Aggravating Moments in Disgaea #1 · 1:32am Nov 24th, 2017
This will probably become a series now. Maybe.
If you've played any Disgaea games, you've probably run into something like THIS at some point:
Those of you who understand Disgaea mechanics know IMMEDIATELY what's wrong with this picture. For those who don't, see below the cut...
One of the game mechanics in Disgaea is Geo Effects. On some maps, panels will be lit up a certain color, and that color may have an effect listed on it such as EXP +50%, Ally Damage 20%, Enemy Boost x3, Warp, and so forth. The control mechanism for this is small colored prisms called Geo Symbols. Destroy a Geo Symbol, it kills the effect and changes all the panels of the same color to the color of the Geo Symbol you just destroyed. Geo Effects stack--if there are multiple Geo Symbols on the same color panel, all the effects are present.
Some combinations of Geo Effects lead to absolute player frustration.
So the above map is an Item World map. Item World maps are randomly generated--and sometimes, just every once in a while, you get an Item World map that's actually not even clearable. The above map is not such a map, but the Geo Effects in play are such a total pain in the ass that it might as well be.
So, let me explain the frustration of the above map:
Problem #1: Every Geo Effect is on Red, and almost every panel on the map is red. There are very few panels on the map that are not red.
Now, the Geo Effects in play:
Enemy Boost x3: Ordinarily this would be the biggest problem in any given situation. But here? It's the least of your worries.
No Color Change: This would usually be the one you'd get rid of first on a map like this, because it'd be the only way to Geo Break (erase all Geo Panels) the map. But on this map, that's easier said than done.
Ally Damage 20%: At the beginning of each turn, all your units take 20% HP damage. This, again, is one of those "GET RID OF THAT RIGHT NOW" effects...ON MOST MAPS. Here? It's, perversely, something to ignore because of another Geo Effect in the chain...
Fire Element -50%: Self-explanatory. Also irrelevant.
Encroach: Encroach causes the Geo Panels of that color to spread like fungus with each turn. Here, the entire map is already red, so it's pointless.
And now, the last Geo Effect on this map from hell, and the one that's the SINGLE. BIGGEST. PROBLEM. HERE:
Reverse Damage.
Attacking an enemy heals them. Healing an enemy damages them. You can't fight normally on this map because only your healers can actually do any damage. The Geo Symbol you need to get rid of to get rid of THIS effect is WAY too far away to deal with the tedium of getting your slow-moving Healers in range to destroy it.
Solution to this map: Slowly move two units toward the Gatekeeper, who's the only unit NOT on a red panel, and kill him, then head through the gate to the next stage. Forgoes all bonuses for the map, but really? Sometimes, you have to just gate out when a map is all screwed up like this.
Oh, and it takes a while to get there because of enemies and Geo Symbols blocking your path that have to be thrown clear to make room to move. Yep.
You poor bastard. That's the geo setup from hell!
Well in short your team is fucked, well good luck
This would be one reason that I spent as little time in the Item World as possible, even while I was sinking 200+ hours into the first Disgaea.
The stages are so random that instead of interesting and unexpected challenges, you get stupid bullshit that you need to just skip past.
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Believe it or not, I've had WORSE.
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But it's a necessary evil, and exp bonus stages can be worth it. But yeah, shit like this, ugh.
at least they fixed the impossible to reach part from Dis 1. Litterally sometimes a denizen would be on a impossible to reach small island, they changed the coding in 2 onward. Additionally always bring a wiseman to the item world so you can nuke geo crap like this.
oh and myth if you ever get stuck I do have the official strategy guides for disgaea 1-4 and D2 a brighter darkness. Admittedly item world being item world not much can be done there but for any other info...
Minus the ally damage one i like setups like this. It allows you to level some attack pretty easily when you cant kill your target with it. Of course you have to get rid of the enemy healers but thats not usually that hard.
Oh yeah, this happens in all Disgaea games. The worst is Disgaea 1, where the item world is the WORST! Ugh...I'm so glad that as the games have gone on, they've cut back and made geo effects a lot less...punishing.
so would the ally damage one basically mean you regen 20% a turn? with the reverse in effect i mean.
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Yeah, that's exactly how it works. It forces it to function as Regen, but the downside is that you have maybe what, two healers in your party at any given time? Because having more than two is honestly a waste of space? And healers have shit for move range.
Yeah... This is the exact type of FUBAR level stuff in the item worlds you just race past as soon as possible.
Personally don't mind it happening every once in a while, though. Makes it the worlds feel more real to me, when there's the odd battle it's much wiser to simply run from.
That, and it's balanced by when you get those sweet maps, where you can win with a single spell, and just watch the geo clear explosion max rank things for you.
...Bringing the Wisemen and Scouts really help make your own luck in cases like this, though.
Sspeaking of the Item World, I've occasionally encountered situations in which the complete opposite happens: just five or six enemies all in one small area (and by small, I mean it: the area literally is just one straight line to the Gatekeeper). I find those to be a bit of a breather area, especially after stuff like... well, this happens.
(Also, I've never really encountered that Reverse Damage effect throughout all my trips on the Item World. I don't know if I should feel glad or not.)
Oh my god! I've seen some nasty Geo Effect layouts in my time but this is insane!
I can only be thankful I haven't had to deal with this shit in Disgaea 5