Customer Reviews

La Pucelle: Tactics

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It really pains me to give this game only 4 stars. I really wanted to give it 4 1/2, but since that wasn't an option and since Disgaea is noticably better ...

Regardless of Disgaea, La Pucelle still holds its own quite well. The artwork and graphics are great, the La Pucelle story is one of the better ones to come out RPGs lately, and the whole game in general is just pulled off very well.

However, while the pruification does add to the game, battles still get somewhat monotonous. The "Dark World", which was supposed to add a lot of depth to the game, is really too much of a hassle to get into (it took me about 30-40 minutes to open up one Dark World portal). Without that extra diversion, the game is basically fight a battle, move deeper into the dungeon, fight a battle, move deeper into the dungeon, fight a boss, see story, go to next chapter.

A few chapters have "events" that you can trigger mid-battle that reveal more of the story and allow you to do a better job and to get a better ending (and subsequetly a better reward!). However, a majority of the chapters don't have these extra events (actually the first chapter is the only one I can think of off the top of my head). Had more chapters had these bonus events to increase mission rankings, that definately would have helped La Pucelle out.

However, La Pucelle has a much better item system in place. Your stats have EXP meters of their own and can actually be levelled up. Stats don't start levelling up, however, unless you have an appropriate item equipped ... say something with an ATK bonus. When you defeat enemies, you not only get experience for your levelling up, your ATK would then get experience as well. Every time you level up ATK, your ATK stat is boosted. So while one item may have better base stats, perhaps another will help you develop ATK quicker or something like that. The item system definately adds a lot to La Pucelle.

The quick, low-down summary is this: while La Pucelle has the better story and item system, Disgaea overall is the better game. If you can absolutely only buy one, Disgaea would be the way to go. But, La Pucelle is an extremely close second and would be a worthy play for anyone even remotely interested in strategy RPGs.

La Pucelle: Tactics is fast becoming one of my new favorite games for the PS2. An underappreciated TRPG, one hopes that this will become something of a sleeper hit.

Here is a brief list of reasons for liking this game:

- The Artwork

La Pucelle features a rarity these days; hand-drawn sprites. The style is very fitting to the story, and the approach gives it an unique character, rather than a 3-D Final Fantasy clone.

- The Story/Characters

The game features several interesting characters. Prier, Culotte, Alouette, Croix, Homard and Eclair are very funny, but also get some touching moments of development as the story progresses.

- The Voice Acting

La Pucelle features top-notch voice acting. Prier and Alouette are both spot on.

- The Tactics Engine

Combat in La Pucelle is turn-based, and like Disgaea, individual characters can execute commands without ending your turn. You have no idea how much easier and smoother this can make battles go. The attacks and items are firmly tongue in cheek. I mean, your first special move is "Coup De Grace!: Kick them where it hurts..." Also, with the Purification power to convert your enemies to your side (essential for getting past Stage 1) and room for 8 members in your party, combat is wildly fun and doesn't get stale even after an extended playing session.

In conclusion, La Pucelle: Tactics is a very fun addition to anyone's PS2 collection. For a game with great replay value, fun characters, and a great storyline, this is one for you.

La Pucelle, like Disgaea Hour of Darkness, sadly is going to be missed by alot of gamers out there. Playing this game makes it incredibly difficult to understand why. Likely it has to do with graphics, which is probably the only aspect of the game that isn't all that great. (the nearly non existant advertising for this game is another likely culprit)

From a tactical perspective La Pucelle is an even better game then Final Fantasy tactics. While some aspects are a bit weaker ,such as party developement and story (Disgaea gives you alot more options with the addition of character classes - something La Pucelle lacks and FFT has a much more epic plot) La Pucelle more then makes up for it with the ability the "cleanse" nearly every enemy in the game and use that enemy in future battles, giving the player a ton of options when it comes to fighting battles later in the game. In addition to this the ability to "cleanse" portals and create combo attacks adds alot of additional options during battles (by effectively positioning your characters in support positions you can effectively make your party nearly impervious to all but the most difficult encounters)

Don't miss out on this game, plop down the money and get yourself a copy while you still can (the same goes for Disgaea Hour of Darkness which is even better) If your still woried about ploping down 50 bucks, take this into consideration 1.it is very unlikely that the price will EVER drop 2. If for some reason you don't like the game or you can bear to part with your copy in the future it's not going to be one of those titles that are worthless 6 months down the road - it's probably going to fall into the same catagory as underapreciated classics such as suikoden 2 and valkyrie profile (I.E. good luck finding a used copy for less then 50 bucks a couple years from now)

Enjoy the game, i sure am.

some people don't seem to understand what a tactical game is. The purpose of this game isn't to randomly attack, but to employ different strategies and increase your teams skill. If you plan on buying this game [or any game for that matter] than you should know how the gameplay works. This game is filled with fun gameplay, but I suggest it only to those who enjoy complicated tactics.

I would just like to point out the that this game is made by the same people as Disgaea and so is another deep tacticle game that is imensly enjoyable if you like these kind of games.
You basically start the game as a party of three (which soon changes very quickly).
Prier,Culotte and Alouette are three young demon hunters who have just passed their exorcism exams and so do jobs for the church, you soon meet up with the gun slingin kurowa and a whole host of other characters not to mention getting virtually all of the enemies in the game to join you.
Add to that the fact you can power up loads of items and elements and magic and................the list goes on.
There is far to much to mention so go out and buy this fantastic game, once you get past the slightly old psone graphics there is a great game here and an equally great story line Oh did I mention GET THIS GAME!!! if you like tactical rpg's.

Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: Eschneider6

La Pucelle Tactics is the second Strategy/RPG game from Nippon Ichi Software for the PS2, the first being Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, also for the PS2.

In La Pucelle Tactics you play Prier, a young orphan raised to follow the teachings of the Church of the Holy Maiden. You start her adventure with her younger brother Culotte, and sister Alouette as Prier begins her long battle against the forces of darkness.

Before each battle you get some story progression and some slapstick humor. One of the coolest features in this game is that you can capture monsters by purifying them, once captured they will join your side. Another feature is you level up your weapons by causing chain reactions by purifying the colored squares that can also do some major damage to your enemies. There is a Dark world that gives you some great items, and some exclusive monsters only found there. The game has multiple endings, hidden bosses, and loads of items that will keep you playing hours and hours on end. After you meet special requirements, you can even capture boss monsters to do your bidding.

I have played over 110 hours and still haven't seen all the endings, and I can't stop playing it. If you want an easy, fun game that has a fun and engaging story, you must play La Pucelle Tactics.

Are you still reading this? Go on and start playing already!

On a 1-10 scale, 1 being throw it out, 10 being must buy, La Pucelle Tactics scores a 9.5!

I'm really surprised no one has written a review on this yet.
I'll keep this short and sweet. Tactics games are hard to come by. Good ones are even harden to find. I personally think think game oozes with character. I've been playing it frantically for days now. Read official game reveiws to find out more on this one but I say: If you loved Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (all 8 of us by what sales says) you'll love this one. Same universe... same makers... same quirky dark humor. I say "Get it".... all 8 of you

If you've ever played an isometric strategy game and had even a little bit of fun then you've got to pick this up. The NIS Triumvirate of Angels (LaPucelle) - Humans (Phantom Brave) - & Demons (Disgaea) is the most unique approach to this style of gaming out there. Not only is each game a stand alone hit, but they each have their own special features that make them stand out; NIS didn't take the easy way out by putting up a cookie cutter outline with just different characters. This is a must have for RPG and isometric strategy fans - no question.
Give it to us on PSP! In Japan they've released LaPucelle - Ragnarok on the PSP and from what I understand it's a port of the PS2 version with enhanced features, much like Phantom Brave and Disgaea 1&2. We need this in a portable form! Listen to your fans NIS, we love your stuff and want to take it everywhere!

I would guess La Pucelle Tactics comes some time after the Little Marl's Kingdom/Rhapsody game for the PS2, but it feels like NIS had a great hold of the system for a long time. La Pucelle plays great, it has great music (as it should, what with Rhapsody's composer) and it looks really good. What impresses me is how much more I enjoyed it than I do Disgaea. The battle system and characters probably have more to do with that than anything.

La Pucelle stacks up well to games of this generation and provides a great challenge. The game can be incredibly difficult, but it's never frustrating. Although the town set up is a little simple, and it's disappointing that it's on-rails/2D, they still managed to make the towns accessible, enjoyable and complete, so they found a good balance there.

La Pucelle's only real tragedy is the localization, which in my opinion, isn't actually bad at all. The Japanese audio is available still, which was a nice surprise, and I feel the localization isn't quite as horrible as some would emphasize. But even early on, the game does have minor spelling errors. Sadly, yet maybe reasonably, they removed all religious symbols and anything affiliated with smoking. A relatively smart move in retrospect, but it wasn't really worth it to me (or many others).

I enjoy the game a lot, and I appreciate the way the cast and plot are set up, and it, along with Little Marl's Kingdom and the first Disgaea, are what I expect from NIS. (While the difficulty in their games have stuck and the silliness, the relevance and plot hasn't in my mind.)

If you enjoy tactical RPG, strategy games, NIS or just like games with good story, a fun cast and a fun battle system, La Pucelle is well worth the buy.

La Pucelle Tactics PS2 is a turn based strategy game where a pair of young demon-hunters working for a church head out in the world to take on demons and zombies.

The main characters are a pair of orphans turned do-gooders. Prier is the older sister who is thought of as obnoxious by most of the rest of the town. She flies off the handle, doesn't pay attention to what she's doing and talks back. Her younger brother, Colette, I swear I thought was a girl for a while. Something about the way they draw boys in anime. He's the sweet, smart one. Together they work with their teacher Colette to roam the nearby areas and take out zombies and other creepy crawlies.

The "roaming the town" part of this is a very simple RPG. You move left or right in a straight line and talk to people you come near. Most people have one-line comments for you. Often they are a bit inappropriate, as when 80-something men start propositioning Prier. This game is rated "T" for "Teen" so they're assuming anyone playing this is over 13 and isn't taking that sort of thing too seriously.

Then, when you get in near enemies you head into the battle aspect. This is all done in a turn-based system on a grid. You take your characters one by one and tell them where to move and who to attack. Then when everything is ready, you set them in motion. This gives you lots of time to think about things, to plan what you're going to do and to change your mind. It's much better for many gamers than the frantic button-mashing required in other adventure games.

The ability to use flows of force to take out streams of enemies does add an interesting twist to this all.

Even so, there are several other tactic style games on the market which are much better - more weapon types, more interesting monsters, and perhaps most importantly - better graphics. The graphics here literally could have been done on a N64. In fact I remember a number of N64 games which were better than this here. It's really pretty surprising to see graphics this bad on a PS2 game.

I realize that graphics aren't everything, but there should be some sort of a base level that you're operating from if you're going to stare at the screen for hours at a time.

I'll give this a 3/5 for interesting characters and dialogue, but I just can't recommend playing this given the many other contenders in this genre.