Info about Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless:

Official game description:
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless Purchase Options
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About the Game
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Join protagonist Fuji for a Disgaea adventure that’s bigger and better than ever before! Dive into the demonic realm of Hinomoto where the bushido code is out, and the Hinomoto Code of Destruction is in! Consisting of a myriad of netherworlds, Hinomoto is home to a multitude of demons, each with their own beliefs. Enter bushido fan-girl Pirilika, a naive and rich young lady who manages to convince Fuji to protect her as she pursues her ambitions. But there’s more to this contract that meets the eye, so be sure to check the fine print…  
Embark on one HL of an SRPG adventure and utilize the devilishly exciting new features including Jumbification, Hell Mode and Item Reincarnation to take your fighting team to the next level! Then, unlock new and improved auto-battle by successfully completing each stage, and see how your team stacks up in online ranked battles. With over 40 different character classes to choose from, you can customize your team to suit the ever-changing tides of battle!  
Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless takes classic SRPG excitement to the next level!
Steam Version Features
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**Arbitrary Aspect Ratio: Steam Deck & Ultrawide Support**  
The game scales to any aspect ratio. This has been tested from 21:9 to 4:3, but should also work well on any display in between, including the venerable Steam Deck’s 16:10 display!  
**4K Resolution**  
Enjoy the visuals of the Netherworld in high quality!  
**Keyboard and Mouse Control Support**  
The keyboard and mouse can be used to control the game menus, select targets in battle, or even click on the on-screen button guides! Of course, controller support is extended to any type you might use!  
**Additional Graphics Options**  
Advanced graphics settings can be used to optimize your experience for your particular hardware setup!

Release date: 3 Oct, 2023

Categories: Tactical RPG, Turn-based Combat, Character Progression, Character Customization, Competitive Multiplayer, Item Management, Automation Game, Single-player Story


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Significant Series Improvement (weight 0.82): The game is widely praised as a major step up from Disgaea 6, often compared favorably to Disgaea 5, and successfully reintroduces core elements and quality of life features that fans appreciate. It also serves as an accessible entry point for new players.
- Quality English Voice Acting (weight 0.62): The English dub is generally well-received, with reviewers noting a noticeable improvement in quality compared to older titles and a sense of enjoyment from the voice actors.
- Accessible & Replayable Content (weight 0.34): Reviewers highlight the game's ease of entry for new players, coupled with extensive content that provides hundreds of hours of engaging and satisfying gameplay, ensuring high replayability.
- Excellent PC Port & Performance (weight 0.31): The game is noted for its stable performance on PC, including smooth 4K resolution and Steam Deck compatibility, with reviewers praising it as an exceptionally well-made port, especially for a Japanese developer.
- Enhanced QoL & Simplified Grind (weight 0.27): The game introduces numerous quality-of-life features that reduce tedious grinding, making character cultivation and overall progression simpler and more manageable, enhancing the player experience.
- Witty Humor & Charming Cast (weight 0.23): The game's writing is frequently praised for its strong, well-paced, and often random humor, complemented by a cast of fun and engaging characters that contribute significantly to the enjoyable narrative.
- Improved 3D Graphics (weight 0.19): While some players initially preferred the 2D art style, the 3D models are generally considered an improvement over Disgaea 6, looking natural and growing on reviewers, with smooth and impressive animations.
- Engaging Story & Narrative (weight 0.18): The storyline is generally well-received, described as interesting, enjoyable, and often humorous, with some reviewers finding it superior to previous Disgaea titles and appreciating its post-story content.
- Memorable Music & OST (weight 0.06): The game's soundtrack is consistently praised for being incredible, memorable, and maintaining the series' unique Japanese flavor, significantly contributing to the overall experience.
- Deep Strategic Combat (weight 0.05): The combat system is noted for its significant strategic depth, providing an engaging and enjoyable experience for players who appreciate intricate tactical gameplay.
- Mixed DLC Reception (weight 0.05): While some players found the DLC worth purchasing, there's a sentiment that some content might have been intentionally cut from the base game to be sold separately, leading to mixed reception.
- Sexualized Character Designs (weight 0.02): Reviewers noted the presence of "anime girls" and characters with "large breasts," indicating a focus on sexualized character designs. This point lacks constructive feedback and is primarily descriptive of a visual preference.

