REVIEW

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood Review

(PSP)

A triumph of cheap design over genuine challenge -- so really, not a triumph at all.

By Jeremy Parish 01/11/2011

The Disgaea franchise is well on its way to becoming the video game equivalent of that creepy guy who never quite grew out of his college goofball phase, even though he's become a bald, paunchy 40-year-old who can't hold down a day job. You know the guy: he's too busy trying to drum up stale laughs by sipping beer from a hat lined with twisty straws and doing John Belushi's "I'm a zit" routine to get his life together. Disgaea was deliriously fun back when it first hit the scene in 2003, a fresh, irreverent take on the tactical RPG that didn't just allow you to break the gameplay systems but actively encouraged it. Eight years later, however, the schtick is wearing thin.

The series hasn't really evolved so much as it's amplified its own quirks, building itself into a juggernaut of corny parody and lopsided play balance rather than something truly refined. Nowhere is this more blatant than in the Prinny spin-off titles, which thrust the series' low-level peg-legged penguin demon mascots into hard-as-nails platforming challenges. As a matter of fact, the latest spin-off, Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!, encapsulates everything good and bad about Disgaea.

Click the image above to check out all Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! screens.

In fact, it's all right there in the title. Prinnies are still as lovable as ever, reincarnated souls of sinners serving out their stint in purgatory as fragile slackers. But their habit of ending every sentence with the word "dood" quickly becomes irritating, and the story's premise -- that you're out to recover the stolen underwear of a seemingly underaged demoness before the thief can sniff them and cause the end of the world -- is frankly embarrassing to any adult with the tiniest modicum of good taste. The dialogue is long on jokey perversion and repetitive verbal tics, dood, but neither are particularly amusing.

But at least it plays well, right? Well, kind of. Like its predecessor Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?, Prinny 2 puts players in control of 1,000 explosive penguins, one at a time. When one dies, the next one takes over until you either win or run out of Prinnies -- and even running out of Prinnies isn't quite the total wipeout that you'd expect. You're given your choice of more than half a dozen levels to play in any order, with the caveat that time advances an hour once you complete each stage.

As night descends, each stage grows more difficult, and what seems like a gentle, one-star challenge in daylight becomes downright vicious once midnight rolls around. Add to this the deliberately limiting controls, consciously patterned after the later Ghosts 'N Goblins games, and you have a game that eats through that stock of 999 reserve lives in short order.

Unfortunately, it quickly becomes clear that NIS is leaning on your massive stockpile of Prinnies as a crutch to excuse some genuinely shoddy level construction. The overall game design is solid enough, with unique play mechanics and a ridiculous number of things to unlock as a reward for obsessive play (including an entire second mode), which is a Disgaea trademark. But in terms of actual stage design, Prinny 2 doesn't hold up to the likes of similar-but-superior games such as Donkey Kong Country Returns. Here, hazards and enemies are placed in obnoxious ways, frequently defying the tenets of good and fair platformer design. Worse, enemies spring into action well before they actually scroll onto the screen, undermining the whole affair with a frustrating flavor of haphazardness that causes tricky situations to play out a little differently every time. Obstacles in other difficult platformers can usually be surmounted with practice, but here you never know if the blind leap you're making for the 20th time will be thwarted again by the gun turret that activated long before you could see it. Success feels like it's based as much in luck as in skill.

It's cool, though; you've got 999 lives, right? No, because those lives go quickly when you get stuck at the latest traffic jam point -- and there's seemingly one in every stage -- and burn through 50 lives in a few short minutes. More to the point, these sticking points grind the game's rhythm to a halt. You can always switch to easy difficulty, which features far more sensible enemy placement, but the game goes out of its way to insult you for doing so: your hit points are represented by diapers. Quaint.

Click the image above to check out all Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! screens.

