La Pucelle: Tactics

"La Pucelle? C'est tres bien!"

La Pucelle: Tactics. Its one of those games you never hear about, even though they're amazingly great. Gems like this are hard to come by for fans of the tactics/RPG genre. Made by the same company as another masterpiece, Disgaea, this quirky French feeling tactics RPG puts a spin on the genre with its "purification" system, its deep storyline, and many other things, which all help make La Pucelle one of the best games I've played in a long time.

Graphics: 7/10

I'm rating the graphics on what the PS2 is capable of. La Pucelle doesn't really even come close to taking advantage the PS2's graphical capabilities, however, the graphical style that is used isn't bad by any means. It uses sprite-based characters, which are actually quite detailed. The towns are 2-D, with your character running from left to right, or right to left. This may not sound too good, but it is actually quite refreshing, and makes navigating through towns and talking to people much easier. When you are on the battlefield, however, the scene switches to a 3-D field with sprite-based characters that looks very reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics.

The color scheme that is used is great. Nothing looks dull or bland at all, which was a surprise to me. The game uses an anime drawing style, which gives it a bit of a cartoony feel, although that really isn't a bad thing.

Sound: 8/10

The sounds of La Pucelle are rather good, but the sometimes cheesy voice acting hurts it a bit. There really isn't too much to say about the sounds. La Pucelle's soundtrack is nothing special, but in the heat of a battle, you probably won't notice it anyway.

The voice acting has its bright spots, but quite a bit of it comes off as "cheesy". It's not bad, by any means, but it is a little disheartening to hear the actors sometimes. You only really hear the voice acting at a major plot point, though, so it doesn't hurt the score too much. One interesting thing about the sounds is the fact that the developers give you the option to use the original Japanese voice overs instead of the English ones.

Controls: 9/10

The controls are wonderful. There are a lot of things to learn how to do, and they're amazingly simple to execute. You really don't use too many of the buttons on the PS2 controller, which makes things easy. The option to zoom in or out when in a battle is nice, as is the option to rotate the screen in 90 degree increments. The only thing that hampers the controls is that in many levels, the option to rotate the screen is absent for some strange reason. Only a minor gripe, but it makes things a little more difficult than they had to be.

Story: 10/10

This has to be one of the best storylines I've ever seen. It takes place in a psuedo-French nation, which explains why the names of a lot of the characters and places have a french influence. If you know french, it makes the game a tad more enjoyable, because some of the names are downright funny. You are Prier, a 16 year old girl, a sister in the Church of the Holy Maiden, and a member of La Pucelle, the churches demon hunting squad. You start off doing tasks for the Father, but the story deepens as the game goes on. I don't want to give anything away, you have to play this to really understand and experience it fully. It balances itself out with a bit of comedy as well. Most of the funny stuff is of the slapstick variety, so it's a case of either like it or hate it.

Gameplay: 10/10

Amazing. That's all I can say about the gameplay element of La Pucelle. It's a traditional tactics/RPG in the Final Fantasy Tactics formula. It has, however, added a few things that help it stand out on its own. The main thing is the purification system, where you have to "purify" dark portals to stop enemies from appearing. This also strengthens your equipment, which gives you all the more incentive to do it. You can also use this purification system to recruit some of the enemies you are fighting. This is very helpful, because some of these monsters are extremely strong, and the more fighters you have, the higher your chances of winning are.

The level of customization included here is incredible. Depending on what you equip, you can determine which characters are magic users, fighters, healers, and so forth. Some equipment gives you stat boosts. For example: Lets say I equip Prier with a Fire Staff. A Fire Staff automatically raises her Intelligence level, and her SP, which is the same as MP. It also allows her to use the Fire spell, and gives her experience toward your intelligence rating after she kills an enemy or is involved in a battle where an enemy dies. After enough of this, her intelligence level will rise, and eventually, she will learn a skill that helps in battle.

Overall: 9/10

This is, simply put, the best game I've played in a long time. It's a deep game with a tremendous story, great characters, a tremendous amount of customization, and tons of other subtleties you have to experience for yourself to truly understand. Its a real shame that most people will never even hear about this game, just because it was made by a relatively unknown company, because if it were made by a company like Square-Enix, it would be a game of the year candidate.

Buy or Rent?

If you're a fan of the tactics/RPG genre, its a definite must buy. Actually, if you're just a casual RPG fan, you should consider buying it. It really is that good.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/12/04