Disgaea Mayhem Review: An Uninspired Action RPG Dedicated Only to Disgaea Fans

1 week ago 16

Published Jul 16, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Murillo Zerbinatto is an Editor at DualShockers specializing in JRPGs, RPGs, reviews, guides, and lists. He has been writing professionally since 2018 and covering games since 2020, with previous work published at Xfire, RPGInformer, IndieGameCulture, and GameRant.

A longtime JRPG enthusiast, Murillo has played more than 250 JRPGs and earned over 100 platinum trophies, giving him deep hands-on experience with the genre’s progression systems, side content, collectibles, and completionist challenges. His coverage often focuses on franchises such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Trails, Tales of, and Star Ocean.

The Disgaea series is renowned for its over-the-top humor, strategic gameplay, and a progression system that completely ignores numerical limits. Disgaea Mayhem brings all these same elements to the table, and even though its original title in Japan is completely different, I can still understand why they chose to market it as a spin-off of NIS America's flagship series. The strategic gameplay has been swapped out for action that leans heavily toward the musou subgenre, but all the other hallmarks, such as astronomical levels, skybreaking damage numbers, and a nonsensical plot, remain fully intact.

My history with Disgaea is a bit backward, because although I have played the first through third games, I spent far more time with NISA's other tactical offerings, such as Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom, and La Pucelle: Tactics. It isn't that I dislike Disgaea, but despite being a completionist who always aims for platinum trophies when possible, I was never a big fan of grinding endlessly just to hit level 9999 and deal billions of damage.

Disgaea Mayhem offers that very same loop, and since it represents a fresh foray into an unexplored genre for NISA, I was intrigued. I can safely say it was a noble effort that delivered a solid experience. However, I could still feel it fell quite short of becoming a truly specialized action RPG that could stand shoulder to shoulder with other heavy hitters in the genre. It's a good first step, but the finish line is still a long way off.

Nonsensical and Unimportant Plot

Disgaea Mayhem carries the series' signature comedic tone, or at least tries to, for those who embrace it. Tichelle's father, the Overlord, has kicked the bucket, so she hires N.A, known as one of the best mercenaries in the Netherworld, to assist her. The mission is of the most unprecedented nature: to recover her stolen flan. And that is pretty much the entirety of the plot. And the subplots.

The initial goal is to track down and face off against several traitors called Psychlamates at Tichelle's behest, and every single motive behind the betrayal involved flan and more flan. It is absolutely absurd, which, again, is a trademark of the Disgaea series, but if you don't find it amusing, there isn't much else to look forward to in the story. To be fair, some moments were so ridiculous that I couldn't help but giggle quietly, but overall, it will hardly hold your attention or act as the driving force that compels you to keep playing Disgaea Mayhem.

On the plus side, the main story will never get in your way. There are very few character interactions, barely any cutscenes, and much of the narrative unfolds in a visual novel style, with 3D character models voicing their lines. I wrapped up the main story in merely 6 hours, even while tackling some optional activities like visiting the Item and Chara worlds (because a bit of grinding became necessary to overcome certain levels). It's quite obvious that Disgaea Mayhem focused entirely on its gameplay, leaving the story lingering in the background.

Disgaea Mayhem carries the series' signature comedic tone, or at least tries to, for those who embrace it.

For players who have no patience for this nonsensical plot, the protagonist N.A is right there with you, as he frequently points out how absurd and highly improbable everything is, perfectly mirroring my own reaction. And look, I'm goofy and corny as much as the next JRPG fan, but even I have my limits. Honestly, I stopped caring about the narrative midway through and was solely interested in testing out the skills that came with each new weapon and seeing how fast I could bulldoze through hundreds of enemies.

Musou-Like Gameplay

Disgaea Mayhem is labeled an action RPG, but you only need to play the first few minutes, or even just the demo, to realize that it leans heavily into the Musou style. For those who are unfamiliar, this is the subgenre seen in Dynasty Warriors, where you face an absolute battalion of foes in open battlefields, and every swing of your attacks has the potential to clear out dozens of enemies at once. Honestly, this fits the core premise of Disgaea perfectly. There is no better way to convey the feeling of being overpowered than unleashing a strong attack to wipe out 30 Prinnies in a single swipe.

At first, the gameplay was a blast, despite the camera being incredibly loose and all skills relying entirely on the direction N.A was facing, even with a lock-on system for bosses. However, it didn't take long for the loop to sink into repetitiveness and even into a sort of mindless fun. While I could block, dodge, and even counter, I never really had to use these mechanics because spamming skill after skill and playing pure offense proved far too effective.

