Everything, not just video games always go through some fad, for a short time-being there becomes this socially accepted idea that becomes quite popular. This popularity leads to more and more of the trend to be established further, almost to the point where it grows tiresome and dies out. That is such the case with strategy/rpgs, a genre that saw a sturdy foundation of good titles released on Playstation such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Hirogama. The trend of strategy/rpgs died out briefly, until Nippon Ichi gathered the courage to release an otherwise 'niche' game to the States, the name of the game was Disgaea . The games' well reception from criticts and fans alike gave a jolt of confidence into the spine of Nippon Ichi with the decision to unleash La Pucelle Tactics onto American shores.
La Pucelle Tactics was actually developed before Disgaea, and in more ways than one it shows. The gameplay when compared to last years' game is certailny a bit dated --but in spite of the shortcomings in terms of technology, La Pucelle does play very nice and there are many character classes for players to sink their teeth into. There are the high number from the usual stock number of magic and melee character-based classes. There is a good addition to the game is the ability to get players to join on your side, and then train them to become better players. Once you hit the field the games' main meat and potatoes are reveilved, you select your character. From there you pick your designation and attack the enemy, dependent upon how many of your characters you have encircled on the enemy, and if you are attacking from behind or in-front, more or less damage may be inflicted. The Dark Portals are without a doubt the games' biggest draw, every field has little portals scattered about, if you don't perform an action called "purify", the portals will blossom into monsters. And if you allow these portals to be, than the battle maps will become more and more infested with these portals, thus leading to a greater number of monsters growing. The system itself is novel and surely serves as a nice addition to the game, sadly it doesn't impact the game strong enough to make a difference. And another thing I must point out, I actually went several levels without purifying these portals and was still overall successful in my battles. To put it conclusively, the system is just not as well-rounded as shall we say the "Georama" system incorporated in Disgaea.
The storyline is a little strange to identify, sure it has the usual bells and whistles of most rpgs. You play as Prier, a 16 year old rambunctious teen who is apart of a pact who eradicate evil hordes of monsters across the land. La Pucelle actually features a well-equipped cast of voice actors who lend their talent to the forefront quite nicely...too bad the dialouge itself falls short of being anything but caramel popcorn. Although I just wish the voice for Croix would have been better, to me the guy just sounds like he is mumbling out words here and there. It's not so much the storyline in its' purest form, it actually is how the storyline gets their, which plays along the same lines of any cheesy anime you may see on Cable TV. So this is where the game might have a split down the middle, those who love overly-cutesy fluff who will enjoy this games' plot. Than those who cannot stomach all the chibi persona, those individuals will more and likely just go in the corner and puke.
I cannot say that La Pucelle Tactics is a game that will appeal to a very large crowd, actually Disgaea survived and thrived on a sustained fan-base who adored its' deep-as-an-abyss gameplay and quirky characters. The game-engine isn't as fine-tuned as Disgaea and it shows, the bland level of strategy relies mostly on how high your character levels are, not what skills and classes they are and possess. The games graphics are bright, but only to an extent to where the sprites are nicely colored, the backgrounds are not varied enough. Also, there is not 'organic' geometry, all the backgrounds are built using simple cubes. The game doesn't have a consistent enough challenge, you'll either glide right by the game if you level up enough or if you fail to do that, you'll suffer the consequences by dying constantly. Fans of Disgaea and strategy/rpgs in general will love the games' familar interface, and anime-lovers will dig the anime-inspired story. But if you don't fall into any of those traits, chances are you won't find much from La Pucelle Tactics.
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