no where near huge enough to start taking down the level 3000+ enemies that are hidden in the game (of course I've beaten the main game long ago).

Disgaea is one of my favorite games of all time, and I find myself in the mood to play it fairly often. With my other favorite games (Earthbound, Final Fantasy VI, Battletoads, Toejam & Earl, etc.), when I'm in the mood to play them, I start a game from scratch and beat it. But with Disgaea, since after all of this time there's still stuff to do, does it make more sense to start a new game from scratch or to pick up my old file and get bigger and maybe eventually do everything there is to do?

An option, of course, is to play the main campaign with my big file, as I get both the pleasure of playing the main game all the way through and making my good save file's party a lot stronger, except that the party is already so powerful, the main story will neither be difficult nor will it give my characters enough experience to be worthwhile.

I realize that the obvious answer to this question is that I should do whichever sounds better at the time, except that so far my PSP version has been pretty neglected, and my upcoming DS one will probably be similarly ignored. So, my question is, what do you guys do? How many times have you beaten the main story of Disagea across different files/systems, and how much do you favor that over making one single file full of huge characters?

[G-Boobie]

For myself, I kept working on a single PS2 save for a long, long time. The game is so ridiculously huge that spreading my efforts over more than one file seemed almost counter productive, especially when you hit high level play and decide to tackle the big boys in alternate Netherworlds.

That's the important distinction right there, though; after a while, it becomes actual work. To hit the highest levels requires grinding like crazy and exploiting the Item World for hours and hours, which stops being truly 'fun' after a while. To relieve the pressure of grinding like an idiot, I'd sometimes run through the main quest. It stays amusing even after repeated viewings.

I have a seriously ridiculous Disgaea PS2 file; I'm actually embarrassed about the time I've put into that game(nearly 300 hours over four years). Laharl, Etna, and three Majin are maxed out at level 9999. I have a few spellcasters at level 5000 or so, and a bunch of scrubs at level 1000 and below(mostly discarded 'pupils' for Laharl and Co.). I've gotten every ending, killed Baal and all the hidden bosses, and probably done everything there is to do in the game at least once. I loved every minute of it.

My PSP file is much more humble. Laharl is level fifty or so and leads the pack significantly. It'll probably stay right about there until the end of time: I broke Disgaea for myself, unfortunately.

[carlcarlson]

I'm with Boobie, I stick with one save file. I've never actually beaten the game but there is so much to do (I'm at 90+ hours) there is no need to start over. Even after you finish the story-line it can take you hundreds of hours to do everything. Might as well just keep pumping up your party.

Also, unlike most rpgs (yes I know, this is an Srpg) you can pick this one up after months off with no troubles since the story isn't incredibly important. I stopped Tales of Symphonia half-way through and know that if I ever go back to it I'll have to start over. That's not the case with Disgaea, I've picked it after not playing for almost a year and didn't feel lost at all. It's such an amazing game.

[FlufflePuff]

I can't say I ever went that hardcore with Disgaea. I think i finished with my guys at or around level 100. If I did decide to play it again I would probably keep going with the same save file. I never was able to get very deep into the Item World and I would like to see more of that stuff.

[ProgrammingAce]

The PSP disgaea is signifigantly easier due to some design changes (the chance for rare weapons is greately increased) and a bug (glitched farsight). I was able to take down Prinny Baal in less then 3 weeks.

There's only one ending i haven't gotten, where you beat the crap out of the assembly 100 times.

[namzep]

I've been playing on the same Disgaea save file but I think I'm at only about the 50 hour mark (Laharl is level 37 or something and several levels higher than any one else). Once the DS version comes out, I'll probably pick it up and start over again. However, whenever I play the PS2 version I just pick it up and play from where I last left off.

[chicnstu]

An option, of course, is to play the main campaign with my big file, as I get both the pleasure of playing the main game all the way through and making my good save file's party a lot stronger, except that the party is already so powerful, the main story will neither be difficult nor will it give my characters enough experience to be worthwhile.

Does the first Disgaea include the Dark Assembly option of making the enemies stronger?

[G-Boobie]

Does the first Disgaea include the Dark Assembly option of making the enemies stronger?

Yeah, but after a point it doesn't even matter. When you hit level 300 or so, no matter how you beef up the enemies, anything the main quest can throw at you is super easy.

[heybtbm]

I have a seriously ridiculous Disgaea PS2 file; I'm actually embarrassed about the time I've put into that game(nearly 300 hours over four years). Laharl, Etna, and three Majin are maxed out at level 9999. I have a few spellcasters at level 5000 or so, and a bunch of scrubs at level 1000 and below(mostly discarded 'pupils' for Laharl and Co.). I've gotten every ending, killed Baal and all the hidden bosses, and probably done everything there is to do in the game at least once. I loved every minute of it.

That is awesome. I've never been patient enough to get any of my characters to level 9999. It may be a possibility in the future though. I'm planning on a major time investment for Disgaea 3 (coming out in two weeks).

[Cryomancer]

There is almost always some form of a levelling cheese method. Throwing enemies together and abusing invincibility squares, usually. I use those. Or cheat, after playing for multiple hundred hours. There's a point where I just go "ok I have blown enough time playing this legitimately now".