Disgaea 3 (I've never gone into less detail about this game)

This isn't a "review" because I'm not qualified enough for that. 

The only complaint I have about Disgaea 3...And it's not even a complaint, really, because it doesn't ACTUALLY bother me...Is that there's a door that clips Mao's head in the Academy. Minor detail, really, and you have to be standing RIGHT next to it for it to happen. Who cares. 

When you first start the game, you're introduced to Mao, an Honor Student at Demon Academy, and the Overlord's son. You learn that Mao wants to defeat the Overlord because he broke a video game he had spent 4 million hours playing. (Who WOULDN'T be upset in that situation??) The story progresses from there, and you're introduced to a bunch of new and equally interesting characters. 

If you think it sounds stupid...Give it a chance. Disgaea 3 has a very deep story. No, that isn't a joke, nor is it sarcasm. In fact, I'll even say I prefer Disgaea 3's story to Super Mario RPG's story. Whether or not that makes Disgaea 3 my new favorite game or not, I've yet to determine. Super Mario RPG has held a special place in my heart since I was a kid, and I'm not ready to let a "new" game come in and take over. I do love it though. 

I completed the main story...I'm going to say in about 47 hours. On my save file, it says that I've played for 59 hours so far, but that's 2 hours of post-game play, and I also left the game running several times while I got distracted by other things. The 47 hours I played it includes a lot of level grinding as well. Mao is still only at level 92...Out of 9,999. 

That time also includes time spent in the Item World, Class World and trying to pass topics in Homeroom. Post-game, there are extra maps you can play through as well, if you can get the representatives to pass the topic, either through bribery or force. There are many other features of the game that I've yet to try, as I did a blind run of the game. I'll be looking through a guide soon so I can go back and try everything I missed, and from what I can tell...There's a lot that still needs to be done. 

As I understand it, you can also play through the game again with the characters you've already acquired if you talk to the Time Traveler. (I haven't attempted this yet, so don't hold me to it.) Regardless, you can play through the maps in chapters 1 through 7 anyway. It's probably worth it to talk to him, though, because Disgaea 3 has several different endings. 

Overall, it's a fun game with an amazing story and if you have a PS3, it would be the first game I would recommend to you. And if you don't have a PS3...I would suggest getting one for Disgaea 3 alone.