[MASSIVE SPOILERS for all three games.]
I honestly don't hate Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. It's a great game. It's just...I feel like I've been speedrunning this entire series since November. Non-stop. It probably doesn't seem like it, since I end the games with 40 - 60 hours on the clock, but...I did fly through them. You could easily spend the next five years on any of the three Disgaea titles. That's not a complaint, I'm glad there's so much content. I'm just frustrated because I rushed through Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, and when I got to Cursed Memories, it was like it wanted to screw me over. And I'm not sure if it's a problem with the game, or if it's my own fault. I'm too over-confident because I did very well with the other two games...
This is all more of the same. I've posted it before. The unlockable Mid-Boss map? I tried SEVERAL times to win the fight against him. I couldn't do it. I thought maybe I would just let it go for a while, play through more of the game, level up and try it again...You can't do that. After a certain point (though I'm not sure which point that is), the map disappears. And you can't play it for the rest of the game. My advice would be not to spend the mana to unlock this stage until the second cycle. (Umm....That's actually my advice for all of the extra stages, but we'll come back to that later.)
Then there's the Dark World. There's an entire post on that issue already, so I won't go through it again.
I think my biggest issue with Disgaea 2 is the story. In Hour of Darkness, you see how, after meeting Flonne, Laharl slowly begins to change and become...A better demon. Or a worse demon, depending on how you look at it. He was willing to sacrifice his own life in order to save hers, something he NEVER would have done at the start of the game. In Absence of Justice, Mao states that he wants to defeat his father for destroying his video games, but when he finally opens his heart when he thinks Almaz, who somehow became his friend through everything, died, the truth is revealed. His father is already dead, but his soul can't rest. There's more to it than that, but what I'm saying is...These characters go through dramatic changes by the end of the game, and in Cursed Memories, everything felt sort of...Hollow.
Adell didn't go through any changes, other than not hating girls anymore. Oh, and it's implied that he's actually a demon, not a human. In the normal ending, this is never actually confirmed (though I have no doubt that he IS a demon). And I actually think the fact that he's a demon is completely lost on him. He's just THAT dense. I guess having a clue isn't "his style." ("That's just my style" is his favorite phrase, he says it 1200 times throughout the course of the game.) He even goes on about it to Etna (yes, THAT Etna) before she gets ready to DESTROY him:
Etna: Agh. You hot-blooded punks are always such a pain. Maybe I should just put him outta his misery.
Rozalin: No, wait...!
Etna: I'll make this easy. Just tell me where Overlord Zenon is.
Rozalin: But...
Etna: If that's how you want it... This is your last chance.
Rozalin: ...I... can't tell you.
Etna: Wow. You're a cold-hearted bitch. Hmm, sorry boy toy, you heard the princess.
Adell: I don't care... I choose to fight...! All my life... I've always had my own style!!
Etna: Aww, how touching. Now you get to die in your own style, too.
Seriously, that last line that she uttered was my FAVORITE one in the entire game. I'm glad SOMEONE said it.
Back to Adell though. He's got this obsession for fighting, and Rozalin calls him out on it several times, but...It never goes anywhere. It's never explained. There's no reason for the enjoyment he gets out of killing these demons. He's excited about it for no reason. None that I was able to find, anyway. It's not that I don't like Adell...I didn't mind any of the characters...I'm just not overly fond of him like Mao, Etna, Flonne and Laharl.
Rozalin isn't a very endearing character. She goes through practically no change throughout the game at all. In fact, she gets progressively WORSE. Right up until the end, when Adell shuts her up (FINALLY) by kissing her, she calls him her enemy. She probably doesn't mean it when she goes back to her normal bitch form instead of that crazy killer-bitch Overlord Zenon form, but she's still stubborn and condescending. Even in Disgaea 3, when you unlock her, she's terrible. For example:
Rozalin: Any student would be lucky to have me. I won't ask for too much in return. Only 10 million HL.
Mao: Only!? ...Can I punch her in the face? Just once?
Mao: Well, let's begin the practical test! Be warned, you may lose your life! Muhahaha!
Almaz: (Hmm...I think he just wants to punch her.)
Rozalin: I...lost!
Mao: Do you see now!?
