The original Disgaea was able to do something that few strategy games have managed to do – it sold well. Whereas subsequent games from NIS have done well, none have managed to really capture Disgaea’s simple complexity and charm. Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories tweaks the formula ever so slightly while keeping it true to its roots.

As with the original, Disgaea 2 doesn’t break any barriers with its visuals. Characters are still low-res 2D sprites on a blocky, 3D battlefield. Art direction is where the game really manages to impress. Even though the game has a gloomier setting, character designs are still bright, likeable and full of personality.

I was a little disappointed with the localization, at least when compared to the original. The voice work is still tops and helps to bring characters to life, but at the same time, the dialogue doesn’t have quite the same punch as the original. There are also a number of mionr grammatical errors found throughout the dialogue that takes away from everything. Music is good, yet repetitive.

The story centers on Adel, a young boy out to destroy the evil Overlord Zenon, who has transformed Adel’s hometown into monsters. Adel tries to summon Zenon, but instead manages to snag his annoying daughter who promises to help Adel out if he returns the favor. From here the game jumps from scenario to scenario and manages to combine deep themes such as the philosophy of loyalty with sharp, witty dialogue.

A majority of playtime is spent on grid-based maps that strategy players should be familiar with already. However, where Disgaea 2 differs from the norm is that battles aren’t just about achieving victory. Sure, you can go through every battle with the simple goal of destroying the opposing army – but by doing, so you’re not only missing out on a big part of what makes the game, but it will eventually catch up to you in later, trickier battles. Gameplay is more about getting the most out of every troop movement you can by setting up combo and tag attacks, sometimes doubling or tripling the amount of damage your army can do as well as earning a significant experience boost for characters.

Of course, real world battles are only part of the hundreds of hours you can spend with Disgaea 2. Between scenarios, you can enter items and fight through different upgrade levels. As you battle through levels, you will also find special characters that you can recruit and transplant into other items, giving the item a stat boost.

When not battling through weapon levels, you can also decide to try your hand at political battles in the Dark Assembly. Here you can try to bribe senators to pass bills that range from new character classes to unlocking secret areas to getting better items in the shop. If a bill you wanted fails to pass, you can then challenge the senate to a battle. Win and the bill will pass. While in the Assembly, you can also choose to reincarnate your soldiers. Doing so will drop their stats, but there’s also a chance that they can keep their old abilities, so there is a reward for taking the risk. Sometimes you’ll even manage to create a character even more powerful than the one you had before.

During battles, you can also be called to appear in the Dark Court. Much like the Dark Assembly, the Dark Court is made up of various demons who will judge you for crimes committed during battle. The more serious the offense, the better your reward – but only if you’re found guilty.

Start learning the system early and Disgaea 2 shouldn’t be too bad. Not that the game is overly complicated, it is just a very mental game. Much like chess, you'll have to plan out strategies and counter strategies two or three moves in advance. As with the first game, much of the difficulty is a result of an awkward experience system that rewards characters for kills rather than actions. Without a proper strategy for getting experience for your non-combat classes, you’ll have a really rough time in later battles.

Navigating side activities like the Dark Court and Dark Assembly sound complicated, but they are actually some of the game’s easier aspects. Again, you’ll have to plan out what you do if you want to get the most out of them.

All orders are given via a turn-based menu. After moving your character, you can choose to attack, use special attacks or items. After giving orders, you select "Execute" on the menu and all the attacks are used. This is where things get interesting. If certain characters are standing next to each other, or in a certain formation, they have a chance of executing a two-four-person combo attack. Combos only count against the person whose turn it is -- so if you set up things just right, you could give some characters multiple attacks. It is also possible to set up Master/Pupil relationships among characters, unlocking new attack combos and increased experience gains.

When standing next to an enemy (or ally), you can choose to Lift that character and then throw him. You can use this to throw enemies into each other, overcome obstacles on the field (rivers, valleys, etc.) or get hurt characters out of harm's way. Depending on whom you're throwing where, certain side effects will take place -- with varying effects. For example, throwing one of the demon penguins causes him to explode for lots of damage. You won’t get any experience by doing so, but it helps when you are in a bind.

Some battlefields are also affected by elemental field conditions, which are blue/red/green transparencies on the field. Each field has a crystal on them that have some kind of effect on the color square they're sitting on. One crystal may be on a green area and give plus-50 percent EXP. What this means is that whenever you're on a green area and kill a monster, you gain 50 percent more EXP. There are also crystals that only help enemies or reduce your stats. You can also use the Lift/Throw option to pick the crystal up and move it to a different color area. On top of this, you can also destroy the crystal, which does damage to everything standing on that color square. There are even ways to set up a "Color Chain" that destroys the panels in sequence, which ends up netting you lots of bonus points -- adding a puzzle element to the game.

Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories doesn’t drastically change the original’s formula, but it manages to clean up a few troublesome areas as well as bringing in a few new elements. If you’re a fan of Strategy RPGs, Disgaea 2 is a must-own.