Way of the demon

Disgaea 7: Vows Of The Virtueless' Shunsuke Minowa talks to Jon Bailes about going back to basics for a 20th anniversary celebration

- Jon Bailes

FORMAT PS5, PS4
ETA 3 OCT
PUB NIS AMERICA
DEV NIPPON ICHI SOFTWARE
PLAYERS 1

As any player of turn-based strategy knows, blindly charging forward is rarely a smart move. Sometimes if you  want to make progress, you first have to take a step back. In the case of Disgaea, though – a 20-year staple on PlayStation consoles – it’s developer Nippon Ichi that’s had to make a tactical retreat. The last mainline release in its once-pioneering series, Disgaea 6: Defiance Of Destiny, fell rather flat even with long-term fans, leading some to question whether the whole endeavour was running out of steam. As Disgaea 7 sails towards our shores, then, the Japanese studio has ground to make up, and hopes to do it by going back to basics.

As we discuss Disgaea 7 with its director, Shunsuke Minowa, it’s clear that the game’s been made in part with the critical response to Disgaea 6 in mind. We ask how the feedback has been addressed in Disgaea 7, and Minowa references two of the chief concerns – the switch to 3D characters in battle scenes from the previous games’ sprites, and the contentious ‘auto-battle’ system.