Common complaints:
- Series Regression & Content Cuts (weight 1): Many players feel the game is a significant downgrade from previous Disgaea titles, especially Disgaea 5, due to shallow gameplay, unoriginal story, and the removal of beloved mechanics (e.g., Magichange, Monster Weapons, Tower Attacks). The transition to 3D graphics is also criticized for poor animation quality and a less appealing art style compared to the 2D sprites.
- Frequent Crashes & Freezes (weight 0.6): The PC version suffers from severe technical issues, including frequent crashes, hard locks, and random freezing that often require a computer restart, making the game unplayable for many. There are also reports of critical bugs leading to corrupted or lost save data.
- Excessive Pricing & DLC (weight 0.41): The game's base price is considered too high, and the extensive, overpriced Day 1 DLC, which includes classic characters, is seen as exploitative. Many players feel that content that should have been part of the base game is locked behind paywalls, making the complete experience prohibitively expensive.
- Flawed Item World System (weight 0.29): The revamped Item World and Item Reincarnation systems are widely criticized for being less fun, more tedious, and overly reliant on luck. Players find it difficult to optimize items, and the process often feels unrewarding, lacking the engaging elements of previous iterations.
- Bland Story & Characters (weight 0.24): Reviewers found the game's story to be boring, unoriginal, and cliché, often feeling rushed or like filler. The main cast and supporting characters are frequently described as uninteresting, lacking depth, and having poor writing, which detracts from the overall narrative experience.
- Jumbification Mechanic Flawed (weight 0.12): The Jumbification system is criticized for being unbalanced and easily abusable, allowing players to trivialise boss fights and reducing strategic depth. Many players found the mechanic to be poorly implemented and detrimental to the game's challenge and atmosphere.
- Unclear Endgame Progression (weight 0.08): Players found the post-story progression vague, with little guidance on how to advance or what to do after completing the main narrative. This lack of clear objectives, combined with a perceived lack of challenge, led to a diminished motivation to engage with the endgame content.
- Inefficient PC Property Selection (weight 0.08): The property selection process on the PC version is described as extremely inefficient, repetitive, and a 'painful grind.' This specific UI/UX issue makes a core gameplay loop frustrating and time-consuming for PC players.

Gameplay feedback:
- Item Reincarnation & World (weight 0.36): The new Item Reincarnation system fundamentally changes item progression, requiring items to be reincarnated after reduced Item World floors. While offering unique property transfers and reducing some RNG, it can be tedious and gate further item leveling, making it a core but polarizing mechanic.
- Return to Series Roots (weight 0.27): Disgaea 7 is largely seen as a return to the series' core characteristics, rolling back some Disgaea 6 changes and incorporating Disgaea 5 elements. This balances new features with familiar gameplay, though some story aspects might feel similar to past entries.
- Jumbification Mechanic Impact (weight 0.21): Jumbification is a new mechanic allowing units to become gigantic, offering powerful map-wide attacks. While it can be fun and strategic for bypassing stages, some players found it difficult to integrate or felt it was superfluous.
- Improved Auto-Battle System (weight 0.18): The auto-battle system has been significantly improved, featuring an auto-loop function and a fuel-based restriction that prevents endless idling. This makes it a more balanced bonus feature rather than a forced necessity.
- Diverse Character Classes (weight 0.12): The game offers a rich selection of 45 character classes, including new additions and male/female versions for most humanoid types. This provides players with extensive freedom in character customization and build variety.
- Magichange Still Absent (weight 0.12): A recurring point of feedback is the continued absence of the Magichange and Docking mechanics from previous Disgaea titles. Many players express disappointment over this removed feature.
- Core Grinding Loop (weight 0.11): The game maintains its traditional focus on grinding levels and acquiring better gear, with character training being relatively easy. Some players noted a lack of distinct end-game equipment and the presence of a PvP auto-battle element.
- Underutilized Geo Mechanics (weight 0.1): The flexible geo panel and throwing systems are largely unexplored outside of a few story maps, leading to a reduction in their content. Additionally, tutorials are presented as lengthy text rather than interactive in-level explanations.
- Accessible Yet Challenging (weight 0.09): The game is generally considered good for casual play, introducing fun mechanics that are not overly complex. It maintains enough challenge to keep players engaged without being overwhelming.
- Strategy: Numerical Dominance (weight 0.08): The game's strategic gameplay often boils down to inflating character numbers to one-shot enemies or be one-shotted. This emphasizes numerical superiority over complex level design or tactical depth.
- Essential Juice Bar (weight 0.08): The Juice Bar returns as an essential late-game feature for instant leveling, mana, and extract application. It is noted as being more balanced than in previous titles, preventing instant high-level steamrolling.
- Limited Weapon Skills (weight 0.08): The number of weapon skills per weapon type has been significantly reduced, with only four skills available for each. Monster units also notably lack generic weapon skills, impacting their versatility.
- Hospital Gacha Rewards (weight 0.07): The game includes a 'Hospital Gacha' system where players can spend hospital points to receive high-tier equipment and money early in the game. This provides a significant boost to early progression.
- Empty Item World Maps (weight 0.07): Item World maps are often described as large, empty, and with enemies scattered far apart, leading to tedious navigation. Additionally, auto-battle is not available within the Item World, impacting efficiency.
- Monster Units Underpowered (weight 0.07): Monster units are perceived as significantly weaker and less useful compared to humanoid units. Their inability to form towers or be lifted makes them difficult to integrate effectively into combat strategies.
- Complex Stat Maxing (weight 0.07): The game features a detailed and multi-layered system for maxing character stats, involving base ability values, Juice Bar essences, and absorbing Item World boss abilities. Achieving max stats requires significant grinding across these different systems.
- Terrain Crystal Effects (weight 0.07): The game introduces terrain crystals that provide various buffs (both sides, defense, damage) and debuffs (damage upon destruction) to units on affected terrain. This adds an environmental element to battles.
- DLC Character Content (weight 0.07): DLC primarily focuses on unlocking major previous characters and additional generic characters. However, some players noted a lack of collaboration characters in the DLC offerings.

