Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance is a huge game featuring complex turn-based combat and enough depth to intimidate newcomers. While it takes little effort to jump right in, taking advantage of the numerous features is a different story altogether! Here are some helpful tips (apart from my review!) to help players have an enjoyable experience and get the most out of the game.
1. Change the Audio
Perhaps the first thing every player should do is turn off the music and change the voice-overs to Japanese. The most annoying and hideously awful song in the game is forced upon players every time they fire it up, but thankfully it can be skipped. Coming in a close second is the awful song that endlessly loops when players are in the game's main hub. I can't imagine why the off-key singing was ever considered anything but grating to the ears. As for the voice acting, the English version is so over-the-top that it quickly becomes ridiculous. Switching to Japanese gives the game a more authentic anime feel.
2. Stack and Throw
One of the most useful—and unique—mechanics found in this game is the ability to stack characters for attack bonuses and/or throw them around. Every character can use iys turn to pick up adjacent characters and initiate powerful stacked attacks during the following turn. It's also possible to throw the top character around the battlefield. Not only does this let players move characters further, but they can also toss characters over gaps, up ledges, behind enemies, and into advantageous positions.
One little known fact is that the wrestling class can perform multiple throws if they stand still while characters are moved to them to be picked up and tossed. I use this feature constantly since the wrestler class has the furthest throwing range.
3. Experiment Before You Commit
I love how I can move characters freely within their movement range as much as they want until the character initiates an attack or other type of action. This lets me experiment with different move combinations, and I don't have to play out the moves for all ten characters in my head before I commit. It also lets me do things like arrange everyone who needs to be healed in a pattern, heal them with a spell, and then move them into their final positions to attack, defend, or use an item.
4. Take Advantage of the Grind
Some levels seem like they have an extreme difficulty spike, so it pays to take advantage of the numerous ways to grind. Not surprisingly, every level can be replayed as much as needed. In addition, the new Chara World lets players upgrade each character's basic attributes in a mini-game that's a short and sweet distraction from turn-based combat. Further grinding can be done in the Item World, which lets players upgrade each item while also gaining XP for each character they use. This can have a large impact as each item becomes much more powerful than what is available to purchase in shops. Lastly, each ability and/or spell can be upgraded in power and range by spending mana points at the ability vendor.
5. Maintain a Large Roster
With the ability to use up to ten characters during combat, it might seem like a good idea to keep some extras just in case one dies or a different class is needed. However, I suggest keeping a minimum of twenty characters. “Why so many” you may ask? Well, it's advantageous to send out parties to explore areas for bonus items and additional levels to play on, but the characters in these raiding parties won't be available to use during combat. Also, you never know what kind of character combination will work best on each level, so it's a good idea to have several in reserve.
6. Complete Side Quests
Up to ten side quests can be accepted that task players with everything from killing a certain type of enemy to finding treasure crates to upgrading abilities to a certain level. While it may seem like a waste of time, this is a great way to earn extra money. In addition, it's the only way to unlock certain character classes, and it's also possible to obtain useful spell scrolls and item rewards. There are usually more than twenty side quests available, so make sure to choose the ones that are likely to be completed ASAP.
7. Squads
Assembling squads is a really useful new ability that offers a wide variety of benefits. Every character can be placed into one squad, and each squad imparts a useful advantage to its squad members. For example, one squad lets everyone regain a portion of health with every turn while another transforms squad members into giants for the first few turns of each level. Believe me, it's worth the extra time and effort to experiment with squads as it can sometimes make or break a battle.
8. Address the Dark Assembly
It's easy to overlook the Dark Assembly, but this feature can impart some extremely useful advantages for units and equipment. To address the Dark Assembly, players choose a character and then select from several useful bills that offer bonuses like resetting the character of your choice, changing their color scheme, acquiring a sub-class, and much more. I think the most useful bill upgrades the items available at vendors, so I try to get it passed whenever possible. After a bill is presented, members of the Dark Assembly will vote, and unlike presidential elections, the majority vote rules. When players find it difficult to get a bill passed, they can bribe assembly members or even challenge them in combat.
