Two-Minute Game Reviews: Revived!

[DomaDragoon]

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 10/10. Probably one of my favourite games of all time, and one of the reasons I'll eventually have to bite the bullet and get a PS3 for Dis 3.

Best feature/element: Cast diversification means that the Majin-esque class isn't the only one worth using later on.
Worst feature/element: The requirements to get to several endgame items or classes are both annoying and faq-bait.

Best character: Axel. Probably the closest regular cast member to Dis1's feel. And to think I hated him the first time I saw him... HM to Adell.
Worst character: Hanako.

Best PC in-game: Adell. Gets in quick and kills things dead. Probably got between 45 to 50% of my overall kills in the first run-through.
Worst PC in-game: Etna works. Appears late, low-levelled, and majoring in Spears (my least favorite in-game weapon type).

Favorite moment: Whenever White Tiger started playing.
Least favorite moment: Shinra Tower.

[Lady Ashe]

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 7 (This feels a bit low, but unless I play it again I probably won't change it. Why did I get rid of my copy in the first place? Argh.)

Best feature/element: Lots and lots of post-game.
Worst feature/element: Geo-panels, and they're not even that bad.

Best character: The Dark Hero, obviously. Etna comes close.
Worst character: TINK DIE IN A FIRE

Best PC in-game: Skull Mage. Adell/Rozy come close.
Worst PC in-game: Tink. Counting Item World? Hanako. Never really saw the need for buffs, since my Skull Mage could kill pretty much anything with ease.

Favorite moment: The Colosseum fight against Axel. White Tiger really made that fight awesome. I was also a bit underleveled, which helped.
Least favorite moment: The Geo-Panel tower. Annoying without any actual difficulty.

Suggestions: Kingdom Hearts 2?

[DjinnAndTonic]

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 10/10 - Great game, though I liked Makai Kingdom better for its general zaniness, Disgaea 2 seemed like a good game to follow MK.

Best feature/element: More balanced gameplay, ability to turn off animations made powerlevelling about 5000x more efficient (see: more fun). Also, the story was charming, though the best parts tended to be in the bonus content.
Worst feature/element: The humorous parts of the story didn't always mesh well with the serious parts of the story.

Best character: Rosalyn had the most depth, surprisingly - one of my favorite female leads. However, the original trio from Disgaea 1 stole every scene they were in. Also, Mom needs to guest star in every future humorous N1 release.
Worst character: Yukimaru? No one was really offensive, but Yukimaru was kind of boring. I also would have appreciated more closure on her story with Rosalyn

Best PC in-game: Adell was great, always felt worth using him. Taro can solo the game. Tink was great for item world abuse.
Worst PC in-game: Hanako. I tried REALLY hard to use all the story characters, but it was like the game was punishing me for using her.

Favorite moment: Oddly enough, the really serious aspects of the story stand out here - The game never patronizes the player and outright beats you with its 'secret plotpoints' - such as the nebulousness of Adell's birth, which while increasingly obvious throughout the story, was still a neat idea. Also, the 'big twist' at the end of the story was well-handled, and kept fairly un-obvious throughout most of the story. On the humorous side of the story, the Prism Rangers bonus stage was the only laugh-out-loud moment really.
Least favorite moment: Probably Yukimaru and her brother's scenes... Felt extraneous without adding anything to the story.

[Dunefar]

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 9/10. Extraordinarily playable even at it's worst.

Best feature/element: The improved game play and character balance. Everything feels much more thought out, adding a rich layer to the already good core game play.
Worst feature/element: The story maps. They tended to drag out too long.

Best character: Rozalin. I don't much like her as a person or character, but she's well portrayed as the game goes on.
Worst character: Laharl. His development from the good end of Disgaea vanishes in favor of making him a running gag. He doesn't need to be all love'n'kisses, but destroying Veldime? Uh, what?

Best PC in-game: Adell. He's a good, tanky frontliner throughout the game. This works pretty well in Disgaea land.
Worst PC in-game: Hanako.

Favorite moment: The ending.
Least favorite moment: Pretty much when Laharl showed up.

[Otter]

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 7/10.  It kept my attention, despite its N1 combat (done slightly better, I'll admit).  So I guess it had qualities, or I was just really bored.

Best feature/element: Voice acting, writing, etc.  It's N1.
Worst feature/element: Gameplay.  Not bad enough to keep me from getting through it, since I was playing at a time when I was usually pretty tired and didn't mind the mindlessness of it, but yeah.  Grind-for-higher-numbers is not fun on its own.

Best character: Sure, let's say Axel.  I liked Tardo, too!  Cast was pretty good.
Worst character: Stupid boring ninja twins.

