Disgaea 3 is, somewhat unsuprisingly, the follow up to Disgaeas 1 and 2, although it takes place with completely different characters, and with a completely different setting to the previous games.

Our antihero in Disgaea 3 is a young demon named Mao, and he is out for revenge against his father, the overlord of the underworld, after said father trod on his SlayStation and cost him 4,000,000 hours of save data. Cause for a mission of vengeance indeed.

The first thing most people will notice is that the game's graphics are not typical of a Playstation 3 exclusive. However, that's all part of the Disgaea charm, and I for one am glad it's stuck how it is. For the uninitiated, it's a stylised isometric world with sprite-based characters - it looks like a slightly prettier version of something a SNES could output. If you're one of those for whom graphics are the be-all and end-all, this game is most certainly not for you.

Like the other Disgaea games, this is an old-school RPG through and through. You'll start off with a couple of characters, including the aforementioned Mao and the excellently named Raspberyl, and you'll meet new friends along the way too. You can have up to 10 people on a map at any one time, although your total party is virtually unlimited. You can also create new party members in the form of monsters, other demons and prinnies. Oh, the Prinnies. Prinnies are violent little penguins with peg legs and a pair of daggers, who explode when thrown. And they say "Dood!" a lot.

Your party is fully customisable. Inbetween missions you get the chance to heal up and buy new equipment, which includes new weapons, armour and healing items. As you level up you can ask the permission of the judges of the underworld if you're allowed to purchase better and better equipment.

Gameplay is completely unique, but a bit hard to describle in a good way. The story tells itself in kind of lengthy anime cutscenes which take place between all the fighting. Each level takes place on one relatively small map (by RPG standards anyway), which can look like a giant chessboard with terrain litteread around. Certain squares will give different effects, such as increased damage, defense, enemy boost, or an inability to throw characters (this is important!). You can rearrange the board to your advantage by changing the layout of the bonus tiles, and destroying the disadvantageous ones. The game, in the later stages certainly, can be won or lost based on how you manipulate the tiles to your own advantage, and it's this deep strategy that emerges as you progress that really sets the game apart from its counterparts.

The game does an amazing job of easing you into itself gently. The later stages can certainly be hard, but it never feels like you're thrown in at the deep end. You start off with the very basics and gradually learn the intricacies of the game, which admittedly don't seem that important at the time, but in reality shape the game's later stages and are what makes it unique. From start to credits the game lasts around 25 hours long, but there's much more to do after the fact, including new extra-difficult missions and some great DLC.

In summary, Disgaea 3 is a wonderful, vibrant, and deeply strategic RPG title that no fan of RPGs should be without. It's so different from anything else that it really must be played to be believed.