These issues aren't exactly new, but it was easier to be forgiving the first time around since NIS seemed so deeply out of its element making a platformer. A sequel is supposed to be an opportunity for improvement, to show what you've learned, but Prinny 2 offers little that's genuinely new and little by way of actual refinement, either. Add to that a story that's pathologically obsessed with the idea of stealing and sniffing a girl's underwear (which wasn't amusing 20 years ago in Ranma 1/2 and isn't any less discomfiting in 2011), and it's hard to recommend Prinny 2 to anyone but the most forgiving Disgaea fan. That's a pity, because with better writing and something approaching real level design, it would clean up pretty nicely.

Middle age is looming, Disgaea. Maybe it's time to consider the video game equivalent of moving out of your parents' basement and getting a job.

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Comments (53)

Wow, these comments...
Posted: Jan 27, 2011 12:00AM PST by JohnMora

I feel like I have to counter all of the abrasive comments on this review with a supportive one, since I didn't find anything wrong with how Jeremy reviewed it. Yeah, it's his opinion. How the hell else is he supposed to review it? Just list off the details from the back of the box and give it a score based on that? There is no Objective Game Rating Calculator out there to give out 100% "accurate" scores. A C is AVERAGE, he's not even necessarily calling it bad, just AVERAGE. And it's average FOR HIM. If you like it, great. If you don't, great, too! Jeremy was asked to give his opinion on its quality and he did. I'm glad he did, too, since he's not the only one sick of NIS's distasteful sensibilities in regards to their plots and characters. Flat-chested little girl demons having their panties stolen? Yeah, why wouldn't a guy in his 30s feel gross playing a game about that? It's less to do with prudish sexual mores and more to do with a matter of taste. Consider also that Jeremy painted a picture of a game that was more or less identical to the original Prinny. The same game a year or two later with no evolution or improvements is bound to feel disappointing.

Keep on keeping on, Jeremy. Don't listen to some of the dribblepoop being spouted by people who were blindly defending a game they hadn't played.

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You're getting old too, Mr. Parish.
Posted: Jan 20, 2011 12:00AM PST by Cudgeon

One thing I have to say:
Why do you think the story with the panties is so bad?

Maybe I don't care because I'm from europe and not from prudish USA but I don't think the story to be a major turn off.

And maybe its not N1 that gets to old for Games, but you yourself. ;)

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I'm still in shock
Posted: Jan 19, 2011 12:00AM PST by pocky-san

that KH re coded got a better score. . . and that whole game was just to see what Mickey sent to Sora. . .

fun fact: not worth it

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- I'm still in shock
  Posted: Jan 19, 2011 12:00AM PST by Kays Addiction
  
  people still bitch about review scores. For the love of God! It's an opinion. Just cause you like a game don't expect everyone to feel the same about it.
  
  Flag
- @ Tsu
  Posted: Jan 20, 2011 12:00AM PST by Cudgeon
  
  Even if you like parish, he is old enough to defend himself. You don't have to argument for him.
  
  Critics always have to face critic. If they can't, they should quit their jobs. You can't go criticize things and then whine about how others criticize your opinion.
  
  Besides, I guess he knew it from the beginning. Since it happens to every bad review of a niche game..
  
  Flag

More like
Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by Gamemasterflex18

A triumph in game titles.

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I don't get it.
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Zeik56

I quite plainly do not understand all this complaining about the Prinny games being cheap or frustrating or unfair. The original Prinny was one of the most solidly designed 2D platformers I have ever played, and quite honestly one of the most forgiving and least frustrating. Once you get accustomed to the jumping mechanics (which should take no more than 30 minutes) then all it takes is practice and memorization of enemy placement and attack patterns. I made it through the entirety of the original Prinny with little to no frustration, and less than 100 lives lost. I should also point out that I suck at most platformers. How people who actually have prior experience with more frustrating platformers like Mega Man could have so much trouble with these games is completely beyond me.

Now I have yet to play Prinny 2, so perhaps the level design is legitmimitely inferior and cheap compared to it's predecessor, but from the sound of the review (and looking over the previous review) it sounds like this was all stuff already in the original game, in which case these issues are quite plainly because of your own skill. There should be no reason you should be losing hundreds of lives or have to switch to the easy difficulty to get through these games, period. And then to go and decry that it's cheap and unfair is beyond ridiculous.

I expected better from you Jeremy.

