If there is one company that was underrepresented at this year's E3, it was Atlus. The popular publisher had a booth located outside the three main halls, meaning that a lot of attendees probably didn't see any of their titles. Judging by the games on display, this is a great loss to a lot of showgoers. The standout title was Nippon Ichi's Disgaea: Hour of Darkness for the PlayStation 2. This title was confirmed for North American release in February, and there was an incompletely localized build at the show.

The first thing that strikes you about the game is how gorgeous it looks. Disgaea makes use of some of the best production design in recent memory. Everything, from the character designs to the backdrops oozes a unique, animated style. The spell animations, while very different in presentation, are on par with, or even better than, anything that Square has ever done. The build I played had high-level characters, so I was able to check out the most impressive versions of all the spells.

Since this is a tactical RPG, most people should be pretty familiar with the general setup of the battle system. An interesting feature is the ability to dispatch new team members while battles are already underway. The characters all have unique abilities, which adds some additional strategy to engagements. Spells are plentiful, and very effective, with many having unique area and range effects. Some of the attacks are downright hilarious as well. A cartoony penguin pulling two blades out of his fanny pack to obliterate an enemy is not something you see every day.

Much like the aforementioned penguin pummeling, there is a pervasive light, comical tone to the game. The localization is not yet complete, but what I saw in the demo gives me hope that Atlus is going to do a bang-up job on it.

I was excited, and surprised, when I heard that Atlus had decided to bring over Disgaea. In a genre that is being overrun by sequels, it's refreshing to play something that is completely new. Now that I've had some hands-on time with the game, I am confident that this might well be one of the sleeper hits of the year.