Lazy today, so just commenting at Djinn.
Zubat's only really good in-game because you can evolve it so early. Crobat at level 23 I believe it is destroys worlds.
2-4 was probably my least favorite XF map. Game gets considerably better once it's behind you.
Disgaea 3 > 2 in plot? Details! This sounds interesting.
Ah, okay, I'll stick with Zubat a little longer then. I'm nearing that level mark. No word from the pokegurus on Pikachu locations? I guess I'll have to actually look something up. *sigh*
I'm only like 4 maps into Dis3, so I can't comment on the plot. I just like the writing/humor/characters in 3 universally more than the relatively bland set from Dis2. Adell is just such a lackluster protagonist. And Tink/Yukimaru are... less-than-funny. Sure, Laharl and Mao are terrible people, but that's what makes it fun to watch them on-screen. (In Dis2's favor, Rozalyn is probably the most well-developed serious heroine character, but that's not why I like N1 games. If N1 wants to be serious, it would make another Soul Nomad.)
Apart from Mao, the heroine and the punching-bag character are also better than Dis2's. In a sense. Raspberyl is more amusing than Rozy was, though I suspect she'll have a less developed serious plot (and I'm okay with this!). Beryl's basic schtick is to take the Smug Rich Girl/Overachiever school-trope and flip it around such that everyone reacts to her as if she's a part of some Street Gang. The dissonance from this clash of tropes is a little jarring, but the game isn't taking itself seriously for this to be anything but amusing.
Almaz, the blue-haired hero-punching-bag fills in the role that Flonne and Tink pulled in the last two games, to give the snarkers someone to shoot down. This is probably my favorite part of the Disgaea dynamic. As often as you hear the kind of lines that Flonne and Almaz shout used in other JRPGs, it's nice to have characters smack them back to reality. Especially fun since I just finished Legaia 2~. Almaz's redux of the Flonne role is that he's literally being gradually turned into a demon while he's hanging around Mao, so instead of Flonne's perpetual innocence, you have Almaz catching himself thinking 'evil thoughts'. The English VA for him also works perfectly.