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.

The only game in the main series to not get a PC port, and honestly I can see why.

Disgaea 3 isn't bad, its gameplay is good, improvements and mechanics made here will be carried over to later games, it's a first look at a Disgaea game on later system hardware, it is indeed a Disgaea game.

But thats kinda just it, it's a Disgaea game, without anything exceptional about it. Despite being the first game on the Playstation 3, it's not HD, the spritework still looks the same as D1 and D2. Now not inherently a problem, disgaea's spritework has always looked excellent, It's very notciable once you've seen 4 onwards. Laziness or time restraints, your judgement.

On the topic of nothing exceptional, the cast. I actually have a differing opinion than most when it comes to Mao, alot of people hate him and think he's annoying, but personally he's the best part of the game. He's the perfect protagonist for a disgaea game, he's entertaining to watch and played to perfection by the VA's, the issue comes with everyone else being exceptionally unexceptional. This cast is forgettable, I cannot tell you most of who they are and frankly don't really care to, and a forgettable cast leads to a forgettable story.

The main narrative hook is very fun, Mao wanting to use the power of trops and heros to defeat his father, but the story never feels like much of interest is actually happening. I cannot tell you most story beats in this game, and while yes alot of it comes down to time, even with other games in the series I've not played in awhile I can recall most of what happens in their stories. I just can't do that here, nothing stuck with me.

This game isn't bad but it's the most nothing installment in the series, If it never comes to PC or gets a complete edition, I won't be very upset. I'm more upset my steam collection goes D1, 2 ,4, 5, 6, 7 than about actually owning the game again.

A very fast step up from D1 in terms of gameplay and general quality of life. The item world no longer has that issue of screwing you over randomly, new mechanics introduced will be seen throughout most the franchise going forward, and a post game that feels more in line with what to expect going forward. All these improvements have to have a downside, and it does: The cast of 2 just isn't the cast of 1.

I love D2's cast, Rozalin is one of my favourite characters in the series period, but Adell isn't as fun a protagonist as Laharal, the siblings aren't amazing standouts, Axel completely ruins the point I'm making I love Axel so much, and Etna being apart of the main cast feels like they realised this exact issue at some point. Also theres a frog.

2 is still a great entry in the series, but it felt like some steps forward came with some steps back, thankfully alot more steps was done in the right direction.

I love Disgaea 1, I played it on a whim after finding it on the PS2 in a second hand store and fell in love with the franchise since. The cast and story of D1 are arguably still the best in the franchise to this day.

While I love D1 and the memories I hold with it, Oh my god this game is a nightmare to go back to after playing later enteries. This game is hard, and not in terms of difficulty (It is also really difficult), but in terms of the quality of life introduced in later enteries.

The Item World's random generation is one of the most fun aspects to play with, as it gives a unique challenge every single time you run through it, but any run in the item world can be very suddenly and abruptly screwed over by terrible RNG, the exit being unreachable or enemies just being too far away to kill is a extremely common occurance that set me back hours sometimes. I'd love to say D1 Complete fixes this issue but I'd be a liar if I did.

This is ignoring other QOA improvements made later in the franchise, like making turns go by faster or generally making post game grinding more enjoyable, but fun the first attempt at this you have to give it some level of slack (Again wish I could say D1 complete fixes any of this)

This game set a great foundation for the rest of the series, and even now they love to bring the D1 cast back as much as possible because of how likeable and iconic they are.

This is easily the most fun Disgaea game in terms of gameplay and quality of life improvements, and good lord is it carrying what would otherwise be a weaker entry it it wasn't THAT fun to just play.

The cast is very hit or miss, the story is one of the most generic in the franchise, and Killia is easily my least favourite Disgaea protagonist.

I love D5 as a game and have sunk far more hours than reasonable into it, but it's purely from a gameplay perspective for me.