I love Disgaea, and I love musou games, so I was stoked to get cracking on checking out Disgaea Mayhem at PAX East last week. There’s a certain charm to the franchise that you can’t find anywhere else, and though I’m certainly accustomed to the tactical RPG gameplay at this point, I’m always down for a little experimentation. From what I played, I’d say this experimentation is paying off rather well thus far.
Though the series has expanded into other genres before (remember the 2009 visual novel Disgaea Infinite? That was a wild one), this is the franchise’s first go at an action-RPG. There’s a real musou vibe to Disgaea Mayhem, as most foes aren’t especially hardy but make up for this by being pretty numerous. It’s a bit strange to see iconic Disgaea enemies like mushrooms and dragons in 3D and not confined to a grid, as their sizes were significantly different from what I had assumed over all these years.
Credit: NIS America
I was given the choice between three different stages to try out in the Disgaea Mayhem PAX demo. I went for the dark, lava-filled third level because of my general insecurity and a desire to appear capable at video games in a public setting, but I think this ended up being a great decision since I got to see a good variety of powerful enemies that provided a solid challenge. The vibes on the stage were great, giving off that classic Disgaea silliness and colorful energy.
From the start, you’re able to pick from a number of different weapons that massively change your gameplay style. I went with a staff so I could see how magic worked in a fast-paced action setting, and it was definitely a good choice. Using all sorts of flashy and destructive wind magic felt incredible, as I was frequently blowing away and raining destruction upon hordes of recognizable Disgaea enemies. There was a good number of combos and special attacks for me to mess with, and since my objective was just to defeat a certain number of enemies and a boss, I got to focus on just messing with combos.
Credit: NIS America
Disgaea Mayhem makes the 3D visuals work in a way previous entries struggled with.
Though I’ve always preferred the 2D sprite style of older Disgaea games, I think the 3D models worked better in what I played of Disgaea Mayhem than in previous 3D games. Maybe it’s due to how much faster-paced the gameplay is and how freely you can explore the levels, but something about the overall look felt more natural here than before.
Finally, the bit of plot I gathered from Disgaea Mayhem felt perfectly in line with the rest of the series’ endearing and extremely goofy tone. I played as N.A. – the very well-designed mercenary who’s hired by the Overlord Tichelle to reclaim a powerful flan that was stolen from her fridge. Both characters struck me as immediately memorable, and my interest has certainly been piqued in seeing how this flan-finding story turns out.
Credit: NIS America
At the moment, Disgaea Mayhem has a summer 2026 release window and is set to debut on the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam. I loved the Prinny games and Disgaea Infinite back in the day, so I’m very open to a new Disgaea spin-off. Throw in a Laharl appearance, and I’m 110% in on day one.
