There's no understating the popularity of the Persona franchise. The fifth entry in the series, Persona 5, has been especially popular since its release in 2016. Fans and critics alike hail the game as one of the finest in the series for its mechanics, story, and overall tone. The game's publisher, Atlus, has another long-running franchise that fans of Persona would be wise to try out: Disgaea.
At first the similarities between the Disgaea and Persona franchises seem superficial. Both games share anime-inspired visuals that seem clearly inspired by anime like Yu Yu Hakusho and Cowboy Bebop. But while the gameplay is definitely very different between the two, specifically from the upcoming Persona 5: Strikers, digging deeper reveals more parallels that make Disgaea a series to check out for long-time Persona fans.
Themes and Tone
Both franchises are popular among their fans for a myriad of reasons but one of the most prevalent is the tone of both series. Persona and Disgaea both share a tone that again harkens back to their anime roots. Somewhat silly dialogue and characters belie often very dark or lofty themes. The discovery of the true self is dealt with subtly through the Arcana gameplay mechanics in Persona and through the redemptive arc that lead character Laharl goes through on his demonic quest in the original Disgaea. Both games have a habit of hiding their hand behind a generally cute and stylish world.
Another area where the two franchises shine is in their soundtrack. The soundtrack of the Persona series is held in especially high esteem but the music in Disgaea also goes a long way in establishing the overall tone of the games. The calm and sometimes melancholic music in the hub world is juxtaposed against higher energy jazz and rock pieces once out on the battlefield.
Allusions to mythology are plentiful in Persona and Disgaea, from references as obvious as the selection of enemies in both games. In either franchise players will encounter imps, minotaurs, or the cockatrice. Each series puts their own spin on the creatures and they change somewhat in each new release for Disgaea or Persona. The allusions run a little deeper in the stories present in each franchise, and deftly make use of Jungian archetypes and storytelling structures like The Hero's Journey.
Gameplay and Embracing the Grind
On their face, the gameplay conventions of Disgaea and Persona are very different. Disgaea is a tactical turn-based RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics while Persona sticks with the tried-and-true traditional turn-based gameplay common to JRPGs. Both games, however, have some similarities in how they innovate on those traditional gameplay structures.
Taming the Personas themselves in the Persona games shares similar mechanics with taming monsters in Disgaea. In Disgaea players can recruit any type of monster they have defeated through the Dark Assembly, a demonic congress in each game where players submit motions to greedy Netherworld Senators to perform certain game functions like recruiting new units and upgrading shops. In later iterations of Disgaea players can also use monster units to power up human units akin to the Personas, but instead of fighting with their human counterpart, monsters can Magichange into weapons to be wielded. This is satisfying at higher levels and it's quite entertaining to watch an adorable penguin demon called a Prinny transform into a dead-eyed, penguin-shaped blade for hero units to wield.
Cooperation between player characters is also a big focus in both games. Persona encourages exploiting enemy weaknesses in order to set up massive group attacks. Disgaea's tactical-style gameplay encourages setting up group attacks where up to four players can perform combos or up to 10 characters build a tower and attack enemies at once with specific moves that can become insanely powerful. Disgaea builds upon the combat options in each new iteration and fans will be eager to see the new options when Disgaea 6 inevitably releases.
Overall one of the biggest gameplay parallels between the two franchises is the sheer amount of depth available to players. Either franchise incorporates mechanics that are as deep as players want to engage. Some Persona players will finish the game in a fairly standard 40 hour playthrough but it's very common for players to have over 400 hours in the game exploring dungeons and expanding relationships. Disgaea has even more depth, to a quite literally infinite degree. The series doesn't have a true level cap as units can reach level 9999 (already absurd) and then reincarnate their character at the Dark Assembly. Depending on the amount of resources invested, a character will be reborn at first level with most of their stats intact in order to rise through the levels again, becoming more powerful. And Disgaea provides plenty of reason to power units, as infinite dungeons like the Item World are full of powerful secret bosses.
Fans of the Persona franchise are some of the most dedicated in gaming, but there's plenty to love in Disgaea for fans who decide to dive into one of Atlus's most popular franchises.