I think I'll do this in parts. I don't feel that I played it enough last night to fully and fairly review it yet, but I did want to at least give you guys my first impressions...
I played for about 2 hours or so and got through the first two tutorials.
My First Impressions
1. A little weird thing - Anyone who has ever played an import PS or PS2 game probably knows that, typically, the CIRCLE button is ACCEPT and the X button is CANCEL. Over the last few years, I have managed to program myself in the following way: When I play a domestically released game, X=accept and O=cancel. When I play an import game, O=accept and X=cancel. THIS GAME PLAYS BACKWARDS!!! lol I keep hitting the wrong button!
2. Disgaea in HD makes me all warm and fuzzy... It's big, bright, quirky, and colorful. Everything we've come to expect from this series. I'm glad it has so far kept to its anime style art. I was worried that they'd put CG in there and mess it up. I kind of took the graphics for granted, though, and didn't pay very close attention to it. (Graphics are not a high selling point for me. Gameplay is way more important.)
3. If you can't read any Japanese, don't even TRY to play it...lol My listening comprehension is my strongest skill, so I do best when there is audio dialog along with the dialog box. Unfortunately, most of the dialog that involves teaching you how to play the game is not voice acted. Also, unlike, for example, Kingdom Hearts, the kanji doesn't have the yomigana (how to read the kanji) above or below it, so if you don't recognize a kanji, you have to use a kanji dictionary to look it up. Ugh. So, unless you know a decent amount of Japanese, this game is NOT import-friendly. Fortunately, my language skill is decent enough, but my brain felt like mush afterward.
4. As always, the characters are great!
The voice acting is excellent and the dialog between them is funny and clever.
5. Since I've only gotten through the first two tutorial levels, I can't say that much about gameplay. So far, it seems to be similar to the games before it. Tutorial #1 taught me the basics about moving around the field, attacking, and executing combos with multiple characters. Tutorial #2 showed me how to move certain objects in the environment to reach otherwise unreachable places.
After I participate in more battles, I'll write again.