Performance notes:
- Good multi-platform performance (weight 0.12): The game demonstrates strong performance across various platforms, including high-end PCs, Linux (SteamOS), Steam Deck, and even M-series Macbooks via CrossOver. Players report smooth gameplay without significant lag or crashes on these diverse setups.
- Controller detection issues (weight 0.06): The game experiences performance issues such as freezing and lag, which are attributed to the game continuously searching for a controller. Connecting a PS4 controller has been reported to resolve these problems, suggesting a programming-related cause rather than hardware limitations.
- CPU/GPU bug fixed (weight 0.02): A significant CPU/GPU peaking bug that previously impacted game performance has been completely resolved with the release of patch 1.11. This fix has led to smoother gameplay and indicates active developer support in addressing performance concerns.
- Seamless cloud saves (weight 0.02): The game features functional cloud saves, enabling players to seamlessly transfer their game progress between different platforms. This feature is specifically noted for its effectiveness in allowing smooth transitions between PC and Steam Deck.

Recommendations:
- Disgaea 5 Comparison (weight 0.76): Disgaea 5 is frequently cited as a superior or more complete game, especially in terms of mechanical depth and as a starting point for new players. Many veterans prefer Disgaea 5 over Disgaea 7, suggesting it offers a better overall experience.
- Technical Issues & PC Port (weight 0.53): The PC (Steam) version suffers from significant technical issues, including freezing, crashes, and being an 'incomplete version' compared to console releases. Reviewers frequently mention waiting for patches or specific fixes like changing IME settings or using borderless mode. These issues heavily impact the game's recommendation.
- Target Audience & Suitability (weight 0.52): Disgaea 7 is highly recommended for existing fans of the series, especially those who enjoyed previous titles or were disappointed by Disgaea 6. However, it is generally not recommended as a starting point for new players, who are advised to begin with older, more complete, or beginner-friendly entries like Disgaea 5, 4, or 1. The game primarily caters to its niche fanbase.
- Pricing & Value (weight 0.52): Many reviewers feel the game's full price is too high, recommending players wait for a significant sale or discount. The current price is often deemed acceptable only for hardcore series fans willing to pay to support the developers. Some even suggest it's not worth more than a very low price point.
- Core Gameplay Loop (weight 0.11): The game strongly appeals to players who enjoy extensive grinding, building characters to extreme power levels, and seeing large damage numbers. It offers a zany story and characters, providing a satisfying experience for those who embrace its progression-focused, high-number gameplay.
- Post-Fix Recommendation (weight 0.05): Some reviewers consider the game a 'masterpiece' and a 'must-play' for SRPG fans, particularly after critical technical issues have been resolved. This indicates that the core game is highly enjoyable once functional.
- Item World Progression Advice (weight 0.02): Players are advised to potentially avoid the Item World early in the game if they wish to prevent unintended power imbalances. This offers specific strategic guidance for new players.
- Character Management Desire (weight 0.02): One reviewer expressed a desire for the developers to implement new methods for character management in future installments. This suggests a potential area for improvement in the series' long-term design.
- No Third-Party EULA (weight 0.02): A minor positive point noted by one reviewer is the absence of a third-party End User License Agreement (EULA), which is often seen as a consumer-friendly practice.
- Developer Criticism (weight 0.01): One reviewer expressed strong disapproval of the developers, stating they would not support 'lazy developers.' This is an emotional response lacking specific, actionable feedback.

