Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days????

It's very fun to play, but it pretty much has PS1 graphics if that sort of thing bothers you

You don't need to know the plot of the first one, it just has a couple of unimportant cameos.

 

Low resolution, yea. Until recently NI liked to make their games with PS1 level graphics to save money or something. It might not be an issue on the PSP with the smaller screen, though. Just check out a couple videos on Youtube, that should tell you all you need to know

 

It's a good game but strictly for grinders if you like to level characters up it's probably your perfect game. I like it but on PSP I think Jean De'Arc is the best game of the type but the Disgaea games are loved by a lot of fans and have good humour throughout. In my opinion their both better games than Final Fantasy tactics.

Gameplay is in the hundreds or even thousands of hours you can level up individual items as well as characters to crazy levels like 9999.

I definitely recommend it if you like this type of game.

 

While it's true that Disgaea does cater to grinders, I think it'd be a fine game for someone who enjoys a humorous story (note: not the type of humor you'd find in an American movie or TV show) packed into an SRPG. In fact, the games are much shorter than normal JRPGs (1+3 took me ~30 hours each to finish the main storyline, and that's coming from someone who likes to take a lot of detours in RPGs).

But the series is really known for the post-game content. While the main part may only take 30h, some people spend hundreds of hours in the post-game trying to maximize their characters. There are tons of things you can do, such as leveling up each individual piece of equipment, learning the skills from different classes and then leveling those up, etc. In Disgaea 3, there was a way you could boost your characters' abilities that was separate from your standard leveling.

The level cap is 9999, but I think it's a bit misleading because it differs from a normal RPG. If you were to just hit 9999 and say "I'm done", your character would be nowhere near max stats. Instead, you level up a bunch and then reincarnate, which sets you back at level 1, except you have boosted stats. And then you repeat multiple times. It sounds like a horrendous grind, but it's not as bad as it sounds. They have a level in the post-game that's designed specifically for grinding (a 3x3 block of monsters all on +exp squares), and with the right setup, you eventually 1-shot them and gain hundreds or even thousands of levels at a time.

I think it's a great game whether or not you're a grinder, but obviously those who are will get the most out of the game.

 

Yea, the series is kinda misrepresented IMO. From the start of the game until the final boss battle 30-40 hours later, its a perfectly normal TRPG. The stat grinding insanity/fun only begins during the postgame, and is thus entirely optional for those who don't want it.

 

I'd have to see a list to give any suggestions. I have no idea what's available for $20.

 

There are new weapons available pretty much until the end of the postgame (Yoshitsune!). And then you can spend hundreds of hours upgrading them