Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories follows on from the cult tactical RPG Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and brings a new story about a young man named Adell, who is trying to rid himself of a curse from the sister of the demon Overlord Zenon. On grid-based battlefields, the player controls a colorful cast of characters - from human heroes to demons and monsters - and makes use of the series' signature mechanics, such as throwing allies over longer distances, towers formed by stacking characters, or the Geo Panel system, which alters the properties of the battlefield through colored symbols that can be destroyed to trigger chain effects affecting the whole map.

The game retains the series' characteristic humor, full of self-irony and parody of the JRPG genre, complemented by a distinctive anime visual style and hand-drawn character portraits. After completing the main story, Disgaea 2 offers an enormous amount of optional content - characters can be strengthened almost indefinitely in the so-called Item World, which gives the game a reputation as one of the most extensive tactical RPGs on PlayStation 2 ever. The soundtrack keeps to a lively, slightly zany style that fits the overall tone of the game and accompanies both the battles and the lighthearted dialogue scenes between characters.

Critics and fans alike praised the depth of the strategic system and the enormous replayability, which made the game a favorite for players seeking dozens to hundreds of hours of content. Disgaea 2 cemented Nippon Ichi Software's reputation as a specialist in niche tactical RPGs with a distinctive, unmistakable signature, and it remains today among the titles recommended as essential playing for fans of the genre. On PlayStation 2 it is one of the most complex representatives of the tactical genre ever released on the console, and even with the passage of years it remains a popular target for players seeking an almost endless challenge. Optional battles against extremely powerful bosses and a stat redistribution system for characters additionally give players a reason to return to the game repeatedly even after finishing the main story.

Why play it: For fans of tactical RPGs looking for an almost endless challenge, this is one of the most complex titles of the genre on PS2, with enormous replayability thanks to optional boss battles.