Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is set in a different Netherworld than one we have seen before, this time having a samurai setting. As the game begins, we meet two characters, Fuji, a wandering samurai with no honour and Piririka, who is a Bushido-obsessed fangirl. Piririka is on a quest to find the seven legendary weapons, and after noticing how much money she has, Fuji decides to help her in order to get money to cover his debts. The rest of the characters are just as zany, and the antics are classic Disgaea fun.
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is, like the rest of the series, a tactical RPG, where you have a team of various warriors, mages, and demons to control, and who will learn new skills as they level up. These new skills will range from healing to powerful attacks, and each character type will play a different role. One aspect of the Disgaea series is the lifting and throwing of characters and here any character can pick up and throw every other character to move them around, such as to get your most powerful unit deeper into enemy territory passed enemy units or throwing enemies away from healers. There is a new type of throw as well in the form of monster throws, where monster units will launch automatically when something is thrown on top of them, adding a new level of strategy to the game.
Another returning element is the Geo Panels, where Geo Crystals placed on Geo Panels will apply their effect to all panels of the same colour. This can lead to both helpful and unhelpful actions such as boosting your stats or making your enemies more powerful. Just like before though, you can lift, throw, and destroy Geo Crystals to remove their effects or get a new one. One new mechanic is the Jumbify ability that allows one of your characters to grow bigger than an entire stage to cause mayhem and much damage. It is difficult to pull off, but can achieve a great result, but your enemies can do it as well, and that can be a deep challenge.
The 3D art style has gotten an overhaul from Disgaea 6 and this is for the better. It may not be a return to the classic style, but it looks much easier on the eyes and feels much more in line with what came before. The music is also great and Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless has some of the best sound in the series so far.
Overall, Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is excellent and with over 40 classes this time around, this feels like a best-of-game in some ways. The fan-favourite classes return from prior games, and the new additions stand out very well. The one issue Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless has is that it really ramps up the difficulty, and can be an extremely punishing experience, especially with increased costs for healing between battles.
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is a good step forward for the series, even with the steep difficulty and is an easy game to recommend, both for long-time fans and for fans of tactical RPGs. This is a fun experience and an excellent new entry to play.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