Best PC in-game: Adell was great but uh Rozalin was clearly better.
Worst PC in-game: Monsters that aren't Tink?  Uh, I guess Hanako works.

Favorite moment: I dunno.  Arbitrarily, I choose when the prinnies quit Etna's service after she'd been de-powered.
Least favorite moment: Stupid ninja stuff.

[Grefter]

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 3/10.  N1 combat, despite being slightly improved is still beyond horrible.  I was tempted to give it a 2, but that is where I would put Disgaea 1 and this is slightly improved or something.

Best feature/element: Voice acting.  This fails when this is the only thing you bring to the floor.
Worst feature/element: Gameplay. 

Best character: Axel I guess, not that I got very far.
Worst character: Taro was annoying from what I played

Best PC in-game: Cannot comment.
Worst PC in-game: Also cannot comment.

Favorite moment: Turning the game off.
Least favorite moment: Item world, again.  Edit - With triple digit levelled pirates when you are level 10.  Fuck this game.

[Shale]

Updating this tonight/tomorrow morning (depending on your definition of "night")! If anybody else wants to rate the game, do it soon.

[Shale]

My ratings:

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 7.5/10.

Best feature/element: Overall playability. Like Disgaea, it's a game I can pick up and playfor hours at a timeand have fun with it, and without Disgaea's awesome cast, that takes center stage.
Worst feature/element: The occasional totally retarded Geopanel setup.

Best character: Rozy.
Worst character: Hanako barely outfails Taro. Dominatrix fanthings for the lose.

Best PC in-game: Adell. Damage bonus on high-level enemies is love when everything outlevels you.
Worst PC in-game: Hanako.

Favorite moment: Flonezilla. Best move ever.
Least favorite moment: The retarded Geopanel setup in the last chapter.

[Shale]

Final ratings!

Game: Disgaea 2

Rating: 7.77/10

Best feature/element: Improved gameplay and battle system.
Worst feature/element: Gameplay issues, particularly geopanels. N1 games, polarizing? NAAAAAAH.
Weakened characters and humor compared to Disgaea 1 is a reasonably close second.

Best character: Axel.
Worst character: Hanako, Taro and Yukimaru basically tie.

Best PC in-game: Adell.
Worst PC in-game: Hanako. Apparently mages who can't use staffs aren't very popular!

Favorite moment: Not much consensus here. Ending-related things got the most votes with three.
Least favorite moment: A tie between Shinra Tower and Yukimaru's scenes, again with three each.

Next up...

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating:

Best feature/element:
Worst feature/element:

Best character:
Worst character:

Best PC in-game:
Worst PC in-game:

Favorite moment:
Least favorite moment:

Requests for what to do next are welcome. There was one vote each for Disgaea and Kingdom Hearts in the last round.

[AAA]

We haven't done Disgaea yet? Seriously?

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 7/10

Best feature/element: Hex system
Worst feature/element: Search system

Best character: Monowheel Actually Johnny Appleseed was pretty badass.
Worst character: Kefka Blight

Best PC in-game: Dean. Crits yo.
Worst PC in-game: Chuck

Favorite moment: Monowheel or Johnny being a badass
Least favorite moment: GOLEMS GOLEMS GOLEMS GOLEMS GOLEMS THEY MAKE ME HARD

[Dark Holy Elf]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 7/10. Reasonably solid one.

Best feature/element: Return of the hex system; even when neutered
Worst feature/element: World map / search system works. Why did you bring this crap back, guys? WA4 was the bestest.

Best character: Nightburn? Mm, yeah, he ended up delivering very well.
Worst character: Volsung. Not a contest.

Best PC in-game: Avril. Best magic when that matters most, best Attack when that matters most.
Worst PC in-game: Chuck.

Favorite moment: The entirety of Greg's flashback. This is the only time in recent memory RPG storytelling really got to me.
Least favorite moment: The whole nonsensical bullshit surrounding the final battle with the millions of golems and Captain Bart and giant mecha facing off and UGH.

[Ultradude]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 8/10

Best feature/element: Errr... probably hex system, for all that I'd probably hype the characters more than most others.
Worst feature/element: Search system? At least it's not WA3.

Best character: I really liked the PC cast in general, and there were a few good NPCs and villains, but I have a lot of love for Rebecca.
Worst character: Volsung. We don't need these villains anymore! We never needed them! Just die!

Best PC in-game: Dean. Sonic Vision IS SO a good use of your FP. Combined with Punching Glove especially. Carol being the best Sea Medium user gets honorable mention.
Worst PC in-game: Chuck felt the least necessary. Never got anything out of his ability, had other physical fighters.

