Disgaea 1 Complete for Nintendo Switch: Everything you need to know

After the success of Disgaea 5 Complete on Switch, Nippon Ichi has taken it upon themselves to bring a retro flashback onto the Nintendo Switch as well in the form of the series' first game. Disgaea 1 Complete is a remastered version of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and a perfect compliment to the tactical gameplay of Disgaea 5, as well as numerous other tactical RPGs that have found success on the Switch.

Before you pick up this throwback to original Disgaea, dood, here's everything you need to know about it:

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What is Disgaea?

The Disgaea games are a series of single-player, tactical RPGs from Nippon Ichi. The games are set in places called "Netherworlds" occupied by angels, demons, and other creatures who regularly turn the rules of right and wrong upside down. There have been a total of five main games, each with its own self-contained story, though there are a number of common threads between them and gradually evolving mechanics.

Disgaea 1 Complete is an updated version of the original Disgaea - Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. The game originally released back in 2003 on the PlayStation 2, saw PSP and Nintendo DS ports years later, a PC port two years ago, and is now joining Disgaea 5 on the Nintendo Switch to help those who enjoyed it catch up on the series' origins.

How do you play?

In between cutscenes, the primary gameplay of Disgaea takes place on a grid where the player controls various units. Your goal is to move those units to attack enemy units in tactical ways to eventually wipe out the enemy forces and win the match. Different units have different abilities that affect how they move, where they move, and how much damage they can do to enemies.

Something unique to Disgaea is the ability to throw friendly units at enemies, allowing them to move farther distances in a turn. Throwing in certain ways can even allow you to capture enemies and turn them to your side for use later!

Units can wear armor and hold weapons, which are purchasable at the game's main hub, Laharl's castle.

Finally, it's worth taking note of Geo Panels on the field, which are unique grid squares that can provide buffs or debuffs to characters. You can use them to strengthen your party or force enemies into them to weaken them, though be careful to avoid debuff panels yourself.

It's recommended when you get control of your character in the hub the first time to make for the Dimension Gate and play through some tutorials, especially if you've never tackled a Disgaea game before. The game doesn't force you to work through these, but the tutorials are great introductions to the grid map, how to use different attacks, and how units work.

What's new in the Nintendo Switch "Complete" version?

Not too much! Disgaea 1 Complete is still Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. The biggest, most noticeable change is in the game's graphics, which are of the quality of Disgaea 5 on the Switch. Sprites, character portraits, and backgrounds have all improved, and the game looks especially tight in handheld mode.

A few other tweaks have been made to UIs and menus, and a new playable character, Asagi, is available.

Unfortunately, unlike other Switch ports of the Disgaea games, Disgaea 1 Complete does not include any new scenarios to play through or extra story. That makes it best to pick up if you missed it back in the day and already love Disgaea - there's a lot of replay value even without new scenarios, as you can level your characters up absurdly high in these games and take on more and more challenging maps.