Disgaea DS

There's also Item World, in which you can voyage inside inventory items and clear them of monsters in order to improve their stats. The castle also contains a hospital, for healing your characters, and a store which allows you to stock up on the usual weapons, armour and status-effect items. Even before you've ventured too far into the story missions, there's already a vast array of ways to tweak the game world, so even though the story is linear it's unlikely that any two players will approach them in the exact same way.

The game is also designed for repeated play, looping round and starting again at the end, with all stats and items carried over from one playthrough to the next. Each story mission can also be replayed as many times as you'd like, and if you're deep into the game, such grinding can become essential. It's a deliberate design choice rather than a flaw, but it's only fair to warn grindophobes that this is a game where the tastiest rewards only come from hundreds of hours of dedication.

It's at this point that I start to wish we could have a branching review for those familiar with Disgaea and those new to the series. If you're one of the latter then consider this an enthusiastic endorsement - Disgaea is one of the smartest, richest and funniest games of its type for many years, and deserves to be experienced. This DS port is surprisingly faithful, cramming in all the essential features of the PSP version, as well as loads of speech.

The graphics haven't diminished in style, although the game does suffer slightly from being squeezed into the smaller DS screen. Your view can still only be rotated in crude quarterly increments, leading to confusion when characters and scenery are bunched up together, but it's an otherwise impressive technical translation.

For those who have followed the series through its various guises and sequels, however, there is some cause for concern. Back when we reviewed Disgaea 3 on the PS3, Simon concluded that it was "a sequel that makes some interesting changes to the way the journey plays out, but too few to the ultimate destination". Given that kernel of concern, the fact that this is now the third time the original game has been revisted does suggest that Nippon Ichi seems reluctant to let go of a successful template.

It's not as if Disgaea DS does much to take advantage of its new hardware, with the top screen only offering a basic map or character stats. It's handy for a quick reference, but other DS strategy titles have done more with the concept. The whole game can also be controlled with stylus, but the result is sloppy and imprecise. The additional storyline, Etna Mode, is carried over from the PSP and the most notable extras unique to the DS are unlikely to warrant a third purchase from fans: Nippon Ichi's recurring mascot, Pleniair, is unlockable as a playable character while completing the story mode allows you to add a sarcastic Prinny commentary on your next playthrough. Cute, but hardly revolutionary.

Multiplayer, too, feels like something of a half-measure. Playable only via a local connection, the two-player duels are certainly fun, but while you can use your squads from the story mode you gain no experience. Demon Gadgets are randomly placed objects that offer often ludicrous benefits to the player who discovers them. Call me a silly old fusspot, but I found these rogue elements produced a annoyingly unbalanced experience.