La Pucelle Tactics

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.

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.

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.