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- You reassure me a bit
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by Pandareus
  
  I bought the first Prinny game during the PSN sale a few weeks back, haven't played it yet, but it's good to hear it's not impossible.
  
  That said, Jeremy brings up valid points, for instance getting hit by enemies off screen is genuinely bad design in a 2D platformer. It doesn't matter if you can memorize the level and avoid the attack once you have. It's simply poor. It is objectively cheap and unfair. And it is good of Jeremy to point it out in his review, no matter how much you disagree that it ruins the game.
  
  At least now the reader knows about it, and can make the call for himself.
  
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- First time, shame on you. Second time, shame on me.
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by imercenary
  
  Its exactly as Jeremy says : "These issues aren't exactly new, but it was easier to be forgiving the first time around since NIS seemed so deeply out of its element making a platformer. A sequel is supposed to be an opportunity for improvement, to show what you've learned, but Prinny 2 offers little that's genuinely new and little by way of actual refinement, either."
  
  You forgive a poorly executed first attempt, but you don't forgive a poorly executed second attempt.
  
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- But that's my point...
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by Zeik56
  
  The first Prinny game was fantastic. One of the best 2D platformers I've played in years. If Prinny 2 is in fact more of the same that just means it's also fantastic.
  
  Flag

Fun fact.
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by KenolaBar

95% of people bitching about a 1up review haven't played the game. It's true.

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- Statistics are meaningless
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Epic Greenman
  
  79% of the people using them make it all up 84% of the time or use data that's 62% crap.
  
  Flag

I DISAGREE with this review.
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by franwex

The game is actually tons of fun and each section of supposed bad level design is actually like a puzzle. It is frustrating at first but once the player figures out how to get past an obstacle it's actually hard to get stuck again.

I never got tired of the Prinny's saying "DOOD!" either, in fact; I found it a little comforting. The game positively reinforces the player to go on!

The story might be a bit childish but c'mon; what can one expect? Seriously; there are games with worst story lines out there (Gears of War 2, Final Fantasy XIII). It's just a little crude light-hearted comedy not meant to be taken in an offensive matter.

I believe the reviewer might be a little frustrated with the difficulty. In turn every aspect of the game might seem annoying. I recommend taking a break; and coming back and re-evaluating the score (yeah like that will ever happen).

Prinny 1 was excellent; and the sequel offers more of the same goodness. Super Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty, and Halo are examples of games that have pretty much done the same in the past-yet their scores are stupidly high only because they are high profile games.

There is an audience for this game, and people should definitely try it if they ever get the chance!

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Since when was C a bad grade?
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by AcIdSlash

for a spinoff game thats not that bad

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The plot seems fine to me.
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by MARl0

I've always loved the plot in the Disgaea games. What makes the plot of this game good, as that it's funny in the context of the Disgaea universe. It's not to be taken seriously at all, and that's what makes it so funny in my opinion.

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Was worried about that.
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by MachineGunTommy

I love the Disagaea series, I really do, but the first Prinny just felt lame. I like the tough as nails Ghosts N Goblins approach to it but...Ghosts N Goblins was great because it was hard as nails WHILE having great level design. Prinny had AWFUL level design. And this one just seems to be more of the original. The fact that Jeremy pretty much vocalized the exact thing I was concerned about confirms I'll hold off until it hits the -$20ish mark.

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This seems like a biased review...
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Ashborne

By yet another person on 1up who doesn't know how to review.

This series is loved by quite a bit of people. You're not looking at it from any point of view except your own.

You're acting as if you know what a game should and shouldn't have.

From what I have gathered from seeing every review you've made, it's either 'I love this genre and this massively marketed, annually released series' or 'this is niche, this frustrates me, therefore it is cheap and must suck'.

From 1up writers, all I see nowadays are only on your own tastes rather than the genuine ups and downs of the games. For example, I've seen more than a few reviews talking just about the title screen and then complaining about everything they dislike.

I'm done with 1up at this point. Hire some good writers. Bring Sharkey back.

