What should the next theme for Disgaea be?

[magnum12]

1. Deconstruction of heroes. Namely that Since heroes are often born from tragedy, they often have some major emotional scarring and personal demons to deal with. As the plot progresses, heroes are then reconstructed via answering the question of WHY the power of friendship, camradirie (as Valvatorez puts it), trust, and love are so important to a hero. The Power of Camradirie is important to a hero because it gives them solace, the strength to fight their inner pain, and ultimately bring closure, allowing them to earn their happy ending.

2. Satire of the rise of darker and edgier material

A side note on the concept of deconstruction. It doesn't nessicarily have to make something all dark and edgy. Even idealistic works can invoke deconstruction as the net objective of it is to take something apart with the eventual goal of putting it back together better than it was before (that's where reconstruction comes in). Some works manage to do both at the same time, one of the reasons Puella Magi Madoka Magica was such an effective work.

[Rednal]

So, what, get Gen Urobuchi to write Disgaea 5?

......

Actually, that's not a bad idea... he DID tell me he wanted to do different genres, and I'd love to see what he'd come up with for screwball comedy... XD

[magnum12]

You misunderstand. A summary of my point in case it got lost in the text. Note: Both aspects are to be taken together.

1. Deconstructive stuff + idealistic setting. Deconstruction sometimes creates stuff that's darker and edgier than normal for a setting despite intention thus its comboed with the next point to maintain the light hearted feel.

2. Parody/Satire of darker and edgier. Stuff being dark and edgy along side the types of fans who seem to crave this sort of thing are something that have been long overdue for a good twisted parody.

[Rhuen]

yeah but that's very American, so much so that its become a parody of American movies and tv shows in other countries to go from lighter to darker. But when you speak of this overseas like Japan, it would take the fans of American shows and movies to fully get it; just like when American shows make Anime references; the general audience isn't going to get it.

Vampires, werewolves, and all that work, because they are so old and its a Western culture thing that Eastern cultures have been exposed to for decades; thus you can have parodies like Disgaea and Princess Resurection amongst others and still make sense to them. The going darker and edgier thing is still kind of newish in America and not really happening to Japanese shows and anime in general; if anything (except for Hentai) they are starting to get lighter than they were in the 90's *not saying they didn't have light hearted shows in the 90's; just more of them*.

[magnum12]

Darn, and I thought I was being original. Actually, my inspiration for the idea of satirizing darker and edgier comes not from tv and anime, but from gaming and comics.

As it relates to gaming, starting around the early-mid 90's (the PS1 generation of gamers IIRC), a really nasty trend started to develop amongst players, namely a certain brand of idiot sociopathic fans who believed that the most important things in a game were graphics and "mature content" (blood, gore, swearing, being uber "grim dark", and other things). Any game that was devoid of "mature content" was mocked with the "kiddie" label. Worse, some in the gaming industry actually encouraged these idiots (that I shall call "Gore Mongers") and as a result, the "Gore Mongers were a signigicant demographic (which also had an impact on console sales when it came to that dreaded label) for at least a decade. It was certainly a face palm worthy era (I personally prefer the Picard).

In regards to comics, there was an era in the early 80s (starting with Watchmen IIRC) and ended around 2000 (with the release of Kingdom Come) called the Iron Age of Comics in which everything was all dark and stuff, everyone was a dark brooding anti-hero who looked like they were on some serious roids (thanks to a Mr. Liedfeld). I believe a comics example of making fun of darker and edgier might be easier to translate overseas because IIRC, super hero comics (late golden age-early silver age era) were a major inspiration to early manga.

I don't know that much about the history of manga and anime during the 80's-90's era (I started getting into it around the early-mid 2000's, enjoying stuff like Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star, Umineko, and Higurashi) so I can't really contribute anything useful to that discussion as it pertains to my idea of satire. The 90s was the era of stuff like Evangelion, right? Was there ever a "dark and gritty age" of manga like there was in comic books and video dames or was it just sporadic unconcentrated releases?

Regardless, the "Gore Monger" crowd (what I meant by fans who seem to "crave darker and edgier") is long overdue for riffing. Going back to getting into Higurashi again, the normal crowd who are in it for the mystery and horror really get annoyed with the crowd who think the whole point of the series is the brutal killings. On a similar note, sane horror fans in general can't stand the people who think horror is solely about being as gorey as possible.

[Chestnut Bowl]

Nothing serious. I just want to play a low-level demon with a customizable appearance who rises from the bottom of society to become Overlord.

Or, a game about Priere trying to become Human again.

[Heroin McSmackle]

Darker and Edgier.

Possibly drugs, but that is just me. Maybe someone finds a way to convert Prinny Juice, a useless liquid, into some seriously addictive substance. That would make a pretty grim base for a game, wouldn't it?

