Disgaea Mayhem: Shifting from Tactical RPG to Action RPG

Disgaea Mayhem represents a major shift for the franchise, moving from tactical RPG to action RPG. What were the core design goals behind this transition?

While we do feel that the appeal of Disgaea extends beyond just Tactical RPG fans, we also recognize that there are quite a few people who might be put off by that aspect of the series and would avoid playing it as a result. With that in mind, we decided to develop an Action RPG that's more immediately approachable and features less of the complexity that tends to make people wary of Tactical RPGs.

The Disgaea series is known for deep systems, massive stat scaling, and complex mechanics. How did you adapt those systems into a real-time combat framework?

We tried to take the various systems that we developed for Disgaea 7 and adjust them to fit within the context of an Action RPG. But since Disgaea 7 was a Tactical RPG, not all of those ideas were well-suited to this new genre. In the end, rather than getting too fixated on the action and the game design elements surrounding it, our main focus was on building systems that would preserve the essence that makes Disgaea what it is.

From a gameplay perspective, how do you ensure the new action combat still captures the over-the-top feel and progression depth the series is known for?

The base concept for the game was centered around the idea of "blasting away hordes of enemies with flashy Disgaea moves," so rather than being concerned with the subtle intricacies of combat, we mostly wanted players to get a sense of exhilaration from building a character up to the peak of their abilities, and then enjoy the feeling of blowing enemies away with massive amounts of damage.

The game is also designed to be easy to control, allowing for dodge-canceling out of animations and other things of that nature, so we put a lot of thought into how to make the controls feel smooth and not stressful.

The game emphasizes direct control and fast-paced combat. How did that influence your combat design, animation systems, and player feedback loops?

We may have put more emphasis on providing a sense of exhilaration through character growth than we did on the intricacies of combat, but taking that mindset too far would have completely stripped the game of any challenge, so it was a struggle for us to find the right balance.

Also, since most of our experience with player movement was in Tactical RPGs, switching to something like an Action RPG that moves at a much brisker pace was completely different, which required animating the player character much quicker than we initially anticipated. That said, it took us a while to fine-tune the animations until they felt just right.

From a technical standpoint, what engine and core technologies are powering Disgaea Mayhem, and how did they support the shift to action gameplay?

This game owes a lot to our company's other in-house projects. The 3D collision detection comes from "Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero," and the movement in the action segments comes from the base camp movement in "Disgaea 7," and the exploration in "BAR Stella Abyss," with some tweaking to make it work in the context of an Action RPG.

Can you walk us through your development pipeline for building a character—from concept art and animation to implementing abilities and balancing stats?

First, we write the main scenario and draft character profiles. We then commission Mr. Takehito Harada to create the preliminary character designs and concept art based on those profiles; just like we would for Disgaea.

After that, we'll develop the in-game models and animations to match those character designs and the gameplay we've settled on. However, we became acutely aware of our lack of experience developing Action RPGs, since even after we got the models into the game, we had to do a lot of fine-tuning to adjust the animations.

Once we had the models and animations integrated properly, we moved on to creating the action setpieces. This primarily involves a lot of scripting work, after which we add effects, foley, and camera work to finish things off.

The series is known for systems like Item World and grinding loops. How are those systems reimagined or integrated into Disgaea Mayhem's structure?

In the mainline Disgaea series, the Item World was meant to give the player a way to make items stronger the farther they got into the game by putting in more playtime, but we realized that if we stuck to that structure, a single playthrough would take way too long — which is not something you want in an Action RPG.

So, to make each playthrough shorter and more enjoyable, we redesigned the system so that the goal became to survive hordes of enemies over multiple waves for as long as possible, which would increase your survival score and earn you better buffs for your items.

From an art direction perspective, how did you evolve the franchise's signature style for a more dynamic, action-driven presentation?

In terms of character design, we've made the characters taller than in previous installments to better highlight Takehito Harada's unique style and what makes it so appealing. This makes their outlines and posing stand out more during the action, making the whole sense of presentation feel more dynamic.

Also, since the 3D models really pop as a result, we've utilized that expressiveness more in the UI and cutscenes as well, in order to make it so that players will really feel their presence throughout the entire game.

Looking ahead, do you see Disgaea Mayhem as a one-off experiment or as a foundation for expanding the franchise into new gameplay styles?

We're looking at Disgaea Mayhem as a singular experiment for the time being, and we have every intention to continue developing Tactical RPGs in the mainline Disgaea series.

However, if enough people play Disgaea Mayhem and we get a lot of positive feedback, there's always the possibility that we might be able to move forward with a Disgaea Mayhem 2, so we'd really appreciate everyone giving it a try.

Disgaea Mayhem Development Team