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- Let me point this out
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Kays Addiction
  
  This series is loved by quite a bit of people. You're not looking at it from any point of view except your own
  
  Those people will buy the game without question, This review is not for them. Also a lot of people love Justin Bieber, but it doesn't make him good.
  
  I've seen more than a few reviews talking just about the title screen and then complaining about everything they dislike.
  
  Pot, meet the kettle. Replace the word review with comments and you're talking about yourself.
  
  A review is simply an opinion, not a fact. You can look at things objectively but at the end of the day what it comes down to is it's an opinion. That little score in the top corner is without a doubt the most opinionated part of the review. Just cause Jeremy gave it a C doesn't mean everyone else will.
  
  Flag
- Hey Tsuzura_Saki
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by cerrente1975
  
  How about commenting on the review instead of trolling and attacking the people that comment. You've been on here awhile now, so have I so I don't understand the confrontational attitude you're taking but since we are, how about you clean your room if it still looks that way...Its embarrassing and I don't think should be posted, just my opinion
  
  Flag
- Some loser is trying to get famous.
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by KenolaBar
  
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  
  Hopefully I was as discreet as possible.
  
  Flag
- Why don't i comment on the review?
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Kays Addiction
  
  Cause someone will complain about how my comment is biased, and unprofessional, if you must know.
  
  Flag
- Hey KenolaBar
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by cerrente1975
  
  Trust me Gamemaster4747 I am not, and if you look he already holds the title of "star of 1up" lmao definitely not me. If you'll look i rarely comment on anything, I just decided to today.
  
  And Tsuzura_Saki the comments section is supposed to be influenced by personal opinion of content, not the paid review.....shhhh don't tell anyone!!!
  
  Flag
- Yup.
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Alkaiser
  
  Dude hates niche games and fawns over the mainstream. Like those Etrian Odyssey games. Or his love of the Roguelike genre.
  
  Or maybe he just didn't like the game that you probably haven't even fucking played yet because it came out, oh, today.
  
  Flag
- This just in
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Kays Addiction
  
  Flag
- Very nice
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by cerrente1975
  
  LOLZ
  
  Flag

This is a niche title
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by cerrente1975

If you don't like it don't play it. The story is just as awful as having to wipe out entire races of people and take over planets/countries. The platforming is going to be hard and that is tailored to the fans who play the game. As for not evolving, what game has? Pick a 9 to 10 score recent shooter and show me the evolution. Sure the graphics are nicer but thats technology, not an evolution in game design. Its all still travel to point A to move to point B. How about next time we focus mainly on the game and not your dislike of the bad taste humor, its not for you, but shouldn't reduce the score. I got demolished in the first game but it was designed to do that!!! Good thing you don't review Japanese games and only the ones that come stateside, come on you know what they are like. As long as the score is for the game and how it plays thats fine.

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- This comment gets a C
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Kays Addiction
  
  He's playing the game because he was paid to review it. Whether he likes it or not is irrelevant. I have an idea, if you don't like a review don't read it. It's obvious you already have your opinion on this game what's the point in even reading the review. Also the review is an OPINION. Complaining about it won't change a goddamn thing.
  
  Flag
- Kind of a stupid comment
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by cerrente1975
  
  I merely stated that giving a game a bad score because it was a little too tough for ya or you don't like the humor is a bad way to review games. Of course personal opinion will play in, but in the end it comes down to the game and gameplay, not if you particularly liked the story or not. If it was a blog that would be cool but if you are getting paid to review a game then whether you like the story should have no merit in the final score. Now if you would like to support your favorite reviewer then by all means start a cool blog with little smileys and hearts and unicorns but the reviews should stay as unbiased on personal taste as possible. And for the record I have read only minimal on the title and have yet to play, but I can easily see from the outside that this is a slightly biased review based on personal taste. Again this is a paid review, not a blog, as long as the review was solely based on the value of the game its fine if however the final review came down to not liking the content then the score is without merit.
  
  Flag
- The bad humor
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Kays Addiction
  
  and story are part of the game. Let's put it this way so you're saying that when reviewing a movie you can give it good marks just cause it had pretty special effects yet terrible acting and a bad story. That's not the way it works.
  
