La Pucelle: Tactics

"Has Disgaea met its match?"

Welcome to La Pucelle, the story of a feisty young demon hunter and her companions. Battling evil, turn-based style! Huzzah! After three years in the making, La Pucelle has finally reached North American shores!

Gameplay 9/10 - Turn-based gameplay at its best, if you've ever played Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, you'll know how the battles run, they're very similar (..probably because both were produced by Nippon Ichi)

There's these things called “portals” that are used in battle, destroy them or use them to your advantage, but be careful, enemies can enter the battle through them!

Like most other RPG's you can wield magic or use Spirit Points to use an attack that can deal an insane amount of damage, then there's the plain, old, ordinary attacks. Place allies next to each-other to perform team attacks, they're quite useful. I just wish there was a “defend” option..

The game is split up into chapters, by completing battles, you progress through the game and reveal more of the story.

While in battle, you can purify enemies and convince them to join your side, when you're not using them in battle, you can play and train them, make sure you keep them happy, you don't want them running away!

Story 9/10- Such a heavy story told very lightheartedly, usually not a very good combo, but, it was executed very nicely.

You're a 16-year-old demon-hunter bent on becoming the next Maiden of Light, the one to save the world from darkness. Legend tells of the Dark Prince will rise once again and engulf the world in evil. The main character, Prier, is assisted with her younger brother, the teacher's pet, Culotte, and their mentor, Alouette.

Why the French names? I'm not sure, but you better get use to them, almost everything has a French name, not very good if you can't pronounce anything like me!

Graphics/Sound 8/10- When I first popped La Pucelle: Tactics into my PlayStation 2, I was simply blown away by the music. I sat there listening there with my jab dropped, it is that amazing. You don't usually come across games where the music has lyrics, this game makes you wish more do.

The lovely orchestrated tones fit the medieval world that the game was set in. The upbeat melodies also make towns seem to bustle. Battles also seem to have nice music.

The game's graphics and sprites are a little outdated, but what do you expect? They've been working on it for about three years. Still, La Pucelle is very eye-pleasing, it's like watching an anime. I love the character expressions and the voice acting. I don't have any complaints here.

Play Time/Replayability 10/10 - This game will last ya a long time. 120 hours is a good guess. You can play chapters over again to level up, gain experience, get more monsters, or receive some cash. I haven't ran out of things to do yet.

Buy or rent?- Buy. This game is a wonderful addition to any collection, especially if you like tactics games, then you should defiantly check it out. There's no way you can beat it by simply renting it.

Overall- 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/10/04