Retrobot presents: Hardcore games

Disgaea: Hour Of Darkness (PS2)
Where to start? An RPG so thorough and detailed in its scope, it even lets youhop into youritems and play up to 100 levels within them in order to level them up. Just think about that for a second. Every item in the game, 100 levels each. Of course, you don't have to max out each one, but there you go. Then there's the way each chapter can be replayed, only now with your completion stats and levelsintact.

Very few games do this, and it's a sign that the developer was absolutely sure the game would stand up to this kind of stress-testing. If it was all unbalanced, it would become unplayable. But it is playable and it does work. If you want to get the most out of Disgaea, clear yourschedule For the next year. You might just get to brush its surface. Oh, and maybe even reach the level cap of 9,999.

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.