  And of course this review is based on personal taste it's fucking opinion!
  
  Flag
- @cerrente
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by wolfgang12
  
  You are stupid.
  
  Flag
- Wolfgang12
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by cerrente1975
  
  Well thought out, thank you for your contribution. Also glad to see its easy to get the F-Bombs out of supposed rational thinking people, you know who you are commenter's, its classy!!!
  
  Flag
- "This comment gets a C"
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by learningKnight
  
  Hilarious!
  
  Flag
- @cerrente
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by JoeFlemming
  
  Tsuzura has answered your question satisfactorily several times now. Please scroll up and actually read it... then please try to comprehend it.
  
  I have read Mr. Parish's reviews for years, and while I don't agree with each and every review, if you look at his total body of work; I believe he is fair and in general objective.
  
  In the end it is his opinion, obviously yours differ, that's ok.. but please stop slamming him, 1up, or other people for having a different view than yourself. I am one of those people that Like Disgaea, HELL I even ran out and purchased Z.H.P. (Jeremy was a little critical on that one) my point if I like something I'll try it, I'll just use the review as a guide to know what Im getting into.
  
  Flag

Bad taste?
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Axel_IX

Heaven forbid they should use the design they've had for the past six years for the, what, 900+ year old demon?

Seriously, what's with the bile to this series all of the sudden? It's been around FOREVER.

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lol
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Rise_ofthe_Mike

Good thing I don't seem to have that "modicum of good taste" you were talking about. I can't wait to play this, if it's anything like the first then i'm going to have a great time with it. Difficulty doesn't bother me, it is something I love. The story, for disgaea, great. I love the bad taste these guy's have. It's honestly hilarous to me. Still...after all this time. I really can't wait for Disgaea 4 to finally come out. Until then i'll play this and the other NIS games.

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Truly disgusting
Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by jdwohlever

This is the reason I have never liked anime much. The dark under belly of most anime cartoons seems to relie on showing scantly clad underage girls acting like there twice their age sexually. Not only is this disturbing, but makes me wonder about the country and companies that produce 90% of that type of pedophilish drivel. In a country that sells used girls underwear in vending machines (Yes Japan actually has these) I have no doubt that most of their male population is sex starved and pedophiles. Just sickening to the point that I'm surprised you even reviewed the game. I would rather face being fired that to play a game whose premise is something so sophmoric and pedophilic. If this company was a US based company they would have been arrested by now.(Which is a good thing, free speech be damned) I wish the freaks who scream about the Grand Theft Auto games would open their eyes and see where the real sickness lies.

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- actually
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Rise_ofthe_Mike
  
  Japan, as well as many other countries, don't have the same laws that we do. It's actually legal for a woman as young as 13 to have sexual relations with a man in Japan. Actually, if you look it up, a lot of countries have the same law. about 85% of them have a legal age of 16 while only a small percentage need to be 18 or older...and the rest fall in the 13 to 15 range with the second biggest percentage being around age 14. The US is one of the few countries that have the age of consent at age 18..and even that is debateable...Alaska has it's age of consent at 16. So "under-age" is sort of relative as it means different things to different people.
  
  To someone that lives in an area where consent is only legal at age 18...I can see their disaproval being stated. But you can't subject others to the same curriculum. Laws differ everywhere and in most things. Back in the day a woman needed to be married by age 13 and as she got into the 17 and 19 range she was considered to be getting on in her marrying years with not to many left before people didn't bother with her. Times change, if Japan were to take over the US...then years and years from now no one would have second thoughts about the legal age being at 13 because it's something that they've come to understand as being legal...set down that way by the people who are in charge and dictate what is legal or illegal.
  
  Flag
- Sure you can!
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Alkaiser
  
  Watch me! *ahem* hey all you adult males out there! If you're trying to bag a 13 year old girl, you should be shot out of a cannon. At the sun, preferably.
  
  Saying that because something is part of a country's culture means that we can't criticize it is retarded. There are countries where women are treated as property to this day and I can sure as hell criticize that.
  
