disgaea 2 – the taller eight

I went on my honeymoon this year, after over three years of being married and saving, to Tokyo. I’d been before in 2008 for a meager three days, making the most of a situation I had dreamed about for so much of my life, and something I’d never thought I would be able to do. But there I was walking the streets of Akihabara to buy games I couldn’t read the language of, fascinated by the culture shock and plethora of lights and sounds from every street. It was heavenly.

While I was there this time with my wonderful wife I bought more games (no surprise there), and to my surprise, I stumbled into a couple at a second-hand store. As a terrible victim of nostalgia, I had to take them back to the US with me as a long-loved symbol of a trouble era of my life. I’d put in the work and rebuilt my life and mental health off the back of one.

That game was Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days.

If you’re a gamer, whether a professional in the field or a casual player, you’ve likely experienced one question above all others from any other gamer in the vicinity:

“What’s your favorite console/game?”

Those two are interchangeable within the question, so I’ve included both up there. And it comes up in so many conversations when meeting a new gamer for the first time, even more prevalent than, say, the more interesting and direct question of what you’re playing currently. And I know I’ve given a hundred different answers over the years for both platforms and games, including the NES, Game Boy, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Super Mario Brothers 3, Tetris, The World Ends With You, and others.

But recently I was rooting through my storage and rediscovered my DS Lite (which has been one of the answers before) and rooted through my DS/3DS protector’s pocket of loose carts, and it’s brought me back to a troublesome time in my life, which not only is the reason I have this blog right now, but acted as a saving grace that, quite possibly, saved both my pride and my life during a rough patch. Two consoles, and two games that kept me going. And I’d like to tell you about them.