izigame.me

Most comments made by other people, I share the same sentiment in. Disgaea 7 is a great game and a step up from 6 with a better cast of characters and uses the 3D models to better effect, but it's still worse then previous entries before it in multiple ways. The price tag for the base game and dlc is not worth it currently and I would suggest playing past entries as they cost less and are all currently on Steam. Disgaea 7 costs too much and really doesn't do anything better then the past entries if we were to exclude 6.
Most reviews may mention the jump from 2D to 3D hold the game back, and I agree. It's more appealing in the hub world but during combat it looks less impactful and flashy. Past games are more visually appealing with the 2D format then here. Cutscenes, gameplay, and the level of detail in skills are a lot better then anything shown in disgaea 7. The fact each skill can't be on the map and must have it's own background linked into it shows how restrictive the 3D effects are. Other then the developers at NIS themselves, A large portion of the disgaea fanbase doesn't want this direction and would prefer they go back to the roots of disgaea's writing and 2D sprites.
The jumbo-gimmick where you become big is not the reason people bought the game and the 'hell gauge' is just a revamped overload from disgaea 5. Jumbo gets pretty old quick and I found myself rarely using it because it hinders performance (Specifically on the switch port). Again, Disgaea 5's overload provides a better formula and is structured a lot better. Everyone needing to fulfill different conditions to activate this makes it tedious. The item world is made shorter but levels increase faster, which I do appreciate as it makes the system less time consuming but in the long run saving time isn't a complaint that most players wanting to minmax would do anyways.
The competitive player versus player mode is for bragging rights only and just like the jumbo-gimmick, i kept ignoring it. In concept it sounds fun and Disgaea RPG did it perfectly, but in disgaea 7 it's completely irrelevant to the experience. It's optional and you don't have to do this, but if you choose to play it you get a rank and that's about it. There isn't any meaningful rewards that make it worth your time.
It's story is great and i'd say its one of the better entries, but it's cast (although voice acted well) is still lacking on anything to properly get invested in. The characters from past entries returning as dlc, are butchered in personality. Some examples come from the earlier entries such as the cast from disgaea 2. Adell for example is portrayed incorrectly as it's forced to have a joke overwrite the best and serious aspects of the character. They may have removed the voice problems from disgaea 5 and make replacements that do a better job, but in return the dialogue written for the characters were made worse. Although some characters are portrayed correctly, they are still a far cry from being perfect. These dlc packs feels like an obligation more then quality, and the fact they are separated to encourage buying all of them is a understandable but still greedy business tactic. Just like the base game it is overpriced, and considering the complete additions from past games has provided ALL of the dlc onto it without an extra cost, this makes it more pricey and having less quality.
I think the game is entertaining on it's own, but if you aren't able to afford the game or don't like certain aspects of the story i'd recommend past entries. If you want the best story and writing, go for disgaea 2. if you want the best gameplay, buy Disgaea 5. Disgaea 7 is the newest entry in the series but is not the best. The 3D direction they are going with this game is more restrictive and unpolished. I love the franchise, but the developers are going in the wrong direction to keep people interested. They are ignoring old territory and making new gimmicks that to put it bluntly, no one cares about.
Companies tend to innovate games in order to make them more interesting, however these changes often don't work and come off as faults to the game. For Disgaea 8, just copy 5's formula or wrap all of the games from the past into one package. These 3D models, gimmicks, characters, and most importantly gameplay don't stand on it's own. Disgaea 7 isn't a bad game as it sets out what it wants to do, but it's not the first or best disgaea game to play. Play disgaea 7 and then any 2D entry including sprites from the past, you can see how those four details work and how the jump to 3D really hurt the franchise.
Don't buy disgaea 7 unless you are ok with spending the money and want to play the newest entry of disgaea. If this is your first disgaea game or you can't spend the large sums of money, buy disgaea 1-5 instead. Even at a discount, disgaea 7 will always cost more then the past games and the fact it provides less content is really disappointing. I'd only recommend this entry if you want to complete your collection or just want to see the best of the 3D models they have provided. I wouldn't recommend it for any other reason as you can genuinely have a better experience with other games in the series.