Setting The game takes place in a Netherworld, common in
Disgaea titles, and similar to
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, focuses itself on a specific theme.
Nippon Ichi, apparently feeling that it had exhausted all the game systems a school setting can provide, made the story one of a more political nature. While aspects of Netherworld politics existed in previous games, it is the central focus of the story and the gameplay in
Disgaea 4.
Plot Disgaea 4 follows Valvatorez, a vampire who was once feared as a tyrant until he promised a woman 400 years ago that he would not drink blood until he could instill fear in her, and she died before he could do so. He now has a menial job in Hades, where the souls of dead humans are sent to be transformed into Prinnies, alongside his loyal servant, Fenrich. When the Corrupternment orders the mass extermination of all Prinnies, Valvatorez and Fenrich put a stop to it and, disgusted by the government's actions, Valvatorez plots a rebellion. Valvatorez and Fenrich battle across the Netherworld to win the support of the masses, and along the way, they meet several allies; Fuka Kazamatsuri, a young human girl who died and technically became a Prinny, but kept her human body due to a lack of resources; Desco, a monster created on Earth to be the 'Final Weapon', who was deemed a failure and cast to Hades; Death Emizel, the Netherworld President's only son, who was betrayed and declared legally dead by the government; and Vulcanus, a thieving angel who bears a striking resemblance to Artina, the woman from 400 years in Valvatorez's past, but has an entirely different personality. Finally, Valvatorez and his allies assault the Corrupternment with the help of the support they have gathered, and defeat Netherworld President Hugo. Shocked at his weakness, they discover that the 'fear energy', the power source of the demons, has run dry ever since humans became less superstitious and began fearing each other more than monsters and demons. Furthermore, they learn that this situation was engineered by a human named Judge Nemo, who now runs both Earth and the Netherworld from behind the scenes, and plots the destruction of both. Valvatorez and his allies travel to Earth to stop Judge Nemo's plan of destroying Earth. First, they defeat Des X, the 'final version' of Desco and Fuka's original killer. Next, they go to the Moon, which Judge Nemo plans to crash-land onto Earth, and save Earth again with the help of Flonne (a cameo from
the original game), who inadvertently reveals that Vulcanus is in fact Artina, reincarnated as an angel. Judge Nemo's plans are foiled, but his incredible malice triggers Fear the Great, a machine created by God in order to purge all life on Earth. It is revealed that Nemo desires revenge for the death of Artina, who saved him in the distant past, and he cannot realize she has become an angel due to his evil. The party travels into Fear the Great and defeats Judge Nemo, saving Earth once and for all. Judge Nemo's soul prepares to vanish entirely, but Valvatorez decides to have it sent to Hades so that Nemo can reincarnate as a Prinny and atone for his sins. Depending on certain criteria, such as the number of team attacks performed with specific characters, Valvatorez will share a final cut-scene with one of the major playable characters; by default, Artina's ending will play.
Additional content In the post-game someone else takes over Fear the Great and starts changing the world, resulting in various people becoming president and the world changing to fit their wants and needs. These are: • Axel, who becomes a big star • Flonne, who gets the demons to spread love and peace • Raspberyl, who gets the demons to do volunteer work • Etna, who gets the main characters to become her servants and continuously praise her "nice body" • Laharl, who tries to defeat Valvatorez to become the main character of the game. After defeating them the culprit finally gains full control of Fear the Great and reveals herself to be Asagi, who wants her own game. They defeat her and she joins, putting an end to the post-game story. Other optional bosses are Prinny Kurtis, Pringer X (which does not join) and Zetta (in regular humanoid form), Zetta being the strongest regular (non-Land of Carnage) boss. Baal does make an appearance, however as DLC boss, (his soul having been used in the creation of Pringer X), but the strongest sword is his Baal Sword. In the PlayStation 3's online social gaming platform
PlayStation Home, a
game space has been released for
Disgaea 4 called the
Disgaea 4 Lounge. ==Reception==