  But referring to the seedy undertones of anime... a bit overreactive, but for the most part yeah. I like some japanese cartoons, but I can't disagree. A lot of it is just straight-up fucking shameful.
  
  P.S. Yeah. Women got married at 13. In the fucking Dark Ages. We also believed that raindrops were Gods tears. So maybe we shouldn't take to much from that era and bring it into our civilized lives. Also, you are probably a pedophile. Just saying is all.
  
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- Chiming in.
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Keefman -X-
  
  Although I do take exception to the way the first guy expressed his thoughts, I feel it would be worth pointing out that it's important to note the difference between legality and actual right and wrong. A lot of pretty fucked up things are or have been legal somewhere, not that I posess the knowledge about Japanese culture to have any informed opinion about their practices.
  
  Flag
- Oh man
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by AcIdSlash
  
  this made my day
  
  seems a lot like a joke post
  
  Flag
- @alkaiser and others
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by Rise_ofthe_Mike
  
  You make me sad. lol.
  
  Seriously though, long after the dark ages women were being married off at young ages like 13. Personally, I like older women, the mature kind. But I don't think, as long as it's legal, that it's wrong...right and wrong are subject to personal whim. Someone may say that drilling for oil is wrong, another may say that killing animals is still killing, and wrong. Some people think that if you aren't a christian you're wrong and will go to hell. Right and wrong aren't set in stone, it's diffrent to every person, and culture has a lot to do with it. 16 years of age is legal in over 85% of the countries out there. Meaning that a significant portion of the world believes that it is right. The other fraction is made up of countries that believe that 14 is the right age...then the 18 and older is pretty much the distant last.
  
  are they wrong, to you yes...not to them. Which is my only point. Different people have different ideas of what is right and wrong, what is legal or illegal.
  
  Flag
- just a head's up, since ur a little ignorant...
  Posted: Jan 11, 2011 12:00AM PST by jbgoldengun
  
  the character who's panties get stolen (Etna), is a demoness who is over a thousand years old. She looks young, sure. But, have you never seen a girl who is under 18, but looks like she could be in her mid twenties? I have. And have you seen women in their 20's who look like they're underage? I sure have. You should know the context before criticizing something. I am in no way saying I support selling used panties, or that people should go around banging up young newly-pubescent girls, just know what your talking about before you put it down. And just as an fyi... there's nothing magical about turning 18... Say I'm 17 and it's the 20th of June... When the clock strikes midnight that night, and it becomes the 21st and I am 18, does something magical happen in my brain that suddenly tells me I can go and have sex with someone? No. It's just a law some1 came up with. Really, I somewhat agree with the age 13 thing, only in the way that if a 13 year old girl really wants to be screwed by an old saggy man, go ahead. It'll be her mistake. But, she has hit puberty, and is sexually curious and wanting to try stuff. It's her choice, and possibly mistake, to go get screwed.
  
  Me and my new girlfriend are 2 years apart. I'm 16, she's 14. But, we both have urges that we would like to satisfy with each other. So, if she's feeling these feelings now, then what would be stopping her in two years when im 18 and she's only 16? Heck, me and her are dating now. We are two years apart, but when I become 18, even though we're still just 2 years apart, is there something magical that suddenly makes it wrong for me to be dating her? No. There's the same age difference as there is now, and in all honesty, me and her would be more likely to make mistakes now than in 2 years when we've learned about life and the world more... Just my ramblings.
  
  Flag
- But officer! She said she was 500 years old!
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by Alkaiser
  
  Seriously dude! It's okay if someone's drawn to be a child as long as we say *wink wink nudge nudge* that she's older so you can get your rocks off without the guilt or jail time.
  
  Also, at 13 years old you don't have a goddamn clue about what to do with your future. The laws are there to protect you from becoming a mother at 15 and ruining both your and your babies life in the process. Yeah, some people mature a little earlier then others. But for the most part a lot of people don't get that sense of responsibility until much later if at all or are being outright preyed upon by older people who should know better.
  
