Interview: Disgaea 7 Director Shunsuke Minowa Talks Vows of the Virtueless | Push Square

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Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless is the next entry in the venerable Japanese strategy RPG franchise, and it marches on to PS5 and PS4 in October. Push Square was fortunate enough to get to talk to Disgaea 7 director Shunsuke Minowa about what fans can expect from the game, and what lessons have been learned since somewhat controversial changes were introduced in Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny.

Push Square: Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless features a more traditionally-influenced Netherworld for the first time in the series, inspired by ancient and modern Japanese history. What led to this shift from the more hell-as-bureaucracy style setting?

Shunsuke Minowa: The central concept for the Japanese-inspired Netherworld of Disgaea 7 is the idea of “returning to our roots.” We focused on a single Netherworld as opposed to multiple different worlds like in previous games and thought through how the themes of “Bushido” (namely, redemption, honour, and finding oneself) could form the basis of the story.

As one of our main goals was to take a “back-to-basics” approach with Disgaea 7, we conceived a setting inspired by Japanese history and aesthetics, as well as a story in which the main characters have to “reclaim Bushido” in an honorless realm ruled by a tyrant.

Meeting the cast of a new Disgaea game is one of our favourite aspects. Do you have a favourite character, and why?

There is a character named Ao, a mysterious girl who claims to be Fuji’s daughter and shows up while destroying a castle. She is a terrifying child. Personally, I like situations where small characters easily defeat large characters or destroy huge buildings, so I specifically asked the scenario writer to create a character with those elements, and