Disgaea Mayhem Reviews
Disgaea Mayhem is the kind of spin-off that has a lot of potential as a concept. The series, by its nature, routinely produces characters that lend themselves well to the action genre. Unfortunately, limiting the entire experience to a single playable character while carrying over progression systems designed for a full roster strips away much of what makes Disgaea satisfying in the first place. The result is a game that understands the appeal of the grind, but rarely gives you a reason to enjoy it.
Disgaea Mayhem is an action RPG that introduces some new fun ideas and manages to include a few of the series’ signature mechanics, giving it that Disgaea charm for a goofy adventure. However, it feels like the game could use more time in the oven due to its short story campaign and repetitive, patchy presentation.
Disgaea Mayhem delivers a merely mediocre result in what it proposes: it fails as a clone of Musou in terms of gameplay and fails to exude all the charisma of the brand it supposedly represents.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Battles are fun to blast through, and power-leveling a character before cranking up the difficulty can be a blast. Like the main series, it’s not something that everyone will enjoy, but fans of Disgaea will find it an enjoyable spin-off that stays true to the series’ fundamentals. It may not ultimately be as delicious as the dessert it revolves around, but it is a tasty experience while it lasts.
Disgaea Mayhem is ultimately just a mediocre game that gets elevated somewhat by being part of a series with enough charm to carry it. With its $60 launch price and disappointing performance, it's hard to imagine an optimistic future for a game that undermines itself just as much as it shows potential.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Mayhem is a bold new step for the Disgaea series, and even though someone like me greatly enjoys the occasional different genre spin-off, there simply isn't much to be seen here. The game places a lot of emphasis on the Magichange mechanic, but the reality is that it rarely comes up during actual gameplay, as most enemies are pushovers and don't really require you to put in any effort. There's a lot of grinding to be done, something that fans of the series will probably enjoy, but while the stick is present, the carrot is unfortunately nowhere to be found.
At the end of the day, Tichelle and N.A.’s story ended up entertaining me in many ways, and the silly, somewhat "Zoomer" humor the series embraces really engaged me—I certainly didn't expect a Cory in the House reference, of all things. Unfortunately, a game can't survive on humor alone, and this one has aspects that make it hard to recommend—not just in a vacuum, but even to longtime Disgaea fans.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Disgaea Mayhem is a flawed and generic hack-and-slash that will not be for everyone. Those who enjoy grinding and watching their stats go up to insane heights might find themselves sucked into an extremely addictive gameplay loop, but for others, it will simply not be worth the time. The Carnage Dimension is where the game truly shines, but reaching it is a high bar to clear.
Disgaea Mayhem is a good diversion into action for Disgaea fans. Charming characters, swift missions, and addictive number crunching make up for shallow fighting and lack of post-game material.
Disgaea Mayhem is a game which is next to impossible to recommend. While the game's combat fundamentals could have served as the foundation for a fun game, the complete lack of any stage design and incredibly short length make this experience feel very shallow and disappointing. Fans of both the Disgaea franchise and action games in general will find very little to enjoy in this title.
Disgaea Mayhem has its stumbles as it fuses Disgaea’s iconic systems with frantic hack-and-slash gameplay, but it’s a largely worthwhile venture for series fans. Jumping between the different weapon types and leveling yourself and your items to crazy heights make for a solid base, and the charm the series is known for is certainly intact, even with its short playtime. Essentially, if you like the Disgaea series and action RPGs, you’ll likely have a good time with Disgaea Mayhem – so long as you know it won’t be too long a time.
I’m very disappointed in Disgaea Mayhem. I do very much enjoy the combat and the item worlds can be fun since they’re one of the only ways to fight actual hordes, but the game is far too short, the levels are far too simple, and the devs have simply added in a bunch of dull grinding in lieu of anything substantial.