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- @alkaiser
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by Rise_ofthe_Mike
  
  Which is your opinion. That's fine. But Japan and many, many other countries just don't have that law. Hell, I mean, early 1900's still had women getting married young. It's only really recently that any major rules were put into place. Like I said, I'm more drawn to the mature women...early 30's. But as long as it's not against the law, then it's not a problem. Not to me anyway, but i'm more open and understanding of how subjective right and wrong are.
  
  Also, I agree with you that in America we have "little girls" who don't know what to do at all...but the truth is that different cultures breed different people. Some more mature because of the culture. They were raised differently. Anyway, i'm not saying you're wrong, i'm just not saying you're right either. It's subjective.
  
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- @jdwohlever
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by jellishot
  
  While I agree that pedophilia is wrong (and who wouldn't?), I think the rest of your comment is pretty uninformed and borderline ignorant (and you're on the wrong side of the border). You seem like an otherwise intelligent guy, so I hope you're just trolling.
  
  Flag
- It's funny this all started from a review of Prinny 2.
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by A._Kent
  
  In the early 1900s, lynching was a frequent event in the south, to the extent that candidates for offices were in part elected based on pro-lynching rhetoric. Even campaigning presidents had to appease the demograph that wanted to hunt another human, string them up and take their photo by the corpse. So many civil liberties that we enjoy today were pipe dreams then. Society was largely dominated by men, and women were oppressed within society, to the extent that many learned submission as a survival tactic. They were treated as breading stock, not human beings. In fact, women were not allowed to vote in the US until the 1920s. This is a tragedy, not proof we've become judgmental and narrow-minded. It is important to realize laws are simply laws and not "the truth," whatever that is, though that doesn't mean that laws are not the foundation of civilization and a comforting buffer from "the horror." Maybe it is arrogant to believe that the sexual objectification of barely pubescent girls is repugnant, but I think we should point out, though, that this isn't all of Japan, but an unhealthy niche that has been given a voice through the greed of capitalism (which has its equivalencies in the US), and that the majority of Japanese fully hold the same beliefs as most of the first world.
  
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- @alkaiser
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by jbgoldengun
  
  I'm hoping you're just a troll, otherwise, I take pity on your ignorance... It's not like someone launched a formal complaint against NIS for their design of Etna, and NIS then went "Oh... um... oh yeah! Did we forget to tell you she's over a thousand years old! Ya, that makes everything right!" The whole concept of the Netherworld in the Disgaea universe is that people live for so long, that even after a thousand years, the people still appear young. Which brings us back around to the point... is the whole point of these "sensible" age laws to protect ignorant girls, or to keep people from going after young-looking girls? Whichever you answer, you've messed yourself up. If you say the former, then what's wrong with the look of Etna, or the look of some real-life girls in their 20's who have small chests and a petite build? And if you say the latter, then does that mean it's ok for people to go around screwing big-chested, 5 foot 10 inches tall 15 year olds, just because they look like they could be older? You're in a lose-lose situation with that question.
  
  Now, you say the laws are there to keep 15 year old girls from getting pregnant and ruining their, and their baby's, lives... Well guess what? THERE'S STILL GIRLS GETTING PREGNANT AT AGE 15!!!! It's just by other idiotic teenagers... Really, wouldn't it be better for a teenager to get pregnant by a young adult who could actually have a job and support the girl and the baby, instead of having two teenagers have a kid and end up living with their parents, wasting more of their parents' money? Say I got my girlfriend who is two years younger than me pregnant right now, while I'm 16 and she's 14. What would happen? Well, we'd still be living with our parents, but she'd be making her parents, and my parents if I would take the kid from her at times, have to use up more money on their grandchild... But, if I were say, 19, and had a steady job, and she was 17, then, I would be living in my say, apartment still, and I'd be able to properly support her and the child. Neither situation is the best outcome... but you should look at how their can be positives AND negatives with whatever situtation there is.
  
