Today I went out and picked up a copy of Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten. For the uninitiated, the Disgaea games are strategy RPGs that combine a pretty serious difficulty curve with a hefty dose of (often very silly) humor. Though characters from previous games do appear, there's little if anything in the way of storyline continuity from one installment to the next, so if you haven't played any of the three previous games, don't worry. The only other game in the series I've played is Disgaea 2 on the PS2.

The gameplay is very solid: turn-based combat across a variety of maps against a wide variety of foes. There is a wide variety of character customization, special attacks, magic, etc., to make combat deep and interesting. On the downside, the tutorial is pretty short and basic; there is damn little in the way of hand-holding in this game. It teaches you the basic techniques, then throws you in at the deep end. On the upside, it's a munchkin's dream: the level cap is 9,999, so characters can become ridiculously powerful. I've only just scratched the surface of this beast, and I'm already pretty impressed.

One thing to note: Nippon Ichi thought of everything, often in the form of non-standard game-overs. I got overconfident in an early boss battle, and got an ending explaining how the boss went on to power and success and eventually started a world-ending war... and then earned a trophy and got to restart the game with my levels and equipment intact.