Disgaea Hour of Darkness PS2 begins with Laharl, the young prince of the Netherworld, awakening after a 2 year "nap" to discover his father is dead and his kingdom is in ruins.

With a storyline like that you'd think the game was dark and brooding, with loads of angst, revenge and death. However, this game is rated T for teen and they took a different point of view. The main character - Laharl - is apparently pre-teen and is an arrogant, self-important know it all who has as his lead helper a girl who isn't much better. Both of them harass each other endlessly with snide dialogue.

For young kids the level of obnoxiousness might be a bit much, as will be the sexual innuendos. For teenagers, it probably is right in line with what they do every day in terms of plowing ahead on their own course and not wanting to be bossed around by others. The characters are certainly unique and often quite funny.

You have to be a fan of old school to enjoy the graphics here. They're very blocky and often hard to make out. You'll be in a room, zooming around in a super-fast run, and you stop at something you thought was a door but is really a wall. So then you hunt for a while and realize you can go left through what you thought was a solid object. It can be a bit confusing.

Part of the game is RPG style walking around and talking with people. The battles are done on a grid system where you tell all your various party members where to go, then what to do, and then you set everyone in motion. This means gamers can take their time, really think things out and then start their attack. It's not the frantic click-as-fast-as-you-can that other games often stick you with.

One of the best features here is the incredible levels you can reach, and the range of characters that can join your team. You definitely can go back and play and replay with different combinations and see how they work out for you.

Well recommended for gamers who enjoy turn-based games and who are OK with old style graphics.

Buy Disgaea from Amazon.com