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- More word vomit coming atcha
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by A._Kent
  
  Etna isn't a person, "she" is representational art, and what she represents is a prepubescent girl, not Ellen Page. Though her character is an icon, and therefore can be judged on appearances alone, even if we consider her personality, Etna acts like a teenage brat that watches too much cable, not someone who has lived for hundreds of years. Ellen Page has a woman's mind, not a child's mind, and is quite capable of looking and acting her age in real life and when the script calls for it. Here's the issue: we shouldn't decide a woman's maturity based purely on appearances, but for having a developed mind, capable of individuality, preferences, and their own desires. I believe Rolling Stone had the Olson twins on the cover around their 18th birthday with the proclamation, "They're Finally Legal!" It isn't only Japan that sexualizes youth, and it's disgusting no matter where it is found. The concern isn't simply about young people having children before their brains have fully developed, before they have real life experiences to draw on, before they've finished their basic educations for society and they have an understanding of their individuality and how to pursue their goals; the concern is older men preying on children of either gender precisely because they do not represent these factors of adulthood and can be objectified as submissive sexual objects. That is something that should not be encouraged through media because it does not promote mental health for any culture.
  
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- Dicey issue
  Posted: Jan 12, 2011 12:00AM PST by BrokenH
  
  The art style is "chibi". As in you take characters and make them cute with extra big heads and lithe short bodies. Maybe it does somewhat play on a pre-pubescent creepy fetish but at least it's just "drawn pictures" and no real kids are getting hurt.
  
  I find alot of people have weird turn ons but the vast majority of them keep such stuff in "fantasy land" where it belongs.
  
  While we're at it should we attack furry fixation, bondage, Master/slave role play, oral sex, and same gender relationships too? Where exactly do we draw the line at narrow mindedness?
  
  Many teens have sex with each other before legal age anyway. It's not as if a "magical age limit" locks off puberty and lustful desires before 18.
  
  I will admit I wouldn't be comfortable with kids playing this though. Etna "does" look & act like a child even if she's technically supposed to be a young adult. Older minds are mature enough to understand what "chibi" is and can dig the mature humor but I don't think it would leave good impressions on 8 or 12 year old children.
  
  The minute I see a little girl dress like Etna is the moment it will dawn on me this stuff has gone too far. (Keep in mind Disgaea games commonly carry a teen rating to begin with. Aka don't be a dumb-ass and buy this for your pre school toddler!)
  
  However how far do we take this? Should cute female gnomes with pigtails in WOW be the next to go? Do we create a task force just to make sure minors dress in conservative uniforms at all times? It's easy to see where well meaning moral activism can go very wrong.
  
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- A._Kent makes my point better than I can.
  Posted: Jan 13, 2011 12:00AM PST by Alkaiser
  
  I'm not trying to be a troll. I guess I'm either an asshole or just a really blunt person depending on your viewpoint of it.
  
  The point isn't to attack what two consenting adults do. And yeah, I know a lot of people have sex before they're ready for the potential consequences. I'm talking about what dude above was talking about: it isn't about the art itself, but the niche of people that this stuff appeals to and is marketed to.
  
  Honestly? I just want to be able to watch a cartoon without worrying that I'm about to have a Koi Kaze-esque bomb dropped on me out of nowhere and some dude is trying to hook up with his underage sister because thats what comedy is to crazy people I guess. I want to be able to play cool JRPGs and not have to wade through the filthy crap made by Compile Heart or Gust or other companies where whatever interesting mechanics they contain are buried under a veil of creepy otaku fetishes.
  
  A man can dream, can't he?
  
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- We didn't start the wicker-man fire!
  Posted: Jan 13, 2011 12:00AM PST by BrokenH
  
  First of all, funny satire and great suave technique to get responses!(I hope for all of our sakes Alk,Kent, & jd are satirist trolls) Secondly who do these games appeal to? Action platformer fans? Turn Based Strategy RPGers? Nefarious chaps and lasses indeed! You get the torches and I'll get the pitch forks. The world must be cleansed. Boo-Ra!
  
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- What?
  Posted: Jan 14, 2011 12:00AM PST by Alkaiser
  
  I don't understand anything you just wrote. Where did I say that RPG fans should be cleansed or whatever? Dude, I am one of those people. I just hate how there always has to be this bulletpoint checklist of otaku fetishes that always make it into JRPGs nowadays.
  
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