Favorite moment: Johnny Badasseed/Rebecca & Avril before that one Tower/Greg flashbacks.
Least favorite moment: Probably something involving Volsung. So much fail.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 6/10. Hex system is good, coat rack characters are SUPER FUCKING BAD, like Wild Arms 3 bad.

Best feature/element: The hex system now has battlefields that are not a perfect seven-hex honeycomb design!
Worst feature/element: COATRACK CHARACTERS. FUCK YOU.

Best character: Nightburn, I think. His characters suffers from "too much too soon" but he's still the best. Second-place goes to Greg.
Worst character: Volsung. Everything about Volsung fucking fails.

Best PC in-game: Greg. Greg can be a mage, or he can be an invincible bulwark of unkillability, which is what I had him do.
Worst PC in-game: Carol. Carol is awful. Worse than Chuck.

Favorite moment: Nightburn's introductory video in Laila Belle. It was so... high-production value PR fodder, and it was awesome.
Least favorite moment: Volsung being possessed by ghosts with negative emotions or whatever. What the fuck is this shit, goddamn Scientology?

[Cmdr_King]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 7/10.

Best feature/element: Avril.
Worst feature/element: Mediums/character diversity.  Either give us more or make each one more interesting, and don't give us that small a stat spread to work with!  Grr.

Best character: Avril
Worst character: Kartikeya

Best PC in-game: Avril
Worst PC in-game: Chuck

Favorite moment: Right after Avril gets her memories back.
Least favorite moment: I dunno, the first half of the game is a total blur to me.  For stuff I do remember, probably the Golem fight.  Took entirely too long.

[Nitori]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 5.5/10

Best feature/element: More hexes~
Worst feature/element: Search or endgame plot...eh, endgame plot.

Best character: Greg
Worst character: Chuck

Best PC in-game: Er...Avril? Sure.
Worst PC in-game: Chuck. Last to join in a cast this similar doesn't bode well especially when you really bring nothing with you.

Favorite moment: Johnny doing awesome stuff~
Least favorite moment: Some of the last plot stuff~

[Talaysen]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 8.5/10

Best feature/element: Hex system is hexy.
Worst feature/element: "YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AS LONG AS YOU DON'T GIVE UP"

Best character: Hmm, Avril, I suppose.
Worst character: Dean.  Chuck doesn't even count as a character.

Best PC in-game: Avril
Worst PC in-game: Chuck

[OblivionKnight]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 8/10.  It...is a good game, but it's nowhere near as good as WA4.  Better than WA3, WA2, worse than WA1 and WA4.  Fairly average overall for the series, but that's above average, and it owns WA3 and WA2 by a lot, so...this works.

Best feature/element: Rebecca.  Kept a drive to play the game - smart, sassy, cool, great journal entires and quotes, kicked Dean's ass...yeah.  Badass.  She's the reason I kept playing. 
Worst feature/element: Dean.  Everything everyone has said so far about worst features?  IT RELATES TO HIM.  The best part about him is POGO-SHOVEL...which you lose 2 hours in.  Fucking pile of shit character.  BURN IN HELL. 

Best character: Rebecca.  Yes.
Worst character: DEAN.  DEAN FUCKING DEAN. 

Best PC in-game: Mmm...the top 3 are probably Rebecca, Avril, Greg.  High stats in offensive areas (speed, attack power, magic) are the best part of the game.  Rebecca has speed and a much better special ability, so...I'll give it to her. 
Worst PC in-game: Dean.  Sonic Vision sucks.  I made good use of Chuck's special, which was easier to work with (take damage, get stronger!).  Also, he's prettier.

Favorite moment: POGO-SHOVEL.  Just hilariously bad, but funny.  Funny how DEAN has one of my favourite moments.
Least favorite moment: Dean getting an erection whenever golems were mentioned.  Now, least favourite moment being related to Dean makes sense.

I'm all for Disgaea or Persona 3 next >_>  Disgaea primarily, since...more voters.

[Meeplelard]

Rating: 7/10.  Decent game but clear step down compared to 3 and 4.

Best feature/element: The Gob Dungeon. People are crazy to say there are better features than this in this game (this isn't to say that there are other good features, but this takes the cake by far <.<)
Worst feature/element: Search System.  First off, I never really minded it in 2/3/ACF.  THAT said, WA5 has DQ8 style world map and hidden treasures everywhere...while these things aren't necessarily bad, they mesh HORRIBLY with Search.

Best character: Elvis.  If only for the amusement value.
Worst character: Volsung. Yeah hard to really argue this.  While Kartikeya was pretty awful a character, he was a very effective role, which helps him some.  Volsung didn't even have that.

