Story wise, this game is one of the stupidest and least needed in the entire franchise. Gameplay wise, a lot of new additions are very welcome to the franchise going forward.
Disgaea stories have always been very hit or miss, there's a not too unpopular opinion that D1 is the only good story the franchise ever had, but DD2 is known for how not great it is. A lot of new characters get added, new lore around the D1 cast get established, unneeded things happen (Laharal-Chan was very strange) and more. It feels like filler, and it's how I choose to engage with DD2, It's dumb filler that won't ever really be important. The D1 cast are mostly relegated to DLC that can be ignored in later games and even there, most the events here aren't really mentioned.
If you really care about Disgaea's story, you'll hate this, if you're willing to just let it be some dumb fun with some exceptionally good gameplay, you'll have a blast.
Disgaea stories have always been very hit or miss, there's a not too unpopular opinion that D1 is the only good story the franchise ever had, but DD2 is known for how not great it is. A lot of new characters get added, new lore around the D1 cast get established, unneeded things happen (Laharal-Chan was very strange) and more. It feels like filler, and it's how I choose to engage with DD2, It's dumb filler that won't ever really be important. The D1 cast are mostly relegated to DLC that can be ignored in later games and even there, most the events here aren't really mentioned.
If you really care about Disgaea's story, you'll hate this, if you're willing to just let it be some dumb fun with some exceptionally good gameplay, you'll have a blast.