Almaz: (...I knew it! See? He just wanted to punch her.)
Rozalin: I thought I finally found a job that suits me...I couldn't find one in Veldime. One with a 6-day weekend, 1-hour shifts, monthly bonuses, free meals, and nap time afterwards...
Almaz: There's no job like that anywhere! ...I kinda wanna punch her now, too.
I don't want to spend much time discussing Yukimaru, I'd just like to point out that "zam" will never catch on the way "dood" did when the prinnies started saying it at the end of every sentence. Sorry. It's just not going to happen.
And then...There's Axel. As with Mid-Boss in the original Disgaea, you are forced to fight him several times throughout the game AND suffer through his stupidity. He's not nearly as interesting as Mid-Boss turned out to be, but he's likable in his own right, even if you do find yourself constantly rolling your eyes when he speaks.
Axel: Well, hello there.
Adell: I don't want your stupid autograph! I want your life!!
Axel: ...Huh? Wait, am I on Screw'd?
Oh, and good news for anyone that's a fan of the "Dark Hero." Disgaea 2 is going to be released on the PSP and "Axel Mode" has been confirmed for it.
...I've wasted enough time talking about HIM now.
There are two battles you're meant to lose in Disgaea 2. Can you guess who you're fighting? Etna. And Laharl. I understand why Etna was in this game...She wants the title of "God of All Overlords." Whatever. Fine. And Laharl wants his vassal back. Sure. It makes sense. But their appearance seems sort of misplaced and unnecessary. You can get Laharl and Flonne to join your party by beating some of the extra maps the game offers. Etna, on the other hand, will automatically join you (or "stalk" you as she likes to say) after a summoning ritual goes wrong and her level goes all the way down to one. Upon hearing this news, the prinnies decide to revolt, and it's pure gold.
Compared to the hell you're put through in this game, the last boss is a joke. Isn't that always the way? There were two points that I had to turn the game off because the fights were impossible to complete. I didn't lose them, I just honestly could NOT win them. Episode 13-2 is a NIGHTMARE if you don't crawl through it. The entire map is covered in No Lifting/Enemy Boost x3 geo panels. And if that's not bad enough, besides all the other enemies you face, there's a Wood Giant that regenerates health at the end of every turn. I thought I could rush the enemies with all of my strongest characters, while ignoring the Enemy Boost x3 geo symbol. I was able to kill everyone except for the Wood Giant, and he killed everyone except Adell. I was at a standstill with him for a half hour before I finally gave up. I would damage him, he would damage me...A lot. He would regain health at the end of the turn, I would have to heal on the next turn without doing any damage to him, and then by the end of that turn, he would be at full health again. Like I said. Impossible.
Then there's the geo-maze in Episode 6-2. (This game ABUSES geo panels, by the way. To the point where it's not fun, it's just incredibly irritating.) Adell tells you before the battle even starts that you have to attack the red geo symbol. The map is literally a maze, with walls of No Entry panels blocking you from going anywhere. Without switching the camera angle, I wasn't able to see which way I was supposed to go and assumed that hitting a different symbol would clear the way a bit. Stupid assumption. Sure, the No Entry panels were no longer a problem, but in their place? An entire map filled with Invincibility panels. Once again, impossible.
As for those extra maps...If you plan on starting a second cycle, you shouldn't waste your time unlocking them (unless you want to use them for level grinding). Starting a new cycle makes the stages disappear and you're forced to unlock them again. Save your mana. The only stage I would recommend unlocking on a first playthrough is the Prism Ranger map. It's pathetically easy, but it's also very amusing:
Adell: Don't you guys have any kind of standards?
Red Prism: We had no choice! They were the only ones who showed up when we called for volunteers! I mean, it's not like we don't have a ton of friends! We do! There's seven of us here now--so there!!
Adell: Okay, man. Calm down. I'm just saying, when I look at you guys it makes me want to cry.
Rozalin: I don't get anything...? Well, can't I be Prism Pink...
(That's who I would want to be, too.)
Oh...Just as a side note. The World of Disgaea 2 (an amazing, beautiful art book) confirms that Mid-Boss was Laharl's father. I know I said in another post that the original World of Disgaea book confirmed that, but...If you need further proof. Here it is.
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