Other player notes:
- Improved writing, veteran appeal (weight 0.16): Many long-time fans of the Disgaea series, including those who disliked Disgaea 6, found the writing in Disgaea 7 to be significantly improved, offering more nuance and complexity. Reviewers often have extensive playtime, indicating engagement.
- UI/QoL suggestions (weight 0.06): Players suggested quality-of-life improvements for future titles, such as adding favorite/protect settings for items in the sell menu and simultaneous sorting by ID and rarity. Another suggestion was automatic mana replenishment from the drink bar.
- Korean language startup error (weight 0.06): Players encountered a specific error at startup when the game's menu language was set to Korean. This issue could be resolved by changing the language before starting the game, allowing Korean to be re-enabled later.
- Jumbo mode clipping issues (weight 0.05): Multiple visual glitches were reported in 'jumbo mode,' where character models, such as the thief's pockets and the witch's ribbon, clip through other parts of their bodies. This indicates a widespread graphical oversight.
- Pending PC update (weight 0.04): The Steam (PC) version of the game is awaiting a specific 'complete' version 1.30+ update, which may be delayed due to the developer's financial situation. This suggests a potential concern regarding ongoing support.
- Story presentation change (weight 0.02): The game has removed field-based story scenario demos, replacing them entirely with static 'standing picture dramas.' This change impacts how the narrative is delivered to the player.

Emotions:
- Disappointment (weight 0.28): Players are primarily disappointed by a perceived decline in game quality and content compared to previous series entries, including the removal of beloved mechanics and a shift to less preferred 3D art styles. Significant frustration also stems from poor PC optimization, technical issues preventing gameplay, and aggressive monetization strategies like high DLC prices and content segmentation.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.27): Players express satisfaction due to the game's overall quality, significant gameplay improvements, and the successful integration of new mechanics while returning to core series characteristics. Positive aspects include enjoyable strategic gameplay, deep progression systems, and effective quality-of-life features.
- Frustration (weight 0.26): Players are primarily frustrated by severe technical issues, including frequent game crashes, freezes, and hard locks that prevent gameplay. This is compounded by a perceived lack of updates and support for the PC version, leading to disparities with console releases. Additionally, frustration arises from problematic gameplay design choices such as tedious grinding, unbalanced mechanics, and unintuitive UI.
- Excitement (weight 0.04): Players express excitement for the game's overall quality, significant gameplay improvements, and the introduction of new features and systems that add depth. The return to the series' roots, coupled with quality-of-life enhancements and an excellent PC port, further contributes to this positive anticipation.
- Anger (weight 0.03): Anger stems from persistent and unresolvable technical issues, particularly game-crashing bugs on PC, which players interpret as a lack of respect for the PC user base. This is exacerbated by aggressive monetization practices, including predatory pricing, excessive DLC, and perceived developer laziness or focus on profit over game quality and content.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.02): Players find enjoyment in the core gameplay loop, engaging characters, quality voice acting, and dynamic attack animations. Specific gameplay mechanics like Demon Heart Edit and Level Battles, along with well-designed level layouts and verticality, also contribute significantly to the positive experience.
- Relief (weight 0.02): Relief is primarily felt when players successfully resolve technical issues, such as crashes or setup problems, allowing them to finally play the game. The Steam version performing better than console versions also contributes to a sense of relief for PC players.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance is caused by the game's story, specifically its perceived cliches and crude humor, which some players find unappealing.
- Neutrality (weight 0.01): Players express neutrality regarding the Jumbification feature, indicating it doesn't significantly enhance or detract from their experience. Comparisons to previous titles also sometimes result in a neutral stance rather than strong positive or negative feelings.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the game's character cast and story, finding these elements to be positive aspects of their experience.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement is derived from the game's humor, particularly funny gag moments within the story.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom arises from the monotonous leveling process and general gameplay repetition, suggesting a lack of variety or engaging progression.
- Sadness (weight 0.01): Sadness is expressed when players compare the current game unfavorably to previous titles in the series, indicating a longing for past experiences or quality.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players express a desire for older Disgaea titles, specifically Disgaea 3 and D2, to be ported to Steam.
- Fatigue (weight 0): Players experience fatigue due to the repetitive aesthetic and voice acting across multiple NIS titles, indicating a desire for more variety.
- Joy (weight 0): Joy is experienced due to the game's excellent compatibility and ease of play on the Steam Deck.
- Anticipation (weight 0): Players express anticipation for future game content, indicating a positive outlook on upcoming additions.
- Nostalgia (weight 0): Nostalgia is triggered by the story and gameplay elements reminiscent of Disgaea 1, evoking fond memories of the series' origins.
- Disgust (weight 0): Disgust is directed towards the game's story and characters, indicating a strong negative reaction to these narrative elements.
- Hope (weight 0): Players express hope regarding the game's price and its potential for future innovation, suggesting a desire for continued improvement and value.}