Disgaea Mayhem also unlocks the Item World relatively early on, provided you can convince the assembly to approve it, which is incredibly easy. I dived right in, leveled up a weapon, jumped from level 30 to 80 in a single run, and suddenly, there wasn't an enemy in sight capable of tanking even my basic attacks. While stronger weapons unlock new skills, they quickly became redundant because I could just trigger a wide AOE attack and watch everyone collapse. Even bosses began to melt so quickly that I couldn't even see their move sets before claiming victory.

I understand that breaking the game with overwhelming stats is the core design philosophy of Disgaea, but Mayhem made it feel almost too effortless. The post-game tries to ramp up the difficulty considerably, but it all comes down to basic farming. The final main chapter required level 85, whereas the very first mission of the epilogue jacked that requirement up to 200, the second to 400, and the last to 600. However, it only took me another run in the Item World, with the Experience Points gauge boosted to 800%, to skyrocket past level 1000, and once again, I was taking down anyone in my path with a single skill.

I understand that breaking the game with overwhelming stats is the core design philosophy of Disgaea, but Mayhem made it feel almost too effortless.

The trophies showed me there were even tougher challenges ahead, but since the gameplay loop had become highly repetitive and I had no real incentive to try new weapons or skills, I decided to call it quits. Granted, watching my numbers go up is highly satisfying, as is filling out the item encyclopedia and unlocking new Battle Buddies, which are random monsters captured post-battle that can accompany you in fights. However, if min-maxing your level and collecting the ultimate weapons isn't your cup of tea, you won't find much else to enjoy in Disgaea Mayhem.

Flashy Skills, but Mundane Visuals

One of the highlight features of Disgaea Mayhem is its visual flair. Standard skills are quick to execute, but the Ultimate abilities are wonderfully flashy and boast great animation. Every Battle Buddy can transform into a weapon and features a dedicated animation as well, which I always looked forward to seeing. But once the novelty wore off, I would simply skip the animations to keep wreaking havoc.

The graphics are alright. I dislike using this argument, but it's the most accurate description: Disgaea Mayhem genuinely looks like a PS3 game. Every time I selected a stage, I was dropped into a closed battlefield that expanded as I defeated more enemies, eventually leading to the boss. Everything is highly colorful, the art style is lovely, and the character models are great, but the level design and visuals are incredibly bland. The enemies are the exact same ones you always fight, only sporting a palette swap when you encounter a more powerful variant. I had no bugs or framerate drops, though, so that's a positive!

Something I did appreciate is how snappy and fast menu navigation feels, even if managing your inventory can get a bit cluttered as the sheer quantity of equipment piles up. Everything could be sorted out in a click or two, and just like that, I was already jumping into a new mission, exploring the Item World, or upgrading my Battle Buddies. There is zero downtime, and Disgaea Mayhem immediately delivers exactly what you want to do.

The soundtrack carries the characteristic whimsical, circus-like tone the franchise is known for, occasionally backed by high-pitched choral vocals. The biggest issue with the audio lies in the impact feedback of attacks, which failed to reflect the sheer weight of damage numbers climbing into the millions. Overall, I don't think it would be presumptuous of me to call Disgaea Mayhem a budget-friendly project, representing a safe attempt by NISA to explore a new genre with the IP without betting all their chips on it.

On one hand, I understand players who might complain about a main story that lasts only 6 hours. However, I imagine that if you want to see and do everything, such as hitting level 9999, collecting all Battle Buddies, and earning the platinum trophy, you will easily double that playtime. However, as someone who plays JRPGs back-to-back, picking up a title that takes less than 40 hours is incredibly refreshing and helps me unwind. Disgaea Mayhem gave me that exact sense of relaxation, offering a mindless experience, just as most Musou games do. All I had to do was load onto a stage, mash the attack button, watch my damage numbers soar, and see my enemies fall, and that was it. I didn't even need to memorize complex terminologies or names because the story is so absurd that it required very little of my attention, for better or worse.

Disgaea Mayhem is a solid entry into the action RPG genre for the franchise, successfully carrying over the nonsensical plot, core mechanics, and boundless progression that the series is celebrated for. Fans who love to min-max and grind all the way to level 9999 will find plenty to sink their teeth into here once again. However, newcomers and casual players might not find enough depth to keep them hooked, given that the main story wraps up in under 10 hours. If you strip away the familiar Disgaea elements, Mayhem is a rather uninspired action game. While it's a commendable effort, it doesn't quite hold a candle to more established JRPGs in the same space.