It'll probably get more and more about real world problems, like Politics, instead of sinking back to it's quirky beginnings. To be honest, I really enjoyed both sides of the coin.

[Pinkemon]

So, what, get Gen Urobuchi to write Disgaea 5?

Yeah, I was about to mention that the hero deconstruction kinda reminded me of Fate/Zero.

Of course, if its about over the top grimdark, I've always wanted to see a parody grimdark character like that in Disgaea.

: So, who are you?
: I'M GRIMFIST BLOODGUN SKULLDARK. THE PURGER OF SOULS, WIELDER OF THE NECROBLASTICON. I CRY LIMPID TEARS OF BLOOD AT MY BREAKFAST OF DEATH, AS I CONSUME THE HEARTS OF A TOUSAND KITTENS. ALL WHO GAZE UPON ME SHALL CRAWL IN THEIR SKIN, WITH WOUNDS THAT WILL NOT HEAL.
: ...Uuuuh, what?

[magnum12]

So, what, get Gen Urobuchi to write Disgaea 5?

Yeah, I was about to mention that the hero deconstruction kinda reminded me of Fate/Zero.

Of course, if its about over the top grimdark, I've always wanted to see a parody grimdark character like that in Disgaea.

: So, who are you?
: I'M GRIMFIST BLOODGUN SKULLDARK. THE PURGER OF SOULS, WIELDER OF THE NECROBLASTICON. I CRY LIMPID TEARS OF BLOOD AT MY BREAKFAST OF DEATH, AS I CONSUME THE HEARTS OF A TOUSAND KITTENS. ALL WHO GAZE UPON ME SHALL CRAWL IN THEIR SKIN, WITH WOUNDS THAT WILL NOT HEAL.
: ...Uuuuh, what?

As per the hero deconstruction idea, remember than even idealistic works can have deconstruction (look at the Tales series). I was also thinking that along side it, there should also be hero reconstruction via looking at the power of friendship/camraderie that the series keeps talking about in more detail.

Also, lol at Mr. Grimy Mc Grimdark there. Don't forget to make him look all angry, serious and stuff.

[Rhuen]

So, what, get Gen Urobuchi to write Disgaea 5?

Yeah, I was about to mention that the hero deconstruction kinda reminded me of Fate/Zero.

Of course, if its about over the top grimdark, I've always wanted to see a parody grimdark character like that in Disgaea.

: So, who are you?
: I'M GRIMFIST BLOODGUN SKULLDARK. THE PURGER OF SOULS, WIELDER OF THE NECROBLASTICON. I CRY LIMPID TEARS OF BLOOD AT MY BREAKFAST OF DEATH, AS I CONSUME THE HEARTS OF A TOUSAND KITTENS. ALL WHO GAZE UPON ME SHALL CRAWL IN THEIR SKIN, WITH WOUNDS THAT WILL NOT HEAL.
: ...Uuuuh, what?

that reminded me of when Desco first appeared.

[Pinkemon]

^Hey, yeah. Now that you mention it...

When I wrote it I was going off of your average grimderp, huge gun toting, way too many pouch-wearing Rob Liefield creation.

[Rhuen]

^Hey, yeah. Now that you mention it...

When I wrote it I was going off of your average grimderp, huge gun toting, way too many pouch-wearing Rob Liefield creation.

Heh, I could totally see them turn that into a Tsundere (most are to a certain degree), the big muscular tough as nails anti-hero who will drink from his enemy's skull...and they have a soft spot for kittens, or puppies, or despite that demeanor will go out of their way to save some kid from a run-a-way bull ect...

[BadArseOverlord]

Wow so many awesome ideas for the next game. I think a Maki Kingdom remake not just converted to a PSP and made to look a bit better but a completely new game or a addon to D4 that could be called Disgaea Kingdoms

Staring the one and only Lord Zetta & all the other main character casts that get together to tackle a great and SERIOUS event that could wipe out all netherworlds. With the same game mechanics from Maki Kingdoms like the military weapons and buildings you could summon in battle.

[dood]

Wow so many awesome ideas for the next game. I think a Maki Kingdom remake not just converted to a PSP and made to look a bit better but a completely new game or a addon to D4 that could be called Disgaea Kingdoms

Staring the one and only Lord Zetta & all the other main character casts that get together to tackle a great and SERIOUS event that could wipe out all netherworlds. With the same game mechanics from Maki Kingdoms like the military weapons and buildings you could summon in battle.

That doesn't work because they make a new cast for each game.

[ShadowPrinny]

Okay here's my idea.

How about a Mafia/Gangster theme for Disgaea 5?

Parodying stuff like The Godfather and Scarface.
Also it'd be cool to have a female main character with a male sidekick.

I just thought of this idea now so I'm still ironing out everything else.