Best PC in-game: Avril or Greg...I'll say Avril wins since DOuble DP > AUTO GUARD! (use to think the otherway around until I learned WA5 Defend was Double Defense instead of traditional Half Damage -_-)
Worst PC in-game: Chuck.  Good special completely wasted by stats that don't complement it at all.

Favorite moment: The entire Gob Dungeon.  I stand by this being one of the best moments in any RPG.
Least favorite moment: Hmm...I'll go with the BS Deus Ex Machina stunt the game pulls at the end just to force the Time Loop.  No, I am not a fan of Zeromus popping up out of nowhere cause he can RIGHT AFTER YOU KICKED HIS ASS just to start that.

[Dunefar]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 1.5/10

Best feature/element: Avril.
Worst feature/element: The rest of the plot. Dear God did the plot fail.

Best character: Avril.
Worst character: Dean. He's a functional retard. Barring Dean, you can plop down most of the baddies here too.

Best PC in-game: Dean. Double Critical is fun to twink out.
Worst PC in-game: Chuck.

Favorite moment: The good Avril plot moments. These times made up for some of the game's many failings. Oh, and seeing Yulie on the adult magazine. That's such a fanwink moment and a funny one.
Least favorite moment: Everything from Tower O onward.

[Shale]

Updating tomorrow!

[Shale]

Game: Wild ARMs 5

Rating: 6.55.

Best feature/element: Hex system. Act surprised.
Worst feature/element: Search system. I have newfound respect for all of you.

Best character: Avril in a pretty scattered field.
Worst character: Volsung. Not close at all, and Jesus Christ does it not deserve to be.

Best PC in-game: Avril.
Worst PC in-game: Chuck. Even less close than worst character!

Favorite moment: No consensus at all. The only bits that got multiple votes were Avril scenes and Johnny Appleseed being awesome.
Least favorite moment: Endgame plot. Man am I not looking forward to that.

And now, by popular demand, our first re-rating!

Game: Disgaea

Rating:

Best feature/element:
Worst feature/element:

Best character:
Worst character:

Best PC in-game:
Worst PC in-game:

Favorite moment:
Least favorite moment:

[AAA]

Game: Disgaea

Rating: 9/10

Best feature/element: Characters
Worst feature/element: Shitty geopanel bullshit

Best character: Etna
Worst character: Jennifer

Best PC in-game: Laharl
Worst PC in-game: Flonne

Favorite moment: Prism Rangers
Least favorite moment: Horse Weiner lol penis

[Dunefar]

Game: Disgaea

Rating: 8/10

Best feature/element: The characters and the interplay between Flonne/Etna/Laharl. That shit is golden.
Worst feature/element: Dated gameplay. Playing Etna mode on the PSP was a sharp reminder of how much Disgaea 2 improved the mix.

Best character: Mmm. I'll say Etna today.
Worst character: Vulcanus. He's still above average and amusing!

Best PC in-game: Laharl.
Worst PC in-game: Tink.

Favorite moment: The Earth ending.
Least favorite moment: None offhand.

[OblivionKnight]

Game: Disgaea

Rating: 10/10.  Love this game so much.  Funny and fucking addicting.

Best feature/element: Characters.  Story actually plays a part in this - every character is unique and awesome in some way, and the mix makes everything work so well, despite being a generic story about love.
Worst feature/element: Mmm...honestly, with a replay and better knowledge of the mechanics, handling things isn't too hard.  I guess the worst feature is that some classes are just plain useless, and there's no balance in some things.

Best character: Mmm...Damn.  Etna, I guess.  All are awesome in their own way.
Worst character: Maderas and/or Hoggmeiser.  Both one-shot wonders than do jack crap after introduction.  Not even that great either.

Best PC in-game: Majin, Ronin before then.  Marjoly and Prier(e) are great, but are monsters, so...
Worst PC in-game: Male Clerics.  Not necessary to unlock any class at all, plus being healers means they're literally worthless.

Favorite moment: ...wow.  Uh...Chapter 6 was badass incarnate, so that wins it.
Least favorite moment: Mmm...probably have to say...uh...damn.  Honestly can't think of a moment I didn't like.

[superaielman]

Dune, Tink wasn't in Disgaea.


Game: Disgaea

Rating: 6/10. Enjoyed it but I'm not a huge fan.

Best feature/element: Characters were great.
Worst feature/element: Plot maps/gameplay.

Best character: Laharl? Flonne? Gordon? Eh. *Rolls a d3* Flonne.
Worst character: Carter

Best PC in-game: Laharl
Worst PC in-game: Kurtis

Favorite moment: Prism Rangers
Least favorite moment: Pass.