This Disgaea Mayhem review looks at how well Nippon Ichi Software’s long-running RPG series makes the jump into a much faster action RPG. Published by NIS America and released on 23 July 2026, Mayhem keeps plenty of familiar Disgaea ideas while changing how you actually play.
I have been playing Disgaea since I was 16 years old, so seeing familiar enemies, systems and the series’ trademark wackiness return in a different form immediately appealed to me. It may play very differently from the games I grew up with, but it still feels connected to them.
With quick combat, seven weapon types, the returning Item World and Magichange, there is plenty here that longtime fans will recognise. The bigger question is whether those familiar systems are enough to carry Mayhem through such a big change in style.
A Fast Start
Disgaea Mayhem wastes very little time getting you into the action. The game throws you straight into combat, so you can learn the basic controls almost immediately.
I did run into one strange issue at the start. I was playing the Steam version with an Xbox controller, but the game automatically displayed PlayStation button prompts.
This was confusing while I was still learning how everything worked. Thankfully, the icons can be changed easily in the settings.
Once that was sorted, it did not take long for the combat to click.
There are seven different weapon types to choose from, including brawling, swords, spears and guns. I spent most of my playthrough using the twin pistols because they made dealing with large groups of enemies much easier. However, I did spend some time trying out the other options.
Combat is easily one of the strongest parts of Disgaea Mayhem. Attacks are quick and responsive, while dodging feels snappy. There is also a noticeable difference in weight depending on the weapon you are using.
New abilities unlock regularly, which gives you more options as you progress. I was also surprised by how much variety there is in the weapon designs.
Combat Feels Great, Enemy AI Does Not
While controlling your character feels great, the enemies are far less impressive.
Most enemies seem to notice when you are nearby and simply move towards you. This works when there is nothing in the way, especially when a large group is trying to swarm you.
However, the pathfinding quickly starts to show its weaknesses.
If there is a tree or another piece of scenery between you and an enemy, they can sometimes run straight into it. I saw this happen several times during my playthrough.
In some cases, enemies seemed unable to work out how to get around an object until I moved closer or changed position.
Disgaea has never been a franchise known for immersion. Even so, seeing an enemy repeatedly running into a tree while you are fighting is distracting.
Progression Still Feels Like Disgaea
The main campaign is split into multiple chapters. Each chapter contains around five or six levels, and most missions take between two and five minutes to complete.
That short structure ended up being one of my favourite parts of the game.
I play PC games both at my desk and on a handheld PC, and Disgaea Mayhem works well in both situations. If I have plenty of time, I can easily get absorbed and make a lot of progress.
On the other hand, if I only have a few minutes, I can still jump in and finish a mission or two.
The real meat of the progression comes from the returning Item World.
For anyone unfamiliar with it, weapons and armour have their own worlds that you can enter. By defeating enemies and completing stages inside them, you can improve the stats of that piece of equipment.
The Item World has always been one of my favourite parts of Disgaea. Because of that, I spent around an hour simply grinding through it.
By the time I completed the main story, I was around level 110.
Unfortunately, all that grinding had a downside. I had made much of the remaining campaign incredibly easy.
Once I had improved my equipment and levelled up, large parts of the story became a cakewalk.
Buddies and Magichange
Disgaea Mayhem also includes a Buddy system.
After completing a level, there is a chance that an enemy will try to join your team. You can then spend Mana to recruit them and take one Buddy into battle at a time.
It is a nice idea, although the Buddy AI can be frustrating.
There were plenty of occasions where I would turn around and see my companion simply staring at an enemy. Eventually they might decide to attack, but they were not always as useful as I wanted them to be.
Thankfully, Buddies have another purpose through Magichange.
This returning Disgaea feature allows monsters to transform into weapons. You can then use their predefined weapon type and a special ability.
For example, a Prinny can transform into a sword. When you use its special ability, your character jumps into the air before throwing the Prinny towards the enemy. Unsurprisingly, this causes a huge explosion.
It is ridiculous, flashy and exactly the sort of thing I want from Disgaea.
There are also other ways to improve your character and unlock new stats and abilities. I did not use these systems much during the main campaign.
Now that I am playing Carnage mode, however, they have become far more useful. With the level cap reaching 9,999 and the difficulty increasing, I have more reason to explore those systems.
Bright and Colourful
Visually, Disgaea Mayhem does a good job of bringing the franchise’s character artwork into a different style.
The characters are bright, colourful and distinctive. At the same time, they move away from the more chibi-styled look I am used to seeing in the mainline games.
The environments also change as you progress through the chapters. As a result, each area has its own theme and visual identity.
Unfortunately, missions usually take place within fairly small sections of those environments. You rarely get much opportunity to explore before moving on to the next group of enemies.
Repetition Quickly Sets In
The biggest problem with Disgaea Mayhem is how repetitive the main campaign becomes.
Almost every level I played followed the same basic pattern. You enter an area, defeat a group of enemies, move forwards and then defeat another group.
After repeating this several times, you eventually reach a boss.
The objective to defeat 15 enemies appeared regularly. While the enemies might change slightly depending on the area, many are reused or simply recoloured.
Because of this, the structure becomes very predictable after a few chapters.
The short mission length does help. Individual stages rarely last long enough to become frustrating on their own.
However, the repetition is much more noticeable when you play several missions back-to-back.
Considering the main story took me around six hours to complete, I expected more variety during that time.
I was also disappointed by the lack of returning characters.
One of the things I have always enjoyed about Disgaea is seeing familiar faces and guest appearances. These characters help remind you of previous games and the wider franchise.
There are still Prinnies and plenty of recognisable enemies, but I wanted more of those moments.
More playable characters, job changes or guest appearances could have helped Mayhem feel more connected to the wider series.
Final Thoughts
Disgaea Mayhem has a solid foundation.
The combat is quick and responsive, while special moves are wonderfully over the top. There is also plenty of variety when it comes to the weapons you can use.
Returning systems such as the Item World and Magichange also help keep some of that familiar Disgaea identity despite the change in genre.
Unfortunately, the game never really builds on those strengths.
The campaign becomes repetitive, while enemy and Buddy AI can be disappointing. There is also not enough variety in the mission objectives or the enemies you fight.
For a main story that took me around six hours to complete, I was hoping there would be more to see along the way.
Even so, I am glad to see the franchise experimenting with something different. I would happily see another attempt at this style.
If that happens, I would like to see more playable characters, job changes, guest appearances and more variety throughout the campaign.
Disgaea Mayhem shows that the series can work as an action RPG. However, it needs more content, more variety and a little more of what makes Disgaea feel like Disgaea.