Having skipped D6 because I didn't like many of the changes to that title, I ended up enjoying D7 quite a bit. It feels like it took many good parts of D5 and D6 and made it into a fun game.
The main takeaway from D6 is the Juice Bar that can store and distribute excess EXP, Mana and some stats to anybody you want. This makes it easy to get low leveled allies up to speed and it's very important for the post game. D6's auto battle function is still here, but it's now a limited function. I didn't use it much, but it's nice that it's there.
Class proficiency and stat extracts are still here from D5. With the use of the juice bar and the new hospital gacha mechanic, farming stat extracts is a lot quicker and easier to do than in D5.
What's now gone are Chara World which is a positive for me. Transferring evilities, skills and getting standard upgrades like Movement up are now delegated to the Dark Assembly. This saves a ton of time compared to what D5 had going on.
The biggest addition and change is the Item World. This has left me with mixed feelings. One one hand, Item World is a mere 30 floor place now compared to 100+ in previous titles. On the other hand, perfecting or just making great items feels more like a convoluted and confusing process than anything else before. Fortunately, Item World isn't even really needed to advance.
The main story can be cleared without the Item World. Most shocking though to veteran players is that Item World isn't even needed to clear the post game including Baal and his harder Carnage version stages.
The overall simplified and streamlined mechanics does make it feel like a beginner friendly Disgaea title (for a Disgaea game anyway).
As for the negatives, I just have some minor ones. There aren't really any recurring NIS character seen in the post game or even as DLC.
The story starts off interesting and remains consistent throughout. Entertaining and with some touching moments. Even though it doesn't really have any really high moments, it was still a good story.
Comedy is frequent and on point. I never felt particularly annoyed at the comedy moments here unlike in D4.
The main cast is solid. Fuji is interesting as a MC and despite how he's portrayed early on, he plays the role of the straight man in the group filled with weirdos. His backstory is also interesting and has good depth.
Long time veteran composer Tenpei Sato did not composed the OST. Instead, the ones that did the Cruel King and the Great Hero were called to do the new OST. It doesn't sound like Disgaea overall, but I enjoyed the new OST regardless. It's probably my favorite in the series.
Overall, D7 is a great title in the series which simplifies and streamlines a lot of excess padding. It took me about 20 hours to clear the main story and 61 hours to get the Platinum so it's short for a Disgaea game. My biggest issue is that the new 3D models don't look as appealing as the HD sprites. Fortunately, I got used to them at this point and they do look okay now.
The main takeaway from D6 is the Juice Bar that can store and distribute excess EXP, Mana and some stats to anybody you want. This makes it easy to get low leveled allies up to speed and it's very important for the post game. D6's auto battle function is still here, but it's now a limited function. I didn't use it much, but it's nice that it's there.
Class proficiency and stat extracts are still here from D5. With the use of the juice bar and the new hospital gacha mechanic, farming stat extracts is a lot quicker and easier to do than in D5.
What's now gone are Chara World which is a positive for me. Transferring evilities, skills and getting standard upgrades like Movement up are now delegated to the Dark Assembly. This saves a ton of time compared to what D5 had going on.
The biggest addition and change is the Item World. This has left me with mixed feelings. One one hand, Item World is a mere 30 floor place now compared to 100+ in previous titles. On the other hand, perfecting or just making great items feels more like a convoluted and confusing process than anything else before. Fortunately, Item World isn't even really needed to advance.
The main story can be cleared without the Item World. Most shocking though to veteran players is that Item World isn't even needed to clear the post game including Baal and his harder Carnage version stages.
The overall simplified and streamlined mechanics does make it feel like a beginner friendly Disgaea title (for a Disgaea game anyway).
As for the negatives, I just have some minor ones. There aren't really any recurring NIS character seen in the post game or even as DLC.
The story starts off interesting and remains consistent throughout. Entertaining and with some touching moments. Even though it doesn't really have any really high moments, it was still a good story.
Comedy is frequent and on point. I never felt particularly annoyed at the comedy moments here unlike in D4.
The main cast is solid. Fuji is interesting as a MC and despite how he's portrayed early on, he plays the role of the straight man in the group filled with weirdos. His backstory is also interesting and has good depth.
Long time veteran composer Tenpei Sato did not composed the OST. Instead, the ones that did the Cruel King and the Great Hero were called to do the new OST. It doesn't sound like Disgaea overall, but I enjoyed the new OST regardless. It's probably my favorite in the series.
Overall, D7 is a great title in the series which simplifies and streamlines a lot of excess padding. It took me about 20 hours to clear the main story and 61 hours to get the Platinum so it's short for a Disgaea game. My biggest issue is that the new 3D models don't look as appealing as the HD sprites. Fortunately, I got used to them at this point and they do look okay now.